Pinky finger is flailing off the fretboard - any tips?

Bass · #1 10-09-2006, 03:10 PM

I notice that my fingers tend to flail off the fretboard a little (especially the pinky finger).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening? I would like to keep my fingers close to the fretboard at all times for better speed and precision, but the pinky just loves to "fly off".

Please help!

ARCtrooper225 · #2 10-09-2006, 06:36 PM

I wish I could help, but I suffer from this too. I'm gonna see what people say.

Poop-Loops · #3 10-09-2006, 06:44 PM

Play slowly.

For example, get in 5th or 6th position or however high you need to in order to play one finger per fret without pivoting your hand.

Then, play patters of those 4 fingers. Say your fingers are 1- indext, 2- middle, 3- ring, 4- pinky.

Play something like 1234 a few times, then 4321, 4132, 3241, 1324, etc. Play without a metronome first and go as slow as you need to in order to keep all your fingers close to the strings. Only later, once you can do this fairly well, should you turn on the metronome.

If you have a guitar, this might actually work better on it, since you need so much more detailed muscle movement and can fine tune that skill better.

PrimusNut · #4 10-09-2006, 06:45 PM

Read the thread I just made about Fret Hand Technique. I find that when my thumb is relaxed, and kind of sticking over the top of the bass, my fingers all stay down, but when I am playing to the text-book method, my fingers "flail" as you have said. I would work on getting it right. Mine is better now that I have adjusted my technique to something more comfortable to me.

This isn't advice, just my experience, as I know my fingers shouldn't flail when I have my thumb horizontal on the back, but they do, and it hurts my wrist when I try to stop them from doing this.

excane · #5 10-09-2006, 07:17 PM

Just cut your pinky off.

It would probably make a good
mute to put under the strings to give you an upright tone.

Bassist4Life · #6 10-09-2006, 07:28 PM

Fingers that "fly off" the fingerboard do so because of muscle tension (in my experience). I teach middle school orchestra and I see a lot of interesting left hand situations.

What makes fingers stiffen up and stick out? Muscles.

It's difficult to determine exactly what is causing this to happen. A picture would help a little. A video would be even better. It could be a variety of things. It could be something as simple as squeezing too hard with your left hand, or the placement of your left elbow.

Joe

Bassist4Life · #7 10-09-2006, 08:18 PM

http://www.daddario.com/DADArtistDet...odaID=991&ID=3

This is a video that Gary Willis has on the D'Addario website. There is an interview and a lesson video. Watch the lesson video. It gives some really great advice on left hand technique. I think it could help.

Joe

sasred · #8 10-09-2006, 10:35 PM

Tried watching the video to no avail, so don't know if this will duplicate that or not...

...but Mr. Willis also has a book out, "101 Bass Tips"--tip #76, "Avoid The Salute", deals with this very problem. I have this issue as well, and posted here a couple of months ago asking for advice...when this bit of help was sitting on my bookshelf the whole while.

It's a tough exercise, especially with small hands--my teacher has let me adapt it to the D & G strings instead of being up on the E & A as Gary suggests--but it should, over time, help with "flagpole pinky".

I have noticed it helping some. It just takes concentration for a while--mentally forcing yourself to keep that pinky down.

The book's got all kinds of helpful info in it--hop on Amazon, I think I only paid $10 for it.

K'Ching · #9 10-10-2006, 04:33 AM

A good exercise to get rid of this, is to just play 1234 up and down the strings, and make sure to ONLY move the finger that's gonna fret the next note. It's pretty difficult at first, but it will help you move your fingers as little as possible.

Aussiephoenix · #10 10-10-2006, 05:47 AM

first thing that pops into mind is left-hand and elbow position...

My posture while playing bass was one of the first things my teacher helped me correct. 1 finger per fret, is easier to do if your hand is perfectly flat across the fingerboard.

Once I got used to that, I have more control over each of my fingers.

Something that might have also helped, for the pinky specifically is using it for the 5th and 8th notes during slap/pop. strengthens that finger's muscles some.