Re: Cracking knuckles being a "bad habit," it has absolutely no negative effects on your joints and there is absolutely no reason to avoid it per se. The old wives' tale about it causing arthritis or anything else has long ago been debunked.
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Bad habits for bassists?
- Thread starter dideah
- Start date
Bad habit - arguing about stupid sh-t that is really just a matter of opinion anyway. It IS a bad idea to play to hard. It's just that we all need to decide for ourselves what is TOO hard. Too hard for me might be normal for someone else.
Playing slap bass for bears 
Constantly shooting up into the horn register on a 6+ string just because you can. Not everyone can be John Patitucci.
Gear snobbery, face it folks, not everyone subscribes to the idea that Fender is the ONLY real bass on the planet. It takes many kinds and preferences, that what makes music co cool.
Constantly shooting up into the horn register on a 6+ string just because you can. Not everyone can be John Patitucci.
Gear snobbery, face it folks, not everyone subscribes to the idea that Fender is the ONLY real bass on the planet. It takes many kinds and preferences, that what makes music co cool.
You're missing the point. If you are ALWAYS digging in hard, you have nowhere to go. Hard on the hands and worse on the dynamics. If you vary the "hardness" of your playing, you are playing softly--and dynamically.
A bad habit which was particularly hard for me to break in the learning stages was to play a driving "ACDC style" rhythm even when the song called for to groove with the kick drum.
I suspect that you actually intended for this thread to go in the "Technique" forum, yes? Since it's not essentially about bass players, but about bass playing...
That said, yes. Wrapping the thumb of one's fretting hand around the top edge of the fretboard or fingerboard is one of them. You'll see that many self-taught rock, pop & blues guitarists tend to employ this lazy, shortcut approach. It's bad enough when they do it. It's even worse when bassists do it. :scowl:
The thumb of the fretting hand should always be planted firmly on the back of the neck. Preferably in the middle of the neck. Always...
MM
Disagree on the "Should Always" part. It's a perfectly viable technique when used sparingly. Gives you one more finger to work with. That said, it's better for the health of your hands to ride the nape of the neck as stated above and not to over use the thumb wrap.
PS. I have "midget hands" and can't even do this, so I'm not defending the practice out of a defensive reflex or anything like that.
Why? I play pirmarily finger style, and some with a pick. I _KNOW_ I should primarily play thumb-on-back-of-neck but don't always due to bad habits. For me the two different hands and different styles are completely independent techniques I can mix & match.
Not using a strap. In my opinion, you should always play with a strap, even when sitting down. You shouldn't need to hold the bass neck up yourself. It slows you down and wastes your arms' energy.
Oh, come on, guys! Don't scare me! It was natural for me since the first time I sat with my bass, I just can't play with my elbow high in the air, resting my arm on the bass body allowes me to relax it, never caused any pain even though my wrist is slightly bent.
As for the thumb over neck - extremely limits my fretting fingers stretch so no way playing like that except while using only a few frets (for me only comfortable for a single fret) in section of a song - in my opinion it's a good way to straighten, relax and rest the wrist if such an occasion occurs.
For me it comes down to muting, take a riff like this
G|-------------------------------
D|-------------------------------
A|----2---3---5--0-3-2---------
E|--0---0---0----------3-2-0---
playing with a pick it's much easier for me to mute the open E's with my thumb, rest strokes would take care of the muting fingerstyle. How you you mute the open E's without using your thumb?
Ahh.. gotcha. That makes sense. When I play pick style I typically mute with the heel/side of my picking hand. Its a technique I picked up on guitar years and years ago, trying to play like Al DiMeola.
I always play with a strap sitting down because I don't want to risk my basses falling off my leg. Usually they balance fine, though.
I'd put my vote out for slouching and chewing your fingernails as bad habits. 
But in the realm of bass playing, not practicing and not using good economy of motion on the fretting and plucking/picking hands. I can't count the number of times stopping and finding the most efficient motions and patterns has helped me in both learning a piece as well as playing it with reduced effort, or with enough ease to be able to focus on other things during playing.
But in the realm of bass playing, not practicing and not using good economy of motion on the fretting and plucking/picking hands. I can't count the number of times stopping and finding the most efficient motions and patterns has helped me in both learning a piece as well as playing it with reduced effort, or with enough ease to be able to focus on other things during playing.
