What You Should Know About the Different Bass Guitar Playing Styles
If this is your very first attempt at playing the bass guitar then it’s best to start with the basic styles and techniques and work your way from there. All the lessons below may seem like kid’s stuff, but these are designed to give you a proper foundation for playing the bass guitar.
How to Hold Your Bass Guitar Properly
Form is an essential element not only in composing songs but also for playing them, and that includes how you hold your bass guitar and yourself as well.
Get Strapped
Just think of it as you would the seatbelt for your car. Wear it no matter what you’re doing and no matter how silly you may feel about it. Wearing your strap ensures that your bass guitar’s weight is totally supported by your shoulders and back, therefore enabling your arms to move more freely and easily.
When wearing your strap, make sure that you adjust strap to its proper length – in most cases, this would mean keeping your bass guitar at approximately belly-button-level. Play with a straight back – whether you’re seated or on your feet. Granted, not all the pros do this, but they’re pros already. Let them worry for themselves. For now, it’s better stick to what’s proper.
Also, if you’re seated, be sure that the chair is low enough for your feet to touch the ground completely. If necessary, use a footrest.
Left-handed Versus Right-handed
The headstock should be pointing to the right if you are left-handed. If you have the correct position, it would also mean that left-handed players would have the thinnest string (G) closest to their chest.
Preparation
Your preparatory position would involve having your left hand gripping the neck of your guitar, with your thumb behind the guitar neck while the rest are over the strings and ready to strike. Do the opposite if you are left-handed.
How to Fret
Fretting is simply the motions you perform on the string in order to produce sound. Remember to press the string down on the part that’s between frets – anywhere else won’t produce that good a sound. Also, when pressing down, use the larger pad of your finger and not just the tips for a more secure hold.
Blisters, by the way, are normal so don’t consider it as proof that you’re doing things incorrectly. If anything, it’s the opposite.
Lastly, remember to work on making your other fingers – and not just your indexed finger – familiar with fretting. You’ll need all of them to work if you want to play your bass guitar effectively.
 |