Thumb over the top is like driving 5mph over the limit. If it's clear weather, and you're running a couple minutes late, not a big deal. In a thunderstorm, not so much.
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fretting hand thumb
- Thread starter Ric5
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My suggestions: Flatten your 1st finger and use it to fret the root, as well as mute the D, G, C strings. Straighten your 4th finger and use it to fret the octave, as well as provide additional muting on the C string. Relax your 2nd and 3rd fingers and let them point toward the sky (like Victor's in the photo above). A side benefit of this adjustment is that you can now use your 2nd and 3rd fingers for additional muting duty.
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wmhill
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- Aug 20, 2012
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Your thumb on the back of the neck gives you plenty of power and purchase. I never realized it until I had to play a weekend without using my left thumb (do to an injury). I tried the wrap around and it just wasn't articulate for my playing.
- Oct 18, 2012
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I don't consider bad technique to wrap your thumb around the neck on a bass. Everybody is different. Some people are more comfortable playing that way. I unconsciously alternate between wrapping and not wrapping depending on the song. Play the way you are most comfortable.
- Jan 29, 2008
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I remember a thread several years ago here and I got raked over the coals for saying it ok to wrap my thumb around the neck of my bass.
But now I am getting completely different feedback.
But now I am getting completely different feedback.
Try playing with your thumb completely off the neck for a while and let your arm & upper back do the work. Once you understand that "feel", then blend the thumb and arm pressure back in. If you use too much thumb pressure, it will slow your shifting down and also wear your thumb out earlier. I learned this as a kid playing classical guitar and my upright bass players reinforced that. My action is pretty high, btw.
As far as the thumb over the neck, I don't know. My hands are too small to do that and I don't slap.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but it did peak my interest, so I went looking at several videos.
Marcus Miller and Nathan East generally roll their thumbs over when they slap, but go behind the neck when playing busy fingerstyle. Not a hard and fast rule as as I saw a lot of of exceptions.
Jaco & James Jamerson didn't slap and their thumbs seemed to stay behind the neck (mostly). For Jamerson, I am mostly going on photos. Again, some exceptions.
I guess this corroborates the earlier statement that you play the technique you need at the time.
Marcus Miller and Nathan East generally roll their thumbs over when they slap, but go behind the neck when playing busy fingerstyle. Not a hard and fast rule as as I saw a lot of of exceptions.
Jaco & James Jamerson didn't slap and their thumbs seemed to stay behind the neck (mostly). For Jamerson, I am mostly going on photos. Again, some exceptions.
I guess this corroborates the earlier statement that you play the technique you need at the time.
Great pic! In this fingerstyle example, Wooten is muting the E string with his right hand thumb. This frees up his left thumb so he can re-position his hand to span one-finger-per-fret from frets 7-10. He achieves this left hand shape by relaxing and dropping his elbow, wrist, thumb, and palm; while the fingers sort of float upward more or less parallel to each other. I use the mental image of burping a baby: You want to burp that baby with a soft hand, not a kung fu death grip.
Also notice while Victor is playing F# on the A string with his 3rd finger (or maybe the open A is ringing out and he's about to hammer on with his 3rd finger; hard to tell from the still photo), he is simultaneously muting the D and G strings by gently laying his 1st and 4th fingers across them. If he only used his 1st finger to mute, he might get unwanted 7th fret harmonics, so he uses two fingers to dampen the strings.
So while the A string is ringing out, the E string is muted with the right-hand thumb, and the D and G strings are muted with the left-hand fingers at two points. All strings are accounted for and under control. This is how Victor gets the tight, clean sound he is known for.
Another thing I noticed (off topic but tangential to another recent thread) is that Victor is looking at his left hand.
I think the caution against thumb-wrapping is targeted to novices. It's sometime hard to keep them from strangling the neck (using too much force and tying up muscles) or anchoring their whole hand by their thumb to the neck (limiting reach and forcing lazy musical choices). As far as should you or shouldn't you - If you are paying me for lessons, I'd rather you didn't wrap your thumb. Anyone else, I totally don't care.
My fingers can stretch much further with my thumb placed on the back of the neck than they can with my thumb wrapping around the neck.
Came here to say this but you beat me to it.
There is a huge difference between wrapping the thumb over for muting or fretting a note vs holding on tightly like you're gonna drop your lumber otherwise.
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There's a difference between textbook technique and practical technique. A textbook approach to playing bass is to ensure that your large back, arm and shoulder muscles are doing the heavy pulling, concentrating all their power on your fingertips... your thumb should more or less be unused. In practical use however, a little bit of pressure from the thumb is normal, and using it as an anchor to index your hand position is also permissible. When people have very large hands, and perhaps a touch of musical genius and their own playing style and chording technique, ala Hendrix, sure, use your thumb. My hands are also pretty big, but it hurts my thumb and wrist to play like that, so I don't. Of course, unfortunately, we don't know if his technique would have led to physical problems later in life, but he certainly didn't look like he was ergonomically uncomfortable, his wrists were at awkward angles, etc. Every body is different. The textbook is a great starting point but exceptions and contradictions are common.
Paul McCartney is well documented using "awful" technique, but he is still a great, creative bass player. Using that full thumb wraparound/palming technique will restrict your ability to play fast scales and runs efficiently up and down the fretboard- which is of no consequence to Paul McCartney or his career. If you want to be a great, versatile, all-around bass player, focusing on textbook technique and efficiency can be very useful. If you just want to be the best Paul McCartney you can be, efficiency is not of the utmost importance.
I think if you look at a lot of pictures of Chris, you'll see just as many of him with his thumb against the back of the neck. He was a pro. It's like a lot of things, learn the fundamental correct way and cheat when needed. Like catching a ball with two hands when you're learning to play baseball.
If you are playing something linear or like a scale,it's easier to put your thumb over the top.
Your fingers are in line.
Close together.
If you are juggling extensions it's next to impossible.
You fingers must spread and reach.
Your fingers are in line.
Close together.
If you are juggling extensions it's next to impossible.
You fingers must spread and reach.
I grew up as a child learning strict classical guitar ... thumb was never aloud to pop up over the neck ... years on I find aguado.s texts with varying sketched of different thumb positions
Now I just let my hand relax and my thumb does what it wants ...
The key to identifying what some describe as bad technique is if doing something a certain way promotes sustained tension and when perpetually pushed it leads to pain and injury ... then it's a pretty good chance it's 'bad technique '
the thumb, should be allowed to shift, squeeze, release and slide and show itself or hide in response to all the hand movements ... the more flexibility the better ....
I also had a flamenco teacher explain to me recently that most guitar players apply to much pressure in the left hand ... that we cleanly sound notes with less pressure and this includes both the thumb and fingers ...
Anyway ... just some comments for me ... people can choose as they wish ...
Now I just let my hand relax and my thumb does what it wants ...
The key to identifying what some describe as bad technique is if doing something a certain way promotes sustained tension and when perpetually pushed it leads to pain and injury ... then it's a pretty good chance it's 'bad technique '
the thumb, should be allowed to shift, squeeze, release and slide and show itself or hide in response to all the hand movements ... the more flexibility the better ....
I also had a flamenco teacher explain to me recently that most guitar players apply to much pressure in the left hand ... that we cleanly sound notes with less pressure and this includes both the thumb and fingers ...
Anyway ... just some comments for me ... people can choose as they wish ...
Totally agree. For me, the above sums up the thumb's role in playing the bass.
BINGO!
(Started out in classical guitar).
For heavier stringed instruments like bass, use small controlled amounts of left arm and shoulder pull as well as the thumb.
