Kung-Fu Grip No More

[srosenthal13]

I just had one of those technique breakthroughs that make playing an instrument worth the time and effort.

I was practicing scales, and suddenly my brain realized "I know that feeling." It was the feeling I had when I first felt a drumstick self-propel under its own momentum with just the tiniest amount of input from my fingers and wrists, and just enough grip to keep it from flying away.

Suddenly, I wasn't jamming my thumb into the back of the neck and crushing the strings with my fingertips.

Just enough pressure, front and back, to fret the notes cleanly. Funny how that works: Different instruments, different techniques, same feeling.

Now comes the "got it-lost it-got it" roller coaster until it becomes automatic.

 

[tb-player]

Nice job. When I first started playing I struggled with the baseball bat grip and I had little to no mobility in my fretting hand. When I moved my thumb to the back of the neck and loosened up a bit, life became easier. I reinforced it by focusing on it every day. Made a huge difference. Good luck!

 

[dreamadream99]

Economy of motion. It is very important if you want to last for a four hour gig. You must find a way to conserve your energy — not just in your fretting hand, but from your hand to your wrist to your forearm, to your upper arm, shoulder, and back and body posture.

 

[Lobster11]

Congratulations! It seems that many of players who are aware of their death-grip problem struggle mightily to overcome it; you were fortunate enough to have it spontaneously resolve itself without effort. Maybe that's because from your drumming experience you already "knew the feeling," as you said.

Of course, the same principles apply to the plucking hand too. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I love the feeling of my fingers just brushing gently across the strings and letting the amp do the heavy lifting.

 

[srosenthal13]

you were fortunate enough to have it spontaneously resolve itself without effort.

I wouldn't say it was effortless.

Of course, the same principles apply to the plucking hand too. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I love the feeling of my fingers just brushing gently across the strings and letting the amp do the heavy lifting.

That part was easier, since my right hand is my dominant hand. And for sure, letting the equipment do the work is something I'm used to with drums.

One of the big things with drumming is developing tension-release: Relaxing the muscles after impact to let go of the engergy. I'm trying to be mindful of that with bass, and I guess this was a case of things finally starting to wire up in a good way.