Beginner Bass Base: Fretting-Hand Finger Permutations
MASTER BASS EDUCATOR PATRICK PFEIFFER HELPS BUILD EVERY ELEMENT OF YOUR PLAYING WITH HIS BEGINNER BASS BASE COLUMN
By Patrick Pfeiffer
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN BASS MAGAZINE, MARCH 2019
You are a bass player. Perhaps you’ve just recently discovered this magnificent instrument, perhaps you’ve been playing a long time and are glancing at this column to check if you need to fill in any gaps. Be that as it may, Beginner Bass Base is designed to make you a better bassist. It is focused on beginners, the players who are full of passion for the rhythmic low frequencies and are seeking the tools to express themselves as musicians. About all I expect you to know is that when you strap on your bass, you make sure that your strings are on the outside. My fervent hope is to reach you with these exercises and etudes so as to instill good habits before you have the chance to develop any bad ones. Within the first few columns of Beginner Bass Base, you can collect enough material to design a focused, productive and time-efficient warm-up routine that takes you through all the physical aspects of bass playing, and that strengthens your technique so you’re able to convey through your bass what you hear in your head.
…and so it begins…
Imagine…a perfect day. The morning sun is rising into a clear blue sky, its rays reflecting in the dewdrops on the lush green grass. You’re well rested and in a most joyful mood, and the only item on your agenda for this day is…practicing bass. You practically bounce into your bass corner, strap on your favorite bass guitar, tune, and now what…? So you just start noodling, waiting for inspiration to strike, but on a perfect day like today, inspiration seems to have decided to take the day off and hit the beach.
Fear not, bass brethren! This column shows you how to set up a perfect bass practice session that covers technique (finger exercises, shifting, string crossing, timing) and theory (scales, modes, arpeggios, rhythms, grooves, solos), and still leaves you with
plenty of opportunity to spaghetti…er…noodle. It’s about practicing with a purpose. It’s about making you a better bassist…and musician. The etudes I introduce in this column all serve a single purpose: to improve your bass playing, and I promise you I won’t waste your precious practice time. These etudes pack a punch and all you have to do is…do them, no matter whether you’re an un-bloodied beginner or a grizzled veteran.
This month’s etude is a collection of finger exercises that strengthen your fretting hand and help gain finger independence so you can play any groove, lick, riff or phrase with ease and authority. It is one of my personal all-time favorites and something I put myself through every single day…because it works. Place your fretting hand (usually your left, unless you’re playing lefty, in which case it would be your right hand) on your bass neck with your fingertips on one of the strings. Try starting with your index finger on the third fret of the E-string (the note name is G). Now, spread your fingers to cover four frets, one
finger per fret. This means that all your fingers are on the E-string and they cover the third, fourth, fifth and sixth frets: the index finger covers the third fret, the middle finger the fourth, the ring finger the fifth and the pinky covers the sixth fret. The notes are G, G#, A and A#. Don’t worry if you feel your hand doesn’t stretch enough. It’s more important to keep the fretting hand somewhat relaxed and to use “mini-shifts” to reach each fret with the correct fingers. Ideally, each finger should land just behind the fret to produce the cleanest note.
Each finger is assigned a number:
1 – Index Finger
2 – Middle Finger
3 – Ring Finger
4 – Pinky
Starting on the third fret of the E-string, play fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 in succession (you’re playing the note on the third fret, then on the fourth, fifth and finally on the sixth fret of the E-string). Cross to the next string, the A-string, and repeat the sequence. Do the same on the D-string and the G-string (hey, I heard that snicker when you read G-string. Keep it clean!). When you reach the G-string, reverse course and work your way back down with the same finger combination to the E-string. Play this exercise in both directions, from the E-string to the G-string, and then from the G-string back to the E-string. In this way, your fingers become accustomed to moving across the strings in both directions.
This finger exercise has a total of 24 permutations…and you need to do them all so you can easily move in any direction from any point on your bass. This helps you avoid giving preference to one finger. You can divide the permutations into four columns, each starting with a different finger.
Column 1:
1234
1243
1324
1342
1423
1432
Column 2:
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
Column 3:
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
Column 4:
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
Just work your way down from the top of the first column to the bottom and then go on to the top of the next column. Check out the notation and follow along. The results are practically instantaneous, so keep at it. As you get more comfortable with the etude, add a metronome and play along to a click. This etude forms the basis for an entire arsenal of exercises, so you may as well get on friendly terms with it. Enjoy and savor the low frequencies!
[P.S.: For the music theory geeks…the accidentals in the notation apply throughout the measure but only in that octave.]