"Bad" technique actually good for me?

[Kawai-chang]

Hey all.

Backstory: I suffer from left (fretting) wrist pain. While reading a lot of threads about this, I gleaned the following: straight wrists are good.

While playing last night I tried something a little wierd: I purposely let my thumb anchor on the upper 1/3 of the back of the neck. I found that while the thumb is on the top aspect of the neck, I couldn't bend my wrist. I didn't hurt, and I could still play easily.

So, the question: anything wrong with this approach? Or, just feel free to discuss.

[HaVIC5]

No, absolutely nothing is wrong with that approach, and that's why a lot of people do it - its comfortable. The reason why it is "bad" technique isn't because its unhealthy but because its inefficient, which is entirely secondary. If you can play what you want to play like that, go for it. Otherwise, it will be hard to find a good other way of playing without somebody who knows what they're doing helping you out.

[Kawai-chang]

HaVIC,

I've been playing with the "correct" technique for a few years now, and slowly got the pains. So, I'll switch it up and see how this does.

[xzzy]

If you watch videos of professional players, you'll notice the vast majority of them play with "bad" technique. The human body simply can't hold itself to the established ideal without being damaged, so yes, you should modify your technique to play in a way that's comfortable.

The problems this creates in trying to play is with your thumb on the top part of the neck, you might have trouble reaching the low strings and/or getting enough curve in your fingers to avoid interfering with the vibration of higher strings.

You can deal with this by either moving your thumb as needed, or moving the entire instrument. Point the neck away from your body and you'll find there's less tension in your wrist when reaching to fret the lowest strings. May not look cool but it does help.

[kr0n]

Four finger per fret indeed is hard when playing low notes. What I'd say, I'm not a professional, is to use both techniques. Use the technique you need to achieve the results, no more, no less. If you need to fondle the same string, two notes with decent amount of time for switching, do what gives you more stamina. No need to use 4-finger stuff when playing open notes and some up high. But if you need to play fast lines spanning over 4+ frets, having more economical approach can increase accuracy and stamina more than moving your hand back and forth all the time.

Switch around. There are loads of different techniques around and switching between them mid song is in my opinion a technique itself.

[thump_dumpster]

function over form!!!


but never play a plywood bass....

[Broadbent]

Billy Sheehan plays like that. 'nuff said.

[mvw356]

Originally Posted by Broadbent

Billy Sheehan plays like that. 'nuff said.

everyone is different. imo good technique is when you play in such a way that you do not hurt yourself or hamper your playing. basically no pain= it's all good.

[bass player 48]

Ah, hell... I'm just gonna admit it. Yesterday, I fretted an F and two F#'s with my thumb! Yep, jamming all alone playing around with some new effect peddles and I got SO into it that I played like a rock star head banging and playing with bad form and everything. At first, I felt a little guilty grabbing that F with the thumb, but the Technique Police didn't show up, so I did it again later with an F#... just to piss of the 'would be technique police'.

BTW - IMO, the angle of your neck is very important to playing with a strait wrist.

Bottom line - do what feels good, if it hurts - don't do it, and hopefully you can avoid the dreaded “carpeted tunnel” syndrome. Good luck.

[Rudreax]

There really is nothing wrong with utilizing "bad" technique because it's only bad if you body gets hurt while doing it. Just do what you feel you need to do to get the sound you want. For me I've never really liked things like wrapping the thumb around the neck (it tends to "crush" my fingers together so I lose a lot of range, plus as dumb as it may sound I don't like the way it looks) so I went for what's considered "correct" left hand technique with the thumb on the lower part of the neck.

In the end it all comes down for personal preference. You are the only one what can tell what kind of technique is perfect for your body to optimize your playing and avoid injury.

[Kevinmach]

Billy Sheehan plays like that. 'nuff said.

If you watch videos of professional players, you'll notice the vast majority of them play with "bad" technique.

All very true, in addition to some other comments I didn't quote.

I had been watching some videos of Geddy recently, and after having just reading instructional book that was dedicated almost solely to good technique, I was really surprised to see how far removed his playing was from the "offical" recommendations.

There always seem to be some accepted "no no's" that most experts agree on, but even a lot of the books don't agree.

Couple of examples- one book said that notes are more easily played on the fret board when they are playing closer to the next highest fret (requiring less pressure), and another book said that you should aim for the direct center between to frets to avoid buzzing. Both have valid points.

In one of the books, the instructor advocated anchoring the thumb on the plucking hand so that it was 90 degrees from the bass (in other words, it had the effect of angling your palm away from the strings). The book had some great tips, but this one was just too awkward for me and after being opened minded an trying it for about a week, I decided it just was too awkward for me.

I often go so far as to curl my thumb are the top of neck and I feel I have somewhat small hands. Occassionally I will go so far as to use it to mute the open E that (but I have gotten away from that in favor of my plucking hand for this). But bottom line, I also see Geddy wrap his thumb all the way around the neck quite often. Meanwhile, any basic instructional book is going to tell you that your thumb should be place in the middle on back of the fret board, lined up with with your 2nd finger. But I see few players adhere to this strictly. I find this puts my fingers at an uncomfortable angle.

In your case, you don't really have a choice. Bass is a grueling instrument on the finger and wrist joints, and that obviously takes precedence over form, which are typically more guidelines anyway.