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MODERI{WALKNG BASSTECHNIQTIE
Volume
A Contemporary
RhythmicApproach
By Mike Richrnond

JazzBassLinesFor
StringBass
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Arrangers
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Endorsedby: I
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EddieGomez
Dave Holland
Jaco Pastorius _r- q
GeorgeMraz
DavidBaker rZz:;:qg_a
DonSebesky
Rick Laird(GuitarWorld)
Dr.JohnKuzmich,Jr. (Natl.Assoc.of Jazz Educators)
Herb Mickman(lnternationalSocietyof Bassists)

Ped XingMusic
PROPER TECHNIQUEFOR PLAYNG THE BASSVIOLN

I-..eftHand and Arm Positions

The left arm is almost In thumb position never

parallel to the ground, rest the left arm on the
allowing the left hand to shoulder of the bass.
be plaeedproperlyover Only the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd
the fingerboard. fingers of the left hand are
u s e di n t h u m b p o s i t i o n .

Position of the thumb

behindthe fingerboard.

10
 Right Hand Technique

To executethe rhythmic techniques

in this book the use
of the lst and 2nd fingerson the right
hand is necessary.
They are alternated on the samJ
stringi and adjacent
strings.

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 When the skip precedesa note from the string below, the
lst and 2nd fingers of the right hand can be used to play
the skip and the followingnote.

L . H . 4 1 2 1 0 0

R.H. 2

When a skip stays on the same string different combina-

tions of the 1st and 2nd fingers of the right hand.are
used.

L. H.

R.H.

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 GHOST SKIPS

Ghostskipsare rhythmicallyplayedlike skipsbut do not

havea definitepitch. They have a very crisp sound of a
snapor a click,creatinga very percussive
effect.

When the ghostskip is playedon the samestringor on the

string above the following note, the left hand applies
slight pressure(the left hand does not pressthe string
completelyto the fingerboard)to the open (ghost)string
with the samefingerto be usedon the followi,.Jnote.

The ghost skip is markedwith an "X" on the staff for

the open string that is ghosted. ln the following
examplesthe left hand fingeringfor the ghost skip is
m a r k e d i n s i d ea c i r c l e . R i g h t h a n d f i n g e r i n g sf o r t h e
ghostskip are the sameas for the skip.

This exampledemonstratesthe ghost skip on the same

stringas the followingnote.

The 2nd finger of the left hand appliesslight pressureto

the D stringbeforefingeringthe E on the samestring.

L .H .

18
 i;':'-":'

The 4th finger of the left hand appliesslight pressureto

the G string at the first joint. This allowsthe 4th finger
to be in positionto finger the F on the D string without
excessmovementfrom the ghostedstring.

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 This example demonstrates the ghost skip on the string
below the fol lowing note.

L.H.

The 2nd finger of the right In the same motion, the

hand picks the open side of the lst finger on
D (ghost)string. the right hand immedi-
ately applies pressure to
the D string, cutting
off the tone as it picks the
following open G string.

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 ;w

The lst finger of the left hand fingers the Ab on the G

string as the 1st finger of the right hand picks the G
string.

25
T h e 1 s t f i n g e r o f t h e l e f t h a n d p i c k st h e G s t r i n g a st h e
right hand lifts off the G string.

26
The pull-off is completed with the lst finger of the
right handpickingthe openG string.

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The pull-off is most commonly used on the G string but
it is also possibleon the D and A strings. Pull-offs are not
used on the E string becauseit is difficult to achieve the
p r o p e rc l a r i t yd u e t o t h e t h i c k n e s so f t h e s t r i n g .

The 1st, 2nd, and 4th fingers of the left hand are used for
p u l l - o f f s ,b u t o n l y t h e t i p s o f t h e f i n g e r s a r e u s e d o n t h e
D a n d A s t r i n g st o a v o i d h i t t i n g t h e a d j a c e n ts t r i n g s .

Pull-offs from the D and A strings are executed with the

same left and right hand movements as the pull-off on
the G string.

The following pictures demonstrateother positions of the

l e f t h a n d w h e n p u l l i n g - o f fo n t h e s a m es t r i n g .

28
29
 G

The 4th finger on the left hand fingers the F# on the

D string as the 1st finger on the right picks the D string.

31

-Fe#';
After fingering the F# on the D string, the 4th finger on
the left hand picks the G string as it slides across,with
t h e r i g h t h a n d l i f t i n g o f f t h e D s t r i n gi n t h e s a m e m o t i o n .

L .H .

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This type of pull-off is completed with the 1st finger of
the right hand picking the open G string following the
s k i p . A s i t p i c k s t h e G s t r i n g i t a l s o p r e s s e sa g a i n s t t h e
open D string to deaden it.

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The 1st and 2nd fingers of the left hand are also used
to pull-off from the D string.