floating thumb techniqe

[elchamo2OO8]

I use the floating thumb technique, and a good fretting hand technique allows you to play a single note without any resonance, noise or other strings sounding. Mainly my thumb floats when I play the E string, in A i I put it in E, leave it in E on the D string cause the pluck already mutes A and lastly in G I mute both E and A.

[Frank77]

Like many here, I recently found out that I've been playing my 5-string incorrectly (keeping the thumb on the PU the whole time ) for 15 years and that the FT or "trailing" thumb method is the way to suppress the unwanted harmonics.

My transition is going OK for the most part, but I'm facing 2 main problems that I'd like to get some advice on:

1. My forearm rests on the body of my bass. When I need to quickly move my hand up or down, my forearm sometimes "grips" on my bass and prevents from moving my plucking hand where I need it. What am I doing wrong? Should my arm be completely off the bass? It feels unnatural to play that way...anybody else having this problem?

2. Not really a problem yet but could become one. I find that when using this technique, the palm of my hand tends to lay flat, pretty much parallel to the strings, leaving my wrist at a weird angle...I am concerned about carpal tunnel syndrome in the long run. Should the hand keep a more "round" profile with only the thumb in contact with the strings?

[jpTron]

Originally Posted by Frank77

Like many here, I recently found out that I've been playing my 5-string incorrectly (keeping the thumb on the PU the whole time ) for 15 years and that the FT or "trailing" thumb method is the way to suppress the unwanted harmonics.

My transition is going OK for the most part, but I'm facing 2 main problems that I'd like to get some advice on:

1. My forearm rests on the body of my bass. When I need to quickly move my hand up or down, my forearm sometimes "grips" on my bass and prevents from moving my plucking hand where I need it. What am I doing wrong? Should my arm be completely off the bass? It feels unnatural to play that way...anybody else having this problem?

2. Not really a problem yet but could become one. I find that when using this technique, the palm of my hand tends to lay flat, pretty much parallel to the strings, leaving my wrist at a weird angle...I am concerned about carpal tunnel syndrome in the long run. Should the hand keep a more "round" profile with only the thumb in contact with the strings?

I think that if you correct the first problem, you'll be correcting the second problem simultaneously. My forearm basically floats across the top part of my bass so my movements are always unhindered. And because of the angle I hold my arm it means my wrist stays straight too.

[Frank77]

Originally Posted by jpTron

I think that if you correct the first problem, you'll be correcting the second problem simultaneously. My forearm basically floats across the top part of my bass so my movements are always unhindered. And because of the angle I hold my arm it means my wrist stays straight too.

Yeah, I had my "eureka" moment yesterday. It was just a matter of adjusting my bass to the correct height (I had it up a bit too high). I adjusted my strap length so my bass would be at the same level as if I was sitting down, and I could see a huge improvement already...wrist is now straight most of the time. I played for a couple of hours with no pain, and I can already feel the benefits of this technique when playing busier/faster lines...the economy of movement makes total sense. I just wish I had done this earlier.

Cheers!