Guitar Right Hand Tone
In developing your bass technique, your right hand plays a major role. For example, the position of your hand can greatly alter your tone and open up sonic possibilities to alter your style. Just move your right hand toward the bridge and you’ll notice you get a much thinner, more percussive sound. It’s perfect for articulated funk and jazz lines.
Closer to the neck yields a warmer, fatter sound, which is suited to ballads or songs where you want a thick, full bottom end. By experimenting with hand position, you can spice up a static bass line and add interest by staking out a slightly different territory in the mix.
Nathan East grows out the fingernail on the index finger of his right hand so that he can instantly use it to “pick” notes, just as you would with a plectrum. The resulting sound is very guitar-like when used on the upper bass strings, higher up the neck. He also uses the front of his nail along with the back of his nail to simulate two finger rapid 8th or 16th notes with a pick-like sound. By “flicking” his finger back and forth, he gets the same effect as a two finger technique, but he gets the added attack of the fingernail on both sides.
The Fourplay song "101 Eastbound", utilizes many of these bass techniques and the bass lesson above includes the techniques along with Nathan playing the song to illustrate just how important the right hand is in differentiating your sound and adding interest to your basslines.
Watch Nathan's Free Bass Lessons |
There are several free sample bass lessons over at the ArtistWorks Electric Bass School with Nathan East you can get by filling out the form. To find out more info about the Online Electric Bass School with Nathan East visit www.nathaneastbass.com.
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