barring the first fret?

[BrandonBass]

when im playing nirvana's smells like teen spirit, i find that i need lots of strength to hold down the first fret when im playing F and Asharp...and its kinda tough on my index finger. is there any secret to barring bass guitar?

when I play guitar its usually the skin that hurts than callous form then everythings fine. but for bass it seems like the stress is more on the joints

[banjo1735]

Your fingers need to get stronger. Or... your action is really high. That would require a lowering of saddles or truss rod adjustment. But I'm guessing that it's the former that's your problem.

[Jeff Moote]

Why would you want to play both notes with one finger? Use a different finger for each note, and it will be rather easy.

[IanStephenson]

Originally Posted by banjo1735

... your action is really high. That would require a lowering of saddles or truss rod adjustment.

These wouldn't affect the first fret much - the action at the first fret is going to be largly defined by the nut, which would need to be filed down.

Probably a combination of technique and strengh are more of a problem...

Ian

[K2000]

If you wear your bass super low, it can be hard to play those first frets until you get more experience. Since you mentioned Nirvana I thought it might be a factor.

[KSDbass]

you could not bar the 1st fret? I've found that using the correct hand technique makes it WAY easier to play, especially where it would be possible to bar.