Features of the performing technique of bass guitarist geddy lee

During the second half of the 1960s, the rock music genre development was characterized, on the one hand, as being a bright socio-cultural phenomenon, while on the other hand there stood innovations in the field of electrical equipment. The largest companies specializing in the production of musical instruments offered innovative examples of modern instruments which were designed to provide both: a more convenient and ergonomic design, as well as a promising basis intended for forming a fundamentally new sound. An important aspect within the field of technological innovations was the fact that the musicians used special sound processing devices and effect pedals. When speaking about the bass guitar performance, it is interesting to notice that the leading basis of almost all bass parts still continued to belong to playing simple bass riffs based on ostinato pentatonic patterns. Along with, it is worth stating that during the early 1960s the artistic activity of such first performers as Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce and others, contributed to forming an independent bass guitar playing school, influencing altogether the next generation of talented musicians to be. One of such new wave bass guitarists within the 1970s was Geddy Lee, a Canadian vocalist and the Rach group's keyboardist, composer and bass guitarist. His enormous musical talent made it possible for the musician to revise previously existing instrumental concepts, bringing to the forefront a developed metro-rhythmic basis. At the same hour, G. Lee has elaborated and has subsequently integrated his own innovative playing style into the professional practice, a style that based on individual performance skills. Characterizing the G. Lee's sound production features, let us turn to the Flamenco bass technique, known as well as the Flamenco Picking which the musician practiced. Its distinctive feature involved borrowing the classical guitar's flamenco sound production technique, which was distinguished by a very fast and clear alternation of the fingers of the right hand. Using such a technique, the performer managed to achieve a bright bass guitar sound, offering the instrument a specific musical color. It should be noted that in order to improve the playing technique, G. Lee used an additional sound extraction method when the index finger of the right hand performs two plucks at once. For this purpose, the bass guitarist was extracting the sound with an upward movement of the finger of the right hand, stopping the finger on the next string in order to afterwards, with a reverse movement of the index finger, perform a pluck downwards. Let us simultaneously note as well that such a principle resembled the movement of a pick (plectrum) when playing an electric guitar. All while, the second pluck with the index finger of the right hand was performed by striking the finger on the string mainly with the nail surface. Thus, the sound extraction of the reverse movement of the finger occurred in a more percussive manner. At the same time, such a movement produced a more powerful amplitude, which was necessary for creating a specific rock music sound, allowing the musician to extract both one and several sounds simultaneously. Thataway, the performer as well used the middle finger of the right hand. Thanks to the additional movement, G. Lee was able to develop a very technical instrument playing using fewer playing movements. To enhance the attack of the bass guitar sound, the musician could use the flamenco picking technique not involving the index and middle fingers of the right hand when plucking upwards: that condition increased both, the timbre brightness and the percussion component of the bass sound. Another important condition of the flamenco picking technique was supporting the pickup with the right-hand thumb. The position of the thumb was usually characterized by the area above the neck pickup, which provided the needful and bright sound of the bass guitar. The tilt of the forearm and of the hand was directed towards the neck, whilst the musician's fingers were placed strictly perpendicular to the instrument strings.

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