looking for help

[Motiki]

Hey Everyone, I'm hoping to find some help for this problem I have.

Well I've been playing bass for about 2 years now in my high school band and I'm really not that good. I play a lot of concert music and Pep-band type stuff, and I'll occasionally look up tabs on my own and try to teach myself songs.

Basically the problem I'm having is I notice when I try to play a song that goes really fast, my left hand (one of the frets) begins to like cramp up and move really slow when trying to move fast. It's not a painful cramp or anything but it's like my hand locks up and goes in slow motion. Is there anything I can do about this?

I've taken on a little personal project with one of my friends. I'm trying to learn the bass part to Hysteria by Muse, while my friend will play drums. It's going to be a bit of a pep-band thing. Real exciting, right? haha

Muse - Hysteria (bass cover) HD - YouTube

If that link worked that's a video for what I'm trying to learn. You can see how my hand problem would make that near impossible to play. I have a few months to learn the song, so I don't think time is an issue. I just have no idea what to do about my hand locking up.

I'm not just asking this for the sake of the song, but I think figuring this problem out will help me get better at playing my bass guitar in general.

[fearceol]

The trick to playing fast is to start at a comfortable speed, then increase it gradually.

As for the cramping, are you warming up before diving head long into fast playing ? You need to give the hand time to adapt to playing fast. Try doing some gentle stretches first, then maybe some scales and arpeggios slowly. Ten minutes warming up is generally accepted to get the hand into playing mode. Drinking lots of fluids helps in dealing with cramps as does diet, like bananas and pasta.

Hope this helps !

[soulman969]

It could be the way you position your hand or your fingering is wrong. It could be that the neck on the bass is uncomfortably wide and it could be just that you need to play more to build up endurance. What type of bass is it and what kind of bass lines are you playing when you cramp?

[Snarf]

Can't tell you anything without seeing your hands and checking out your bass and how you play.

[Motiki]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Lets see, during class for a warm up we usually do scales and rhythm exercises. Other then that I have no real warm up.

My band teacher says it looks just fine the way I position my hand, and he suggested this thing where I play 4 notes using 1 finger for each note, then switching strings and repeating that way so I get used to using all of my fingers. Can you guys suggest any other stretches or exercises I can work on?

[Mister_argentum]

Originally Posted by fearceol

The trick to playing fast is to start at a comfortable speed, then increase it gradually.

As for the cramping, are you warming up before diving head long into fast playing ? You need to give the hand time to adapt to playing fast. Try doing some gentle stretches first, then maybe some scales and arpeggios slowly. Ten minutes warming up is generally accepted to get the hand into playing mode. Drinking lots of fluids helps in dealing with cramps as does diet, like bananas and pasta.

Hope this helps !

+1 ALWAYS start slow and practice, practice and practice.

[anonymous122511]

Originally Posted by Motiki

Can you guys suggest any other stretches or exercises I can work on?

Think about your whole body. A lot of the time the problem comes from trying too hard and clenching your ass or toes or neck and shoulders which then refers into your arms/hands. Make a lot of your practice slow enough that you can be aware of your whole body while playing evenly and in time. Awareness of your breathing is very important.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by jeff arddun

Think about your whole body. A lot of the time the problem comes from trying too hard and clenching your ass or toes or neck and shoulders which then refers into your arms/hands. Make a lot of your practice slow enough that you can be aware of your whole body while playing evenly and in time. Awareness of your breathing is very important.

+1 to this. Over all body relaxation is important.

Originally Posted by Motiki

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Lets see, during class for a warm up we usually do scales and rhythm exercises. Other then that I have no real warm up.
Can you guys suggest any other stretches or exercises I can work on?

I usually do scales etc as part of my warm up, but before I even pick up the bass, I do something similar to what is in the clip below. Perhaps ten or fifteen minutes before the class starts, you could try some of these exercises. Make sure all the exercises are gentle. Dont force anything.

Essential Hand Stretches For Guitarists - YouTube

[Fergie Fulton]

Drink lots of fluids (lubrication) try eating a banana or two (fuel) as well as the warm ups. The water will hydrate you and yor muscles, the banana has a good slow energy release and a good source for playing or low/non aerobic workouts ( which is what playing is, muscles use without a real raise in breathing and heart rate to get more oxygen so more energy for the muscles being used to stop the cramping or getting tired )

Always a good idea to get you instructor to look at your tehnique, the main groups of muscles use use are in the forearm not the hand. If you try to use your hand muscles to use your fingers you will suffer, you have to learn to use the muscles in you forearms.

Main offender in this is the thumb in as much as you make a grip on the neck and in doing so activate the muscle groups to the fingers so they work with the thumb in a pinch, grab or manipulate use so the forces used are distributed among all being used.....you do not need any thumb force to play so do not activate this use.

So try this do not use your thumb on the back of the neck, let it float, now play....feel the difference, your finger movement now comes from deep in the forearms, not the hand. You will have a feeling that the fingers are pulling against the fretboard because the thumb is not there for them to push against. In correct use it is in the forearms you will feel tired or sore not the fingers.

It is this pushing against the thumb rather than the strings is a hidden problem of grip pressure, in other words you squeeze the bass neck, you really just touch the bass neck, you do not grip it with any force. The hand sits there because the body holds it in position against the bass neck, it does not need the bass neck to maintain this position as you can do the same position and movement without a bass ( air guitarist do it all the time LOL)

Now add back the thumb and feel the difference, squeeze the neck and play....feel how you are now pushing against the thumb? relax the hand and the grip, take the thumb off and play...feel the difference now?
Put the thumb back on the bass neck with little or no pressure and feel that the thumb stablises rather then holds, and get that feeling of the the forearms using the fingers to pull the string against the fretboard, rather than the fingers pushing against the thumb.