Bravo! I started from the Geddy Lee school for EVER, but several years back Ian got this same idea stuck in my head and it absolutely changed how I play. I now have a much wider palette than I ever used to have. Great stuff, Ian!
I've always played that way, I'd never really thought about pulling up or "clacking." For me it just gives a more deep, round, and balanced sound. And since my action is extremely low, it helps a lot with fret buzz.
This is amazing! I tend to be a “clacker” (watched a lot of Entwistle when I started learning), but I’ve been working to develop more versatility in my playing. This goes a long way.
@@weedywet absolutely, and I most definitely don’t sound like him, just always favored that approach. I’m playing in a band now that covers a wide range of styles and some just aren’t appropriate for my normal approach, so I’m learning to shake it up a bit.
John Entwistle and Geddy Lee were both in bands with one guitarist. Their aggressive styles helped to fill out the sound. It’s all a matter of context imo. Pulling-through is absolutely preferred for session guys and most bassists, however. Both are valuable tools. :)
This is amazing. 5 minutes in and I am sounding better already. And better, Incan identify and understand when I am not sounding good and how to correct it! Thank you so much Ian!
This is the most important technique lesson for bass. It can be taught in very different ways, but it really pushes the quality of the sound one can produce to new heights. It also feels reeeeeal good. I became addicted to how the bass felt under my fingers after I got comfortable with this technique. I say that this is the most important lesson because I truly believe that once you love the sound you can produce with your plucking hand, and the way it feels to pluck the strings, you'll be more keen in teaching yourself everything else. It just makes bass playing more enjoyable over all.
@@IanMartinAllison Great content as always Ian, thank you!! I think you're really good at comunicating musical concepts, and just an overall great bass player 🙂🙂 A wild request here... there's so little info out there about Sal Cuevas, one of the great innovators of salsa and the first latin bass rockstar. I'd looove to see him featured in one of your videos...🙃
I've been playing bass for almost exactly 6 years. When I first started I only used a pick. After about a year I started to teach myself how to use my fingers, and I did that plucking thing for about 3.5 years. I got pretty damn fast for having to use that much effort, but I started to get pains in my right wrist. I noticed that a friend of mine, who is the best bassist and musician I have ever met, played with the much more relaxed style featured in this video. It took A LOT of practicing to move away from that plucking, but once I got it to the point where it was the only way I played, even when noodling, my ability shot through the fucking roof. Every bass played needs to know that their right hand is 1000% the most important part of their playing. I spend an hour every single morning just on different right hand techniques (2, 3, 4 fingers, bounce slap, through slap, double thumb, pick) and I'm constantly amazed at what it does for my playing when I just let loose in a band setting. The more you push the bleeding edge of your ability in a strict context with a metronome the more relaxed and free you are to just play.
one thing I notice about all this, is you can do all 3 versions of the technique. One thing I learned studying with my teacher on upright classical bass, was every time you play something that doesn't sound good, stop and learn how to re-create it so you master that "bad sound", have control over it and in that context, know what you're doing to avoid it later.
Wow!! I found out I've been doing that instinctively forever! How awesome is that? Maybe that's why I've always found plucking the bass so natural. Thanks for the video! it's awesome!
Hell yeah my man, that’s how it’s done! I’ve adapted a similar idea when playing 5 strings. The 5th string is so much looser, and my thumb tends to rest on the B so I began using my thumb as a downstroke when I don’t need extreme speed on the B. The notes really do bloom more and doing so makes the 5th string sound more congruent with the other 4.
Such nice vintage style sound. Awesome. Your “clacking” also known as “digging in” reminds me of Geddy, Entwistle and especially Jack Casady style, all of which I like too. But good to know how to get away from grinding!
It is amazing how we tend to pay more attention to the fretting hand but the plucking hand (engine) is so important! Moving to a rest stroke really made a huge difference to my playing and tone. Great lesson Ian!
I Love that bass and this channel is completely priceless. As a professional bassist since ‘92 I must say the information on this channel is spot on and really inspiring.
I’m definitely a clacker. Geddy Lee was my hero, the reason I play bass (a Rickenbacker!), and I want a Geddy Lee tone… not James Jamerson. I’m roundwounds, not flats. I’m Rock, not Pop/R&B.
Thanks for giving a shoutout to Terry Burns, he was the head of the bass dept at McNally Smith and my favorite instructor. Guy is a monster player, his "pentatonic platforms" approach forever changed my playing. Last time I spoke with him he moved back to New Mexico, hope he is doing well, keep up the great work with this channel!!
Exactly how I’ve always played , from a kid as my pops taught me . It’s the weight of the thwack , Mike Watt does it similar with two fingers anchored together, so much meat on the tone . Like the big Paul chambers or Scott laffaro thump.
Such a good guidance. I remember when I was learning my teachers would guide me to play on top of the bridge. Whilst that was a good advice for learning so that my notes would be captured I saw myself years later looking for different areas of the bass to get a fuller sound. I feel like I have been following his advice for quite sometime without really noticing it. Today at church I tried to be more conscious of this technique and it makes such a difference for my taste. Keep up the good work, Ian 👌🏻
I came to bass from a classical guitar. Well, that is how I play bass. Interesting. You have so much control over the tone and timing using this technique.
There is always one moment, whether it's a bass or 6 string guitar or cello playing pizzicato etc, that your mind goes back to when you think of a good tone. There is that ONE time with each instrument when you know you made that string vibrate perfectly for that instrument - and it was so obvious but at the same time such a subtle difference in technique that it freaked you out. When I was 4 I began taking violin lessons at SIUE and a student teacher was instructing me but she was a violist. I can't remember much about the rest of one specific lesson, probably in my second year with her before she graduated and bailed and broke my heart, but she described proper bow technique to me for making the body vibrate as loud as it could before reaching saturation and falling apart, literally the instrument can't absorb any more and it overloads and starts to naturally distort. It's not a volume thing, more like a specific maximum density of harmonics that any solid object can sustain and still produce pure fundamental frequencies. Anyway, she put that bow on the 2nd string (G) and played, I believe, an A.... that room changed. Everything in the universe at that moment was about that note and it was surrounded by a woody mid rangy viola thing that brings to mind marble and dense hardwood forests and a smell of old oaken casks. I went both tunnel vision and singularity all at the same time. That was in, iirc, 1978 but those 3 or 4 seconds that she sustained that note are like still brand new in my mind. I still hear it, I still feel it. It was like that sensation of something that makes your jaw lock up when someone else is singing. Totally freaky and illusive but the most mysterious thing in existence and the ONLY thing worth chasing for the rest of your life. Yeah, Ian, I get it. I have plucked, picked, bowed, slapped, snapped, thunked, popped, whacked and flubbed probably 100,000s of notes since the moment I just described but only a couple dozen of them were perfect and usually they happened when I was alone, not plugged into anything, and just was playing from a comfortable state of mind. I do, however, agree that there are techniques that put you in a much higher probability zone for producing perfect notes.
Ian really is one of the best teachers ive ever known, his passion is absolutely infectious and he does a really good job at explaining concepts and techniques in a way that absolutely everyone can understand. Bravo man, it’s truly impressive.
Man, I heard you and tried this, and it changed everything! My sound is fuller now, and it doesn't even require more strength. I'm working on it though, to change my way of playing, I've got to relearn new habits. Thanks!
BTW applies not only to fingerstyle - Steve Swallow transferred his approach to picking (which is mostly upstrokes) from his prior upright experience, and it's well worth learning for anyone who plays with a pick, makes so much difference!
@@MichaelIppersiel frankly, I cannot readily pick up a video and point out: that's it, I've been listening to Steve Swallow more on records, than videos. It's just that I read at some point about it, and it clicked in my head: aha! that's where his tone comes from! And then I just took a pick and started to practice upstrokes with that idea in mind.
So love it. These are the kinds of lessons that stick with you. Really fundamental stuff. I still think there's ba place for clacking, heavy attack, whatnot, depending on what you want the music calls for, but this fat, thick sound is crucial to have control of. And not to get too much into the gear thing, but despite never being a flats guy I think I'm going to try a set on one of me Jazz basses after hearing this.
Bingo. This is my problem. I’ve spent *decades* playing unplugged - almost always unplugged - and it’s cost me. I should’ve always been playing plugged-in. Not only has playing unplugged caused me to be a “clacker” (in order to hear myself without the amp), but I also don’t play very cleanly, with good muting technique. If I’d been amped all these years, I think I would’ve naturally developed good muting habits out of self-preservation, to prevent the other strings from vibrating and ruining the sound of the *intended* note(s). But being unplugged, you don’t really hear the other strings vibrating and polluting the sound, so I never developed the necessary muting techniques. Playing almost exclusively unplugged has cost my development dearly. Play plugged-in, everyone! Learn the dangers of being “Unplugged” from my mistake.
This technique feels more natural and more technically clean, I’m just beginning my bass journey but this is the technique that I was taught to use. I’ve tried some other techniques and those my work for specific types of sound but this pulling technique seems to work in all aspects. Great lesson.
I am 100% a heavy handed clack right hand. Interesting and very accurate way to break down the way that attack works. Have dynamics and can play with different techniques and touches, but anytime the band is at full roar I'm in full clack attack. My own personal technique is to play ever so slightly in front of the beat, pushing jussst a bit. Landing late sounds like shit when you attack that hard.
Absolutely love this, adds dynamics but I find clack adds to easy in recording digitally with latency coming to play. Also as a metal player I recognise what you mean, also the Entwistle comment. Man's a god. Thanks for the heads up
I've found that spending some woodshed time on just your attack/pluck of the string, finding that perfect part of your finger to pull from and nailing your timing to a click or beat is THE best way to get your sound together in a super noticeable way. I'm a little unsure if the arm is actually playing a physical role in the sound, and I've heard conflicting perspectives about how it applies to upright, but at the very least it's engaging the physicality of your body and creating an idea of weight that sounds real good on strings. Zooming into that attack and timing IS everything! You are the man
OMG, I am a Clacker!! I've been playing for 40 years and this is the first time I've heard someone make sense of what I NEED to do instead of what I'm doing. Time to unlearn bad habits.
I've taken so much upright technique and put it on the electric. Sometimes even turning my hand so I can get that flipper action going. The more finger meat the better!
Indispensable lesson. I’ve never been taught and was starting, after many years of sh- playing, to intuit some of this. But to hear it said.... aAnd explained so well.... Many thanks
i have always played like that since i started playing bass. i have always used this technique because it gives a very precise consistent sound, and, it makes it easier to play fast.
I met Ian at a show his band Down and Above played sometime around 2001-2002 not sure. Talked to him between sets- they are an amazing band and he was just as friendly and energetic about music and gear as he is now. Just stumbled across this vid today and blurted out "I know this guy"! Ian are you still in Minneapolis??
When I was doing a summer program at Berklee a couple years ago, my instructor taught me this technique and it changed bass playing more for me than anything else at that program (including meeting and learning from Victor Wooten lol)
I love this. I spent years switching between upright and my fretless p-bass and I was always asking my electric-only bassists friends why they keep tickling the string. Tug into that thing and play it like you own it, but gently. It's key.
great lesson. A great bass player years ago showed me the same thing but used the samba as a way of teaching it..... everything just fell into place after that.
Nice video. Incidentally, that's how I pluck/pull through. I learned how to play Bass by playing an Electric Bass without an Amp (living in flats/apartments can do that to you). This really helped my tone and plucking hand big time! Having to play hard enough to hear yourself without an Amp does help.
I did it that way too (no amp at the beginning ) : I strengh my fingers but it doesn't help my tone. I was plucking too hard , I was rushing the tempo, and with an amp, that's sound without nuances... a coin have 2 faces, I guess :-)
@@alainbrasseur7083 true, but by the time I got to the Amp, I straightened out the weaknesses, but my tone was already kinda solid. Also teaching myself by playing with classic Roots Reggae Music helped my tone, learning all the bass lines of the 70's and 80's, which were mimicking Upright Bass and Fender Jazz/Motown records.
That's very similar to the "Rest Stroke'" in Classical Guitar where the finger tip moves 45 degrees down toward the instrument, with most of the motion from the fingers' large, 3rd knuckles. That produces a warm, powerful (& acoustically loud) sound. It's called "Rest Stroke' because the finger usually ends up "resting" on the lower string. Most fingerstyle guitarists play parallel to the instrument's top with fingers passing over lower strings; that's called a "Free Stroke."
Great illumination Ian, I’ve always thought that this playin’ technique was wrong on an electric Bass, but it sounded good to me and I kept doing it on R&B songs and on Rock n Roll tunes as well because the overall effect was a fat & warm matching with the Drums. Great tip! Thanks Bro.
I like this a lot. I have been playing like this for years without thinking about it. Could you do a lesson on left (or fingering hand) technique ? I have had the pleasure of talking to my bass Sensei, Gerald Veasley. He pointed out only using as much pressure as needed on your fretting hand to avoid fatigue. Love all of your lessons.
This is my problem, I’m sure of it. I put a lot of pressure on the string with my fretting hand, really *nailing it* to the fretboard to achieve each note, and my hand gets fatigued quickly. Speed and fluidity are probably compromised as well. I know this is an issue, yet fixing it seems near impossible. I want to lighten my pressure, but want to be sure I’m playing the note, not a ghost note or a harmonic.
Big Brother here, Ian it’s all about on the beat, behind the beat and ahead of the beat,all three techniques will have a place and having the ability to change up is crucial. It can create some very deep grooves and pockets, especially if the drummer really understands those concepts as well. Sorry I missed this vid, it’s one your better solo SBL vids
I can’t wait to dedicate some practice time to this idea! Like many who’ve already commented, I come from the Geddy Lee/Steve Harris/Geezer Butler when plucking with my fingers, and also like Ian, I’ve been rightfully accused of playing an upright too much like an electric. As much fun as I have wearing the in-your-face rock hat, it’s not always the most practical hat to wear on a given gig. Thank you immensely, Ian!
Having spent more time than I care to admit striving to become a mediocre guitar player, I very recently switched to bass, and feel I may have found my instrument, or at least my path for the moment. I have to say, I really appreciated your presentation here - your no-BS, no-schtick approach to conveying your info was welcome, and when I began to formulate a question and regret no being able to quiz you on a particular detail, you actually, miraculously anticipated my question and presented an answer. Many thanks, and I look forward to following your lessons👍
Welcome to the bass world! 🎸🎶 We're thrilled you're part of the journey, and it's awesome to hear our approach resonates with you. Keep that bass momentum going strong, and we're here with you every step of the way. 🤘🔥
i think youre technique could help me have a better tone on acoustic bass ,because when you hear that clack on acoustic it kills the note but with that technique i think i can make it work
Hey guyz this is a recommendation:Could you please make a 5 minute Lesson on Arpegios with tabs like the walking bass one?I think a lot of people would find this useful... Also the videos were you teach us about certain bass players like the one about Sting or Jaco they are really interesting please keep doing these kind of videos
I think this technique, like muting techniques, makes your playing really intentional because you're deciding on how you're going to play before you play the note. It feels like you really land on it
