do i have any chance with normal bass ?

[Titania]

Your hands are big compared to mine! (2", 2.5", 2.5", 1.75") I'm no virtuoso either, but I play 34 and 35" scale basses with no problems, and I prefer large necks. Now mind you, I can play power chords but not other chords because my fingers are just too short. Look into Carol Kaye's methods of teaching bass. I use the left-hand thumb pivot method she teaches to play, and it helps me reach areas that would be much harder were I to flat-palm the neck or worse, hook my thumb over.

 

[Gaolee]

Nobody can play an upright bass by stretching. The scale is 42", which means you have to go to a somewhat different technique even if you have long fingers and wide hands. A thought for you is to use upright bass technique on the bass guitar. You use the first two fingers independently but your ring finger and pinky act like one finger. It means moving your hand a bit more, but you are going to be doing that anyway. This is the technique chris_b mentioned a few posts above.

For what it's worth, I know a young woman who is very petite and is about 5'-2" tall who plays upright bass with no problem. Size of the player is completely irrelevant.

 

[jamro217]

Welcome to TB. Teachers can either help you or hurt you by the advice they give. You aren't the only person with small hands to play the bass. There is plenty of information here at TB and on many other sites that will teach you what you need to know. Don't give up trying.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The great guitarist Django Reinhardt had a partially crippled left hand, and primarily played with three fingers, and he was no slouch. I have four good working fingers, and will never play like this:

 

[arbiterusa]

Your teacher is full of crap.

I don't know if you'll be a good bassist or not. But your finger size has nothing to do with that.

 

[JaketheB]

Try to find a decent short scale bass and get a teacher that wants to teach. There is no shame in playing a short scale.

 

[rtslinger]

So wait you had a short scale bass and your teacher told you couldn't use it and be successful or did I read that wrong?
either way he is a "L" loser for even saying such a thing! It takes time to learn and instrument 9 months is scratching the surface. Stick with on your own. You would be surprise how many of us including myself have small hands.

index first

middle little over 3"

I have been playing since I was 9 years old start on upright bass so you can imagine how small my hands were then and never did an instructor ever tell you can't do it. Stick with it what ever size bass works for you good luck. RTS

 

[Fingerpickingood]

Your teacher might be a great bassist, but he's an AWFUL teacher. A good teacher encourages his or her students, not the other way around.

I'm currently giving my cousin what lessons I can, and she is a VERY small person. I'd wager that her hands are smaller than yours. She's progressing just fine on a short scale bass.

Carol Kaye and Paul McCartney both played short scales, with nary a complaint from anyone.

Stick with it, I'm sure you'll do just fine.

 

[DavC]

way back in 1973 , my first bass ( 1969 Hagstrom ) was a 30" scale ... at that time i knew nothing of different scale lengths ... i played that bass very well for quite a while .. ! having normal size hands and a decade of piano , i never noticed the move to 34" scale ...

play whatever feels most comfortable for You ... nothing else matters .. !

the only time i think that being used to the 'normal 34" scale' , might be if you where to play someone else's bass ... !!

and ,... the more normal 34 " scale has more selection of basses than shorter scales ...

but You can make music with whatever fits You best ... !!!!!!

 

[micguy]

I have BIG hands - middle fingers are about 4 inches long. I have P bass width necks on my Jazz style basses - more room for the big fingers. Even with all that, I don't play 1 finger per fret near the nut - doesn't work even for me. Ignore that advice; work out a technique that works for you. Yes, you can play bass. If the teacher tells you to quit, find another teacher or teach yourself - someone who helps you do it, not that tells you you can't.

 

[albertus]

change your teacher. now.

 

[neal davis]

Can I play normal song if I don't use finger per fer fret ?
I'm into rock ,metal ,pop and new wave .

My teacher said the only way I can play a song is that use this style ,but notold it hurt but a lot of buzz sound and I couldn't touch 4 th fret .

Yes you can it is called the simandl method like many upright players use. 1st finger 1st fret 2nd finger second fret and pinky on the third. Then shift from there. You have a bad teacher.

 

[red_rhino]

Just because he's an amazing player, doesn't mean that he's a good teacher. That needs a completely different skill set.

+1. The world is full of great players who are not great teachers. Any good teacher (of any subject) knows that the it's often necessary to modify the teaching method to match the student's needs, not the other other way around. Your teacher's task is to teach you to play the bass, not to play the bass like him. If he's incapable of modifying his method to match your needs, he's not a very good teacher.

I'm sure you can tell by the responses from everyone here that nobody agrees with your teacher. If you love the bass, don't give it up. Find a way forward.

 

[JimmyM]

Short fingers mean nothing. And your teacher is a horse's butt.

 

[Bassmaticmatt]

Your teacher should quit teaching. That's unacceptable. Get yourself a short scale and rock out. There are a lot of cool sorties out there. Squier makes a cool Bronco bass and a jaguar bass in short scale. Ibanez has a real cool tallman shortie or you could go with a sx. All inexpensive choices all quality choices. Quitting is for losers.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

I attended Victor Wooten's camp in 2001. I held my hands up to his, Steve Bailey's, and Adam Nitti's. All three men are short and have small hands. All three make incredible music on various sized basses and even 6 string basses.

I watched Adam Nitti completely dominate a 6string bass at a clinic. Afterwords I walk up, shake his hand, then "I apologize, but I gotta know..." I put my hand up, he puts his up. I've got a half inch/three quarter inch per finger to his. That man has SMALL hands.
That was a moment that made me seriously consider burning all my gear and becoming a shoemaker.

Seriously though, I've got small hands and I started simply by jumping between notes. I got proficient at it, and started practicing the "one finger per fret" method in the meantime. As I got better, the stretch because less and less painful (be mindful of any pain), and I use the OFPF method almost exclusively now. But I wouldn't dare force that on any beginning student.

For now, you play as well as you can play any way that you can. As you get better, start picking up better practices and techniques. You'll get there.

 

[TerribleLiar23]

I have large hands but very little finger dexterity, which essentially eliminates any advantage that big hands would provide. As others have stated, just move your hand where it needs to go. With practice you can get very fast at this. Continue to try and stretch but practice quickly moving from note to note and you'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish. By the book technique is a great starting point and represents the ideal best practices. But things aren't always ideal, so adapt and overcome.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I've seen 8 year olds wailing on bass. I've seen adults with HUUGGEE hands (sorry - couldn't resist) fumble. Find a bass that is comfortable to you.

 

[ZenG]

I would get a shortscale...or....try a few different longscale brands with varying neck/nut thicknesses and neck shape design. The neck "shape" can make big difference..even on shortscales.

I think most of the problems with longscales (for some people)occur at the first one to four frets.....above those there is no problem really as far as playing goes.

I'm not a big fan at all of "spanning" or "stretching" (that is:- seeing how many notes you can cover between the index finger and the pinky.) I play trying to avoid spanning at all cost if I can.

That is the fastest way to get pinky/ringfinger tendon problems. Bass strings are generally thicker than guitar strings and require a bit more technique/touch adaptation.

I have big hands and long fingers but all I like is shortscales. I like to play with fingers "grouped" as much as possible. (That is keeping them close together with as little "span" as is necessary).

Sometimes short fingers can actually work better on bass because there is less leverage/strain distance on the joints than a person with long skinny fingers.

The trade off is the person with long skinny fingers can reach notes better generally , especially on guitar.

The "way" one plays a bass is just as important as finger length too.

Fretting-hand technique/style cannot be overlooked, nor can the wrist angle.

When you try out a bass:- if it feels really good to play it, it's probably a good choice.

If it isn't , it's not.....it takes a while to screw up your fretting hand and fingers, problems don't usually appear overnight. They accumulate until one day you wake up and you can't play.

Don't try to "grow into" the bass......if your shoes size is 10, you wouldn't buy a size 7 and tell yourself you'll "adapt".

On the other hand I've seen women and girls with tiny hands playing longscale basses that I wouldn't go near....

 

[bassbrad]

#1 Find a new teacher, students progress at their own rate and music is not a competition.

#2 If you are more comfortable on a short scale instrument, play that many successful players in the past and present play short scale instruments; Paul McCartney and Stanley Clarke to name 2.

#3 If you have a long scale instrument already just get a capo and down tune your bass a bass in D standard with a capo on fret 2 is a short scale bass.