playing bass with broken finger..?

[mladenko]

hi guys,
i want to learn to play bass guitar but have a major problem. my left ring finger was broken at the joint and cannot use it 100%.. can;t bend it so pretty much is useful.. since i've never played bass nor guitar is it wiser to start playing like i am left-handed or i can still play bass without the use of finger..

i have no intentions playing bass seriously ina band. just want to jam in my bedrom.. :0

thanks

[recreate.me]

I would try playing both left and right handed, if you can handle left well youd get a off to a faster start. I suspect that you will have just as much trouble playing left handed as you would with a broken finger..

After you figure out if you have have to play right handed, i would start with a short scale bass. I use my ring finger so much, i dont think i could play without it haha
But with a short scale it would be easier all around, and you could reach with your middle finger easier.

Its doable, you just have to do it.

[OldDog52]

How long ago was it broken? I broke one of my big toes a long time ago and it was like 3 or 4 years before it was completely back to normal. As long as it's not horribly painful or something, I would say try to use it as best you can, and the problem may subside over a long period of time. (Unless a doctor has told you not to do that of course)

I like the short scale bass idea. Coincidentally I have one for sale CHEAP in the Classifieds but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to pitch it here.

Your question might belong in the Technique forum...

[number11]

Short scale won't really help you. Its the angle of the fingers in relation to the fretboard which is the impiortant part, if your knuckle doesn't have the full range of bend.

My advice would be wear the bass high so your fingers are relatively flat to the fretboard when fretting.

When you wear your bass low, the wrist and fingers have to bend more.

That means practising with a strap at all times, which is a good idea anyway.

Lots of old-school players don't use their pinky, so you could probably substitute your poinky for your ring finger if it refused to loosen up after a while playing. Once you're not playing complicated jazz fusion or whatever, you'll be fine.

[mladenko]

thank you guys..

to be more specific, my 2nd knuckle on a ring finger is broken (with 15-20% range of movement), not the major one. i have full range of movement on the rest of the knuckles. and this will not get better since the fracture was complex. so this is it.

@ number11 - so what you're saying is to give it a shot wit the right hand, plus, holding bass high ?

[gitlvr]

Originally Posted by mladenko

thank you guys..

to be more specific, my 2nd knuckle on a ring finger is broken (with 15-20% range of movement), not the major one. i have full range of movement on the rest of the knuckles.

I think you'd be just fine. You're technique, specifically the way you fret with that finger, might be slightly different than most, but I seriously doubt you or anyone else would even notice. And since you're just learning, it's not like you'd have to re-learn your technique. I'd go for it. I think it'll probably be a non-issue.

[OldDog52]

Good luck. If you want to play you'll figure out a way!

[electracoyote]

Django Reinhardt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read and be inspired.

And chances are you will never need to play as fast or complex lines as he did.

[darkstorm]

You seriously need to talk to a qaulified sports medicine doctor rather then to people who have no real knowledge of such matters. Useing that finger in the wrong way can cause further injury to it or gauranteed arthritus in later life. Get the opinion, advice and guidance of those whose job is helping people use and regain when possible, movement ability for damaged limbs.

[AgIdoc]

Originally Posted by mladenko

thank you guys..

to be more specific, my 2nd knuckle on a ring finger is broken (with 15-20% range of movement), not the major one. i have full range of movement on the rest of the knuckles. and this will not get better since the fracture was complex. so this is it.

wow. this is me almost exactly. i broke my left ring finger at the distal (outermost) joint 20 years ago. its crooked & doesn't bend much. how'd you break yours? mine wasnt "compound"....mine was smashed/shattered between 2 bricks. weird.

it hasn't really affected me much. i'm a guitarist-turned-bassist and I didn't really get heavy into bass until I was well over it. i use it plenty, but I have been told I have a little bit of a weird technique. self-taught, i guess.

when it happened i couldn't play acoustic guitar w/o pain for a YEAR. a long, long blinkin' time.

you can probably do it. if you can press hard on the strings, you can "make it work" with modified technique.

[number11]

Originally Posted by mladenko

@ number11 - so what you're saying is to give it a shot wit the right hand, plus, holding bass high ?

Yep. But Darkstorm has a point - no harm to talk to a physio anyway.

Makes more sense than trying to play left-handed.

[15000volts]

there's only one way to know.. play for a good amount of time and see if you can manage with the finger the way it is. I broke the left pinky a year ago and never had much trouble, fortunately. I use that finger a lot, and for a few months it started to hurt a bit if I played for more than half an hour, but it doesn't hurt any more. the ring finger is much stronger, so in theory you'll be allright, depending on what kind of fracture you had..

[fullrangebass]

Four years ago, I had a major gig at a huge venue lined up in September and I went for a week's holiday to relax and play every song for the gig every single day. On the 2nd day, I broke the ring finger of my left hand and had a cast immobilizing my ring finger. I did not give up, but rather learned the whole set using index, middle and pinky of my left hand, over the next 4 days. It was annoying but I was positive and determined to make it. And I made the gig (with the cast on my left index finger). Talk to a rehabilitation doctor and I am sure you will find the way out

[ridethespiral]

I wouldn't play bass with a broken finger lol..

You need to let it heal before you put the stress of playing bass on it again. Not doing so could result in permanent injury to your knuckle. How about never getting the full use back because you just couldn't resist playing

[39-Bassist]

No problem playing...I had broken mine yrs ago. and I picked up a Jazz bass, and learned to use my pinky finger and index finger quite well enough to get by. So you can learn it too. It comes down to how bad you want to play the bass. Good luck.

[number11]

Years ago, I hurt my middle finger of my right hand, and learned how to flat-pick guitar ( Liek The Beatles' Julia!) before it healed.

I still flat-pick without using my middle finger.

[azzyrazzy]

Use index middle and pinky. That was too easy. Next question!

[BaditudeDude]

Welcome to TB.

I am 57 and bought my first bass about 3 months ago. Two weeks after getting it, I fell on the ice and broke my right wrist. I was in a cast for about a month during which I wasn't really able to practice. After the cast was removed I started physical therapy and found that I had a measured loss of 75% of my finger/hand strength and 60% of my range of motion due to the arm being in the cast for a month. The PT actually encouraged me to practice on the bass as long as I didn't feel pain or get swelling. Gaining strength and ROM in the hand/wrist is a long process, some of which is age related, but it is getting better.

You didn't mention when you broke your finger. As a medical professional myself, I wonder if you are being followed up by an orthopaedic doctor and physical therapist? Was your fracture set in proper alignment? Are you in a cast? There is good reason why broken bones are immobilized in a cast to allow proper healing; stressing the fracture without immobilization would not only be painful but affect healing. I'd obtain advice/permission from your medical people before playing your bass.

That being said, if your finger is healed, a beginner could conceivably begin playing without using the ring finger; you could use primarily your index and mid finger, and pinky to reach higher notes. I would think trying to play left handed might be frustrating, but you might be somewhat ambidextrious. Good luck.

[jarrydee]

Rather then start a new thread I thought I would revive this one! I fractured or broke my left index finger a few years ago and it is a bit crooked, since I started to really take bass seriously and practice hours a day, that finger hurts...not after I warm up a little in the morning but when I wake up it is stiff and stuck strait out, and if I bend it without easing into it, it almost feels like my knuckle pops in and out of place...but after a little warm up it is gone and I am fine until the next morning! Anyone ever had this problem? There is NO WAY I am going to stop playing, but this hurts...for the first time since I started all of this, today (xmas day) is the first time the finger is actually soar and feeling weird even after trying to warm it up and loosen it up! any help is greatly appreciated..I have NO medical insurance so seeing a Doc right now is not an option! Thanks everyone!

PS. My left hand is my fretting hand and I use all of my fingers..in case that matters!

[bassguitarthund]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Django Reinhardt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read and be inspired.

And chances are you will never need to play as fast or complex lines as he did.

Yup look to this guy and also Bill Clements, the one armed bassist. One armed bass player - YouTube