Ascending/Decending
Ken Higginson
Here's my situation: Being a guitarist for a while, I guess I'm used to
pulling off and hammering on when moving to the next string. On bass,
I'm quite adapt at using my first two finger, and am working on employing
the third when doing tripplets...
I'm heavily into Dream Theater, and John Myung... So, I've figured out
all of "Pull Me Under", and there are a few licks that require you to
move down one string at a time... When I do this, it sounds sloppy, and
I think I'm only using the first or maybe the first two fingers of my
right hand:
G-----------------------5-4-2-----------
D-----------------5-4-2------------------
A-----------3-2-0-------------------------
E-0-2-3-2-0-------------------3-2----------
I'd like to develop this lick so that when I'm playing a tripplet, each
finger of my right hand plays one note... Is there anyone out there that
can do this, who can help me with excercises to develop this?
Also, when I move down like that, should I leave my thumb on the pickup,
or try and move it down the strings? If I leave it on the pickup, the
strings ten to ring out a little because I'm not muting it with my thumb...
--
___ _ _ ___ _ ___ _ _ Every day sends future to past
| \| >|_ /\ |\/| | |_||_ /\ | |_| > Every breath leaves me one
_|_/| \|_/ \| | | | ||_/ \| |_| \ less to my last...
SnowDog
SnowDog
>pulling off and hammering on when moving to the next string. On bass,
>I'm quite adapt at using my first two finger, and am working on employing
>the third when doing tripplets...
>
>I'm heavily into Dream Theater, and John Myung... So, I've figured out
>all of "Pull Me Under", and there are a few licks that require you to
>move down one string at a time... When I do this, it sounds sloppy, and
>I think I'm only using the first or maybe the first two fingers of my
>right hand:
>
>G-----------------------5-4-2-----------
>D-----------------5-4-2------------------
>A-----------3-2-0-------------------------
>E-0-2-3-2-0-------------------3-2----------
>
>I'd like to develop this lick so that when I'm playing a tripplet, each
>finger of my right hand plays one note... Is there anyone out there that
>can do this, who can help me with excercises to develop this?
The best way to work on getting what I call "finger independance"
(the bass players version of alternate picking string skipping a la
Eric Johnson and such) is to work on exercises that you would nomally
play on one or two strings and put the noes on any other string except
the one you would normally play it on.
If your basic warm up riff is something like this:
(typically called "the spider")
G|-------------------------5-7-6-8-6-7-5-------------------------|
D|-----------------5-7-6-8---------------8-6-7-5-----------------|
A|---------5-7-6-8-------------------------------8-6-7-5---------|
E|-5-7-6-8-----------------------------------------------8-6-7-5-|
try playing it like this:
G|-------8---7-----5---------7-----6---5-------5---6-------6-----|
D|-----6---------8---7-----5---------7---8---7-------7---------5-|
A|-5-----------6-------6---------8---------------8-----5-----7---|
E|---7-----5-------------8-----6-----------6-------------8-------|
You are still using the same fingering pattern and just applying it
to string skipping. It a REAL pain in the ass at first, but after you get
used to exercises like this your playing will become much more "fluid".
>Also, when I move down like that, should I leave my thumb on the pickup,
>or try and move it down the strings? If I leave it on the pickup, the
>strings ten to ring out a little because I'm not muting it with my thumb...
If possible you should try to have your thumb resting on the string
directly above the only you are playing. Now this is kind of a pain
in the ass when you are skipping strings so in this situation I plant
my thumb on the pickup. This also makes you work on your left hand
muting (which will also clean up your sound). Proper muting techniques
are a must for clean playing, especially when/if you move up to a five
or six string.
Good luck, try not to tie your fingers in knots!
---
Roman R. Richardson | "A dollar can be extremely desirable
rich...@stolaf.edu | if you don't happen to possess one." - F.M. Ford
Harry Powell Watson
Ascending/Decending by Ken Higg...@nyx.cs.du.
The key to making "Pull Me Under" (or anything for that matter) not
sound sloppy is articulating each note. John Myung's line depicted
contains no hammer ons or pull offs. Whether you desire to play the line
with one, two or three fingers, the articulation can be obtained in the
same manner. Try playing with a metronome. Begin the line slowly...with
whatever tempo you're comfortable articulating clearly. Slowly increase
the speed, but force yourself to play it cleanly. Eventually you may
reach John Myung's speed. The three-finger technique can be derived in
the same manner. Take a basic scale pattern and utilize all four strings
(you should have 3 notes on the majority of the strings...or modify the
scale into a pattern which fits your goal...i.e.If you're playing a
standard G-scale, you could just begin on the lower F# to obtain the
extra note on the E string. The A string would then contain the B,C, and
D....the D string would have E, F#, and G, while the G string holds the
A, B, and C. Play this and extensions, modifications, etc. of this at
increasing tempos ascending and descending and I'm quite positive you'll
get it. Also, attempting to transcribe Dream Theater's lines will not
only greatly assist your ear, but, the perfect articulation of picked
notes that Myung offers will give you enough material for months! I
highly recommend Take the Time, Metropolis, and Under a Glass Moon. The
DT live in Tokyo video has some excellent shots of Myung's
technique...you might check it out...I'd take note of how relaxed he
is...that's a sure sign of a mature musician...feel is everything...even
at hyperspeed...
For muting purposes, your right hand should take care of muting the
next lower string than the one you're playing when you're ascending.
When descending, I'd recommend muting with your left hand. If you watch
Myung, (except when he's playing the low B string) his thumb never
leaves the low B string...if you don't play a 5 or 6 string, then I'd
say to just rest your thumb on the low E...well, I digress...Keep
JAMMIN'!!
Good providence,
Harry
Ken Higginson
Well, what is the propper muting technique with your left hand? On the
guitar, I just mute with the palm of my picking hand. On bass, I still
use the same left-hand position that I do on guitar (with my thumb
vertical, and each finger on one fret, like wraping your hand around a
book at the binding...)
I can't see how you can mute with your letf hand in that position...
SnowDog
>
>Well, what is the propper muting technique with your left hand? On the
>guitar, I just mute with the palm of my picking hand. On bass, I still
>use the same left-hand position that I do on guitar (with my thumb
>vertical, and each finger on one fret, like wraping your hand around a
>book at the binding...)
>
>I can't see how you can mute with your letf hand in that position...
You can do it by using your index finger like a capo. If you are playing
on the D string it is really easy to mute the G string with any other finger,
but you can also mute the A string with your index finger. Just let it hang
over the D string far enough enough to dampen the A string. Kim Stone's
article on swing on one of the latest Bass Player magazines talks a little
about this. Six string and five string players really depend on it.
My name is Brian Rost
In article <1994Feb26.0...@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, khig...@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ken Higginson) writes...
>Also, when I move down like that, should I leave my thumb on the pickup,
>or try and move it down the strings? If I leave it on the pickup, the
>strings ten to ring out a little because I'm not muting it with my thumb...
Well, you already *know* the answer...if you want it clean, you indeed need to
mute.
For years, I thought I could never learn to move my thumb around to do muting
like this. When I started taking lessons again, my instructor mentioned I was
getting a lot of excess string noise and spent five minutes showing me how to
do it. At first it seemed incredibly clumsy, but a month later, it was second
nature for me. And the cleaner sound is noticeable to me *now*...wonder how I
lived for all those years with that sloppier sound 8^)
The left hand also comes into play when *descending*, i.e. you use your left
hand to mute the *higher* strings, and your thumb to mute *lower* strings.
Brian Rost @tecrus.enet.dec.com
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