Minimising Left Hand Movements

[Wes]

Hey, I recently had my first bass lesson. And although my tutor was quite happy with my left-hand fingering; he noted that I move the fingers that aren't on the note being played quite a lot in between note change.

I was wondering if you guys knew any exercises to help me get into better shape.

Cheers.

[Earthday]

Play everything you know at a slower tempo while watching your left hand and make a point of correcting it. Don't play anything at a higher speed until you can play it at a lower speed without your fingers moving and work your way up. If you have a mirror, playing in front of it would help a lot too. Like any other technical problem it won't go away unless you focus on it and "re-train" your fingers.

[Wes]

Thank you I will try this.

[WillPlay4Food]

While this article focuses on building more speed, it also gives a great tip (#2) on maximizing economy and staying relaxed. You need to train your hands (as Earthday said) to move as little as possible to play a note.