Straight wrists left and right hand question.

30hrz · #1 06-02-2007, 10:08 AM

I like the idea of straightening out the wrist to avoid pain and possible injury.

Right hand: I bring the elbow out but I feel some fatigue up in around the trapezie, shoulder arm. I know these muscles should be more relaxed. Is it just something I gotta train my body to do?

Left hand: this one is tough. Perhaps because I am practicing more at the low end of the bass but it seems if I have the thumb straight up that that forces my wrist to go into a 90 degree angle. If I move my thumb more to the left, a more natural position that straightens out the wrist, my innotation begins to falter as my fingers are hitting the notes on a sideways angle.

I've tried looking a pics of other bass players and I see that either a) they are playing with bad technique a la "hello carpal tunnel syndrome" or that I cannot seem to mimic the ideal position that certain bassists have.

I much rather learn the proper way now than cheat and suffer down the road. Any ideas?

Thanks.

30hrz · #2 06-02-2007, 05:37 PM

Anyone? Anyone at all?

IanStephenson · #3 06-02-2007, 06:20 PM

Hard to explain, or identify problems without being in the same room...

Your thumb should be placed in the middle of the neck. I have min pointing towards the headstock - Kind of giving a "thumbs up", leaving my fingers parallel to the frets. That allows me to keep my wrist straight and relaxed. Other references sugguest it should be between the second and third finger.

Maybe you need to angle your bass up more, so the right hand can go lower, and the left hand higher?

hope this helps? It's definatly something you should work on, and get right now - wrist problems are nasty, and by the time it becomes a problem, you're already in a bad place.

As I haven't seen it plugged on here recently I'll give it a mention: "The bassists guide to injury management, prevention and better health" by Randall Kertz (recommend by Victor Wooten, and a whole bunch of top guys).

Ian

30hrz · #4 06-02-2007, 07:06 PM

Ah thanks. I already got a lil arthritis so I'm looking to not aggrevate it. I see you have your thumb pointed towards the headstock which seems more of a natural position while I though the thumb should always point to the ceiling hence the tendency for the wrist to bend sharply.

middy · #5 06-03-2007, 03:11 PM

You'll have some shoulder fatigue on the right for a while, but these muscles will get used to that, and at least you aren't stressing any tendons.

As far as the left, all I can say is that you need to keep the thumb on the back of the neck; try angling the bass more so the neck is at a 35-40 angle to the floor; try strapping it higher, so the neckplate is around the bottom of your ribs; always practice in the same position, strapped and standing up.

lemur821 · #6 06-03-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 30hrz

I see you have your thumb pointed towards the headstock which seems more of a natural position while I though the thumb should always point to the ceiling hence the tendency for the wrist to bend sharply.

If your wrist has to bend sharply to point your thumb at the ceiling then your bass is too low. While there is absolutely no reason to play in that position all the time, if you need to make a reach it's good to have your bass where you can do it.

pretaanluxis · #7 06-03-2007, 09:08 PM

I my experience you either need to lengthen your strap and tilt the bass alot, or play with a very short strap and keep your thumb high on the back of the neck.

check out this thread:
Position

Cristo · #8 06-04-2007, 08:03 AM

You'll just have to experiment with strap length/bass height and the angle of the neck to find what works best.

Arm lengths and body shapes vary greatly - what results in straight wrists for some people will not for others.

30hrz · #9 06-04-2007, 03:09 PM

Been experimenting. Seems that you have to find a nice middle ground as too low hurts the left wrist and too high hurts the right wrist. I have it down enough to get my right pretty straight and then angle the neck up. It seems that the left wrist is always gonna bend a little bit no matter what for proper intonation. Funny thing is I see a lot of people say "Hey check out this amazing bassist" and I see a pic and notice their left hand is at a sharp 90 degree angle.

I'm also working on pivoting my wrist differently for playing low and high on the neck. Trying to find the best at either end. I noticed that some bass guitarist bring the thumb up when playing near the headstock, I don't know if that is permissible.

Other challenges I have is that my pinky tends to be straight and when I innotate with it I get the sound of strings below hitting the fret producing unwanted sounds. Again mostly when playing near the headstock.

Cristo · #10 06-04-2007, 04:19 PM

You will have to decide what is "permissible" for you based on your willingness to accept pain and possible damage to your body. It might be "wrong" according to some people.

ric1312 · #11 06-04-2007, 06:26 PM

I never get any wrist pain, even after playing for a few hours straight.

I simply lift the headstock to keep my left wrist straight.

My right hand I use fingerstyle, and I keep the bass low enough to be comfortable, for me thats my bongo bass covering the upper half of my belly and my crotch.

This leaves both my wrists with only a slight bend in them most of the time, and all for strings easily accesible.

Theres really no reason to have your bass positioned in a way that makes your wrists constantly bend, just gives you wrist pain.

P.S. Also make sure you warm up good first with some stretches and fingering exercises with the though in mind that you don't need to press hard, only just enough.