I too have small hands and thought I couldn't play a 5 string. Then I was at Bass Player Live in L A some years ago and was talking to Steve Bailey and he plays a fretless 6 string (at that a Fender model named after him) I asked him to place his hand against mine, palm to palm, and his fingers were 1/2 incs shorter than mine. He told me its all about thumb placement on the neck (freting) hand. I now play a 5 and a 6, even tried a 7 but that was like tring to play an ironing board!
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Am I not built right to play Bass?
- Thread starter green3101
- Start date
In some of your pics you look like you're squeezing down too hard with your fretting fingers. Just use the least amount of pressure it takes to make the note sound without fret buzz, no more.
Also, your left shoulder (fretting hand limb) is dropping substantially lower than your right shoulder. This alone can cause all sorts of back, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, and/or finger problems. I think both shoulders should be even across when playing. It looks like your shoulders and resulting arm angles may be your biggest technique fix to focus on.
Find a teacher who can work with you on this. No reason you can't play bass comfortably!
Edit: don't look at my profile pic for reference!
Also, your left shoulder (fretting hand limb) is dropping substantially lower than your right shoulder. This alone can cause all sorts of back, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, and/or finger problems. I think both shoulders should be even across when playing. It looks like your shoulders and resulting arm angles may be your biggest technique fix to focus on.
Find a teacher who can work with you on this. No reason you can't play bass comfortably!
Edit: don't look at my profile pic for reference!
Also as others have mentioned, use a strap at all times, even when sitting. I set mine so when I stand up it's the same height as when I sit down, so my technique doesn't change.
I don't see anything apparent physically to prevent you from playing. It is entirely possible though that you could have an underlying undiagnosed medical disorder or syndrome that could be affecting you. There are all sorts of weird and wacky disorders that can affect tendons, joints etc. My sister and I both have autoimmune disorders. Hers popped up in her late teens and mine in my mid 40's.
If you check out medically, an electric upright might be more comfortable for you to play.
If you check out medically, an electric upright might be more comfortable for you to play.
Just think about those who have learned to play various instuments with one arm or with their feet. They had to figure out a way around their deficits. Unfortunately, I don't have a remedy for your situation, but many others have had to discover a technique that works for them. There are few people with hands as small as mine, and I have no problem with playing one finger per fret, when needed. I would suggest, don't strain or cause yourself any carpal tunnel or tendon problems. Go slowly and work it out slowly. There is one thing that did seem to help me. I learned to type on an old mechanical typewriter. This built some strength as dexterity.
- Apr 1, 2000
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- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
There's your problem. Don't buy new gear, the gear isn't the issue, and neither are your hands. Get a teacher, and practice.
Great post Honeyiscool
I find a compromise is necessary for height. Too high results in too much bend of the plucking wrist, too low results in too much bend of the fingering wrist. The best compromise may vary by the style of music. Lower heights will be of benefit when plucking is fast but but the bass line is relatively static, I.E. few note changes occur. If the bass line is melodic and note changes are fast and technical, it may be necessary to raise the instrument a bit for the benefit of the fretting hand. Basically choose the best compromise for your body and style.
A caveat is four finger technique is extremely beneficial with highly technical melodic lines. If you don't play this sort of material, four finger technique is not required. If your music requires four finger technique, it might be best to avoid or minimize using it in low neck positions where the spacing between frets is too large. Typically four finger technique is not overly taxing when playing in higher neck positions. I often switch between three finger (1,3,4) and four finger technique, especially if playing low notes on an extra long scale instrument.
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Although the Hofner Beatle bass has a 30" scale, it also has about the smallest body you can find. The balance will be poor and will fatigue your fretting hand/arm. Perhaps try a 30" scale with a bigger body, maybe a semi-hollow like the Eastwood Classic IV.
You might also get a couple of Tennis Elbow Straps to alleviate forearm pain. You can get them for about $15 at your local drugstore. (I have a friend who went to 3 doctors for help with arm pain, to no avail. I said "Tennis Elbow Strap!" She reported instant relief for $15.)
The Hofner is your friend, stick with that. Get low tension strings too to ease the stress on your hands. Full disclosure: I only read the OP.
Reading this makes me think some professional help might be in order, such as from an occupational therapist with experience with musicians, or perhaps a physiatrist (those are usually the guys who do sports med and work injuries). You might be surprised how many pro people in symphonies and such have issues that need addressing.
With that said, regarding your hands/fingers, you seem to have enough width to play such that your fingers span 3 frets, and that's all you need. Don't get wound up in that one-finger-per-fret thing. It's not necessary. Look up Simandl Method.
Be comfortable before all else.
Regarding your back and such, different basses do different things to me. I now require a lightweight bass that has no neck dive. Both those things cause me to do things that just hurt. My Jazz basses are 6.5 and 7.4 lbs respectively. One of my P's is in the upper 7's . I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also, be sure your bass is well set up for a low string action, with a proper fret job/ levelling. Having to NOT put pressure on the strings makes a world of difference.
It's all about making it as physically easy as you can.
Hope you work this out.
Good points yourself.
I actually don't really like to think of the four fingers on four frets. I think the way I like to approach the fretboard is similar to a thing I saw on Scott's Bass Lessons once where I think in groups of 6 frets (or 4+2 as he calls it). I still jump to notes, I don't use one finger per fret.
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And really, when you say highly technical melodic lines, it must be clarified what that really means. That means technical, melodic lines at metal or fast hard rock speeds, on 16th notes, for sustained periods of time. You can play most rock or pop lines with just 2 or 3 fingers with lots of sliding and jumping, and you can do 16th note passages for a few notes, and still be fine. It's all about style of music.
But I'll be honest about this, too. If it ever got to the point where playing a certain style of music a certain way became hazardous to my health, I would have to change it up. I would question whether all the notes are necessary, or if there is perhaps another technique that would work better. And if I couldn't find any other way, I'd have to move on.
Your 'fingers configuration' is virtually IDENTICAL to mine and I have been gigging on the bass guitar for 40 years. So I do not see any problem for you in the hands department. 
I looked at your pics a little closer, and suspect you might be using your left hand ring finger a lot to fret notes. Don't do that, actually it's physiologically not good (I think that finger shares a muscle or something, someone please correct/elaborate as I don't recall fully) but the ring finger doesn't work like the other fingers, hence Simandl devising his bass method (for the large upright bass strings) which uses the index, second, and little fingers only, with the ring finger used to assist the second and little fingers. It's a good system and might help you.
But really, it might help you to not use the ring finger much.
But really, it might help you to not use the ring finger much.
That's interesting about the physiological problem with the ring finger. I think I've independently found it uncomfortable to use the ring finger a lot. For instance, when I do fifths or octaves, I generally use pinky and index. There's also a musical advantage to this, too, because I can then quickly switch to pinky and middle so that the index can reach the major third. Same on guitar, even though there's minimal stretching, I find pinky and index to be much more comfortable for power chords, though I mean, obviously sometimes I'll use ring and index, or pinky and middle, or switch between the two for quick, discrete, but clean transitions.
I think where I've found discomfort using the ring a lot is because as a guitarist, I obviously favor keeping my index parallel to the frets from years of barre chords unless I'm doing a backwards stretch. Even with a small 2 fret stretch, my ring finger is already pretty far from parallel on a 2 fret stretch and then if I want to go from the fifth to the octave, I want to play right behind the fret to get the cleanest note with the least amount of force, and that's not natural to me to roll the ring finger because it's not parallel to the fret. I find that much easier with a pinky where I can stretch pretty far and maintain both the pinky and the index being parallel to each other. Of course, if I'm doing fifths and octaves a lot and I want to be the cleanest, I'll use the ring and pinky together as a system. I also do this on guitar when I want power chords that are very clean, though usually a little bit of sloppy adds to the sound and makes the power chords sound better, so it's not common when I want clean power chords.
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Check out Victor Wooten's hands - they are not big at all (not like Stanley Clarke with his long fingers...)
You just need to do it every day and gain independence. I took a long hiatus from bass (~25 years) and my hands were no longer up to the task. I have just done scales every day for about 30 mins. My hands would ache the next morning and I would just get back at it. I started off very slow - around 80 bpm and worked it up at different positions up the neck. Don't be afraid to move your hands if you can't get the stretch. Eventually your body will make the adjustments necessary. Do not work to the point of pain. Take breaks. But do work to the point of fatigue...
Check out Victor Wooten's hands - they are not big at all (not like Stanley Clarke with his long fingers...)
You just need to do it every day and gain independence. I took a long hiatus from bass (~25 years) and my hands were no longer up to the task. I have just done scales every day for about 30 mins. My hands would ache the next morning and I would just get back at it. I started off very slow - around 80 bpm and worked it up at different positions up the neck. Don't be afraid to move your hands if you can't get the stretch. Eventually your body will make the adjustments necessary. Do not work to the point of pain. Take breaks. But do work to the point of fatigue...
