Getting the Best Tone on an Upright Bass Guitar

Video Transcript

Hi! This is Branson Garner, and on behalf of expertvillage.com, we are going to be talking about the bass again. When playing the bass, your tone that you are going to get, the best tone that you can get, will come out of your hands, your right and left hand. Today we are going to be talking about specifically your left hand and the techniques you can use to get the best tone out of it. When playing with your left hand, say in first position, make sure your thumb is centered on the back of the neck and so your hand can pivot lightly like that. Don’t put too much pressure on it, because then it will restrict the tone. Then you put your fingers right here, and play with the tips of your fingers that way to get the best tone out of that. Now when playing the bass, as you can see, this isn’t like a guitar or an electric bass; it has no frets. This is a completely fretless instrument, so it takes precise intonation with your fingers to get the right tune. With one movement, even, you could set it out of tune, and that will throw the whole band off that you are backing. Because of that, there are precise fingerings that you use. For instance, between first, half position, first position all the way up to third position, you would use just these 3 fingers without your ring finger. So let me demonstrate. Then you move up to fourth position. Now you can use these 4 fingers; some bass players continue using just these 3 fingers and get rid of that ring finger. Then you shift, and then you can go up to the thumb position, it’s what it’s called, because you have to use your thumb as the finger, and then these 3 fingers without your pinkie. Then you go up some more, and then you can go all the way up the fret board if you like with that thumb and those fingers. That is the fingering on the bass. Remember it does take precise precision and fingering, so it takes a lot of practice.

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