Is it really necessary to fret with the fingertips?

[nappingcracker]

looks like my technique sucks, I squeeze the crap out of the neck!

I have a huge callous on my fret thumb right near the second knuckle. I have been told to pull with my arm, such that I do not even need my fret thumb touching the neck but this is quite difficult for me to do. I always end up pulling the whole bass off center.

regarding the pain in the finger tips, I play with tips and pads, and whole finger and everything else in between (bad or revolutionary techinque -- both and neither, but it works) but sometimes the tips really hurt, like a phantom pin prick or paper cut. It stops after the nerves learn to not freak out (or die/shut off as is normally the case).

regarding the pinky- first few months i was a two finger fretter, but then learned to throw in the ring finger, and that became really strong (still my dominant finger for slides and "rolls"), finally I started using the pinky, and now I use it more than my ring! keep using it and soon pinky will become strong, strong like eagle claw!

[Crockettnj]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

Perhaps my credibility is lacking here. Click on the first link in my signature, to decide if I have the credentials to offer advice.

and, from eric's website...

"Personally trained by legendary bass innovator, Stanley Clarke"


damn, he isnt kidding!!!!!

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

Perhaps my credibility is lacking here. Click on the first link in my signature, to decide if I have the credentials to offer advice.

Originally Posted by Crockettnj

and, from eric's website...

"Personally trained by legendary bass innovator, Stanley Clarke"


damn, he isnt kidding!!!!!

Yeah, but was he one of the GOOD students... besides, look at the guys list of upcoming gigs. He lives in the US and apparently can't find a gig, so he's forced to go to Europe to play!


Randy

[Eric Grossman]

You guys are awesome. I knew being overly sensitive would get me in trouble.
Stanley was great to me, and he did have some pretty good student beside me.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

I assume you're talking about the left hand. You should be playing with the pads of your fingers just below the tips, regardless of the instrument, 4, 5 fretted, fretless, whatever.

I think we may mean something different by fingertips and fingerpads. To me, the tip ranges from the very point to somewhat less than that, but the pad would be closer to where the whorls/arches are. Fretting with this part of your finger requires that you collapse your first (distal) joint, which is something I never do unless I'm barring. What do you mean by those terms?

[Eric Grossman]

Different ways of saying the same thing. We agree!

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

Different ways of saying the same thing. We agree!

Maybe regional differences in dialect led to the misunderstanding. Or maybe not.

[Eric Grossman]

Regional differences for sure, I'm in North County.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

Regional differences for sure, I'm in North County.

Well there you go.

[morf]

I tried fretting with my fingertips, (seems I was fretting with my fingertips already, but not as far as I could go, now I'm fretting right where the finger bone ends) and I must say its one hell of a big change in sound. All the static/noise I had before is pretty much gone giving a "round" sound which is alot better with the P Bass, and not such a big change with the Cort. It's pretty hard but I'm gonna keep at it until I get used to it. It seems to put less strain on my left hand in the long run, and I have a clearly better sound.

Thanks for the tip, much appreciated

[tappingtrance]

Three things to consider: Play with the pads as other s have said. Your fingersalmost lay parallel to the frets in a nicely curved fashion - like the example of the orange above.

Secondly, your thumb should relly be lightly against the back of the neck - you really should be able to play without propping or touching your thumb on the back of the neck

lastly, this is a trick Gary Willis uses in his clinics and has worked wonders for me. Play as light as you possibly can - with both hands. He has you play a note with your left hand and slowly lift your finger in as small increments as you can until you get fret buzz - right before fret buzz is where you should be relative to pressure. Your right hand - very light too - the lighter you play the more dynamic range you have - make your amp/cab do the work for you.

[morf]

Yep thats exactly what using my fingertips taught me. Pressing too hard is necessary for players who are just starting and whose fingertips may not be as hard as more experienced players, but once your tips are hard you'll get a much better sound playing softer and turning up the amp.

[Richard Lindsey]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the way you fret the notes will differ depending on what string you're playing, especially if you play extended-range basses (I play 6). I use kind of an adaptation of classical guitar technique, in which the fingers become progressively more arched as I go from low strings to high, and progessively flatter as I go in the other direction. The "body" of my hand rocks slightly as I do this, but not as much as it would if I were trying to preserve the exact same fretting angle on every string.

Generally, though, I probably do pretty much what Eric and lemur describe in their individual ways--i.e., not the very end of the finger, and not the flat part. If you imagine the end joint of the finger coming down on the string at, oh, maybe an average 45 degree angle (perhaps as much as 60 for high strings and as little as 30 for low ones), that's probably about it. When I play guitar, the angles are a little sharper (they have to be, because of the narrower neck, the skinnier strings, and the smaller distance between strings).

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by Earthday

...I find it beneficial to use a lower area of my fingers to make muting easier.

Yes - thats what I was thinking.

I don't think I ever really use the finger-TIPS - like at the apex of the curve; like where the tip of the finger bone points to. I think it's always somewhat behaind that... Welllll: now that I just 'played bass on my arm' (I'm at work now), I guess I do sometimes - especially for the higher note when I do octaves or fifths or tenths or something - but generally-speaking, I'm a nut about muting, and often play with my fingers pretty flat, so that I'm muting strings that are physically-below the one I'm playing with 'precision slop' from the meat on the palm-side of my fingers.

But! When it come to pain and finger-toughness and whatever, that'll just build-up with practice. I fretboard-tap also, and then I often (but not always) use the tip-tips - especially on the right hand.

Joe