Neck Shape and Left Hand Technique

[Legattabass]

Hello,

After a long, slow start to learning bass, I'm going to bunker down and force myself to work on my left hand technique. My question is a technical one. Will a thick, chunky neck hamper my left hand technique?

I have a Squier VM Telebass (baseball bat neck) and while I find the neck very comfortable, I tend to grip it with my thumb and I worry that this is reducing my dexterity and range of motion.

Is this a valid concern? Should I force myself to practice on a thinner, flatter neck? Or is this not a determining factor in dexterity and LHT?

Edit: If this belongs in technique, I will happily have the thread moved.

[kr0n]

What type of hands do you have? Long thin piano fingers or thick stubby weeners? How flexible are your fingers, do you have problems with your thumb or wrist? Neck type is determined by comfort, which fits your hand the best. I like thin necks and I have thin piano fingers, normal size hands, no over-extending fingers and fairly rigid wrists.

Try to learn One Finger Per Fret and keep your thumb in the middle behind the neck for practice. It will help your dexterity, speed, accuracy and aid in comfortable playing.

[sammyp]

Originally Posted by Legattabass

Hello,

After a long, slow start to learning bass, I'm going to bunker down and force myself to work on my left hand technique. My question is a technical one. Will a thick, chunky neck hamper my left hand technique?

I have a Squier VM Telebass (baseball bat neck) and while I find the neck very comfortable, I tend to grip it with my thumb and I worry that this is reducing my dexterity and range of motion.

Is this a valid concern? Should I force myself to practice on a thinner, flatter neck? Or is this not a determining factor in dexterity and LHT?

Edit: If this belongs in technique, I will happily have the thread moved.

i have small hands and over the years i've been mores concerned with neck thickness at times and not so concerned at other times ....i went thru a phase where i sanded many of my strat and tele necks to thin them ....nothing expensive ...MIM stuff and replacement necks etc.

one day i realized a couple years ago that the thickness has little to do with how well i play a guitar ....now sinse i realized that regarding thicker necks i do feel sometimes a can't play a thin neck as well as a regular neck....so for me the thin neck thing was all in my head...

what you are looking for is "pain" and discomfort.....if you're experiencing this then neck thickness is an issue! if not, keep rocking on your current gear!

[Legattabass]

Originally Posted by kr0n

What type of hands do you have? Long thin piano fingers or thick stubby weeners? How flexible are your fingers, do you have problems with your thumb or wrist? Neck type is determined by comfort, which fits your hand the best. I like thin necks and I have thin piano fingers, normal size hands, no over-extending fingers and fairly rigid wrists.

Try to learn One Finger Per Fret and keep your thumb in the middle behind the neck for practice. It will help your dexterity, speed, accuracy and aid in comfortable playing.

Thanks for the reply. I have big, wide hands, long but not overly long fingers, and they're neither thick nor thin. I have a long thumb as well.

I've been told that a good test of finger movement and strength is to lay my hand on the table, palm-down, and lift each finger individually. Index, Middle and Pinky do just fine. Ring finger is a little inflexible.

I don't have wrist problems (...yet).

When I play on, say, a Jazz-Bass neck, I find I have trouble hitting one string at a time without muting or stumbling onto another. I don't know if this is just low-dexterity or a symptom of having big hands.

Originally Posted by sammyp

i have small hands and over the years i've been mores concerned with neck thickness at times and not so concerned at other times ....i went thru a phase where i sanded many of my strat and tele necks to thin them ....nothing expensive ...MIM stuff and replacement necks etc.

one day i realized a couple years ago that the thickness has little to do with how well i play a guitar ....now sinse i realized that regarding thicker necks i do feel sometimes a can't play a thin neck as well as a regular neck....so for me the thin neck thing was all in my head...

what you are looking for is "pain" and discomfort.....if you're experiencing this then neck thickness is an issue! if not, keep rocking on your current gear!

Thanks for the reply! I feel a little pain on thin necks, but I'm not sure if that's because of the neck, or how I'm holding the bass, how I'm playing, where I put my thumb, etc. I was wondering if instructors have some secret knowledge regarding necks and playability/learning process.

[kr0n]

Originally Posted by Legattabass

Thanks for the reply. I have big, wide hands, long but not overly long fingers, and they're neither thick nor thin. I have a long thumb as well.

I'm no expert with bass nor do I have any medical background. I'd say medium-thin would be nice 'cus a long thumb would come closer to your fingers when fretting and holding the thumb behind the neck. Thicker neck and you'd have to move your thumb in order to fret properly. Pain is always the main factor and comfort as sammyp said. With correct technique your preference might change.

I've been told that a good test of finger movement and strength is to lay my hand on the table, palm-down, and lift each finger individually. Index, Middle and Pinky do just fine. Ring finger is a little inflexible.

Ring and pinky share a tendon so they tend to move together and ring is probably inflexible for everyone. So that seems normal to me.

When I play on, say, a Jazz-Bass neck, I find I have trouble hitting one string at a time without muting or stumbling onto another. I don't know if this is just low-dexterity or a symptom of having big hands.

That's no problem. Muting with left hand is essential. If you mute when you don't want to, well... with OFPF or Simandl you really shouldn't have that much of a problem. I don't really worry much about touching other strings while fretting another... Actually I think it's required

All I gotta say anymore is that if you're in doubt about your technique, invest in a couple of lessons with a BASS teacher and tell him you want to have a good technique. That's way better than asking on forums.

[Russell L]

I'm going against the general concensus here by saying that I don't believe you have to have your thumb right in the middle of the back of the neck. Anytime I do that it is a strain. When I need to use a finger on each fret I have taken notice that my thumb is about half-way from the middle to the top edge of the neck. But, mostly I cover just three frets at a time, using 1, 2, ad then 3+4 together for the third one. At that point my thumb can really relax. Sometimes I can even hold the neck sorta in my palm. It is very comfortable. And that's the point. Do what actually feels good, without straining.

On upright, I might have my thumb more in the center of the neck.

[sammyp]

Originally Posted by Russell L

I'm going against the general concensus here by saying that I don't believe you have to have your thumb right in the middle of the back of the neck. Anytime I do that it is a strain. When I need to use a finger on each fret I have taken notice that my thumb is about half-way from the middle to the top edge of the neck. But, mostly I cover just three frets at a time, using 1, 2, ad then 3+4 together for the third one. At that point my thumb can really relax. Sometimes I can even hold the neck sorta in my palm. It is very comfortable. And that's the point. Do what actually feels good, without straining.

On upright, I might have my thumb more in the center of the neck.

been playing a long time ...i totally agree with you ...the thumb thing in the dead center of the neck is really a classical guitar discipline IMO.....it just doesn't always feel good or normal for electric bass and guitar playing.....it certainly doesn't work for string bending on either instrument.