Bass Lessons - Thumb Usage Exercise bass tab
This tab shows a simplified version of Beethoven's Fur Elise.
It's used to demonstrate how to use your thumb for playing. The
numbers underneath each note indicate the finger you should
use to pluck the string. 0 is your thumb, 1 indicates your index
finger and so on. This is just a guide and depends on your playing
style however you should attempt to use your thumb in the places
shown otherwise it would defeat the point of the exercise. When
using normal alternate finger picking to play, the thumb is
usually used on the bottom-most (thickest) string of whatever
you're currently playing with your other fingers on higher
strings. To demonstrate this, a zero in brackets, (0), will
be used alongside the normal finger number to show that you could
use your thumb here. It is all down to how you feel comfortable
playing however.
If you are a pure beginner it is highly recommended you view the
video (a link is at the bottom) to see clearly how to play it. If
you are more experienced just treat this exercise as a way of
getting used to using your thumb (and maybe 3rd finger) for playing.
G -9-8-9-8-9---7------------------------------------------
D -----------9---10-7-------7-9---7-9-10------------------
A ------------------------7-----7-------------------------
E ----------------------9---------------------------------
2 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 3
(0)
G -9-8-9-8-9---7------------------------------------------
D -----------9---10-7-------7-9---10-9-7------------------
A ------------------------7-----7-------------------------
E ----------------------9---------------------------------
2 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 0 1 1 2 1 2 1 2
(0)
G ------7-9---9-10-9-7---7-9-7---------7-----------------7-
D -9-10------------------------10---10---10-9---9---10-----
A ---------------------------------------------------------
E ---------------------------------------------------------
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1
To see this performed and to get an idea of the fingering to use,
go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0waKtgglGUg
