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I continue to report observations and advancements concerning the bass part of my life, a part that contributes to much joy and satisfaction in my life.

As you know, I like to experiment, so after a year with floating thumb (see earlier posts); I went back to the “standard” way of having your thumb resting on the pickup or B-/E-string. I noticed a little bit more edge on the funky feeling and when playing fast. With the floating thumb technique the fingers are bent and with the standard technique the fingers are more straight. Obviously I still have more control over fast movements when the fingers are straight. I believe that the finger should hit the string with enough speed to get a good sound and that might do the difference. There is not much difference, but enough to be noticed and felt.

As the speed of a song increases, I tend to play more and more staccato-like, that is rate of tone/pause decreases. I don’t let the string ring enough. This behavior was also improved as I changed to standard technique.

This month I am working on “Charlie” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and I find it easier to capture the funky feeling with straight fingers. I felt kind of liberated when I did the change back. Still floating thumb has its advantages, especially when playing on the G-string. I might end up using both at different times.