rest your forearm on the bass or not?

sbunnell07 · #1 09-25-2009, 12:38 AM

Is it better to raise your forearm off of the bass or rest it on the bass for comfort? I have heard many different things and need some opinions. I have heard that resting your forearm on your bass restricts blood flow to your hand and can reduce endurance. Is this true?

Nalte · #2 09-25-2009, 12:39 AM

Resting my forearm on the bass helps me keep my hand in place, which means my fingers don't miss the strings. Bloodflow has never crossed my mind.

JimmyM · #3 09-25-2009, 12:45 AM

Resting is OK. Hanging your wrist over the bass can cut off blood flow and put your wrist at an odd angle.

**garmenteros** · #4 09-25-2009, 12:53 AM

in the september issue of bass player magazine jonathan herrera tech tip is to not rest your forearm at the bass because it can cause carpal tunnel syndrome and affects your attack to the strings. I thought it wasn't true but I did play with my forearm on the bass and it would cramp up my plucking hands and get fatigued more often... so i tried lifting my arm and i noticed a subtle improvement in my tone... clearer notes... and my plucking hand never gets fatigued now or cramped. the downside... my arm gets really tired from not having anywhere to rest... like when you do weight training at the gym... but ive learned to ease up and it really depends on how you position the bass towards you... eventually you can get used to it and i really believe it will improve your playing.

fearceol · #5 09-25-2009, 02:50 AM

Everyone has their own views on this subject. I use this technique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU

Not only do you avoid the possibility of developing carpel tunnell, but you also mute the strings with your thumb.

Commreman · #6 09-25-2009, 05:08 AM

Don't rest your forearm on the bass. You will eventually hyperextend your wrist which can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis in your elbow. It won't happen right away, but it will happen. Trust me on this.

Mark Perry · #7 09-25-2009, 05:21 AM

The muscles you use extend a lot further than your wrists. You need to keep any excessive bend out of either of your hands. If you can rest your arm on the bass without that excessive bend you should be ok. The height of the bass is very important. Too high is bad for the right hand/arm, too low is bad for the left.

Have a look on youtube for clips of Marcus Miller. He always keeps his wrists straight and arm raised.

MNAirHead · #8 09-25-2009, 05:26 AM

I've been told Carpal Tunnel is from funky positions for extended periods of time.

Had a Chiropractor basically say to change it up and keep it moving.

Mutant Corn · #9 09-25-2009, 05:32 AM

Bad news for me then

I've been resting my arm on by bass for 5 years to stop it from diving.

HogieWan · #10 09-25-2009, 05:37 AM

It really depends on how high you strap your bass. If your bass sits high, resting your forearm puts a lot of pressure on your wrist and gives a funny angle, but if your bass is slung low, there's almost no way to play without your forearm against the bass

NortyFiner · #11 09-25-2009, 05:40 AM

It could also depend on the bass. "Explorer" or "Z" style bass bodies have that long back corner on top; I recall John Entwhistle resting his arm on his Alembic "Explorer" in a high playing position...

**BLDavis** · #12 09-25-2009, 05:51 AM

I played for years with my bass up high on my chest and my arm resting on the body. And I developed CT which I've been dealing with ever since.
About a year ago I lowered my bass down to belly-button level and only rest my thumb on the body over the pickup. That, combined with a good warm up before playing has helped a lot.

Lobster11 · #13 09-25-2009, 07:13 AM

It seems to me that "resting your arm on your bass" can mean two rather different things, one of which is "bad" and the other okay or even "good." The "bad" way is to have your arm basically just dangling from your shoulder, with your forearm resting mainly on the top edge of the bass and pushing the bass down toward the floor. (Of course, the bass has to be held pretty high on your body to do this.) This forces your wrist to bend severely to reach down for the strings (thus affecting your attack and providing a recipe for carpal tunnel, etc.). The other, "okay" way involves holding your elbow out a bit farther from your body and having your forearm rest more against the face of the bass body rather than the top, with the weight mainly pinning the bass against your body rather than pushing it downward. In this position your wrist can remain straight; you maintain an almost straight line from your elbow to your fingers.

This difference became clear to me when I first got my Jack Casady sig, and discovered that it was very uncomfortable to play in the "bad" position. This forced me to adjust to the other position, which I've now adopted for playing all of my basses. (I also discovered that the "good" way was more than adequate to prevent neck dive, too; it isn't necessary to rest my forearm heavily on the top of the body to keep the neck up.)

SteveC · #14 09-25-2009, 07:39 AM

Been resting mine for a long time.

Addison · #15 09-25-2009, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HogieWan

It really depends on how high you strap your bass. If your bass sits high, resting your forearm puts a lot of pressure on your wrist and gives a funny angle, but if your bass is slung low, there's almost no way to play without your forearm against the bass

Big +1...

I think it's only really "bad" when your arm looks like a neck on a flamingo.

That kind of extreme bending causes a lot more friction on your "wrist cables" and can significantly increase your chances for problems.

Although I've gone through a couple of short phases, I have been playing my bass at a mid-level position (not too low, not too high) while slightly resting my forearm against the body for 20 years, and I've never had any permanent problems... and I'm a pretty aggresive player.

* knock on wood *

two fingers · #16 09-25-2009, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mutant Corn

Bad news for me then

I've been resting my arm on by bass for 5 years to stop it from diving.

Get a wide leather strap and that will take care of the dive. Then you can lift your arm a little.

jaywa · #17 09-25-2009, 08:32 AM

I've done it most of my playing career. See pic below. Have never had a problem unless you count that the finish is starting to chip off in that spot on the body.

Also helps counteract mild neck-dive inherent in my P-Bass.

Jefenator · #18 09-25-2009, 09:47 AM

If you want to train yourself to not rest the forearm on the bass, try playing one with a "slab" body. My '51 RI can get very uncomfortable unless I make a conscious effort to use a different RH approach.

IMO/E that top bevel on the body is a great thing.

unclejane · #19 09-25-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mutant Corn

Bad news for me then

I've been resting my arm on by bass for 5 years to stop it from diving.

I usually post this link in the neck-dive threads - this should probably be required viewing for all electric bass players:

http://www.carvinchannel.com/play.php?vid=116

This was a revelation to me as, even tho I was aware of neck-heaviness as a fit problem for me, this was the first place I'd seen a virtuoso actually discuss it openly as an instrument design problem (I so happen to play a bunny now too for precisely the balance reason).

Sure enough, even the 6 string model (mines the BB76F) is perfectly balanced on the strap and gone is the holding and pushing on the instrument that I've had to deal with on my other basses.

Good balance is starting to catch on in other brands too, i.e. Conklin now has a line of basses with an extended upper horn, and so on with other basses...
So there's hope for us out there....

LS

winstonthecat · #20 09-25-2009, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I've done it most of my playing career. See pic below. Have never had a problem unless you count that the finish is starting to chip off in that spot on the body.

Also helps counteract mild neck-dive inherent in my P-Bass.

I think this is an example of the "not bad" technique that Lobster11 was talking about. The forearm seems to rest against the bass as opposed to on the bass.

There isn't that nasty right-hand wrist bend that you sometimes see.

I tend to use this technique, but I'm trying to switch to an off-the-bass technique. Just need to build up my arm and sholder muscles.