Flat fretting fingers a good thing?

[MtManiac]

Whatever works for you. I mostly use fingertips, but when I need to move quickly and frequently between a root, the minor 7th two frets down, and the 5th a string above, or just that root and fifth, I use flat fingers to barre the root and fifth. Or it may be a I-V progression where I’m playing the root of each. But if I need passing tones, it’s all fingertips.

 

[Ekulati]

Once again the internet has us brainwashed into thinking hard and fast "rules" are always necessary.

The answer here: IT DEPENDS. Sometimes tips good, sometimes flat good. Play, a lot. You'll figure it out.

 

[Tommy Sparks]

Both ways, depending on the song, how tired my hands are and what mood I’m in. I find it much fun to use the flat finger style and sometimes I’ll switch without even thinking about it.

 

[bolophonic]

Depends on the note.

 

[smtp4me]

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 don't agree with the premise of the video itself. The guy claims that expression comes from which part of your fingers touch the strings, and then attempts to prove his theory by playing a lick with no vibrato, no bends, no expression; and then playing it again with all these things. It is the extra technique, not the position of his fingers, that changed. So for me - throw out this video. It proves nothing.

Having said that, if you watch the technique of professional players, it varies. Guys like Thundercat, Pino Palladino, and Victor Wooten play with the fingers more straight and more towards the pads. Guys like Hadrien Feraud, Janek Gwizdala, and Anton Davidyants, play more towards the finger tips. There is no "right" way or "wrong" way. It's about what works for you.

I play somewhere between the two. I will say that playing fretless bass can have a big impact on which part of the fingers you use, and it can carry over to your technique on fretted as well. One advantage of straightening the fingers and playing more towards the pads is additional muting.

 

[Medicine Man]

Yeah, i normally just grip the neck like a big lobster claw, but some technical material forces me into "proper" techniques like fingertips and one finger per fret.

 

[micguy]

Flat is technically incorrect technique, ….

Whenever I see this phrase, I wonder who the bass god is who decided what “proper” is, and why we don’t all have a bass bible to read from daily.

Our instrument is only a few decades old; if someone had written down “the rules” after the first decade, Larry Graham would have been imprisoned for illegal technique.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I've noticed I play fretless much better and consistent with flat fingers, the only way to keep chords in tune by the way.

Touchstyle playing I do a combo of both actually, depending on which hand I'm tapping with.

It certainly is a different sound and feel to me.

 

[Durham52]

I learned to use fingertips and teach that way. Flat fingers are poor technique on bass.... however there are many very famous players who have perfected poor techniques. Life is funny that way.

Then perhaps the technique isn't quite as "poor" as some would make out?

 

[Lobster11]

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 think the Tal example raises an issue that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet: the size of your hands (especially the length of your fingers) relative to the width and profile of your bass neck. I think Tal plays "flat-fingered" because she has tiny hands, and wouldn't be able to reach the B or E strings if she curved her fingers -- at least, without pushing her wrist out farther under the neck and bending her wrist even more than she already does. (I love her playing, but that wrist-bend makes me cringe; and I really worry that it's going to catch up with her someday in the form of CTS.)

 

[Mayo Fan]

First of all, it's all about what works best for you. For me, flat fingers is way more relaxed in my hand. Putting the tips of my fingers at a 90 degree angle on the strings requires my hand to make a claw. Curling my hand now without holding anything I can already feel tension in my fingers. No way that gets me through a 4 set gig night.

I was taught to play like this back when I was 11 or 12 years old or so. According to my pro teacher this was the proper way to play bass if you want to sustain a relaxed and healthy playing style. I've been thankful for it ever since, a lot of players I've met over the years couldn't play longer sets or had complaints about cramps, pains etc.

Nonetheless, having different techniques (both for the fretting and plucking hands) in your repertoire can be very beneficial. Most big names in the business that I look up to play with flat fingers (think Pino Palladino, Sean Hurley, Richard Bona), but equally a lot of other artists don't with evenly successful outcomes. Sometimes a certain technique is necessary to reproduce a certain sound or convey a certain vibe. Find what works for you and the music you play.

 

[scott sinner]

i was using fingertips but trying to play flat after watching this

Ya, that's the sound I was thinking of.

I usually play with fingertips. Or play with as much finger tip as I can while left hand muting. But there is a subtle sound difference if you have a resonant enough neck.

As with some others, I certainly could not play that way all the time if I wanted to with these gorilla grips. My fully flat finger covers two strings.

 

[juggahnaught]

Yeah, i normally just grip the neck like a big lobster claw, but some technical material forces me into "proper" techniques like fingertips and one finger per fret.

Of note - these aren't mutually ezclusive. I generally play one finger per.fret with my thumb on the back of the neck (I play a six-string) bit even so, I fret with the pads of my fingertips and let my fingers bridge over the strings higher than the one I'm fretting.

Incidentally, responding to this thread has made me rralize that some of the fatigue I've had is due to trying to stay bridged for muting purposes. When playing on the lower stringa across a six-string, it's easier and more consistent to pivot the wrist around the thumb to preserve fingering technique. If you are trying to bridge by keeping contact between the index finger knuckle and the fretboard edge, it creates a slew of other issues. I hadn't even realized that I'd started doing this.

 

[TheLowDown33]

Whether it’s heresy or not, I use both as needed interchangeably. Flat fingers enable better muting and IMO allow you another variable to control the attack of the waveform. This typically comes at the expense of mechanical advantage and optimal application of force, but I find that unless I’m blazing 16ths it’s a non issue. Anything that reduces friction and optimizes for force application is going to make it easier to play faster, so when that is necessary I switch to fingertips. For me, the use of floating thumb/movable anchor on my right hand really frees me to use the proper left hand technique to obtain the articulation required.

 

[James Collins]

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.

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.

That is essentially what I meant. I was referring to fretted instrument specifically. I don't play enough fretless to comment on that type of instrument. For me fingertips allow more expression and better fretting hand movement. I mostly just flatten my fingers to barre strings or when I'm using my other fingers to mute the strings with my left hand. Even when I barre, that is just one flat finger; the others are flexed. I can't understand how to fret a note behind the fret that is going to change the tone.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Lol, my fingertips didn't even know what a string felt like until I started learning how to play tiny guitar for more than just power chords. Turns out sounding like a toddler playing a game of guitar hero will get your fingers to arch right up.

I'm pretty sure flat fingering a bass is fine since it's usually a monophonic instrument with huge string spacing. Obviously being able to do both is better, but neither is inherently bad if the end sound is good, IMO.

 

[James Collins]

flat fingering a bass is fine

Where is that unintentional song title thread?
Here is some cover art for the album.

 

[fishdreams]

It depends - with curved fingers

• I definitely get better tone. especially on fretless (clearer, cleaner, less vagueness, often masking as 'mwah') and overall position switching and
• However, for the clarity to come across uncluttered, a lot of damping is required, and with a curved left hand, that damping all comes down to the right hand

And with flat fingers,

• On a fretted bass, the tone difference isn't so obvious
• While it allows me to do left hand damping and ghost notes which is essential part of funk/staccato to playing

So i there is no universal right or wrong

And not to be underestimated, this whole idea what is right or wrong doesn't matter if the so-called 'right' way leads to muscle pains, spasms or injuries and the like. No matter what you do, make sure there is always a straight line from underarm to hand. A teacher pointed that out to me, and once I did that, years of severe shoulder pains (I actually thought that came from bad posture at work) disappeared overnight. And if that means I'll have a thumb over the neck every once in a while, so be it.

 

[NathOBX]

Once again the internet has us brainwashed into thinking hard and fast "rules" are always necessary.

The answer here: IT DEPENDS. Sometimes tips good, sometimes flat good. Play, a lot. You'll figure it out.

This is the answer, yes tips are more nimble, but I can reach a full fret or more further flat. I dont think about that transition anymore.

 

[TNCreature]

"Flat Fingers" is what they call me when I play my fretless bass...