Holding fingers down?

[With Lime]

I've not been playing long, so I wanted to consult some people on this. I'm doing excercies up on the 3rd and Fourth fret, the activity where you just fret your first second third and fourth fingers over and over to build coordination. Now my teacher says that I should hold down my other fingers as I move down. I find this stretchs my hand to much and makes me tense and my wrist starts to hurt really fast. I prefer to slightly lift my fingers off the fretboard. What say you experts? Does it hurt simply because I haven't done it enough and stretched my hands enough? Or should I go back to my teacher and say yeah no hurts to much, Imma do it my way.

[With Lime]

Oops, there is a sort of sticky that sort of mentions it. But it doesn't really answer my question, so please don't flame me. If possible suggest some ways to make it less painful? Thanks in advance.

[makanudo]

does it hurt or burn? i think its normal if you get this burning sensation, im no expert but ive been playing for 1 year and i know what its like, i got that sensation a lot when i was working on my ring and pinky strenght and doing hammer on and stretch excercises, but if its pain in the wrist it might be how you are holding the neck, is your thumb in the middle of the back of ur neck?

[tedw]

Todd Johnson talks about holding the fingers down on some of his exercises. Go to the Ask a Pro section and ask him. He is very helpful!

[Dogbertday]

the point is to use every finger to help out the weaker ones. I would keep your fingers down and as close to the original position as you can do comfortably. If your back fingers slide a little that's fine.

Its been my experience that this way builds a better capacity to play legato later in your playing career.

[Arpeggiator]

If you can get into good habits now its much easier in the future, after playing for about 4 years my finger technique was awful up until about a year ago and it took alot of practise to sort it.

[Dogbertday]

literally legato is Italian for 'bound' meaning to bind notes together and connect them through a phrase

so basically legato is playing smoothly between notes... so your bass lines can sound contoured as opposed to always chunky.. keeping your fingers down before and after the note is sounding will help develop good legato

to equate it to a wind instrument, one would either not tongue or would tongue softer in order to play legato

FUN FACT: Beethoven was very into making sure his piano students developed good legato, which was very difficult on that era's pianos.

[With Lime]

It's mainly my wrist that hurts, I keep my thumb in the middle. And it's only on the E string and A string mainly. Thanks for the answers guys, from what you've said it's important for me to hold my fingers down and that I need to learn how and not just give up. I'll try focusing on my wrist more and figure out how to make it not hurt but keep the fingers down. Doesn't help that I don't have the best wrists, And I'll definitely ask Todd Johnson. Oh, can anbody suggest some wrist warmup exercises perhaps? I see tons on google, but no idea which are good ones.

[Catsclaws]

Try just pushing your left elbow forward slightly to get on the lower strings ?This raises your left wrist and hand a little . It works on the violin too
jean

[okTem]

work work work.. practice more.. do it like your teacher said untill you can't press one more note on your fingerboard. Then go do something else... like watch tv or somethin.. rest your hand. then go practice more.. you'll end up doing it correct without any pain for hours

The back of your hand should be straight and your palm should never touch the fingerboard. Always watch you thumb position. Alter your thumb if you're playing on the E string and vice-versa.

Good luck pal

[Erick Lam]

Honestly, I think that 1-2-3-4 exercice is next to useless. It has little to no application in the real world. Patituci's spider is much more useful. Try that at the easiest fret position at first and move down the neck to the bigger frets as it gets easier.

And yes, do keep all fingers on the neck.

[bassistgook]

Remember to keep your wrist as straight as possable. This will releive a lot of stress from your wrist so it won't ache as fast or as bad. Hope this helps.

[With Lime]

Oooh, that spider thing looks awesome! Definetly going to give that a try. Thanks for all the help everyone. I'll keep working on it.

[Erick Lam]

I posted the spider a little too fast. I found that here on TB but it isn't the stretching exercice I remember. It's been so long I guess they are different thing. The one I remember is more difficult but trust me, it WILL strech your hand! It goes like this:

- - 7 9 7 - - - - - -
- 10 - - - 10
8 - - - - - - 8
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Well, I can't write tabs to save my life. I hope you get the idea. You keep your hand in position and reapeat. Make sure the strings ring (except for the 9th fret of course). If they don't it means your fingers are not down. It doesn't matter where on the neck you do this as long as you keep the shape. Start where it's easier for you.

Playing scales in 6th and keeping the fingers down until you have no choice to remover them is good too.

[IanStephenson]

Try playing the same pattern (open strings permitting) further up the neck where the frets are closer together. There's no need to over-stretch. play the exercise at the 12'th fret today. Move it down a fret every day or so, and eventually you'll be able to play it at the first fret.

1 finger per fret at the first fret is very do-able, but can be a stretch when you start out. Part of that is technique, but part is just asking your hands to do something they've not done before, so build up gradually. If it hurts (rather than just being tiring) then you could be causing damage, so don't over do it. When you get your hands in shape, and get the technique right it should be comfortable and easy.

[nysbob]

It's actually a very good exercise for building strength and independence. I give it to students once they start getting a little more mobile on the board.

It's also helpful training for lines where you pedal a lower note and add double stop tensions above it.

Soldier on with it - it will become more doable with some practise.

[Kevin Woods]

I did not check into the exercise itself, but if your fingerboard hand is experiencing sharp pain, then just let up and come back to it later on. Your hands will toughen up in due time. Also, like others have said, make sure that your wrist is not all bent up because that can contribute to more strain.

Generally speaking, both hands should be hanging naturally without too much contortion going on. On the other hand, learning one-finger-per-fret position playing can feel like a contortion, but if you want to grow into an all-access player I strongly recommend it. When you know exactly what is under your fingers and can grab it without jumping around too much, it will help your time, your feel, and the quality of each note that you play. Later on when you are playing at a more experienced level, you will learn how to relax both hands and use less pressure for an effortless groove. This is a fantastic feeling when you start to discover it!

Now, as far as fanatically keeping your fingers down I would say the following: As a developing player, definitely work on that when you are practicing. This will help you become aware of just how much how your fingers need to move to get your groove out. Flailing your fingers about and exerting all sorts of extraneous energy can cause problems later on. I say can because just about every dogmatic maxim, especially about technique, can be subverted in one way or another, especially by a precocious and talented player. I mainly do keep my fingers down, but not always. For certain lines at the outer limits of one's technique I think that it can actually help your timing to "dive bomb" the note. Of course, at that point it is a highly conscious decision and not the result of exhaustion, or whatever. Watch cello players. They pick their fingers up quite high and come down on the note frequently.

So, there are always exceptions. But as you develop in the earlier stages work on keeping your fingers down and not squeezing the notes too hard. Your stamina and skill will increase with time.

Hope that helps.

[With Lime]

You guys all rock! Thanks so much for all your help. *Hands out Thank You Cookies*