Righteous left wrist angle.

[Wootsticks]

Well I found this cool little lick that sounded like jaws but slapped, and it was easier to fret each individual note instead of sliding. But my left wrist is at a horrid angle to do this, and I can't do it any other way without compromising my fingers. What can I do?

Here are some pics of my wrist:





Sorry if the pictures are shaky, it's impossible for me to take good pictures. :l

[onlyclave]

What is the riff? That might help us figure out your problem.

edit: hmmm, it looks as if you're playing a B on the E string. Maybe move that note to the A? Or shorten your strap? As the neck gets closer to your face your wrist will naturally straighten out.

[Wootsticks]

  P RR PhM p
G-----------------
D---99-----10----
A-----------------
E-7----7h8-------
  1 +a 2 e +

P=pointer, M=middle, R=ring, p=pinky.

[onlyclave]

Can you play it sitting down with your bass resting on your left thigh? Low slung basses are the common cause of that. I played the lick in 2 positions and the only way I can duplicate your problem is if my bass is down too low.

[crazyguy832]

Looks like your bass is too high?

I'm sorry, man, but I just went and played that on a 5-stringer without any trouble. It's most likely the position of your bass that's causing the bad wrist position.

[Wootsticks]

A couple of pics of me playing. The first is from a while back and the second is from just a second ago.




EDIT: Too high? Too low? D:

[crazyguy832]

Looks about where I hold it (albeit, the neck is a fair bit more vertical).

Try holding your fingers on the frets and just pull your wrist in as much as possible. You should be able to have it pretty much straight.

[redliner47]

Perhaps try making your bass a bit more perpendicular to your body?

[Wootsticks]

The only way I could get it not bent up is to have the bass almost under my arm, like a sousaphone valve section.



EDIT: Lol look at my face.

[Nick Kay]

Three things:

1) Get your goddamn elbow away from your body. You should never pull your left elbow in that far until your in 12th position or higher. It creates VERY awkward wrist angles.

2) You don't have to have perfect classical hand positioning for every riff. Move your thumb closer to the bass side if you hit something that puts your wrist at an uncomfortable angle.

3) You don't have to fret all the notes at the same time. Making that F on the G a thumb-rolled position switch would make things much easier on your wrist.

[Wootsticks]

Originally Posted by Nick Kay

Three things:

1) Get your goddamn elbow away from your body. You should never pull your left elbow in that far until your in 12th position or higher. It creates VERY awkward wrist angles.

2) You don't have to have perfect classical hand positioning for every riff. Move your thumb closer to the bass side if you hit something that puts your wrist at an uncomfortable angle.

3) You don't have to fret all the notes at the same time. Making that F on the G a thumb-rolled position switch would make things much easier on your wrist.

Ah ha ha, thanks for being so blunt. I'd always read to keep your elbow close to your body, and to be able to hold a tennis ball in your armpit at all times. It's never been a problem before. The reason I have all my fingers on there is because I like the short moment of clash between the low C and high B, before being "resolved" to something with even more tension. It's just a little thing that I thought sounds cool. And my thumb is pretty mobile, depending on what I'm playing. Not as much as, say, Flea, but still moves around, and again it's not a problem for anything but this. I will work on my elbow placement though.

[crazyguy832]

Someone smarter than me will probably point out I'm doing something wrong, but this is how I would fret that (yeah, my pinky's crooked... it's a short little blighter, and I'm farther away from the frets, blah blah blah blah):





Yeah, they're pretty bad pictures, but it's late and the lighting is fail.

[Wootsticks]

Thanks for the help guys, I found a spot to put my thumb in just the right spot on the neck to get a good wrist angle. Not great, but good. Thanks for the quick responses, everyone.

Is that a Yamaha crazyguy?

[crazyguy832]

Yes, it is, actually.

BB615.

^_^

[HaVIC5]

All right, so the key sometimes is to not worry so much about having the thumb behind the neck all the way. Classical guitarists do this all the time, they move the thumb under the neck and anchor it essentially below it. I'm not quite going that far, but you notice my thumb is way lower here than a lot of you with the extreme wrist angles have it.



And the back.

[Wootsticks]

That was actually what I ended up doing, HaVIC5. Check the pic:



Absolutely KILLER bass, by the way. I assume you're right handed judging from your background.

[Jazz Ad]

It's your elbow. Far too close from your hip while it should be away, floating in the air to help keeping the forearm lined with the wrist.

[onlyclave]

Originally Posted by HaVIC5

All right, so the key sometimes is to not worry so much about having the thumb behind the neck all the way. Classical guitarists do this all the time, they move the thumb under the neck and anchor it essentially below it. I'm not quite going that far, but you notice my thumb is way lower here than a lot of you with the extreme wrist angles have it.

hey HaVIC, your bass is backwards dude.

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by onlyclave

hey HaVIC, your bass is backwards dude.

Nuh-uh!

[Wootsticks]

Originally Posted by onlyclave

hey HaVIC, your bass is backwards dude.

He likes Jimi Hendrix is why. He played like that and look how he ended up. Awesome, that's how.