iron maiden bassist

[ibashnez]

hey

thers always bin one thing which has confused my mate (he's a bassist) "how dus steve harris [maiden bassist] play?!"

from watching videos we can c that it doesnt luk like the usual style which a bassist would use.....just wonderin if theres anyone who could describe how he plays (his right hand) and if there are any tips on how to put this "style" of playing into practice :hmmm:

cheers

[socialmisfit]

have you watched live in rio? theres some pretty good footage of him playing on that DVD

[ibashnez]

yeah, ive got th dvd, its awesome, bu it didnt really help him to be honest.....

my mate has th iron maiden anthology thingy and th early years dvd etc, bu still dnt really get what this guy is doin wit his fingers....th songs sound fast n th tabs luk like they fit a lot in2 th songs bu his fingers dnt seem 2 b movin that much,

also he seems to have all four fingers on th strings (his right hand) so this confused me as well a bit........

u got any other information?

[Lazy Bee]

I never learned any Maiden material, however I did learn some great speed techniques a long time ago from a guy who studied with Any West (Dixie Dreggs) It's a three finger thing. Start with quarter notes and progress as far as you like. Metronome srongly suggested. The 3 fingers used are ring, middle, and pointer. To play 4 quarter notes, start with ring then middle, pointer, and finish with middle finger. Then repeat obviously. Don't set your meter faster than what you can play cleanly and precisely.Building speed will come fairly quickly with dedication, the trick comes with crossing strings. In time you can roll with your drummer.You can use the same 3 fingers to play triplets...ring, middle, pointer...repeat. Mastering triplets comes quicker, be careful not to get to impressed with that,learn to roll. If at any time you feel pain, stop and rest, even if you need to miss a couple of days. This exercise can hurt you if you're not careful. Sound silly? When you work up to 16th's you'll feel it, trust me. Billy Sheehan used to tape fingers off to force other fingers to pick up the pace, now thats commitment!