Practicing with fretting hand thumb NOT touching the neck

[Timbo]

Do you guys feel this is beneficial for your playing?

I read this somewhere, and am starting to do it. It really shows how much pressure i've been putting on my thumb and really seems to strengthen my fingers.

[Dave Muscato]

Never tried that specifically, but coming from a classical guitar background, I'm definitely aware of exactly how much pressure I exert onto the strings.

It really doesn't take much, huh?

[Timbo]

Yeah, seriously.

It's really also helping me keep my "C" shape. It's pretty hard to play basslines like that with your fingers flat.

[cheesemonkey]

I'm gonna try that... seems like it might be difficult to get use too...

[magnusdeus123]

Originally Posted by Timbo

Do you guys feel this is beneficial for your playing?

I read this somewhere, and am starting to do it. It really shows how much pressure i've been putting on my thumb and really seems to strengthen my fingers.

How do you manage to keep the bass from rolling around your waist due to the pressure from the fingers .

[spindizzy]

You put pressure on the bass body with your plucking arm to create the opposing pressure that keeps the bass from going into orbit around your waist. Also not easy to learn at first but a very good exercise for getting that C shape and for learning that fretting done properly does not require a lot of pressure (Dave aptly points this out above).

If you read it here it might have been one of my posts in the Floating Thumb sticky. I had to drop mine for awhile way back in the dark ages because I had intense pain in my thumb joint that made playing impossible. I learned a lot during that time particularly about ways to make my small hands do things they aren't supposed to be able to do.

Now I also learned that it was the way I held my car's steering wheel that caused the problem in the first place so now I am down to dropping the thumb only when I want to reach it up and fret a particularly hard to reach note.

Spin

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by magnusdeus123

How do you manage to keep the bass from rolling around your waist due to the pressure from the fingers .

I do this exercise sitting down and use my right arm to push down to keep it in equilibrium as stated above by Spindizzy.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

not at all..

waste of time imho...

all the strength is from your hand closing, and you cant do that without the thumb there...

what you CAN do to help is get a bass with higher action and practice on that, and when put to normal action it will be like cake to play..

[dragon6]

Originally Posted by Timbo

Do you guys feel this is beneficial for your playing?

I read this somewhere, and am starting to do it. It really shows how much pressure i've been putting on my thumb and really seems to strengthen my fingers.

Strength in playing bass comes the forearm pulling back and using the thumb as pivot to move your fingers up and down the neck. Yes you do squeeze with the thumb but it's not the main power. Fingers are the main power. Your idea is good to work up strength, but add your thumb to work out your fingers. Try doing trills without your thumb. This is just an excersize nothing more.

[nysbob]

Isn't the opposable thumb one of our strong suits, species-wise?

[Valerus]

I need to figure out how to do it because I OVERuse my fretting thumb. I have DeQuervain's Syndrome because of it

[funkydanbass]

I think most exercises of this nature are a waste of time and I wouldn't spend any time practicing like this beyond using it to observe how much pressure you are applying with your thumb. Very little pressure is needed at all to fret a note cleanly. Personally, I think the idea of developing 'strength' for playing is wrong. Control and relaxation are key.

Im not really a fan of practice routines that get you to play different to how you actually play. For example, drummers spending hours of technical practice with tree trunk drum sticks. What happens to your technique as it pertains to dynamic and tone with the tools you actually use when playing?

Just my opinion, I'm sure others have had success with these methods.

[JehuJava]

I've dabbled with this one...nothing too serious though. It is interesting.

An instructor gave me another exercise one time:
Slowly apply pressure with your fretting finger while playing, say eighth notes. Go from muted to the very first time the note sounds 100% clear. Then back off pressure until the note just slightly buzzes from the fret. Alternate between note and buzz.

This should show you the you can sound the note with less pressure (once the note is sounded you probably can still press down harder if you wanted, but shouldn't), you realize how little pressure is required by alternating from buzz to note, and you calibrate your fingers to relax.

I just realized that the thumb exercise is to relax the thumb not the fingers. Oh well...it is written now so here it is.

Alan

[JehuJava]

Originally Posted by funkydanbass

Personally, I think the idea of developing 'strength' for playing is wrong. Control and relaxation are key.

+100

The thumb exercise is good for checking your technique and breaking bad habits. It DOES develop control and relaxed technique.

[E2daGGurl]

I think finger strength in individual fingers does matter, especially for jazz chords.

But don't forget to do your stretchies first!

I don't always use my thumb back there (I use that strumming hand balancing technique quite a bit, actually). For me, finger strength aids in coordination and speed, doesn't have to do so much with my thumb, though.

[Marcury]

It is good to be able to play without your thumb as a gauge of the amount of pressure you exert and where you tend to grip too hard, but it is worthless as a playing technique.

[ogrossman]

Originally Posted by nysbob

Isn't the opposable thumb one of our strong suits, species-wise?

So I guess this means just about any ape can play bass

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by Timbo

Do you guys feel this is beneficial for your playing?

I read this somewhere, and am starting to do it. It really shows how much pressure i've been putting on my thumb and really seems to strengthen my fingers.

I'm not sure where this technique could be applicable or what the benefits are, unless you unfortunately loose your thumb or you've damaged it to the point of being unuseable. Maybe something I'm missing here...

Beyond the strength needed to press the string down (cleanly and consistently) to the fretboard, I'm not sure if building of strength in this manner is going to pay any dividend in improved technique, playing ability or endurance.

Regards.

[bassalo]

Originally Posted by ogrossman

So I guess this means just about any ape can play bass

Except me

[cnltb]

I've tried that but found two flaws with this method.
First: practising like this is not directly relevant to playing bass.
Second: the thumb behind the neck helps to stabilize the wrist and keeps it from bending too much