Right arm...... To rest or not to rest?

[Dennis098]

Do you guys rest the right forearm on the bass?
This causes me a bit of downward bend in my wrist, which i hear is bad, but i see so many bassists doing it.
Paul Turner Does
Flea Doesn't.

input?

[paul_wolfe]

if you can avoid it I think it's better.

Do this experiment:

Hold your arm flat on a table top so that your hand and arm are aligned all the way to your elbow.

Then simulate the motion of playing iwth your fingers. You should be able to see tendons 'twitching' all teh way up to your elbow. If you rest your forearm on the bass then the angle of your wrist will cause you some tension in your wrist - if you do a lot of playing at this angle....you know where that's going to lead!

But having said that it is difficult not to as it seems more comfortable - especially when you're playing sitting down. And also there are loads of name players who do it, so it can be confusing!

Be interested in other people's thoughts....

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by paul_wolfe

if you can avoid it I think it's better.

+1.

I use this technique and it works fine for me.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU

[Metal Mitch]

Originally Posted by paul_wolfe

Hold your arm flat on a table top so that your hand and arm are aligned all the way to your elbow.

Then simulate the motion of playing iwth your fingers. You should be able to see tendons 'twitching' all teh way up to your elbow.

exactly right

if you wear it high enough to rest your arm on it, it's too high. plus - it can get scratched up from your spikes

[wildhorse]

There is no right or wrong way. Do what is comfortable and if it creates a problem switch it up. I type all day, play bass, guitar and drums, have arthritis and people drop out of work for carpal tunnel left and right? Good excuse not to have to work.
Switch things up and work through the pain if any. Just ask Les Paul.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by wildhorse

There is no right or wrong way. Do what is comfortable and if it creates a problem switch it up. I type all day, play bass, guitar and drums, have arthritis and people drop out of work for carpal tunnel left and right? Good excuse not to have to work.
Switch things up and work through the pain if any. Just ask Les Paul.

Well I wouldn't necessarily play with any pain..... If you're injured but can play without pain as it heals up, it's ok to do that unless/until pain returns.....

I personally can't handle the bent wrist thing on either hand, including the plucking hand. You see it a lot and it amazes me when players do this without injuries. I.e. Stanley Clarke playing electric bass causes sharp stabbing pains in my right wrist just watching him......

I've gone to the Todd Johnson method of floating thumb on the plucking hand myself. His video is on youtube and it was a complete and total revelation for me. This does involve holding the arm up but using the shoulder muscles which are a large muscle group and thus appropriate for doing that. The key thing there is keeping the wrist straight. Now I can pluck pretty much endlessly as much as I want until I get tired....

LS

[paul_wolfe]

Yeah I've heard a lot about Todd Johnson - I must check his stuff out.

[BryanM]

Not only is it better for your wrist, but it's actually more efficient to play with a straight wrist, in my experience. You can see the effect if you place your arm down on a table flat and emulate the plucking motion, then do the same thing with your wrist bent and see how much less force you can get behind your fingers. That extra force also means you exert much more effort to play the same thing and can equate to faster technique, more dynamic range in your playing, and as mentioned before: less doctors bills down the line. I think it was in an Ed Friedland book that this was brought to my attention, to give credit where it's due.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by fearceol

+1.

I use this technique and it works fine for me.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU

Dang short fingers I started following his instructions. "Now your thumb mutes all the strings". If I rock *my* thumb back and forth I can mute 3 strings. Laying flat, I can mute two

This is why no one technique works for everybody.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by seanm

Dang short fingers I started following his instructions. "Now your thumb mutes all the strings". If I rock *my* thumb back and forth I can mute 3 strings. Laying flat, I can mute two

This is why no one technique works for everybody.

Muting the strings is just an added bonus with FT, NOT the actual reason for it. If you cant mute all the strings with this technique, then the fretting hand can be used.

[Phalex]

I think the bass resonates more freely if you don't rest your arm on it. I rest my arm like crazy when I play though. Proper technique be damned! I'm comfy!

[Dennis098]

thanks for the replies!
that floating thumb thing was just what i needed to see.
My arm would get tired from doing that and I would think i was doing something wrong, but I guess i just need to man up haha.
also, i've been wondering if anyone has experienced finger pain from playing bass?
My index finger is a good bit crooked in to the right and its been getting a bit sore, I feel like its specific tendon is getting sore as well.
any thoughts?

[varunkapahi]

yeah i get tierd with the hand not resting, its not a crazy bend its alright i think

[electracoyote]

Well, the forearm contour is there for a reason. Must be a lot of players resting their forearms on the body for manufacturers to embrace this practice. However, I have experimented with a straight approach, and it is very efficient. To each his own!

[UncleFluffy]

When I'm playing the Ric, I rest the heel of my hand on the pickup cover. This gives me a straight hand/wrist/arm up to the elbow and frees up all fingers to pluck. Downside is that my fingers are at an angle to the strings, which takes some getting used to and puts a bit more fingernail into the tone.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by fearceol

Muting the strings is just an added bonus with FT, NOT the actual reason for it. If you cant mute all the strings with this technique, then the fretting hand can be used.

Agreed. I was just pointing out that physical differences in people can force them to come up with different solutions to the same problem.

The real reason that *I* don't use the floating thumb technique is that I am lazy

Seriously, I do have short fingers and have come up with a technique that works for me. I am a programmer by trade and have to be very careful about my hands. I have to be able to type or I don't eat. So I introduce changes to my playing very slowly over long periods of time.

[kingbee]

The body contour is there to allow you to keep the angle of your arm and wrist in line. It's unnatural for me to play with my forearm and hand exactly perpendicular to the top of the bass. I think a straight line from elbow to fingertips is a good starting point for your arm position, but it's also important not to get too rigid about this. If you're having to fight your muscles to stay in place, you need to adjust something.

[TOOL460002]

resting on the bass means more tendon tension, which intuition tells me is bad. it also feels uncomfortable to me.

my arm is pretty much at 90 degrees and my strap is so high i make tom morello look cool. no style points. its all about comfort.

[Rudreax]

The way I see it, the only reason we see so many people bending their wrists and resting their arms so much is because the original greats did this at a time when the instrument was new and no one really knew how holding the bass in such a way could permanently damage their arms. Nowadays, we know better, so we should probably try to improve technique if we can.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by Rudreax

The way I see it, the only reason we see so many people bending their wrists and resting their arms so much is because the original greats did this at a time when the instrument was new and no one really knew how holding the bass in such a way could permanently damage their arms. Nowadays, we know better, so we should probably try to improve technique if we can.

The original great did not seem to do it . He seemed to use what looks to me like a version of the floating thumb technique. See the picture at around 1.32 into the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCrO3iVWZE8