Couple of calluses-related questions

[oneplussixi]

Hey everyone!


I'm new here (so forgive me if I'm posting this to a wrong section) and I'm also new in the bass world.

So, I bought my bass on Monday and I've been practicing 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the night (because of my little spare time) per day. My left hand fingers, obviously started hurting (especially my middle one) and after a couple of hours of practicing, I saw that my middle finger had a cut with a little blood. First of all, is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

Secondly, today, actually just about an hour earlier, after my practice, I realized that my index finger has a red-brown spot where my calluses are developing. So, same question: is that normal or am I doing something wrong?


Thanks in advance

[omnimutant]

The reddish brown spot is probably a blood blister. You will cut and blister the crap out of your fingers for quite some time. It's the ritual we have all been through. Consider it your sacrifice to the Music god's for granting you the ability to play. The more sacrifice the better you will ultimately become. Don't neglect finger stretching exercises either. I'd say everything sound perfectly normal. Now you know where the "Blood" comes from in the phrase Blood Sweat and tears

[MichaelScott]

You're just playing too much. Blood blisters are always a sign that you've gone way past the point where you should of.

You also might want to consider a private lesson with a Bass guitar teacher (not a guitarist that teaches bass) to go over proper technique.

[oneplussixi]

First of all thanks guys for the super-fast replies.

Now, to the point. As I said I haven't had the chance to practice THAT much, but maybe it's because I don't have an amplifier yet (I plug the bass to my DI-->audio interface-->PC and listen through headphones because of my crappy speakers) so I have to play pretty hard...I also can't afford lessons right now, but in the future I will definitely take some.

So, do you guys have any extra tips? Should I practice unplugged from now on? etc.

[omnimutant]

Try not to practice playing hard. It will probably lead to you learning some bad technique down the road. You can usually find a really cheap practice amp at guitar center or whatever for 40-50 bucks. Nothing fancy, just something so you can hear yourself for now. Nothing wrong with practicing unplugged I do that some times, but It does make me tend to work much hard then needed, again leading to bad playing technique IMO. It doesn't take very much to move a string, and when you play with a softer touch you will get faster and more fluid.

[oneplussixi]

Ok, I guess I'll have to buy myself a crappy amp too .

Anyways, once again, thanks for the advice; I'm off to explore this great community!