Sore wrists and finger?

[kaimon]

All right, so I'm a beginner bassist who's just started a couple weeks ago. I don't have a teacher yet because it costs too much with the added cost for a viola teacher, so I've been just trying to teach myself. So practically everyday for the past couple weeks, I've been practicing for about 30-60 minutes a day. Lately both my wrists have been a tiny bit sore, hardly noticeable. I've tried changing my technique and I think I've been able to make my wrists quite straighter, so I'm hoping that'll fix any problems. If anyone's got any tips for keeping the wrists straight for either hand it would be appreciated.

However, one pain that I've got as well that hasn't gone away is a soreness behind the knuckle of the middle finger of my fretting hand that only appears when I push down. I've had it for almost a week, and I'm thinking of going to the doctor to get it checked to make sure, but does anyone have any idea what it could be and what to to relieve it/prevent from occurring again?

Also, should I take a break from playing bass and viola? I'm fine with taking with a break from bass, but (I know, it's a bass forum) I have to play viola everyday for class, and even more now that I'm playing in the school musical, so I'm wondering if I should be resting my hands completely.

[twbassman]

Best advice is to see your doctor. I sometimes get pain when I don't rehearse for a while, but it quickly goes away.

Good luck.

[RH434]

Don't overdo it. It is going to take time to get your stamina built up. The doc is a good idea just to be sure, but you should also make sure your bass is set up correctly. If the strings are too high or some similar issue, you may be working a lot harder than needed, hence the issues.

Maybe you should try to find another local bass player to give you some pointers and make sure you're not forming bad habits with your positioning / fingering if you can't do the instructor thing right now.

[fearceol]

You should definitely pay close attention to your technique. You are on the right track in that both wrists should be as straight as possible. The soreness in the middle finger could be due to pressing too hard and/or not having your fingers curved when fretting. Give the bass a rest for a day or so. In the meantime check out the net for L/H and R/H technique. I have linked some below. One more piece of advice, never play through any pain.

L/H :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeRoQuXlj9w


R/H:


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