The String Skipping Technique – Lessons For Bass Guitar Series…

In this video lesson, we will cover The String Skipping Technique…

String skipping is a bass-playing technique that is used mainly for solos and complex riffs in rock and heavy metal songs. In recent years, this technique has been integrated into the performance of other musical styles.

String skipping is a method of achieving a bass sound that is different from more traditional solo riff styles. In more traditional styles, the bass players will often play several notes on one string, then move to the adjacent one, improvising on the fretboard in a melodically linear manner.

In string skipping (as the name implies), a string is often skipped during the riff. Essentially, this technique is used to introduce larger intervals than are usually common in bass guitar melodies, thereby creating melodic interest.

Note that not every note played represents a chord break; typically, string jumping is intertwined with traditional adjacent riffs. Thus, one can hear the difference; the string skipping makes the solo stand out.

Here are some examples of this technique. These examples are based on the key of A minor, so I’ll use the notes from the A minor pentatonic scale.

Example 1 – 4 are exercises to develop the string skipping technique.

Examples 5 and 6 consist of groove patterns applying the string skipping technique.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

Example 6

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