Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Anchored vs Floating right hand
- Thread starter 11guitarguy
- Start date
please never call yourself a hack again, it makes the real hacks look really bad. I WISH I could play that stuff.
In my opinion there is no one "right" way to do anything with regards to an instrument. Sometimes I anchor exclusively, but more often than not I find my thumb on the pickup for passages on the E and A strings, and my thumb resting on the A for D and G. I use three fingers for plucking for most things, but again, depends on the song. For something slower with fat quarter notes and double stops, I often stay on the pickup and combine my middle and ring fingers for accents. My left hand is no different - I let it do what it needs to do. It's often on the back on the neck, but if thumb over feels right or is need for a chord, I have no problems doing it. No hard and fast rules for technique as far as I'm concerned. Do what's comfortable.
@ "TitaniumRx," :
Regarding your shoulder problem. In the video I linked earlier, Todd Johnson acknowledges that with the FT, the shoulder muscles could feel a little sore... for a couple of days, but that is what they are designed for. When I was trying to master the FT I did indeed experience this kind of shoulder ache. This is because you are now using muscles that you dont normally use. However, just as Todd predicted, the pain went in a few days. That was fourteen years ago and I have not experienced any pain.
From what you say, your shoulder problem is on going. This, and the fact that you can not say for sure that your bass playing is the cause of the problem, leads me to think that something else like perhaps posture or such like, could possibly be the culprit.
Again, this is just my opinion.
Regarding your shoulder problem. In the video I linked earlier, Todd Johnson acknowledges that with the FT, the shoulder muscles could feel a little sore... for a couple of days, but that is what they are designed for. When I was trying to master the FT I did indeed experience this kind of shoulder ache. This is because you are now using muscles that you dont normally use. However, just as Todd predicted, the pain went in a few days. That was fourteen years ago and I have not experienced any pain.
From what you say, your shoulder problem is on going. This, and the fact that you can not say for sure that your bass playing is the cause of the problem, leads me to think that something else like perhaps posture or such like, could possibly be the culprit.
Again, this is just my opinion.
When I'm playing my P-Bass I anchor my thumb on the pickup, but when I play my Hofner I put my arm in that little curve on the side of the body and anchor my thumb on the E string. Hey, whatever works!
I am guessing everyone who says there is no right or wrong way hasn't been playing 30 to 40 years.
Use your shoulder muscle to move your hand up and down, and you will still be playing when they drop you into the grave. Continually move your wrist and you are likely to end up like John Wetton did; barely able to hold a pick and playing thru exruciating pain. session players figured this out years ago from watching older comrades have to drop out of the game. The wrist does not handle repetitive movement or constant stress well;it wears out. The shoulder wears out too, but the small effort it needs to perform in order to reposition your hand is repeatable for well past your entire lifetime.
Use your shoulder muscle to move your hand up and down, and you will still be playing when they drop you into the grave. Continually move your wrist and you are likely to end up like John Wetton did; barely able to hold a pick and playing thru exruciating pain. session players figured this out years ago from watching older comrades have to drop out of the game. The wrist does not handle repetitive movement or constant stress well;it wears out. The shoulder wears out too, but the small effort it needs to perform in order to reposition your hand is repeatable for well past your entire lifetime.
Thanks very much for the compliment. I have to honestly say though that People should get a good instructor. I feel like could have been somebody with the right teacher. But I chose to self-teach. I honestly sold myself short. Bottom line regarding the OP is if it hurts then stop and find a better technique. Bass playing is such a joyous thing and I would hate for anyone to have to stop due to injury. Oh and Geddy Lee will always be my favorite bass player with a few close seconds.
From what I have found (and plain old logic) if you're just subconsciously playing with no thought to hand position, you'll naturally avoid something that will hurt or put strain on your hand that could damage tendons. Therefore, playing with your thumb anchored or not, if you're subconsciously playing, shouldn't be a problem.
When I think about what I'm doing I anchor on the pup. When I'm just playing...such as with other people or jamming along to songs...I float.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Most perhaps, but not all. I have been playing since about 1980, and I use all kinds of techniques. That includes an anchored thumb, floating, playing with my thumb, and using a pick. I find that when I play the P-Bass, I nearly always anchor my thumb. Playing the Ric, Playing the 'Bird could go either way, depending. When I play more countrified I-V type bass lines, I usually just pluck with my thumb to avoid getting too bored. Octave runs go with thumb and index finger usually. Obviously, if you are using your thumb to make a noise, you aren't anchoring it, but I will go back and forth from an anchored thumb to using my thumb to anchored to floating. It probably looks a little strange, but it works for me. And, I'm not dead yet, contrary to the reports. Plus, my hands work just fine. I'm not saying this is ideal, since I have never had an instructor to correct my bad habits. I'm just saying it hasn't been fatal for me.
+1.
People seem to be constantly saying that they have being playing with a bent wrist for "X" years with no problems. This is probably the case, but the point they are missing is that no one can give an exact time frame as to when they might encounter injury problems.
We all know what RSI stands for. The "R" (repetitive) is the key word here. There are many things that govern when and if we will encounter injury problems. As quoted above, hours a day spent playing/how many days a week/the techniques used and how often a bent wrist technique is used, etc. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when using a bent wrist, it is the repetitive rubbing/friction of the tendons off of the narrowed carpel tunnel (narrowed because of the bent wrist) causes the tendons to kind of fray. How long this takes to happen is comparable to the "how long is a piece of string" concept. All we can say for sure is that the longer you play with a bent wrist the stronger the chances are that you will encounter injury problems.....at some stage. Other things non bass related come into play (excuse the pun !!
) also, like the kind of work you do and the general wear and tear that your hands encounter every day. It all boils down to whether you are prepared (assuming you are aware of the danger) to take a gamble that you will be injury free, or do something to reduce the odds.
Todd's accuracy is great, but I wouldn't say his technique is very good example of the type of playing I described as benefitting from anchoring. In fact what he is doing inherently requires a floating technique because he is plucking with his thumb and fingers to bring out different chord tones.
The place where I tend to gain accuracy is when jumping across strings in fast technical patterns. The anchor increases the accuracy (for me) because it provides a fixed reference point and stabilizes the hand. When floating I actually have more facility on certain types of patterns, but have a tendency to get lost in the strings a bit when I need to play fast, wide internals that involve multiple string crossings. I am not saying you can't develop the same or even more accuracy with the float for playing these types of patterns, but I am no longer a pro player and I don't tend to spend hours working on technique....so it hasn't happened for me.
Bottom line. My goal is to play more float to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, gain more tonal variations and control, and achieve technical advantages with patterns this technique excels at, but sometimes the musical passage requires a different technique. Pick, thumb, finger style, pull offs, float, anchor....I pretty much change my technique based upon what the music calls for.
Floating thumb method?For muting the opens strings?
Why?
I unconsciously use the other right hand fingers PLUS the thumb to mute the strings.
Plus a good left hand muting technique is helpful.
Why?
I unconsciously use the other right hand fingers PLUS the thumb to mute the strings.
Plus a good left hand muting technique is helpful.
Last edited:
Sounds like that I do something similar .... I took a look at what I'm actually doing re. controlling the open strings and found that my right hand mutes the B, E an A strings with a thumb or finger on each string, and the left hand mutes the D and G strings by laying fingers across them when necessary. I wasn't even aware of this, it must be something the body and mind have developed on their own by trial and error.
If you read through the thread you will see that no one disagrees with this. Keeping a bent wrist to a minimum is the main goal.
A big thank you to everyone who replied to my post. I was expecting to get flamed but instead I got some great feedback and information. I came into this thread thinking I was right and now I am somewhat humbled by all the great players here who helped to change my opinion. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
I think the best advice was to not think about it and just let my hands do the work, as well as some of the videos that showed the floating hand technique. After all these years of anchoring to the bass and playing only like that I began to employ some of what I'd seen and read. I thought it would take me a long time to change my ways but after only a couple hours of purposely avoiding anchoring on the pickup I found that my speed, accuracy and overall feel of the bass was very similar to the way it was previously.
I can now see how anchoring and floating both have their place and knowing that my hands are less stressed by floating and the angle of bend in my wrist has decreased dramatically I am sure that the benefits of avoiding carpal tunnel are apparent.
I think that the most important thing I learned was that it's never too late to learn something new.
Thank you all very much. I got so much more from this thread than I thought possible.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I am indeed a weekend warrior who only plays for an hour or so most days, and only about three hours straight ever. People who make a living playing probably play as much in a day as I play in a week or more.
I'm actually more concerned about what happens to my left hand, and that's why I like having the neck in as vertical an orientation as possible. A vertical neck means neither wrist is bent much, at least for me. It means anchoring doesn't result in much wrist bend. Having the bass slung low bends the left wrist a lot while allowing the right wrist to be straigher. High is the reverse. Vertical allows both to relax. I suppose you could use a slap technique with the bass like that, but I sure can't. The rare times I slap require the neck to come down for a while. Then it goes right back up.
Last edited:
I read from the beginning before posting and agree with the main goal you stated. Seems like the OP does too at this point...Hurray!
