Increasing "comfort range" for easier playing?

[jarop]

So i've been attempting to get serious with electric over the last couple of months (long time double player now trying to expand) and the advice everybody originally gave to me was practice the 4-finger exercise. It's definitely helped... up to a point. In my comfort range on my bass (frets 5-10) my technique has been superb and things like buzzing notes, dodgy finger control is all gone. however:

I find if I get too low (frets 1-4) if i apply the same technique, my left hand technique just pronates and i lose all control over my hand and notes start buzzing as i can't get a decent feel around the neck.

The same happens from frets 10 onwards, the lower fingers (3 and pinky) just become harder and harder to play with and collapse in on each other. I'm attempting to experiment with bass chords and this is making it hard

So i'm fairly confident both of these problems have come about due to either bad thumb positioning and wrist placement. Playing on a double octave bass however, from about fret 10 onwards you can't tuck your arm in anymore and you lose a hell of a lot of freedom. I'm really not sure what i can do, my thumb tends to just hold in one place and i'm not really sure what i'm trying to fix with my wrist

Any advice?

[fdeck]

This is one of those "get a teacher" situations. Somebody has to take a close look at your technique, and tell you what to do. As mentioned in another thread, 4-finger technique on the lower frets may just prove to be too awkward. The balance and positioning of your bass may be an issue too. It has to be so that you are not using your left hand to hold your bass in place.

[Fergie Fulton]

What you are experiencing is the design of the human body. The further the arm moves away from the side the arm pronates, you cannot stop this, and indeed there is no practical reason to do so as far as human motion is concerned.

This motion is controlled at the elbow, it piviots the arm so in turn takes the hand and therefore the fingers. You cannot stay parallel to the neck with the motion of the human body, so supination must occur(the turning of the forearm back to the body) and this in turn causes the hand to turn with the effect of the ulnar side(the little finger side) to lower. becuse the wrist cannot give you the motion to bring the hand back a comprimise must now come. So now a choice must be made, do i play lower frets with the radius side ( the forefinger) or the ulnar side? To facilitate either of these movement at this range of arm extention the thumb with start to go parallel with the neck. In human motion this is a natural movement, as it seeks to move the thumb away from strain and let the fleshy pad of the hand take the strain, which it is more than capable of doing, try it a see for yourself. To keep the thumb up you must move it against the motion of the turning wrist, therefore the turning hand. You will notice if the thumb stays parallel with the neck, rather than upright, the palm has a flatness about it. now when you lift the thumb back to an upright position a vally or crease appears in the palm. This is over the Carpal tunnel area, so in fact you are compressing the Carpal Tunnel, you are pushing the struture of it together at it's sides. Over time this will collapse in and affect the Median nerve, which in a healthy hand is protected by the Carpal tunnel.

As we were never designed to play bass the problem is in the design of the instrument, it is no ergonomic to the bodys needs and motions. This instrument is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLi8pOa6zYk

But this instrument will have to fight the concepts of design by manufacturers how have invested money and time in "standard acceptable" designs. Also the prejudice of players to such an idea will also have to be over come.

Work with in the range of motion you have and to increase this motion start a set of stretches to increse the motion of the arms, wrist, hands and fingers to work safely in acheving your best range, not what anyone else can do, but your best range.
This link below will explain stretching in a broad sense but there are lots of good post on TB about applying it to the hands.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...ogId=475980040

We are all different in what we can achieve, so don't force it if it never happens. work within your limits.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...ogId=475980040