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shaved_ape
Newbie Alert
Joined: 04 May 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Derby, England
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 Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 3:00 am Post subject: left hand woes |
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| hello all, just picked up a bass as my first instrument since the recorder in primary school (something like 20 years ago) and although my right hand co-operates my left is a different matter, my index and middle are ok but my ring and index finger curl inwards badly (ring finger gets in way of middle and pinky ends up on top of ring). I know practice will help but i was wondering if anyone else suffered from this and what playing and stretching exercises helped . |
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Chrishas
Ferret
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 113
Location: Cyprus
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| Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 4:01 am Post subject: |
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most people suffer from stuff like that when they start, just play a lot of stretching and technique exercises, after some time playing with all fingers will come instinctively, and btw welcome aboard  |
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Mkuk0
Beloved Admin
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Azeroth....mainly
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Neil Gray
Lion
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 944
Location: Melbourne, AUS
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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Yep. Thirded.
I guess sticking staunch to not cheating by using more comfortable fingers is the best piece of advice I can give. Use your pinky as much as you can, and it will get stronger!
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Meker
Tadpole
Joined: 04 Dec 2007
Posts: 25
Location: Oregon, USA
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:44 pm Post subject: just time on the board |
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| If you are new where this is a problem (hurray--another bassist!) you can just practice running all four fingers in sequence on any string of the bass. Not for speed yet---just do it til you do not have to think about it. Also you can try tapping the ball of your thumb with each finger in sequence---but make sure each finger goes to the thumb---NOT the thumb going to each finger (cuz that is what it will want to do!).. Do that for until its a snap and then start thumb-tapping rythyms ---you'll be very surprised what happens if you stick to those exercises, but don't try to be a speed demon immediately or you will undercut what you are teaching into your muscle memory. Hope it helps. |
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Posido Vega
Not So Newbie
Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Columbia, Maryland
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| Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:30 am Post subject: |
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Practicing the correct motion slowly will eventually fix the problem. However, some of my students with this problem, I tried this out and it worked!
Many bass players practice their frethand technique to be one finger per fret. But for starters, unless you practice this on the higher frets, this can be taxing on your muscles and tendons.
There really is no exact right or wrong way, but I do recommend exploring not only electric bass guitar technique, but also upright bass technique.
Upright bass players keep their hands closed. Most of them do not use the 1 finger per fret concept.
This trains the hand to stay closed. When the hand is closed the fingers cannot curl back like the way you describe. I have my students explore both. I always notice that upright technique still develops the necessary finger strength on the fretboad for the bass too and their fingers end up developing a smoother technique!
But what ever you do...keep it slow and keep it as effortless as possible, so that you reinforce good habits 
good luck!
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Tucson Bass Player
Tadpole
Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 16
Location: Tucson, Az. USA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:01 am Post subject: So far so good! |
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Great advice so far. I would emphasize making sure that you play the one finger per fret while practicing scales and never cheating. Also, when moving to a different position use your ring finger where you would usually use the pinky. Then stretching the pinky to cover the second note of the scale in the next position. Practice this in the 10 - 16 fret position at first. If you start in the 1 - 7 fret area you'll just end up cramping or hurting your hands. And really take your time!
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confusedqueen
Lion King
Joined: 19 Sep 2004
Posts: 1082
Location: pfft.
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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tis interesting what that guy said about upright bass, because i play 'cello and i think it definitely helped when i started bass, i didnt have any problem with fingers bending the wrong way//not being strong enough/hand not stretching enough, even though i have tiny hands, being a girl who's only 5' tall!
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oogie boogie
Little Guppy
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 31
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| Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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| confusedqueen wrote: | | tis interesting what that guy said about upright bass, because i play 'cello and i think it definitely helped when i started bass, i didnt have any problem with fingers bending the wrong way//not being strong enough/hand not stretching enough, even though i have tiny hands, being a girl who's only 5' tall! |
Because you are of smaller stature I would tend to agree with trying to get your upright technique adapted to electric, but admittedly in most other cases I would disagree with this being the most effective way of operating the instrument, as it limits you to trying to make three digits do four digits' work. The upright and the electric are two different animals entirely. I know, I play both too, and even used to play a tiny bit of cello way back in the day when I could think in 5ths across the neck.
See, the key here is that with an electric, you don't HAVE to fight it like you do an upright. With an upright, your left hand is a clamp and you use your elbow to set the pitch of the string for the most part and then have to drive the box. It's not like that with an electric. You can and should set it up to be the most friendly and accommodating that you possibly can, and then enjoy yourself using a soft touch and letting the pickups and amp do the work.
Also, with an upright, even more so than a fretless electric, you have to anticipate notes a bit, and get the notes to really blossom to get the best tone, and even pin them a little. Not the case on an electric fretted bass.
On top of that, it's much more effective to play upright in a vertical method than on an electric. Electric can work very effectively played laterally across the neck. This is in part due to legato and arco stuff. Effective staccatto on upright is difficult at best.
If you don't recognize ALL of the technical terms I've mentioned, thus far, please take some lessons with a trained pro because they are all aspects every bassist should have in their repetoire, no matter what style(s) you play, both to understand by name and to play.
I would suggest learning to play one finger per fret, then extended fingering. Start slowly at first, and do NOT let your fingers double up on each other. Also try not to let any of your joints hyperextend. The point is to build strength and good habits that afford economy of motion combined with good tone and leaving you in a good position to get your next note with as much control as the note you play currently. That is the mark of a good technique.
Also, always stretch gently before, during and after you play.
Good luck. |
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jodiboli
Newbie Alert
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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the key here is that with an electric, you don't HAVE to fight it like you do an upright. With an upright, your left hand is a clamp and you use your elbow to set the pitch of the string for the most part and then have to drive the box.
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gfd333
Newbie Alert
Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:56 am Post subject: |
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I would disagree with this being the most effective way of operating the instrument, as it limits you to trying to make three digits do four digits' work
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