How to pop the string without hurting your pointer finger?

[ppatricklydonn]

Hi! I have been practicing slap bass for quite a while now and continue to hurt my right hand pointer finger when I try to pop the D string. I can pop the G string just fine, but when I pop the D string, the cuticle on my pointer finger begins to rub on the G string as I go under the D string and it gets irritated and sometimes will eventually bleed. Any tips? I have tried going more shallow and angling my finger but I have not been able to figure it out.

Is this something I just need to deal with and build some callouses?


More context:
- I use a "strikethrough"/"double thumb" approach to my thumbing.
- I play a Dingwall AB1 - which has 18mm string spacing, but I have had this issue on other basses e.g. Sandbergs and Laklands.

Any tips or tricks are greatly appreciated since I am getting pretty discouraged. I have put quite a bit of time into slapping, and kind of have to avoid popping the D string because of all this.

 

[Wasnex]

How hard do you play? Some players beat the crap out of their bass and hands.

How high is the action on your bass? Lower action with a lighter touch will be easier on your hands.

How wide is the string spacing. With narrow spacing it can be hard to get your fingers in between the strings.

Some degree of finesse may be necessary to avoid unintentional and undesired contact between fingers and strings.

You may also need to modify your technique, so that a different part of your fingers is used to produce sound.

I would suggest that you do not totally avoid single thumb. Ideally you should be able to seamlessly transition from one to the other.

I pop primarily with index and middle fingers. On occasion I will get the ring ringer in there as well.

You might consider studying Victor Wooten and Bill Dickens. Pretty sure you can find plenty of videos on YouTube. Both of these players seamlessly integrate a variety of techniques.

 

[JimmyM]

Not much you can do other than slow yourself down and practice not rubbing the G string and not going deep. Don't get impatient, either. It's much harder to break bad habits than to form them

 

[tshapiro]

What I see is many people really over doing it with the pull/popping. I look at Flea who’s a huge influence of mine, however, he pulls really hard. I on the other hand play more like Stanley Clark where my pulls are minimal… I really use more of the the tip or pad of my index finger rather than wrapping my whole finger under the string.

For what it’s worth, here’s a vid of me doing it

 

[JonathanPDX]

Hi! I have been practicing slap bass for quite a while now and continue to hurt my right hand pointer finger when I try to pop the D string. I can pop the G string just fine, but when I pop the D string, the cuticle on my pointer finger begins to rub on the G string as I go under the D string and it gets irritated and sometimes will eventually bleed. Any tips? I have tried going more shallow and angling my finger but I have not been able to figure it out.

Is this something I just need to deal with and build some callouses?


More context:
- I use a "strikethrough"/"double thumb" approach to my thumbing.
- I play a Dingwall AB1 - which has 18mm string spacing, but I have had this issue on other basses e.g. Sandbergs and Laklands.

Any tips or tricks are greatly appreciated since I am getting pretty discouraged. I have put quite a bit of time into slapping, and kind of have to avoid popping the D string because of all this.

A video of you playing would be very helpful to identify the issue. There are so many different angles, approaches, parts of the finger you can make contact with, angle of your wrist, pressure level, etc.

Generally speaking, the starting point is usually to slow way down, study every aspect of your technique, and evaluate how much pressure and energy you are using. Even really fast slap techniques, IE Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, etc. can be done with minimal effort and energy. I can play most of Vic's fast stuff and all of that can be done with a very light touch and tight, controlled right-hand motions. But I've seen a lot of people get injured or frustrated when they try to mimic those techniques with a really aggressive attack.

 

[onda'bass]

I’d say show a video of you slapping, that would show us what’s happening.

 

[ppatricklydonn]

Hi everyone! Thank you for the thoughtful replies. I will record a video later today. I think that’s a great idea.

I don’t feel like I slap or pop too hard, but I guess that is for the critics to decide. It might just be positioning, I just can’t for the life of me figure it out, so I think the video is crucial.

As far as setup, I have tried having my action low and high. I had my Dingwall set very low, but recently raised the saddles and lowered my neck pickup to give me some more space for my popping finger. The Dingwall kind of has an unfortunate layout since the pickups are angled due to the multiscale nature, there isn’t much room between the pickup and the neck for popping. Sometimes I will thumb right in the neck, but if I ever want to do an up stroke on the thumb, then I need to move past the neck I.e. between the neck and pickup.

Anyways, I will upload a video this morning once the house wakes up.

 

[Element Zero]

…since the pickups are angled due to the multiscale nature, there isn’t much room between the pickup and the neck for popping.

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve never played a Dingwall, however, I’m surprised you feel there’s not much space. Based off of pictures there appears to be close to 2 inches or more from the edge of the neck pickup to where the neck bevel curve starts. I’ll agree it’s not like most other basses where the neck/body top doesn’t have that scooped curve thing… so I dunno lol. Sorry

Beyond that, I’d say it just takes time to figure out the hand positions necessary for the various techniques. I cut my teeth on an Ibanez with 16.5mm spacing for nearly 20 years before getting a new bass and learned that I just can’t hang with 19mm with either hand. I can understand the frustration. Wish I had an answer for you.

 

[ppatricklydonn]

Let me preface by saying, I have had this finger issue on every bass I played, so I know it is not the bass, is entirely me. But the justification for my action being high is due to the Dingwalls angle. You are right, there is probably 2 inches between the neck and pickup on the G string, if my thumb is over the neck then there is no issue and my pop finger fits easily between my neck and pickup, HOWEVER, if I want my thumb to not be over the neck and instead want it just before the neck so that I have space for an upstroke on the thumb, then the space between the neck in the E string and the pickup on the D string is drastically reduced since the neck is angled and the pickup is angled. Not sure if that makes sense but once I post a video I will point out what I mean.

 

[mambo4]

You can probably pop without getting as far under the string as you are doing. I’d play game of “ how little hook can I get away with “ in other words how close to regular plucking angle can you get your finger while still getting a good sound

The “how lightly can i pluck” game is also instructive, as others have mentioned.

 

[Nick Willbrand]

Can you post a video of you playing? Sounds like you are curling your fingers more than you need to but hard to say without seeing your technique.

 

[Pirate Captain]

SIDE NOTE: i once tried that Bernard Edwards thing where he uses his index finger as a pick and I dislocated mine...so, be careful

 

[Scott Bland]

One thing that helped me which might be really weird is that being on stage exhausted after three shows in two days my whole body was tired and a bit sore. Especially my right hand so I tried to make the same sound with the absolute least amount of effort and tension to get through the show. It really helped and by focusing on relaxing and listening to what I was producing through the mains instead of how I thought it should feel made me realize I was overdoing it and wasting a whole lot of energy for almost zero tonal reason.

 

[GR7G5TER]

Are we calling it pointer finger now?

 

[ppatricklydonn]

Here is a video! Let me know if y’all want a different angle or anything else

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I've always popped with my middle finger. It just felt natural.

 

[Discount Bassy]

Perhaps try positioning the bass angle and height a few different ways to experiment. After I lost my Hitchhiker's Thumbs to Dupuytren's, I found that it changed the way that I needed to position of the instrument to deal with the transition. The result put my fingers at an angle across the strings rather than parallel, making the pops less about the tips of my fingers and more about the side. It came fairly naturally, having played classical decades ago, and being very similar in technique. That plus lower action made for faster, lighter movements.

 

[mambo4]

uncurl your fingertips, hook less. You can snap the string without needing to be so completely underneath it.
I assume it's unplugged is just for this example, and you always plug in & turn up when practicing slap...

OR: Just ignore me, as I don't really slap much

 

[red_rhino]

From your initial description and the video, it appears that you’re using the G-string as a “ramp”, backstopping the top of your index finger against the higher string in order to gauge the depth of the pop action on the target string. You’re also relying on that action to mute the upper strings, which I think is increasing the number of times where the top of your finger is smacking the string.

uncurl your fingertips, hook less.

This too. Your hand could be more relaxed, IMO.

 

[JimmyM]

Here is a video! Let me know if y’all want a different angle or anything else

Your finger is bent a lot. It should only be bent enough to achieve a pluck, and you have it wrapped around the string. On the bright side, you aren’t bad at it at all, and you could probably fix that in no time.