left hand - fourths

[bench]

Hey there,

i´ve a question concerning the left hand when playing fourths.
if I play "in" a major scale in one position (i.e. a maj), my middle finger is on the root, pinky on second, index on third (a string...) and so on... ...for me this is the "normal" fingering for a major scale. And it´s very comfortable to play it up and down or in thirds.

The only problem arises when it comes to fourths. To stay in position I´d have to play the fourths with one finger (i.e. root and fourth with middle, third and sixth with index, fifth and octave with pinky). For this i have to bend the distal joints of the used finger and that disturbs a flowing motion.

I´m asking this because i´m playing some Bach cello suites. It´s often necessary to runs like:

octave-fifth-octave-major seventh-octave-fifth-third-root (hope you get what i mean... ... in a major (straight eight notes: a-e-a-g sharp-a-e-c sharp-A).

If I use the pinky for fifth and octave I am abel to stay in position but the fast alternation between the two is uncomfortable because of the mentioned bending. If I play the run with: p-r-p-m-p-r-i-m (man, this sounds complicated even to myself...) I get out of my position to play the fifth with my ring finger....

So - IF YOU UNDERSTOOD THIS!!!! - do you have the same problem or even a solution for it? What way do you prefer??

Thanks and Sorry

[needmoney]

For fourths, I simply bend the joint as you say, it's common practice on upright, and doesn't really do any harm on electric, just one less motion I have to make. This technique is crucial especially in Cello Suites!

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by needmoney

For fourths, I simply bend the joint as you say, it's common practice on upright, and doesn't really do any harm on electric, just one less motion I have to make. This technique is crucial especially in Cello Suites!

I agree. And my two cents is that if you ever switch to fretless you have to do fourths this way to keep them in tune.

[PlayMoreBass]

Third party here - can you clarify what you mean by "bending the joint"?

[Marcury]

I use a Barre for playing fourths most of the time, sometimes I'll use two fingers, but the Barre is more comfortable.

[bench]

Originally Posted by PlayMoreBass

Third party here - can you clarify what you mean by "bending the joint"?

usually my left hand fingers are c-shaped, which means all the joints are bend towards the palm, as if making a fist. for the barré it´s necessary to bend the distal joint in the other direction to be able to cover two strings with one finger...

[needmoney]

Originally Posted by PlayMoreBass

Third party here - can you clarify what you mean by "bending the joint"?

Say you're playing a note on the D string and want to play a 4th above, you fret the first note with the pad of whatever finger, and to get to the 4th above, bend the knuckle closest to your nail as if you were pushing on the tip of your finger and simply rock your finger to the note above.

EDIT: I should note that it works a little bit differently with the pinky in most cases, with the pinky you kind of shift (or pull the pinky) up using your ring finger as a straight edge (I guess this only really matters with fretless), this requires a little bit of a tilt from the elbow.

These things are really hard to explain over the interweb...