Flat fretting fingers a good thing?

[J Wilson]

Yes, Mr. D, the world is full of 'you can't do that' guys that do it just fine.

I had a good friend that played five string fiddle. For grins, he'd play triads. On a fiddle. Perfectly in tune. Triple Stops ! He'd give this cat-that-ate-the-canary grin, I'd say, 'You CAN'T do that on a fiddle!', he do it again and say, 'Yeah, I know'.

Whaddya gonna do?

 

[TyBo]

So I saw this youtube video today, which is of course clickbait BS, but it got me thinking about whether fretting the strings with tips is perhaps limiting in some ways.

I've always tried to stay on my fingertips. It seems it improves dexterity because the fingers have a natural curve. But is that true?

I understand flattening fingers for muting, barring across strings, etc.

But, is there also added expressiveness that slightly flattening the fingers allows?

This video is of course 6-string-guitar-centric (and maybe is more true there), but do you guys think there is there any reason to avoid playing on fingertips on bass?

Maybe it's style-specific, so bebop solos and the like need fingertips, but blues/rock/country type playing can benefit from flattening? Maybe?

I'd love to hear your opinions.

On guitar, flat fingers can stop the strings beneath those digits from ringing out, which often is not what you want. On bass, it's dampening those strings you're not playing, which IS very often what you want. So it may not be "proper" technique ... but neither was slapping and popping, at one time. Just another tool in the box of techniques, imo. I do it when it feels right.

 

[gln1955]

Also, just to add, that video has mostly nothing to do with flat fingers vs using fingertips. I know he brings it up and then tries to basically equate playing with fingertips as not having the ability to articulate notes. Plenty of guitar players can play a phrase with all of the articulations that this guy does using their finger tips.

Yep. I had to stop watching because he is so full of crap on this point.

I had to think about what I do on guitar and bass and really, it all depends on what I'm playing and where I am on the fretboard. I'm not gonna worry about it as long as it gets the job done.

 

[pfschim]

Just happened to be watching the Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scotts video and Tal Wilkenfeld is definitely a flat finger player. She definitely gets around the fretboard ok. I kind of think of this as a guitar player thing myself (maybe incorrectly) ....

I'm personally a fingertips player ... although when working through more difficult cross string passages, I can tend to go more flat fingered just to get all the notes with minimum wasted hand movements.

IMO it hardly matters. Do what you gotta do to nail the parts you need to play.

 

[James Collins]

When considering trying something related to technique, you have to consider all aspects of the technique including how you hold the guitar. Someone has mentioned thumb around the neck and baseball grips, which hamper my playing. I can't play well enough that way because of how I hold the guitar and the notes I need to play. I'm not sure I could play these pieces at all, let alone maintain a 100 bpm tempo:

Regarding flattening the fingers on the left hand specifically, other than using the left hand to Barre or mute strings, I'm not sure I buy any tonal advantage.

 

[Lenny JG]

Finger as flat as possible but still use the tips when needed. Guitar is different, you would use your tips mostly only on guitar.

 

[Les Fret]

I'm not sure I buy any tonal advantage.

On upright bass they do the flat or collapsed fingers to get more growl or sustain. More meat on the string. I think that is what Bobby Vega is referring to in that video. But on electric bass the sound difference is very very subtle. It’s more an advanced technique.

 

[Isaac_James]

I normally use just enough of an arch with my fingers so that I'm pressing with the tip of the finger, but keep my hand flat enough that I can mute the strings above the one I'm fretting with my left hand. Totally flat is for doing double stops. But I may go more arched when I'm doing something that alternates between strings and I don't want to mute.

 

[Mili]

I play with finger tips and I can't change it if I want because Straight wrist is very imortant to me but I think muting for playing ghost notes (especially raking ghost notes), bending and Pull offs is very harder with finger tips.

 

[Topkat13]

Didn’t watch the vid since it was a guitar player.

 

[LBS-bass]

I don't think I ever have played just one way; it really depends on what I'm playing and what gives me the sound I'm looking for when playing it. Fingertips can give you a lot of authority, clarity, and perhaps speed, but flatter techiniques can lend themselves to certain sounds, so I just play what makes the part sound the way I want it.

 

[smeet]

When considering trying something related to technique, you have to consider all aspects of the technique including how you hold the guitar. Someone has mentioned thumb around the neck and baseball grips, which hamper my playing. I can't play well enough that way because of how I hold the guitar and the notes I need to play. I'm not sure I could play these pieces at all, let alone maintain a 100 bpm tempo:
View attachment 4679068 View attachment 4679069
Regarding flattening the fingers on the left hand specifically, other than using the left hand to Barre or mute strings, I'm not sure I buy any tonal advantage.

I don’t buy much of what the guy in the video said - I don’t think the amount of “meat” you put behind the fret affects the tone - I mean, the whole purpose of a fret is to remove that part of the string from the equation. But… maybe using your fretting hand differently makes you play differently. Even Bobby Vega feels there’s a difference, although he may be wrong about what that difference is.

 

[juggahnaught]

So I saw this youtube video today, which is of course clickbait BS, but it got me thinking about whether fretting the strings with tips is perhaps limiting in some ways.

I've always tried to stay on my fingertips. It seems it improves dexterity because the fingers have a natural curve. But is that true?

I understand flattening fingers for muting, barring across strings, etc.

But, is there also added expressiveness that slightly flattening the fingers allows?

This video is of course 6-string-guitar-centric (and maybe is more true there), but do you guys think there is there any reason to avoid playing on fingertips on bass?

Maybe it's style-specific, so bebop solos and the like need fingertips, but blues/rock/country type playing can benefit from flattening? Maybe?

I'd love to hear your opinions.

I used to fret with the tips of my fingers, having come from guitar originally. I now flatten a lot more than I used to, simply because in combination with floating thumb it allows me to easily mute the strings I'm not playing.

That is to say, these days I fret with the pads of my fingers, not the tips. This does lead to a somewhat suboptimal hand position for perfect fretting and larger fingerspans, and the thumb position become a little compromised as well. But "bridging the strings" means that muting comes for free.

 

[nnnnnn]

The idea that "correct" technique involves playing with fingertips and curved fingers predates electric guitars and basses, and doesn't provide the level of adjacent string muting that is usually desirable for electric bass.

Obviously when fretting notes on an acoustic guitar you (normally) don't want your fingers to touch adjacent strings, or chords wouldn't work. But on an electric bass you (normally) need to mute adjacent strings one way or another, and playing with fingertips and curved fingers like a classical guitarist makes that more difficult.

 

[TOOL460002]

I only arch my finger if playing chords or classical finger picking, so notes ringing out. If I'm playing really fast muting doesn't matter, so a mix of arch and flat. Just depends where on the neck. But most of the time I play fingers flat and thumb fully pushed into the neck. My bass's neck is the exact size as my hand and how my hand bends, so that's nice. Keeps my wrist completely straight, too. Zero wrist or finger problems in my 27yrs of playing.

I get most muting done with my left hand. Helps a ton for slap. Being able to switch with classical plucking, where right hand muting might not always be possible is handy. Fingerstyle I generally play super relaxed. I play notes a whole step apart index pinky, not middle and try not to stretch. Again. Playing really fast I'm more arched and efficient, but playing finges flat like a mitten let's you do a lot of cool stuff.

If you don't always do it (not realistic) I would advise anyone to at least try it. You'll find a use for it because it's useful. Best of luck. Here's my "posture:"

 

[factory presets]

Fingertips give me a cleaner tone and more accurate fingering. But flatter fingers sound better to me for slapping. Handy for muting as well. I guess the Stanley Clarke baseball grip gonna give him some flat fingers and all.

Lots of players do amazing things with frowned upon technique because they stumble on tricks that sound great but use techniques that are not useful in all situations. Think open string jockeys who can only play their signature style in their signature key. While it can be fun to pull out flashy tricks with limited applications, it's probably worth learning conventional, time-tested methods as well.

 

[gtirard]

LOL. I'm at the office, away from my instrument, but when I touch my left hand's fingers I can feel (from the location of the wedges) that I play with flat fingers. I always felt guilty about this, and when I pratice I'm making big efforts to play with my fingers straight on the fretboard... I thought I was playing like a beginner, happy to learn I'm playing like a pro

 

[Groove Doctor]

There’s no ‘right’ way to play.

There’s only what’s right for you and what’s right for the song.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Guitar: flat fingers quite a bit
Bass: Well ... there's a reason (I believe) two of my fingertips were crushed off, twenty-some years ago (To make me appreciate 'em, in case that wasn't clear).

 

[kerrycares]

I started playing bass in 1976 on my fingertips and just recently started flat fingering.
It opened up an entirely different tone and expression for slow playing and “greasy” bass lines.