Bad habits you had to unlearn

[The_Reds]

I used to pluck the strings up instead of sliding my finger back to the next string when playing a note. I fixed it and have managed to increase my speed greatly.

[Groove Doctor]

Turning up late to rehearsals....

[rtslinger]

Played electric bass the first 2 years left handed with the bass upside down E on the bottom Flipped it over and learn to play right handed tough deal after you are used to fretting with the other hand try it one day and let me know how you make out I was 13 when flipped it

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by BassOrdinaire

Wearing my bass low.

Ditto, although I never played it way too low, just lower then was really comfortable or conducive to better playing.

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. If I were you I'd find a new teacher.

Playing notes on the tips is going to prevent you from barring intervals like 4ths.

Is this dude a guitar/bass teacher?

Here's a good vid/exercise for working on controlling finger pressure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHEqQzbGAc

If that's your only technique, then maybe. Many older players get arthritis or wrist problems from REALLY bad technique, but not really having a standard, upright bass-influenced technique like Jaco's. It should be one of many techniques in every bassists' bag of tricks.

I've never heard of good players with good technique having that problem.


That brings up one thing, though. I sort of adhered to the "one technique is the proper technique" ala the early Mel Bey books for many years. It took me a long time to start to break away from that, both with the right and left hands.

Originally Posted by phayes1007

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

Me, too. I'm paying the price right now.

I also regret thinking "I don't need to know how to read music! I'm gonna be in a rock band! Jimi didn't know how to read music, neither did Bootsy!" I should have kept up with it. Trying to learn it at my age is HARD.

I also didn't play enough scale excercises, especially oddball excercises where you go up the scale and skip a few steps, for example. Oh well... I'm getting to them now, though!

[Shinji]

Originally Posted by hdracer

resting my thumb on the pick up

That's my worst habit, i just can't seem to shake after 17 years.

I realised exactly how bad this was when i bought an acoustic bass 5 or 6 years back.

[Jazzdogg]

Exerting too much effort with my hands has been a life-long struggle for me; plucking too hard, and squeezing with too much force with my left hand. My bad habits probably formed when I got my first (used) electric bass; back in the sixties, I'd never heard of "setting up" a bass, and my first bass had way too much relief, the neck had a slight twist, and the strings were way too high.

Old muscle memories sometimes come back unexpectedly when I play songs that I learned using wretched habits. When I learn a new song while emphasizing smart technique, I can often keep old habits from intruding on new songs.

There's a reason they call it muscle memory.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by catcauphonic

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.

You don't actually feel it until it's too late. Once the pain sets in, it's chronic and your career has changed, if it's not already over. That's what happened to me and it basically ended my career. I've been able to resume playing, but I'll never have the endurance I'd need to gig (too much hearing damage too, so that's an excuse also lol).

I concur with the straight wrist method, I've settled on something along the lines of Carol Kaye's technique, where the neck is almost resting in the fingers while keeping the wrist as straight as possible. Also, I abandon the 1-finger-per-fret thing when I'm down in half position as much as possible.

As for the right hand, I adopted the floating thumb - I essentially learnt it from this video:

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

Finally, I broke the habit of playing poorly balanced basses (i.e. neck dive). Those will drive you crazy and break your arm both. Now I play my carvin bunny and L2K exclusively...

LS

[pkstone]

Random muting with little/ring fingers, anchored thumb. I'm now playing "floating thumb" and while I'm still getting used to it, it really makes for better, more consistent picking technique.

[hernameisrio]

My right hand technique was pretty bad...I kinda slanted my hand so that it was almost parallel to the strings and didn't use the 2-finger technique so I was kinda all over the place. Uh...let's see. Looking at the neck...broke that habit quickly because of my bad [left] shoulder...and I STILL rest my right thumb on the pickup. Doh!

[jaywa]

I play with a MUCH lighter touch now than I did starting out 30 years ago. I play closer to the neck more often than down by the bridge... Used to be the opposite. And I wear my bass a few inches higher than I used to. Other than that I don't think that much has changed. I still can't play fast worth a damn and my soloing is tragic but that's not what my gigs call for either.

[sammyp]

RAKING! .....compulsive raker here .....works great most of the time but really messes me up on some patterns!

[hernameisrio]

Yeah, I wear my bass higher too, and I think I will adjust it higher yet. I've also finally become comfortable sitting down while playing...it just kinda happened.

[AngryJohnny]

Overplaying/too many notes which i'm still weary of.

Also still trying to clean up the finger style plucking for speed metal style playing instead of defaulting to pick. Personal preference and all, but I'm envious of the technical/extreme metal players right hand skill that I'm still years away from.

[Clef_de_fa]

I always played with the safest position possible. Always keep my thumb behind the neck a very light bend, floating thumb , the bass almost in a upright position and play relaxed kept me from any pain for the last 13 years. Also in college I had to play at least 5h a day ... you have to have a good technic otherwise pain comes very fast.


this is what my teachers always told me ... which few people or stars do ... which I find wierd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsDbh0buYHE

[PhatRon]

+++ on several previous comments. not using EQ as an amplifier, fretting too hard, changing right hand positioning to change tone/dynamics.
For me one that I'm still not totally rid of is using my right hand as a drummer or timing mechanism. tick-tick-tick. when I was younger and overplaying it wasn't such an issue. Now, especially when tracking I really have to make a conscious effort to "be still" with the right hand when not actually striking the strings.

[Tupac]

All my bad habits disappeared by themselves after a year of playing. I naturally diverged from them. They weren't the most efficient way to play, and practice chisels down any inefficient things. Like taking weight off a race car.

[Tupac]

Originally Posted by PhatRon

+++ on several previous comments. not using EQ as an amplifier, fretting too hard, changing right hand positioning to change tone/dynamics.
For me one that I'm still not totally rid of is using my right hand as a drummer or timing mechanism. tick-tick-tick. when I was younger and overplaying it wasn't such an issue. Now, especially when tracking I really have to make a conscious effort to "be still" with the right hand when not actually striking the strings.

When you say using your right hand as a drummer, you mean resting both fingers on the string when not playing? I started doing that too. Even in short intervals in a fast song. It's so awkward to have them just floating there. This is a great example. Look at how between eight notes the fingers fall back onto the strings. Since I do it to, I can vouch that it's less about muting and more about not wanting to float your fingers awkwardly. Like prepping yourself for the next pluck. I noticed Dirk Lance (ex-Incubus) did that too.

[INTP]

Flying pinky.

[mr mastodon]

1. resting my thumb on the pickup.

2. poor posture. still working on this and failing. on both electric and upright. i'm bad about having a good neutral posture. i roll my shoulders forward. i don't keep my neck straight. it can wear on my left upper back/shoulder blade area.

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by skychief

Playing too many notes.

Sometimes less is more.

Funny. That's sometimes the hardest one to unlearn.

And like the OP said, for me it's also been 'positioning' my left thumb correctly on the back of the neck. But I'm trying.