This post will cover the two finger technique that is extremely popular for bass players. It involves the index and the middle finger, playing alternately.
Position the bass guitar on your lap and rest your fingers on the E string (The thickest string). You may find it comfortable to rest your thumb on the pickup, it’s your preference (Here is a picture).
Drag your finger across the thickest string, from the bottom part of the string, pulling the string upwards towards you. Do not dig under the string, there should only be a small amount of resistance and you should hear the note ring out.
The tab below uses the number 1 to represent your index finger and number 2 to represent your middle finger. Play this pattern progressively faster!
You will start to develop calluses on your strumming hand’s fingers. These hurt initially but are an integral part of you growing as a bass player!
Leave a comment if this was unclear or if you have any other questions!
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Hi Lisa thank you for the invitation. We sort of met when you ptesod the 3 chord carols on You Tube & I appreciate your invitation to join your community here. I just read thru’ most of the posts here & recognized Jim Scanlan from Acoustic Guitar Community. Jim & I have spoken a number of times there but what a small world this music world is really! Hi Jim!I also noticed there were a number of people here with special things to overcome & I am among them. I began playing at the age of 12. Self taught for the most part using an old Harmony Jamboree guitar that a friend of my mothers left at our house for a year. It came with a little cardboard card with chord finger diagrams & I experimented from those until I was able to play.From there I was in a band for 8 years as a rhythm guitarist. I didn’t do much singing have about a one octave range & could do voice overs for Minnie Mouse. But I loved my guitar! At that time I had a Gibson LG1 & my beloved soulmate, a 1964 Framus Falcon12 a guitar that was almost destroyed when movers stored it unprotected in desert heat for 10 months. More on that in a moment.Things in my life were going along smoothly til May of 2001 when I had a brain aneurysm which paralyzed my left side. End of guitar playing, plus a few other things for awhile.But then the move from Vegas & the (almost) destruction of my beautiful Framus. I found a very talented man who works at Martin guitars & he repaired my guitar. At that point I thought if my baby can be fixed & ready to play again, so can I! And I felt that if I was going to have to relearn everything, why not learn to finger pick or flat pick something I’d wanted to do my entire life!It was that determination which brought me to your 3 chord carols on You Tube & here I am today. My hand works, I have all the tools I need in my brain to play, but just need to get the message from the brain to the fingers. For some reason your method has enabled me & it is happening. Glacially slow, but happening! =)I look forward to getting better yet with your assistance. Thanks for being here. ♥~Ginger~