Ok, I feel like my fingers are too short.

[RandomEvent]

I've been practicing for about a week now, and I've noticed something very odd in my playing. Generally, I'm told that you should be able to reach one fret per finger on the finger board. Problem is, I can't do it comfortably. I can stretch them as far as they go, and I barely make it, but it hurts my wrist when I do that for even more than a minute or so. Then I start to lose my position, and basically I don't have 1 finger per fret anymore.

I've noted the problem down to my middle and ring finger. My index and pinky can stretch out pretty far, but it just doesn't seem like my middle two fingers want to stretch that far apart. That's where I lose my pacing all the time. And if I try to force myself to reach a fret per finger, then my wrist and hand tense, and I lose my non-tense, comfortable fretting position. Maybe I just don't know how to hold my bass properly. I've read the lesson on Adam Nitti's site about fretting, but it didn't seem to help me much.

I'm wondering if this just has to do with practicing to make my fingers move and bend the way I want to over time, or I just have fingers that aren't long enough. Any advice would be appreciated very much. Until then, I'm going to just do a bunch of right hand exercises I've seen to help build up my plucking strength.

BTW, I'm playing an SXJ, if that helps any. I don't know if they make necks with smaller frets or not. That would be really nice. A thin, small fretted neck seems really appealing to me right about now. If it exists. Thank you in advance for all of your help and advice.

[fenderhutz]

I have very small hands. Really. My first finger is as long as most peoples pinky fingers (guys anyway). When I slap I have to use my first finger and pinky for the octaves. If I fan out my fingers my left (fretting hand) literally stretches out more.

I am no virtuoso but you can go to www.tellhazelrun.com and listen to bass practice. Playing fast and accurate can be done but you have to accomodate your style a bit or get a short scale bass. I have been playing for about 15 years and it didn't get easier with practice and I risked wrist injury playing the traditional way.

If you try it for a couple months and it still doesn't feel right, don't risk long term injury. Adjust your style or get a comfortable bass. The reason I say go at it for a month you need to see if it's just due to your muscles needing conditioned.

I decided I am not a fan of short scale basses so I changed my style up a bit to compensate. I can do a quick 4th fret tap with my pinky if I have to but a full on note ride takes my ring finger and pinky to hold the note properly. Like I said, I have hand strength, been playing for 15 years.

[RandomEvent]

Thanks for that advice. I've been trying to do a lot of basic stuff with only using two fingers for fretting, and while it is a bit difficult moving back and forth quickly, it might help me out more in the long run. It does get awkward though.

[Jazz Ad]

Whenever people complain about their fingers I like to post a pic of Angry Amputees' Dalty.
Not only des the guy rock out but it's also a good way to put things back in perspective.
Obviously there is hope for you.

[Infernal Affair]

A lot of people, including many teachers, are going to tell you that the One Finger Per Fret (OFPF) rule is an absolute, but it does not have to be. Many people play index/middle/pinky on the first few frets. I changed to this after reading one of Ed Friedland's books. I must say that it's much more comfortable. Of course for things like practice exercises I will still use OFPF and pivot a little to adjust the spread, but when it comes to actual playing I don't see a need to have to always spread my hand out like that.

[RandomEvent]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Whenever people complain about their fingers I like to post a pic of Angry Amputees' Dalty.
Not only des the guy rock out but it's also a good way to put things back in perspective.
Obviously there is hope for you.

That is pretty interesting. I'm going to look for that bands stuff now. But, I have to ask, did it really seem like I was complaining? I wasn't really trying to come of that way, it was more of a beginning observation I had about my playing. Sorry if it seemed that way. I was pretty sure I had hope, but I honestly didn't fancy ending up with wrist problems a few years from now. Thanks again everyone for the advice though. Keep it coming.

[Jazzdogg]

When I started playing as a kid, I had small hands and I learned to play upright before I learned electric. For someone with small hands, it can be very helpful to use your left hand like an upright player (pretend your ring finger and pinkie are fused together).

Some of my middle-school students have very small hands, especially the girls; learning the Simandl left-hand method and strengthening their hands seems to make it easier for them to learn OFPF later. One of the other things that seems to help a lot is to practice when seated, using classical guitarist's technique, with the left foot elevated, the bass body balanced between the legs (favoring the left leg), and the headstock and neck elevated. Playing with an over-long strap seems to hyperextend the left wrist and make the situation much more difficult.

These days, I seem to use three different left hand techniques on electric bass: the Simandl/upright method; OFPF; and Rocco Prestia's flat-hand technique that incorporates muting and ghost notes.

Good luck!

[RandomEvent]

Er, where could I find the information about the Simandl and Rocco Prestia methods? I can't do lessons right now because I work a night job, and all of the teachers around me only teach afternoon and evening lessons. Any book or site that details these other methods would really help me out.

EDIT: So, after a few more hours of messing around and practicing, I've noticed a few things. One, that it is possible for me to reach the first frets with all 4 fingers, but only the middle of each fret. And I get a lot of clank and just bad noise in general if I fret in the middle. Two, on the lower frets I am somewhat OK with using all four fingers. Three, I notice that I try to grip the neck whenever I'm moving around on the frets, which I'm sure is a big no-no. The bass is already held up, I guess it's just my body's natural reaction to try and grip it and hold it afloat. I'll have to break that habit.

[warnergt]

Originally Posted by RandomEvent

Generally, I'm told that you should be able to reach one fret per finger on the finger board. Problem is, I can't do it comfortably. I can stretch them as far as they go, and I barely make it, but it hurts my wrist when I do that for even more than a minute or so. Then I start to lose my position, and basically I don't have 1 finger per fret anymore.

Heh, this is something I, too, have been struggling with and continue to struggle with both physically and philosophically. Let me give you some thoughts and suggestions that have helped me.

If you can perform the one finger per fret method, you will be able to play a whole scale without shifting. That alone makes it a very desirable goal. Nothing makes you lose your position more than shifting.

Try anchoring your thumb on the back of the neck directly opposite where your middle finger plays. That way, if you have to stretch your index finger or pinky to get some notes, you can still figure out where "home" is without looking. You just reposition your middle finger opposite your thumb. Despite having the exact same problem as you, I have actually been able to use this technique relatively successfully to even allow my index finger get that extra fifth fret.

I saw a YouTube video where the guy does something like this but pivots his hand to get the notes. See it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu7BCkO6yrc

If the tune doesn't require the bottom five notes of your lowest (typically E) string, you can move down the fret board where the frets are closer together.

If four fingers are still too hard and you insist on using three, try to make it index/middle/ring as this will make it easier to add the pinky at a later date when you may become more comfortable/confident getting your fingers around. Using the index/middle/pinky could force you to do a little "unlearning" at a later date.

Despite this talk of what you should do, I have to confess that I do the index/middle/(combo ring-pinky) often enough. I find it gives me a little extra power I need to get through fast sequences. I want to bang my head when I do this. It does the job but I feel I may be a better bassist in the long run if I didn't do this.

It's a dilemma. Do you do what works best right now? Or do you struggle with what may make you better in the long run? I battle with this every day. Some will say there are no hard rules or that rules were meant to be broken. Angry Amputees' Dalty and Django Reinhardt show that you can successfully get around these rules but they may also ask you why you don't take full advantage of all of your fingers.

[sir juice]

just keep working at it, the more you do it, your fingers will get used to it. I've managed to space my fingers this way of a 3/4 size upright and my hands are pretty chunky (sausage finger syndrome).

[mambo4]

I have been playing for almost 20 years using Index-Middle-ring&pinky(together.) Some called it "upright" style fingering. For my small hands it's not practical to follow a 1 finger per fret rule on a bass. If you have large hands, or a short scale neck, you may gain a slight technical speed advantage, but musically either way will do.

I don't over stretch my fingers to reach a fret, I just slide my palm+fingers up to get my fingers where they need to be. My thumb stays put so it's easy to slide back to reach the lower frets. (Carol Kaye's "thumb pivot " technique) Also, I try to back up my fingers with the rest -when my pinky is down, the 3 other fingers are on the string with it, so I use my whole hand.

[chaosMK]

I have pretty small hands and use a 35" scale bass.

If I am playing on the 0-5 range of the fretboard, it can be slightly awkward to do one finger per fret. I rarely play there because the timber is thin to my ears.

Generally I do what's comfortable (and sounds better to me, foremost)- I play on higher ranges of the bass. 5th fret, 8th fret, 12th fret positions are where I write my cool stuff.

My guitarist plays in drop D and drop C. I keep my bass in standard, so on the drop D songs I am mainly playing in 3rd fret position- which is comfortable and fast for me.

One of my favorite warmups are the wide arpegios from the guitar lead at the ending of Pantera - Floods. It's good training.