great bass players with terrible technique, are there any?

[iconic]

I have shocking technique, but I'm not a great bass player or famous.... my fingers are all over my fretboard like tramp over a bag of chips...having fingers like fat bangers that I've broke more times than I can rememer doesn't help me I'm sure....I look at the great smooth players and they seem to have fingers like racing snakes, all thin, long and bendy.

....I used to be a real golf nut, there were some fantastic pro-golfers who had poor swings (golf technique), more than one have had golf coaching to try and improve their swings only to find it cost them a lot of games and a lot of money...even the great Jack Nicklaus never had the best of swings, but didn't hold him back...


I was wondering if the same exists in the world of the great bassists...?

Edited November 13, 2012 by iconic

[Skol303]

Interesting topic. Metallica'a former bassist Cliff Burton (RIP) springs to mind. A very creative and enigmatic player in his day, but also a tad sloppy when playing live. Certainly not 'terrible' but not the tightest of players.

That said, you could never fault his energy and presence on stage. And his chops were way beyond those of many other metal bassists on the scene during the 80s.

He inspired me to pick up a bass as a greasy teenager, so perhaps I'm in no place to criticise!

[mep]

James Jamerson with his 'hook' one finger technique? He made it his own and sounded great. Not sure if you would call it terrible technique, but 2 fingers are generally considered as being 'normal' technique. If I played with just 1 finger I would sound crap. Even with 2 fingers I would struggle to play some of his lines.

[stingrayPete1977]

Peter Hook bass round your knees?

[visog]

Depends what you mean by great or terrible technique. What was good in the 70's is pretty rudimentary compared with today's players like Willis, Erskine, Grey et al.... Also musicality goes way beyond technique... Sting's right-hand technique consists of occasional thumb downstrokes these days and he's probably the richest bass player out there right now. Maybe McCartney and he's no Mat Garrison but on the other hand, he's ranked with the most important composers of the last century.

[Guest bassman7755]

Geddy Lee has the most shockingly inefficiently plucking hand technique on the planet, he defies the very laws of physics to play so many notes so quickly with it. His only real competition in the famous-musician-with-shocking-technique stakes was garry moore.

[Blackbird88]

Duff McKagan - He plays with a pick

[darkandrew]

I suppose you could probably argue the reverse also - ie. that many bass players have great technique but are boring.

Edited November 13, 2012 by darkandrew

[chris_b]

If a player can play well enough to be considered great then I would say his technique is beyond criticism.

[Musky]

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1352850813' post='1868533']
I suppose you could probably argue the reverse also - ie. that many bass players have great technique but are boring.
[/quote]
True. Technique should be the means to an end, not the end in itself.

[Conan]

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1352852378' post='1868554']
Technique should be the means to an end, not the end in itself.
[/quote]

Brilliant! Nail on the head.

The only way a technique could be considered poor/weak/ineffective/inefficient is if it prevents the player playing the notes he hears in his head. Or her head

[chris_b]

[size=4]I checked YouTube after the last thread telling us that we would all be better players by using a floating thumb technique.

These "great" players anchor, without any ill effect it seems:[/size]

[size=4][font=Arial][font=Arial]John Patitucci[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Stanley[/font][/font][font=Arial][font=Arial] Clark[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Marcus Millar playing with fingers[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Mark King playing with fingers[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]John Deacon[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]John Paul Jones[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Frances Rocco Prestia[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Chuck Rainey[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Victor Wooten playing with Bela Flek[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Freddie Washington[/font][/font]
[font=Arial][font=Arial]Tal Wilkenfeld[/font][/font][/size]

[BigRedX]

Great players are ones who play great things. The technique is irrelevant. IME people who are too hung up on technique generally don't much to offer in the way of interesting and musical parts.

[chris_b]

+1

[Conan]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1352880463' post='1868642']
Great players are ones who play great things. The technique is irrelevant. IME people who are too hung up on technique generally don't much to offer in the way of interesting and musical parts.
[/quote]

I like that!! Mind if I use it in my sig?

[MiltyG565]

flea. his right hand technique is shockingly rough. listen to any RHCP bass master track.

[Shockwave]

The worst in my mind would be Nick Karns Technique god rest his soul. His plucking fingers are held out completely straight at all times.

[Looper]

John Paul Jones can be seen playing with his thumb over the top of the neck. Many would consider that poor technique!

[Conan]

How about Jimmy Haslip? Playing a right handed bass upside down (kind of)? Is that really brilliant or really terrible technique? Anchored thumb as well!! How dare this guy call himself a professional?!?!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfsH3MkRgE0[/media]

Edited November 14, 2012 by Conan

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1352880463' post='1868642']
Great players are ones who play great things. The technique is irrelevant. IME people who are too hung up on technique generally don't much to offer in the way of interesting and musical parts.
[/quote]

+1.

So long as their technique isn't physically damaging them then the notes they're playing is what matters, not how they do it.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Looper' timestamp='1352882424' post='1868670']
John Paul Jones can be seen playing with his thumb over the top of the neck. Many would consider that poor technique!
[/quote]

I think that can be seen as good technique. If you think about it, if your thumb was always directly on the back of the neck where you are fretting, you are going to injure yourself sooner or later. Yes, it is good technique most of the time to play like that, but i wouldn't stick to it as a law of bass technique, good technique should also mean not doing something that could injure you.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1352880982' post='1868649']
I like that!! Mind if I use it in my sig?
[/quote]

Really? Feel free!

[Roland Rock]

BRX, if you don't mind me saying, you have quite an unconventional left hand technique, certainly not economical, but somehow in keeping with the energy of the band, and it sounds great. Like you say, if one achieves what one sets out to do, who cares how it was achieved.





Btw, there are similar points being made in the 'Economy of Motion' thread in the techniques forum.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Roland Rock

[fumps]

Cool I started reading this thread feeling a litle threatened (My technique is sloppy to say the least) but because the latter part of the thread goes into my way of thinking, I feel much better now.

I've never really understood the technique thing. The way I view music is that the be all & end all is what is comming out of the speakers, it does not really matter who did it & how. The sound, texture & track is what it's all about.

[razze06]

When I took bass lessons for the first time, many years into my "career", I was afraid the classically trained bass player I hired would come down really hard on my left and right hand technique.

Surprisingly he didn't. He gave me a few exercises for the left hand, and stated that as long as I could play all I wanted comfortably, I was just fine.

On the other hand, if I wanted to go particularly fast or achieve other special results, I would have to re-learn a few things. Fantastic advice, i've been going with that all the time.