* curve your fingers, fret with the tips
* adjust your bass strap height and or angle the headstock up so its easy to reach
If your fingers can't reach the fret
move your hand up the neck. it's allowed.
Don't freeze your left hand and palm in place while trying to reach with
just your fingers.
You don't have to keep each finger exactly on its fret, once the next finger comes down.
You only need to fret one note at a time.
You can relax and move your left hand and thumb as needed to accomplish that.
Watch for the death grip:
Many beginners have no clue how little pressure is actually required to fret.
Gary Willis also wrote about it his 101 bass tips book.
The exercise is simple:
1.) fret a note, and start plucking ( fret cleanly: on top/just behind the fret)
2.) as you pluck, slowly decrease your left hand pressure
3.) eventually you will ease up too far and the string will buzz/rattle against the fret
4.) as you pluck, slowly increase the pressure until the note rings cleanly again. This is "the minimum pressure required to fret a note"
5.) repeat 2-4 over and over again, paying close attention to how your hand feels at the moment you start/stop buzzing.
The point is to familiarize your brain and left hand muscles with that magic pressure point so that you know how much to relax, when you notice your death grip kicking in.
As mentioned elsewhere, this is an awareness that you must develop as much it is a muscle skill. You must spend some playing time consciously thinking about easing up , and eventually is becomes more of a natural sensitivity than a a conscious effort.
Gary Willis himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHEq...eature=related
also, you don't have to always use 1 finger per fret. look into using "124" aka "Simandl" aka "upright" fingering in the lower frets. Lots of players use 124 in teh lower frets and 1234 higher up.
