Bad habits you had to unlearn

[Itzayana]

Drinking too much at gigs.

[jallenbass]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Fretting hand at 90 degree angle is a recipe for wrist problems/RSI injuries down the road, there's no reason for it.

[SteveHeissner]

Sleeping with attractive groupies - had to unlearn that when I got married.

[jamminology101]

+1. Whatever ur strap length is when u stand up should b what u practice at sitting cuz when those angles change even ever so slightly, ur muscle memory coordination is adversely affected. Wearing ur bass real low looks cool onstage but really puts ur left wrist in a contorted angle and puts a lot of unneccessary stress on it. If u like the real low rider look, u can angle it neck up a lot to take the pressure off the wrists but if u r gonna play live like that....practice the same even if it means standing or resting the rump on a stool, side of couch, whatever.

[derrico1]

I was also one of those guys who developed a heavy right hand in bands that played LOUDly. It took a while to learn to let the amps supply the muscle.

[kedo]

Bushmills

[slappa_dat_bass]

Gotta use my pinky more and stop trying to over-complicate riffs (play too many notes). Stu Cook is my current inspiration for that

[Herbert West]

I was solely a down picker for about the first year.

[henry2513]

Originally Posted by jallenbass

Thanks for proving my point, if you look at his wrist, it's almost straight, perhaps a 45 degree bend. Anyhow, this shouldn't be about what Jaco did or didn't.

Even if his wrist was at a 90 degree angle it still doesn't change the fact that a extreme bend like that is going to do some damage. There are always outliers people can use to prove a point, just like I can say the sky isn't blue it's green and if you've ever been in a hail/lightning storm - the sky indeed is green!

[Hulktopus]

If you have problems with your fretting thumb hurting, try relaxing your opposite shoulder. This puts more stability into your neck (because your arm is resting on the body). This way, you don't have to use that thumb to hold the neck too, just use it to press the strings within their respective frets. Since I have made an effort to do this, I no longer have problems with my fretting thumb.

[jallenbass]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Thanks for proving my point, if you look at his wrist, it's almost straight, perhaps a 45 degree bend.

The OP said this: "keep my fretting hand closer to a 90 degree angle". I don't interpret that as wrist but I have been wrong before.

[Piggy8692]

I'm a habitual raker. Not that it's technically a bad habit. I need to spend more time on strict alternation. I have a few rhythms that I always seem to throw into parts that I'm writing. Can rhythms count as habits? I don't know. Maybe.

[catcauphonic]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Does your bass have neck dive? In other words when you strap it on does it remain at an angle or tend to want to get parallel? If there is neck dive it might be causing you to use your thumb to keep it in position.

Also how high is your action?

You might also try fretting notes without placing your thumb on the back of your neck.

You want your wrist to be as straight as possible, both wrists in fact. There should never be a time that you're close to 90 degrees.

My bass is super light - only around 7#, so no it's not a case of having to hold the neck up. And I don't keep it slung low either, + I like to angle the headstock up quite a bit, and I almost always stand when I play. The 45 degree angle I was speaking of was my fingers to the frets, not the angle of my wrist .. meaning my index finger joint was always resting on the G string when I was playing D A or E.

Before teacher: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8229017042/" title="fingers2 by kittykatbone, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8229017042_88a737fba6.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="fingers2"></a>

After teacher: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8227950901/" title="fingers1 by kittykatbone, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8227950901_60ec6c9fd3.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="fingers1"></a>

My thumb is fine when I'm moving around the neck, but I catch myself pressing my thumb to the back when I stay in one place for too long ... usually on a riff that's repeating over and over. Like this -->

[catcauphonic]

rats, what did I do wrong with the HTML code? lemme just post the links:

before- http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8229017042/

after- http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8227950901/

[phayes1007]

1. Practicing without playing through my amp or headphones (*except when I'm playing acoustic bass)

2. Practicing too much without using a metronome or a recording (backing-track)


there are plenty other bad habits I had to unlearn along the way, but correcting those 2 habits has really allowed me to focus better and get the most out of my practice sessions.

[sensei_steve]

simandel

[Insouciance]

The low strap thing is a hard habit to break. First off, it just LOOKS cool. I know music, by definition, isn't about visuals or looking a certain way. But let's face it, many people hear with their eyes. The older I have gotten, and the more not-Nirvana-esque riffs/songs I play, it keeps creeping up. I have long monkey arms so it is still pretty far down there, but I have seen pictures of when I first started. I was going for but it comes off as !

[henry2513]

Originally Posted by catcauphonic

rats, what did I do wrong with the HTML code? lemme just post the links:

before- http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8229017042/

after- http://www.flickr.com/photos/34101355@N08/8227950901/

Wrist looks pretty bent.

Take a look at this vid on safe left hand technique, this guy explains it pretty well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkSs...6&feature=plcp

[slappa_dat_bass]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Wrist looks pretty bent.

X2. Not to mention uncomfortable. I used to try to keep my thumb on the neck stripe (per Mel Bays instructions) but I found that letting my thumb ride closer to the top side of the neck feels better and causes less fatigue in my wrist. Do what feels comfortable when it comes to wrist angle. I know some really good bassists who are considerably older than my 32 years who you would swear were gripping a baseball bat in their left when they played. But they are very very good.

[catcauphonic]

Originally Posted by slappa_dat_bass

X2. Not to mention uncomfortable. I used to try to keep my thumb on the neck stripe (per Mel Bays instructions) but I found that letting my thumb ride closer to the top side of the neck feels better and causes less fatigue in my wrist. Do what feels comfortable when it comes to wrist angle. I know some really good bassists who are considerably older than my 32 years who you would swear were gripping a baseball bat in their left when they played. But they are very very good.

Yea I hear ya. Just tonight I was at an open jam with like 6 other bass players who've been playing for nearly 20 years each .. at least 2 of them had their thumbs up near the top of the neck, & one guy had his hanging over the E string ~ & they all were very very impressive players. I'll start trying to raise it up the back of the neck the next few practice sessions. I'm not sure how long CT takes to form but I'm in my mid forties if that makes any difference, and I'm not feeling any discomfort at all.