Fretting 1-4 :P

[Khatur]

g|------------------1--2--4---|
d|------1--2--4--2------------|
a|---2------------------------|
e|----------------------------|
playing that in repetition at a moderate speed causes a decent amount of strain on my pinky hitting the 4th fret over and over again.
I can stand the pain, but at a point my pinky just slips and buzzes the 4th a bit, and its bugging me.

Is there anything i can do to help it reach farther with more consistency?
So far a week of practice has yet to do much for it...

[bassyeah]

not sure... but if i were doing that i would lift my elbow and relax... and keep working at it!

[Andrew Jones]

Move up the neck until it's comfortable. Do it with the index on the D of the G string. Don't pull that 3rd finger off, it supports the forth. They're internally connected, unlike the other 2. Relax,breath.

Be Patient!!!!!!! Let your body inform you of what your capable of.

In the lower positions play 3 fret reach. Ala Upright. That's how MANY people play.


Over time you will learn what your personal comfort thing is with stretches in the lower positions. at what point you stretch out and for what licks.


Relax,,,,Breath.

[Briston]

I used to have the same problem when i first started using my pinky. Its only a matter of practice.

Originally Posted by Andrew Jones

Move up the neck until it's comfortable. Do it with the index on the D of the G string. Don't pull that 3rd finger off, it supports the forth. They're internally connected, unlike the other 2. Relax,breath.

+1

Your neck seems to be low, try moving your bass higher, it may help.

Bad english, sorry.

[Figjam]

Change the angle of your hand. See how your pointer is coming in at an angle from the end of the neck? See if you can open it up more, use the other edge of your finger, like the outside edge,, rather than the inside. Hard to explain but if you can figure it out you will get more reach.

[ysand]

Raise your bass to height as when u sit down.
Move the elbow of your fretting hand a little forward.

[Silas Martinez]

While I'm not sure if there is a reason you /need/ to stay in the first position, I will note that plenty of people don't have large enough hands to do one-finger-per-fret comfortably and consistently. Not sure if it is the case for you, but it is something to consider.

Is there a reason you can't either position shift down slightly to hit the F# and the B, or move up to the neck, and play this starting on the B (7th fret, with your middle finger) on the E string?

[a_magg]

When I started playing, I had the same issue that you had (my hands are small-ish). The easiest way to build yourself into playing all four up top is to start higher up on the fretboard- where each finger sits right on top of each fret with little problem. Do the scale exercise up there for a while, its one part pinkie dexterity- one part confidence building.

When you're comfy with it, start moving up fret by fret until you can command that lower register.



Shot that really quick to show how far I can extend my pinkie after doing this. Also note- I keep my thumb low and inbetween my middle and ring fingers to keep my wrist as straight as possible. One thing further- thats on a 35" Warwick 5'er.

The three finger position works well up there too, it works just as good in as many contexts

Hope this helps,

Mags

[J. Crawford]

AMagg, looks like you have the same string problem I do. I havent replaced my strings in almost a year.

I agree with all the lower fret action, making your fingers first be prepared for that type of movement. Im lucky, Im tall and have long arms and fingers so this is a breeze for me. But as I said, Im lucky.

Good luck!

[a_magg]

Originally Posted by Jordasch

AMagg, looks like you have the same string problem I do. I havent replaced my strings in almost a year.

...The downside of being a very poor college student (on top of it I bought a new VW a few weeks ago- I have an affinity for all things German I suppose )

[Ground Pounder]

Just move your hand up until the pinky fretting the 4th becomes natural, then move your hand back down until the index fretting the first becomes natural.

While it's awesome to be able to play 4-fingers-per-fret all the way up and down the neck, it's just not physically comfortable for some of us. It's not a big deal, just learn to do the 1/2 inch hand shift effortlessly and smoothly and stop trying to kill yourself.

[SSINTENSE]

Change the angle of your wrist as you move up and down strings. This helped my fingers immensely when I had this problem. (Wrist becomes closer to 90 degrees to your forearm as you navigate towards the g string - but don't be at 90 when your at the g string.) Use that as a guide. Everyone's body is different so try out that knowledge in some way that conforms to you.