There are many ways to sound a note or phrase on the bass guitar. Here we’ll cover a few techniques which will give you access to different sounds. For clarity, I’ve chosen to used numbers to refer to the fingers of the left hand (a reminder: 1=index, 2=middle, 3=ring, 4=pinky) which still using i, m, r, and p to refer to the fingers of the right hand.
Hammer-ons
When you first start playing bass, you will tend to pluck every note with your right hand. This is a good habit to get into, but there are other ways of sounding notes which give different sounds and which allow you to execute certain passages with more speed (at least, until you increase your right hand dexterity, which we’ll also cover). When you are playing two or more notes on the same string, you might choose to pluck on the first one and then sound the other two simply by fretting them (with force) with other fingers of your left hand:
---------- ---------- -5h7------ ---------- 1h3 (left hand) i (right hand)
This process is called a hammer-on. Practice keeping the volume of the two notes at the same (or close to the same) level. This will be hard at first, but you’ll get the hang of it. Try playing an entire series of hammer-ons, plucking the first note of each group and hammering the second.
-------------- -------------- -5h7-5h7-5h7-- etc. -------------- 1h3 1h3 1h3 . . . (left hand) i m i (right hand)
Pull-offs
The hammer-on works fine for going from a lower note to a higher one, but for reversing the process we need another technique: the pull off. This technique takes a little more practice than the previous one. To pull off from one note to another, you pluck the first note and then take take your finger off the note so that the lower note will sound. The trouble is that if you simply remove your finger, the lower note will not have much volume, so you must pull the note to the side a little with the finger of your fretting hand (essentially you will be plucking it with your left hand) to insure that the lower note has enough volume:
--------------- --------------- -7p5-7p5-7p5--- etc. --------------- 3p1 3p1 3p1 . . . (Left hand) i m i (right hand)
Combining Hammer-ons and Pull-offs
You can combine hammers and pull-offs to play this lick up and back down:
-------------------------- -------------------------- -------5h7h8-8p7p5-------- -5h7h8-------------8p7p5-- 1h3h4 1h3h4 4p3p1 4p3p1 (left hand) i m i m (right hand)
These techniques are particularly useful when you need to play three notes that are close together on the same string, as in this minor scale lick (play as triplets or sextuplets):
--------------- --------------- -------5h7h8--- -5h7h8--------- 1h3h4 1h3h4 (left hand) i m (right hand)
When you get really good at hammer-ons and pull-offs, you will be able to play repeating licks for as long as you want by plucking only the first note and using the strength of your pull-offs to keep the notes sounding:
-7h8p7p5h7h8p7p5-- etc. ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ 3h4p3p1h3h4p3p1 . . . (left hand) i (right hand)
In fact, once your left hand is strong, you don’t even have to use your right hand to start the first note, you can hammer it too (though you’ll generally get a more volume if you pluck the first note). Just slam your left hand finger down on the fretboard at the spot right behind the fret where you’d normally finger the note in question. Some players expand this technique a lot by using it with their right hand to fret notes high on the neck while using their left hand to finger notes lower on the neck (a technique called “two-handed tapping” or just “tapping.” We’ll get to that later).
Slides
Another often used technique is the slide. To slide, you simply pluck the first note and then slide your left hand up or down the neck while pressing down as if you were fretting the note. I’ve used a slash (/) in the tab to indicate a slide up the neck (from a lower note to a higher one) and a back slash (\) to indicate a slide down the neck (from a higher note to a lower one). For the fingering, I’ve used an “s” to indicate a slide (the direction should be obvious):
------------- ------------- -3/5-5\3----- ------------- 1s1 1s1 (left hand; s=slide) i i (right hand)
In the above example, we puck the first note, slide it up to the fifth fret, pluck the note again, and slide back down to the third fret. The entire passage is played with on one finger of the left hand.
Sliding is a technique which really exploits the sound of the bass to advantage. Often players will make a dramatic slide to emphasize the first note of a song or to emphasize a change in parts in a song. You might play a slide like this one to start a song (or a part of a song) where the first note of the measure is A:
--------------- --------------- --------------- -12\5---------- 1 s1 (left hand) i (right hand)
For emphasis, you might want to pluck the fifth fret note (A) when you arrive (and not count only on the slide to provide the volume for the note):
--------------- --------------- --------------- -12\5---------- 1 s1 (left hand) i i (right hand)
Bends
Bending is a technique that originates with blues guitarists. To bend a note you increase the tension of the string (and the pitch of the note) by pushing the string across the fretboard so that it sounds a higher note. How far you can bend a note depends upon your bass, your strings, and the strength of your hands. Generally, you’ll be bending either one half step up (i.e. so that the pitch of the bent note is the same as the pitch if you had fretted the note one fret higher) or one whole step up (ie. so that it sounds the pitch of a note two frets higher up the neck). Below the tab, I’ve used “b” to indicate a bend and I indicate in parenthesis how far you should bend it (i.e. 1= one whole step, 1/2 = one half step). The note on the tab in parenthesis indicates the pitch you should be sounding. It’s there for a reference.
--5-(6)----- ------------ ------------ ------------ 3b(1/2) (left hand) i (right hand)
Guitarists often bend notes up a whole step (two frets) or even further. On the bass, due to the higher string tension, this can be quite difficult, but half step (i.e. one fret, like the one above) bends are easy and add a lot of color to your playing.
Intonation is very important when bending notes. You can check your self by comparing the fretted note with your bent one, as in this example:
--7-8-- --7-(8)-- ------- --------- ------- --------- ------- --------- 3 4 3b(1/2) (left hand) i m i (right hand)
Bends are easier in the upper register and on the higher strings. They’re also easier with your third (as in the examples above) finger, since you can also use your first and second finger on the same string to support your third finger.
Assuming your bass has a moderate amount of sustain, you can get even more mileage out of bends by bending up to a note and then releasing back to the original note. To indicate a quick bend and release, I’ll use “b&r.” The number in parenthesis on the tablature will still indicate your target note, while the note in parenthesis below the staff will tell you the number of steps or half steps you should be bending. The first example frets every note while the second example uses a bend.
--7-8-7-- --7-(8)-(7)- --------- ------------ --------- ------------ --------- ------------ 3 4 3 3b&r(1/2) (left hand) i m i i (right hand)
You could, of course, bend and release several times without using your right hand to sound a new note. Likewise, you can bend string to produce one note and then bend it further to produce another. The possibilities are endless. Experiment a bit and you will come up with a lot of different ways to incorporate bends into your playing.
Ghost Bends
The ghost bend is one of my favorite blues techniques. It’s a very simple, but highly expressive one as well. To produce a ghost bend, you take any note and bend it up (without sounding it) then strike the bent string and release it. What you get is a sound which begins at a stable pitch and then descends (the same sort of effect that you’d get by tastefully using a whammy bar on a guitar). And you can coax a lot of expression out of it by controlling the speed of that decent and by adding other effects like vibrato.
Vibrato
Vibrato is a difficulty technique but one that really distinguishes a great player from a good one. Some players build a good bit of their personal style around their vibrato technique (e.g. B. B. King). Essentially, vibrato is achieved by a series of tiny bends and releases on any given note. But you don’t generally use the same technique that you would use to bend a note a half step (as in the bends and ghost bends above). To achieve the right speed, most players perform vibrato using their wrists.
The trick to vibrato is to cradle the neck in your hand and loosen up your wrist so that you can get a quick rocking motion. You can vary the amount of vibrato and its speed to produce different effects.
It’s hard to notate vibrato in tablature, but in your own playing you’ll never need to notate it anyway. It will become second nature to you. And you will decide when to vibrato a note and when not to on the fly. Many soloists vibrato almost any note which is allowed to ring for any length of time as vibrato increases sustain and helps to make the note sing.