Question about Technique

[crankymule85]

Hi,

I guess this question fits here. I started playing upright a few months ago. I was just wondering about correct hand position and technique to minimize the chance of injury. Thanks!

[Paul Warburton]

Warning! Using " correct " hand position in this musical genre, may prove fatal to you.

Sorry guys...I just couldn't pass that one up.

Love, PW.

[Barron]

My mother made the suggestion once to "wear gloves".

[PaulKing]

Paul's jest nails it... so careful what you're saying in other parts of this forum.
In classical, and jazz circles, there are several accepted 'correct' hand positions, both for left and right hand.

But in rockabilly, to be honest, the final answer is there IS no correct position. Some positions work better for some people ... some hurt less than others .. .some are for speed, some for click, some for volume, some plain bad habits.

Still, depends whether your talking left or right hand here.

Left hand (stopping notes): there are several 'correct' position systems. Typically you'll see thumb in back of neck, fingers spread so that you use 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers to stop notes without moving your hand at all. You only shift your hand position to play notes higher up the neck.
Some rockabilly players use this technique (if you nail it you can play walking lines faster and keep intonation)... but most don't. And most don't give a damn, because most rockabilly just doesn't demand that level of precision (let's be honest guys).

So... hold the neck in your fist, thumb wrapped round the side if it feels better to you ... stop all the notes with the same finger and wave your hand around like mad ... it's all fair play in rockabilly. Just less efficient, and limiting in terms of how far you'll improve your playing speed and ability in the long run.

Right hand (plucking and slapping): typically when playing simple pizz, your hand is quite relaxed, fingers pointing down, inside of thumb resting against edge of fingerboard (you use it as a lever to really dig in on the strings). You use the edge of your finger to pluck, not just the tip like you do on a bass geetar. When you slap, most people end up with their hand slightly curled, fingers all together (sometimes just 2 or 3 touching the strings), pointing horizontally across the strings, thumb sticking out sideways or pointing up at the sky. Keep it relaxed, let it bounce on the strings as you slap.
But these aren't rules...You've seen the videos on youtube. They're all different, go figure.

It might hurt after a bit. But when you get it right, it doesn't.

[Gearhead43]

Here's my opinion on slap bass left hand technique.

The much maligned (here on TB) "baseball bat", thumb wrapped around the neck, left hand grip you see many Rockabilly players using is actually PART of the slap bass technique many players use. The thumb is commonly used to mute the open E and sometimes the A string. To keep them from ringing constantly while slapping.

When playing slap bass, the whole hand is sometimes used to slap the fingerboard and strings, not just the fingers. This is why the left hand thumb is often used to mute open strings. Having open strings ringing away in the background is NOT acceptable in slap bass playing, IMO, and sounds like crapola.

A few players avoid unwanted ringing of open strings using left hand muting alone, such as Barre-chord style muting with the index. Some guys use oddball fingerings, such as curving over your pinky and ring finger to damp the E string () Watch Jack Hanlons Youtube demo video to see this style, starting at 1:36 during the root-fifth syle bassline. he rarely wraps his thumb to damp the E string. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwu32hkI9C0

Many great slap players use the "thumb wrapping" left hand technique, such as one of my favorite players, Pete Turland. He shifts his whole hand often to "fret" the notes and does this in an incredibly smooth way. This is a more common and "old-school" way to play slap bass. Great example here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0iicnBBy8k

Many great players wrapped their thumb around, including Willie Dixon, Pops Foster, and lots more old-time bass players who mostly played on low tension gut strings

Please keep in mind that this left hand technique could cause injury if attempted using many of today's high-tension steel strings. Slap bass requires the use of low tension strings, IMO. I am not advocating throwing proper technique out the window, and I believe beginners should learn at least proper pizzicato left and right hand technique before getting into slapping. The meat and potatos of my practicing is still mostly pizz, with slap being the dessert.

Please use your best judgement, if what you are doing causes pain - stop and find a better way or ask a teacher.

Also, learn to walk before you try to run.

Just my 3 cents.

[TroyK]

I'm not a Rockabilly technique expert and won't disagree with anything said above, but if you're worried about injury, which is reasonable for any who plans a long career on the upright bass, find a good instructor and practice classicalesque technique. It doesn't matter if you chose to take or leave some of it when you're standing on your doghouse, just make sure you know when you're within and outside of said technique. Learning Rabbath, Nancy, Simandl or whatever can only help you play better and potentially longer.

If your only a few months in and having pain and mangling, it's likely "normal". The type of injury to worry about takes longer than that to come around.

[Bass]

Originally Posted by PaulKing

...Typically you'll see thumb in back of neck, fingers spread so that you use 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers to stop notes without moving your hand at all. You only shift your hand position to play notes higher up the neck.
Some rockabilly players use this technique (if you nail it you can play walking lines faster and keep intonation)... but most don't. And most don't give a damn, because most rockabilly just doesn't demand that level of precision (let's be honest guys). ..

I like 1-2-4. I was watching my pal Lolemite play the other day, and he was shifting his hand up a little to press the string with his ring finger.

I said, "why don't you just use your pinky, your hand will stay in one place".

He said, "because I don't use my pinky, I never have."