How to Alternate Strings on a Bass Guitar

A large part of bass guitar playing is developing technique. The bass guitar as a rhythm instrument needs rhythmic, tight lines in order to hold the bottom line on musical compositions. There are many ways to train your fingers to use strings effectively on the bass guitar and go between strings to create more melodic and rhythmic bass lines. A few general tips apply.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Locate the notes with proficiency. Practice playing the E, F, and G notes on the low E string. This is a good beginning step toward building up your technique.

2. Find good "bass chord" fingering positions that will provide a good bass line with alternating strings. Use bass guitar bar chords to get the notes you will want when you are playing a bass line where the strings are alternated.

3. Get your own rhythms. Using the bass guitar bar chords, pluck first the low string, then the other, and build up a good alternating rhythm.

4. Use repetitive drills or "focus forms" to advance your bass guitar technique. These practices not only give you practice in alternating between strings, but between fingers as well. Using your whole right hand to pluck your bass strings will allow you to play much faster bass lines.

5. Try using rhythmic variance. During practice, go between different rhythms and plucking styles to get your fingers really good at picking out different bass guitar strings quickly.