Bass Guitar Techniques Explained | Fingerstyle, Pick & Slap

The bass guitar is a stunning and unique instrument that sometimes falls into the shadows. It has the sonorous power to shake our very hearts at concerts, and its four strings offer untapped potential to all who feel captivated by its low frequencies. But where do you start if you want to learn how to play bass yourself? Due to its melodic yet percussive nature, the bass offers many ways of tapping into its low-end power. In this article, we’ll walk you through the three main styles of bass playing: fingerstyle, pick, and slap. Whichever you choose to learn first, cultivating an understanding of each style is a good idea. Doing this will boost your skill level and help you become a well-rounded player who integrates with different genres and adds flare to any bass line you create. So, let’s get started!

What’s the Fingerstyle Method?How to Play FingerstyleBassists Who Use FingerstyleWhat’s the Pick Method?How to Play with a PickBassists Who Use a PickHow to Choose a PickWhat’s the Slap Technique?How to SlapBassists Who Slap

What’s the Fingerstyle Method? 

Let’s start with the first style that most players learn: fingerstyle! This type of playing incorporates the tips of your fingers to strike the strings. It’s a very expressive and almost intuitive form of playing the bass. It’s also the way double bassists often play their upright instruments. This style creates a rich, full, and warm sound from the strings and allows you to incorporate intricate dynamics into your playing. With fingerstyle, you can play multiple strings simultaneously compared to playing a single string using a pick. Plucking the strings fingerstyle is a great way to play bass in any genre, but it’s especially at home in genres like folk, blues, jazz, and country, where the bass requires a more mellow sound.

How to Play Fingerstyle

So, how does one play fingerstyle? You’ll find many examples of the “correct” technique, but it ultimately boils down to using your fingertips or nails to pull upward toward your thumb on the strings. To start, rest your thumb on the top of the pickup or thumb rest or anchor it on the low E string. This forms the “home position” of your technique. Beginners should start using their index and third fingers, but as you grow your skills, you can incorporate the other fingers as well!

Bassists Who Use Fingerstyle

Joe Dart from Vulfpeck is often cited as a modern example of exceptional fingerstyle technique, staying in the pocket of the rhythm and going all funk when the mood hits him. You start understanding why songs like “Dean Town” by Vulfpeck are so impressive. Here, Dart plays a constant rhythm with only his fingers. He keeps up a consistent attack that makes the song sound smooth and effortless.

Another classic example of superb fingerstyle technique came from John Entwistle of the Who. Revered as one of rock’s best bassists, Entwistle had incredible fingerstyle poise, power, and rhythmic inspiration. With his technique, he turned the bass into a lead instrument, creating bass lines that felt incredibly melodic but sat right in the pocket of the drums and guitar. In the video below, you can see how he drew a powerful sound out of his instrument.

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What’s the Pick Method? 

You may have heard someone say: “You can’t play bass with a pick!” Yeah, that’s not true. You can absolutely play bass with a pick. Bassists have played the bass guitar with picks since the electric bass first gained popularity! Whether you “should” or not depends entirely on the sound and playability you want from your bass. Unlike fingerstyle, the pick method requires you to strike one string at a time. It also creates a different tonal quality from the string’s vibrations. It creates a harder and sharper driving tone that’s different from fingerstyle’s warm and round tones. You’ll also find that, depending on where you strike the strings, you can elicit different tonal qualities from the bass itself — feel free to experiment with this! Pick style suits nearly any genre, but rock and metal bassists are particularly fond of its powerful energy.

How to Play with a Pick

If you’re a guitarist switching to bass, then this will feel like second nature to you. But players new to the bass guitar will benefit from a few key concepts. You should position the pick between your thumb and forefinger. The pick should be held firmly but relaxed enough not to hamper your movement. The pick will let you dig into the notes, allowing for more guitar-like playing. You can dig in with a single downward stroke for simple riffs and incorporate upward strokes when playing something faster. This method also sets you up to play chords later on.   

Bassists Who Use a Pick

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd used a pick for most of his career and continues to do so. He generates incredibly deep and powerful grooves by striking close to the tailpiece of his Fender Precision Bass. Check the video and song link below to see Water’s pick technique in action. In Pink Floyd’s “Let There Be More Light,” Waters attacks the strings with his pick and a unique fretting pattern. He also famously combined muted strings and picking to create a clock-like effect at the beginning of Pink Floyd’s “Time.”

While Waters is a great example, he is by no means the only bassist of fame to use a pick. Other inspiring players to use a pick include Carol Kaye, Chris Squire, Jean-Michel Labadie, Lemmy, and even Paul McCartney. In fact, Kaye started as an electric guitarist and then switched to the bass for session gigs. She has stamped her mark on countless hits with infectious bass lines. The pick has always been a legitimate style of playing the bass!

How to Choose a Pick 

There are many pick types, sizes, shapes, and designs to choose from. Sometimes, finding the right pick comes from trial and error. Sometimes, you use a sixpence coin — no, wait, maybe don’t do that. A good rule of thumb is to buy thick and heavy picks to contend with the bass strings.

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What’s the Slap Technique? 

“Slap that bass!” We’ve all heard the phrase, but how do you do it? The technique of slapping involves slapping (of course) your thumb against the string, effectively hitting it against the fretboard. That’s where you get the distinctive, loud slap sound. Because the bass guitar is as percussive as it is melodic, slap is the perfect style to bring out the best of both worlds! This may be difficult to learn for beginners, so you may want to save learning slap until you have a grasp of pluck and pick fundamentals.

How to Slap

To slap, start by focusing on your slap/pluck/pick hand. Make a thumbs-up and curl your fingers toward your palm without actually touching it. Keep your hand relaxed — you’ll be surprised by how little force you need. The motion of the slap resides in the rotation of the wrist, but you can add some arm in, too. Give the strings a thump at the bottom of the fretboard by using the outside edge of your thumb’s knuckle (the part nearest the bass), and keep your thumb parallel to the strings. Try to keep a consistent tone and attack. Keep practicing the motion of striking each string by itself and generating an even sound, and you’ll have excellent technique in no time.  

Slapping can also involve muting and popping. Muting is when you apply slight pressure above the note with your fretting hand to lessen the vibrational impact of your other hand striking it. Popping is when you pull up on a string with your index or middle finger and then release the string in a snapping movement to create a pop-like sound, similar to releasing the string on an archery bow.

Bassists Who Slap

Slap experts like Louis “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, Larry Graham, and Flea, to name a few, have used a combination of slapping, popping, and muting movements to create out-of-this-world percussive bass lines. Graham equates the slap-and-pop style to a drum kit’s bass and snare drum. In other words, it’s a superb tool to put more soul and rhythmic flare into your bass lines. Watch the video below for a comprehensive slap lesson from bass legend Victor Wooten.

Check out the tone and rhythm from Primus’s “My Name Is Mud.” Perhaps best known for the South Park theme song, Primus is also well known for Les Claypool’s wacky and unique bass lines. In this song, Claypool has excellent control over his slap attack speed and consistency, garnering a heavy, percussive, and metallic sound from the strings that sounds wicked cool.

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Have Fun & Stay Inspired!

Fingerstyle, pick, and slap — these three main styles of bass playing will set you up with a solid foundation of bass guitar knowledge. With this trinity of bass techniques, you can take the stage by storm in no time! After all, the journey of learning bass is as fun as it is rewarding. Continue to challenge yourself, and you’ll be surprised at how far you can go and how fast your fingers fly.

Have more questions about bass techniques or want to know which bass guitar is right for you? We thought you might. That’s why our knowledgeable Sweetwater Sales Engineers are standing by at (800) 222-4700 to field any questions! Lastly, check out the Sweetwater content below if you crave even more low-end enlightenment.

25 Groundbreaking Bass Players Through the Decades

History of the Electric Bass Guitar

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