Books or Courses using 1234 Left Hand Fingering

[Ray James]

Hi All

And if this has already been dealt with elsewhere, please post a link and accept my apologies

I play a Kala U-Bass, currently 100% of the time, because I play with a ukulele band

I've played by ear for most of my life and I'm now trying to improve my limited reading ability (currently working through 8th note syncopations)

I'm finding that the most efficient fingering often isn't obvious, and I also need to use my 4th finger (pinkie). Up till now I've used fingers 123 only - my main instrument has been blues-style electric guitar where use of a pinkie hasn't been necessary for me

Clearly, using 124 on a 21" scale instrument isn't sensible, so 1234 is the way to go

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for books or online courses where 1234 is the preferred approach, and where there is an emphasis on fingering and/or reading music

The Ed Friedland book is really good, but the sections on 1234 are understandably rather restricted when the focus is on the expected 124

Thank you in advance for any suggestions (apart from switching back to bass guitar )

 

[SteveCS]

...
I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for books or online courses where 1234 is the preferred approach, and where there is an emphasis on fingering and/or reading music
...

The Chuck Rainey books from the '80s are based around the 4-finger methods. They are out of print now but Book 1 - The Method can be found quite readily online. All books in the series are in Standard Notation with no TAB. The ISBN is 0.8256.2425.8

 

[Ray James]

Hi Steve

Great suggestion!

This is actually one of the 4 items already on my eBay watchlist, although I wasn't aware he suggested that fingering - so I've bought it

Finding a suitable teacher is problematic because it's a very short scale where right hand fingers don't work at all well unless you hold it like a double bass which then looks weird. I have to use a lightweight pick (a la Bobby Vega), with my thumb for old school shuffle/swing rhythms. So I'll continue on my own for the time being and this extra material will be really really useful

Many thanks

 

[SteveCS]

Hi Steve

Great suggestion!

This is actually one of the 4 items already on my eBay watchlist, although I wasn't aware he suggested that fingering - so I've bought it

Finding a suitable teacher is problematic because it's a very short scale where right hand fingers don't work at all well unless you hold it like a double bass which then looks weird. I have to use a lightweight pick (a la Bobby Vega), with my thumb for old school shuffle/swing rhythms. So I'll continue on my own for the time being and this extra material will be really really useful

Many thanks

With the 21" Uke bass, especially as you move up the neck, you might even look into viola or violin fingering ideas where single fingers can cover more than one stop on the string, thus extending the range of a 'position' to cover 5, 6 or even 7 stops. See how in this graphic of Violin 1st position 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers cover 2 stops each:

I'm not suggesting you go for 5ths tuning, but that 21" scale might be just the ticket to give it a go...

 

[Ray James]

That's a very interesting idea. At the moment I'm trying to use a more conventional approach with reading and using my 4th finger

But will bear it in mind - thank you

 

[turf3]

Isn't one finger per fret the standard fingering for electric bass? It seems to me that pretty much any electric bass methods would be applicable.

 

[mambo4]

The Ed Friedland book is really good, but the sections on 1234 are understandably rather restricted when the focus is on the expected 124

Are you really forced to use the fingering Ed specifies?
I know this is about Uke bass specifically
But The idea of a "fingering method" seems odd to me.

Every fingering "method" is just an option to apply as dictated by the situation
Whether 124 or 1234 is best is up to us as individuals and the material in question
Use whatever fingers reach the required notes without strain

Isn't a One finger per fret "method" in this sense just fingering patterns?
Graph paper and a pencil, plus a modicum of theory, will let you chart out all kinds of 1234 fingerings for yourself.
So I'd suggest some DIY work

I still have sketchbooks filled with graph paper fingering patterns I worked out when I was first learning
But it's a map of the scale or arpeggios on the fingerboard, no indications of which finger goes where
I'll finger the same patterns in different ways dictated by context

Maybe I have the "curse of knowledge" after decades of playing
I just don't think about fingering any more
I learned em all and use what works
If it's not obvious, or physically challenging I pause and figure something out.

If you just want to run OFPF permutations you could get Bass Fitness

But the exercises are unmusical and you could work out those permutations yourself.

 

[Bass]

Isn't one finger per fret the standard fingering for electric bass?

I would say this was true when the electric bass was first invented, and for many years thereafter. But one could say that 1-2-4 is now also an accepted standard.

To be clear, the Ed Friedland - Hal Leonard method book uses both 1-2-4 and 1-2-3-4. It seems like the book is unfairly depicted as only 1-2-4, likely because most people don't make it as far as Page 65. One finger per fret is introduced near the beginning of Book 2 with instructions to use a left hand pivot.

The "Improvisor's Bass Method" by Chuck Sher also uses both 1-2-4 and 1-2-3-4 fingering to accommodate both electric and double bass. "Serious Electric Bass" by Joel Di Bartolo uses only 1-2-3-4 as far as I can tell.

For me 1-2-4 works way better in the open position. Also, I would use 1-4 fingering for octaves. Exercises in the lower register are a struggle for me with 1-2-3-4.

 

[SteveCS]

But The idea of a "fingering method" seems odd to me.

Every fingering "method" is just an option to apply as dictated by the situation
Whether 124 or 1234 is best is up to us as individuals and the material in question
Use whatever fingers reach the required notes without strain

Fingering schemes/methods and the related concepts of position and handshape are of crucial importance when learning to play and sight-read fretless stringed instruments - without them it would be difficult to consistently play with good intonation - the arm locates the hand on the neck, the thumb brings the hand to stability at the position then the fingers fall into place relative to the thumb and within the hand-shape. Obviously this is less important with fretted instruments, but you still have to navigate without looking (for too long).

Of course you are right in that there are many string/stop/finger options for any given note or group of notes, and the experienced player can move between them at will. But IMHO they should be learned discretely, deliberately, completely and singularly before moving onto the next, and not all at once. YMMV

 

[SteveCS]

To offer a real-world example, my daughter followed Simandl up to Grade 6 then switched to Bille on the path to Grade 8 in 2021. Just last fall she had a masterclass with Joel Quarrington (cue inappropriate level of green-eye on behalf of father!!) and has started to incorporate some of his more radical fingering/posture/handshape ideas into her overall approach. In performance she is fluid in application and blending of the methods but in daily practice remains deliberate and 'correct' within the confines of whichever scheme is in play.

 

[Bass]

Here are 2 more books that use one finger per fret:

"Music Theory for the Bass Player" and "The Pattern System for the Bass Player" by Ariane Cap.

I must be doing something wrong because my wrist became sore working through the theory book. Meanwhile, Ariane demonstrates that even people with small hands can play this finger method.