Floating Thumb Technique - A Deep Dive

[@FloRiLLAZ]

My Bassteacher told me, that i shouldn't even start with the thumb resting on the pick up because i should learn flexibility for changing position with my right hand. And i'm glad i followed his advise.

[@rawtoast5]

i had multiple band directors (who are not bass players) yell at me for floating 😐 "it slows you down" oh okay good thing i'm walking at 120 bpm and i'm not trying or needing to play fast at all

[@Bikes-and-Basses]

I started out learning with anchored thumb, but when I moved to 5-string, my teacher suggested trying floating from pickup or ramp, to B-string, to E-string, to A-string. This maximizes right hand muting (more important for 5-string) but maintains some economy of motion by not floating all the way to the D-string (which doesn't really help with right-hand muting). This technique also allows for easier neck-bridge lateral movement of my right hand, which is an invaluable for altering tone.

[@lenaskowronska3069]

I ve been playing with anchored thumb for many many years until I got into 5 & 6 string basses and shifted towards lighter genres of music. Now I m diving more and more into floating thumb technique and grinding my muting skills.

[@EnglishLessonswithKevin]

As a guitar player that learned finger picking, playing with a pock, and hybrid picking with fingers and a pick, I’m used to not anchoring, and getting stability from forearm on the body of the guitar. I’m just starting on bass with a Player 2 Mustang PJ, and I’m going for the true floating technique. Glad I saw this video to learn that anchoring wasn’t a necessity and that players do floating techniques too. Thanks

[@TarisSinclair]

I have literally just picked up bass for the first time in my life. I've played piccolo bass (a.k.a. guitar) for 20+ years, and there are many "bad habits" that I need to unlearn coming from a guitar. Being a self-taught person, I started with watching a couple dozens videos on YT on how to start learning a bass - and then decided to ignore all of them. Because they all talk about scales and modes and things that are absolutely not essential for a complete noob like myself. What IS essential is to develop a good and consistent picking technique. Drill it into your muscle memory so much that it comes naturally. Only when you don't need to think about your picking hand you can start focusing on what your other grubby hand is doing on the frets. So that's what I started practicing.. The first thing I did was take my bass and think about biomechanics of my right hand and forearm. Achieving a consistent "pluck" was the first item on the checklist. That means, my hand needs to remain in approximately the same shape across all strings. I soon found out that the anchoring technique recommended by so many YT bass experts is not working for me. I have pretty large hands, but I still felt the difference in how I attack the E vs G string, and I didn't like that. So I came up with a way to keep my thumb lifted up, just brushing the lower strings (just like you showed). which helps to mute them and also keeps my subconscious informed "how many strings from the bottom" I'm at. I still need to somehow "anchor" my hand at times, but I started using the thumb side of my palm for that. Just pressing it against the body of the bass when I'm plucking E or A string. It still leaves me with enough mobility to slide my hand closer to neck or to bridge as needed. It's been 4 days now since I got my cheap GSR-200, and all I'm doing is training my picking/plucking hand to develop muscle memory. So far I've managed to mostly automate index-middle-index-middle, walking up the strings without breaking the pattern, and raking down the strings. I made up a great practice technique for that.. When walking up the strings, pluck three times then move to the next higher string. Starting with index finger, go E-E-E-A-A-A-D-D-D-G-G-G. You'll find out that odd counts will force you to alternate which finger moves to the next string. Starting with index, the middle finger on A, index on D, and middle on G. When raking down, do so in even counts: G-G-G-G-D-D-D-D-A-A-A-A-E-E-E-E. Once again, you'll find that even counts force you to alternate the finger with which you rake the string. Start plucking with index on G, you'll have to rake with your middle finger down to D, then with your index to A, and again with middle finger to E. Switching fingers and counts is a good way to make this exercise not boring.

[@AJ-gv2hj]

Bro this is a fantastic deep dive I'm still early in my bass learnings but feels like one of those good habits you can cultivate early and it pays off a lot later, thanks for posting

[@raintown]

I just got a Sterling Stingray and my whole play style no longer worked for me, I was stumbling onto your style naturally but doubted myself. This video not only helped me but assured me I was on the right path.

[@marknieuweboer8099]

My right hand technique is largely the same as yours as explained from 11:10 on. My hands are narrow (one finger per fret without shifting is only possible for me at about an octave up on the fret board) but my arms and fingers are relatively long. So when sitting I rest my bass in my left leg. This allows me to keep both my wrists nearly straight (and even more so when standing). I did this from the beginning a year ago and mastered it in less than three weeks. This indeed solved half of the muting problem immediately. I noticed though that I use my right underarm as an anchor and I suspect that you do as well. Like you I adapted the floating thumb technique when switching strings several times in a row. But when playing a long row of notes on the highest string (in my case D, because I have BEAD) I still put my right thumb against the A. Btw as my thumb is straight I use the spot between the side and the tip. Finally now and then I let my right pinky rest on the string just above the one I'm playing for more stability - I still can pluck with three fingers when I do. Indeed I practised exactly the exercise you demonstrated but with a slight modification: 4 notes per string (plucking with two fingers, triplets (three finger plucking) and finally 2 notes per string. It's a good exercise to develop speed with the aid of a metronome. It took me about three months to reach 140 bpm (and 150+ on a good day). So I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to beginners.

[@kharybaker868]

Yup, using a 6 string introduced me to true floating thumb years ago. Greatly improved my playing and muting, plus you can throw in some harmonics with your thumb too.

[@williamhosford2796]

Great video. I`m a self-taught weekend wannabe bass player,but that is how I learned to play.

[@Hissoninme]

I'm new to bass. I've been trying to learn how to play on a friend's Fender P Bass. The problem is the popular tutorial videos on YT don't work in my case because they require a viable pickup to rest on. This bass's pickups are embedded in the body of the bass. I'm surprised I'm not seeing many search results for the floating techniques catered toward beginners.

[@fingersmcoy]

i moved to true floating thumb, and I love it.

[@Delboydunno]

I’ve been anchoring my thumb on the pickguard closer to the neck because I saw Sean Hurley doing it. I’m coming from guitar so I’m trying not develop bad habits on bass

[@thumplife792]

When I was learning I was taught to anchor. For years I hated it. It always felt very awkward. Once I got older I saw the "floating anchor" technique and tried it. It was even worse. I always felt like I was hurdling the strings when I would change string sets. Then I happened to see a video of Steve Harris playing Run to the Hills live with Iron Maiden. I noticed his floating thumb and immediately grabbed my bass. Within only a few minutes I was comfortably playing with that technique like I had used it for years. I play 5 string basses a lot, as well as a 6 string sometimes and I've found the floating thumb to be extremely beneficial on those. That's what's awesome about music and instruments; we're all different.

[@tonyserzo]

I've always anchored my thumb on the pickup, but I just got a new bass and am finding it difficult because of the layout of the instrument. This lesson was super helpful, thank you Steve!

[@aerodynamic_tsarbomba]

I have been doing this all along and didn't know what it was called! Im open to learning new bass technique and when this was reccomened to me I clicked on it, to my surprise this one I have been doing without knowledge of what it was!

[@MrPdudas]

Great Video. I never much liked the anchoring method. I would much rather work on this technique

[@UncleRiotous]

I'm a big Iron Maiden fan and therefore spend a lot of time trying to emulate Steve Harris. He drives the strings into the neck which makes for a big part of the sound. The floating thumb not only keeps your right hand the same shape but means you can consistently hit each string in the same direction. Great vid.

[@ibrahimozkan9303]

Low action?

[@Kevin-be9iy]

an issue with the floating anchor is sometime your thumb depending on your hand shape will miss muting some of the top strings especially a B string, true floating is the best for me

[@sskoczzsskoczz4150]

Thank you! Im a beginner and I’ve tried to figure that out this evening. I’m so happy that I came up with the same conclusion as someone with so much experience and knowledge about bass playing. You’re video gives me confidence to stick to this technique and I hope It’s going to work for me as well! Take care bro!

[@MichałKołodziejczyk-v5j]

That was very helpfull! Thank you❤

[@talesofpurrfection]

Thank you for your explanation. I just started my lessons and my wrist hurts a lot. I hope I can convince my teacher to switch to the floating thumb technique.

[@SteveBurke]

Best of luck! Wrist pain shouldn’t be happening

[@KlintonSilvey]

The only time I anchor is for disco octaves if they are super fast. I've been doing floating for so long I pretty much can't anchor

[@CrossFitDelVal]

Great talk, as usual! I also use a hybrid approach, despite having big hands and playing 4-string basses almost exclusively. Side note: flats on a Stingray is what's UP.

[@jdmarino]

I have been playing for 6 years. When I first got started I was introduced the the floating anchor technique and it mostly works for me. I do find that sometimes when the tip of my thumb is on the D string (when I am plucking the G string), the side of my thumb loses contact with the E string and I have heard unwanted resonance. I think I need to become less dependent on the anchor feeling (I *do* like the constant hand shape aspect of it) so I can more truly let my thumb float and do its muting job.

[@SteveBurke]

Thanks for sharing John. Just curious, do you play any 5 or 6 string? I find that the true floating thumb happens a bit more naturally for me when I'm playing 5 or 6 string basses.

[@joannalewis5279]

Muting and control of tone of why I use floating thumb. I anchor when playing the lowest string though as there's nothing to float on

[@glueball9511]

really excellent explanation here, and also immaculate tone/feel from this guy when he actually plays. watching his right hand is mesmerizing and reminds me i must go practice now

[@SteveBurke]

Thanks so much. Made my day.

[@stephaneruellan691]

Make sense. I'll try it. thank you Steve!

[@henrypowers8326]

Been looking for a video like this for awhile thank you so much! I always thought that floating was wrong and I felt self conscious about me doing it. Thanks for the much needed confidence boost :)

[@MungoMickey]

Excellent lesson.

[@LiamWhittle-tm7yo]

My floatinf thumb is kind of in between. Its nore flat if im moving between strings a lot but likely anchored on the string above if im staying on one string more

[@jema1122]

Great explanation

[@BigBassRy]

Great lesson on this topic!

[@MrTatiblack]

The only advantage I see in stay anchored over the pick up is when jumping in octaves, Otherwise I would be anchoring always over the string I am playing , but anchoring actully makes my whirst bent tu much, and on the other hand, floating obligates my hand stay straight.

[@DaveParkersonofficial]

Thank you for this explanation.

[@dornelli1]

beautiful music man, man

[@tedsimms8158]

Hi Steve: about a year ago my bass teacher presented the floating thumb technique as an alternative to the anchoring system I was using. With the anchoring system, I experienced string ringing and a hyper flexed wrist. I implemented the floating thumb technique and found it worked very well with my 5 string bass. However, about a month ago I experienced pain in my right shoulder. I stopped playing for a while and am now resuming slowly, and am seeing a physical therapist. With the floating thumb technique, my right shoulder is rotated inward and that probably led to the pain. But I have also discovered that the muscles in my right upper back and shoulder blade area are very weak and not functioning properly. This may be the true problem, not the inward shoulder rotation. Have you found over the years that the floating thumb technique had led to shoulder pain, and if so, what did you do? I am going to develop my upper back and shoulder muscles and get in good playing shape, but I am considering other ideas: - Would switching from a 5 string to 4 string bass, in your opinion, help? I am a hobby player. I like the 5 string, but I could enjoy my hobby perfectly well with a 4 string. Would love any words of wisdom you or your followers might have.

[@SeanWinters]

When your thumb floats, the anchor is your middle forearm .

[@HeadRedShot]

i have a hyperflexible thumb so while anchoring is much much easier it hurts so much i still have pain in my thumb 2 days after

[@thahoustonbassrunnaz4389]

Great video! I’ll say it for you lol! Floating thumb is better 👍🏾

[@kwanjeeprentice6698]

Bruh I thought the floating thumb was the only technique, that’s how I started

[@shriram5494]

How does this guy only have 1.77K subscribers?

[@Hering.07]

Show

[@FingalPersson]

before i watched, just by seeing a small picture and the title of the video, i will say this.. Anchor your finger on 4 strings, and float your finger on 5+ strings. :)

[@willjackson6522]

What about muting?

[@FingalPersson]

@@willjackson6522 anchor your finger on 4 strings, well what I meant by that is put your thumb on the E string, that's how you mute.. you also use the thumb on the A string to mute that when not playing it, and you can use your ring finger to mute the D string. On a 5 string bass you want you put your thumb down on the strings to mute, not float like i wrote, that was the wrong word to describe how to mute a 5 string. So basically what I just described was muting ;)

[@willjackson6522]

@@FingalPersson I’m very new to bass, and an issue I have is muting when I’m jumping by more than one string. If I go from the E to A string, I get that I can mute with my thumb, but if I go to the D string, my thumb would be rested on A and not muting E. Is there an easy fix for this or just something you have to think about when playing

[@FingalPersson]

@@willjackson6522 I made you a KZbin Shorts! 🙂

[@FingalPersson]

@@willjackson6522 I made you a shorts where I explain it 🙂

[@Hering.07]

Bom professor

[@marthastubbs8321]

I can only play this way

[@paulosousa6059]

Personally I prefer the five-point-palm exploding-heart-technique!

[@thaizzz]

I use floating thumb since I watched an old Adam Neely video on technique back when I was just starting and now anchoring feels so awkward. The thing is, that for some reason, when jumping octaves the floating technique stops being natural and back to weird. So I've been looking for solutions. Maybe is just a skill issue

[@dornelli1]

anchoring on a music man bass is rather hard, since the pick ups are thinner

[@wernermoser3406]

You need a thumb rest!

[@amostaylor9727]

You're talking too much for me? Don't mean to criticize but if you actually played more utilizing the technique? It would have been more useful for me?

[@SteveBurke]

You’re not wrong. Thanks for the input. It’s helpful.