Thumb Position

A Contemporary Approach For Electric Bass

By Cliff Engel
8va
œ œ #œ
One-Octave G Major Scale
?4 œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ
1

4 œ œ œ œ œ œ

T
12 12
A 12 14 16 16 14 12
B 12 14 15 15 14 12
15 15

2 T 1 2 T 1 2 T T 2 1 T 2 1 T 2

œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
Two-Octave G Major Scale
? œ # œ œ œ œ œœ
œ œœ œœ
3

T 16 17 19 21 23 24 24 23 21 19 17 16
A 16 17 19 19 17 16
B 15 17 19 19 17 15
15 17 19 19 17 15

T 1 2 T 1 2 T 1 2 T 1 2 T 1 2 2 1 T 2 1 T 2 1 T 2 1 T 2 1 T

GMaj7 Arpeggio
œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ #œ
? œ #œ œ
5

œ œ œ œ

T 16 19 23 19 16
A 16 17 17 16
B 17 17
15 19 19 15

T 2 1 T 1 T 1 3 1 T 1 T 1 2 T

œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ
G7 Arpeggio
? œ œ œ œ
7

œ œ œ œ

T 16 19 22 19 16
A 15 17 17 15
B 17 17
15 19 19 15

T 2 1 T 1 T 1 3 1 T 1 T 1 2 T
© 2004 Cliff Engel
 œ œ œ bœ
œ bœ œ
Gm7 Arpeggio
? œ œ œ œ bœ
9

œ bœ œ

T
15 19 22 19 15
A 15 17 17 15
B 17 17
15 18 18 15

T 2 1 T 1 T 1 3 1 T 1 T 1 2 T

Acoustic upright bassists have been utilizing a technique called thumb position for centuries, primarily
as a necessity to access the notes located on the upper half of the upright bass. By simply placing the
thumb on the fingerboard, an upright player can achieve easy access to the highest registers on the bass.
Although the electric bass is a considerably younger instrument as compared to its upright predecessor,
the electric bass and the techniques employed by electric bassists have advanced at a much quicker pace
than that of the upright bass. Yet, it has only been within the last decade or so that electric bassists have
begun to incorporate the very applicable technique of thumb position into their playing. Two electric
bassists who have become widely recognized for their thumb position techniques are virtuosos Brian
Bromberg and Steve Bailey. In this lesson, we are going to borrow the concept of thumb position from
acoustic upright bassists and apply this technique to electric bass.

There are numerous benefits to be gained with thumb position on electric bass. By incorporating thumb
position in the upper registers, even bassists with relatively small hands can span two octaves or more
without shifting out of position, something that would be physically impossible with standard fretting
technique. With thumb position, the fretting hand can cover a wider interval distance from a much more
relaxed position. Now, the electric bassist can play artificial harmonics and extended voicings including
double, triple, and even quadruple-stops on the bass with ease. Thumb position on electric bass can
prove to be exceptionally beneficial to those bassists who play instruments with shallow cutaways which
limit access to the very uppermost notes.

From a technical point of view, thumb position is easy to learn and apply to almost any musical situation
on electric bass. To play in thumb position, simply place the fretting hand thumb across the strings,
similar to standard technique, while fretting the notes on the side of the thumb with the part between the
first joint and thumbnail. The index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers should all remain slightly curved,
while not collapsing and bending inwards, when fretting notes within close positions. When lines or
chordal-based material of compound intervals require more of an open position with the fretting hand,
the fingers will fret notes with less curvature and make contact with the strings on more of the ball rather
than near the tip. Unlike upright players who must deal with a much longer string length and a much
more physically demanding instrument as a whole, electric bassists can also easily employ the third and
fourth fingers on the fretting hand in thumb position. In thumb position, electric bassists now have five
digits on their fretting hand to utilize if necessary.

This lesson consists of a basic collection of exercises to get you started with playing in thumb position.
The notation found in the bass clef is to be played one octave higher than notated. Tablature has been
included to reference positions on the fretboard, and suggested fingerings are located underneath the
tablature. Keep in mind that these are only a few of the almost limitless examples and fingerings you
could apply with the thumb position concept. Experiment with as many of the alternate fingerings as
possible. First, there are two versions of the G Major scale, in both one and two octaves. Then, there
are GMaj7, G7, and Gm7 two-octave arpeggios. After internalizing these exercises, apply this concept
to everything else you already know how to play with standard technique including scales, arpeggios,
and so on.
Bass Notation Legend
T = Thumb
1 = Index Finger
2 = Middle Finger
3 = Ring Finger