Left hand angle and slanted fingers/thumb

[Watchootognbout]

Look at your left arm, particularly how hard you've got the wrist twisted around so you can fret the instrument - one can easily see that that's not a good long-term ergonomic situation for your fretting hand and wrist. Might be ok for now, but over the long term, the chances are very high that you'll eventually start to end up with problems...

L

Old picture.Old bass.
It was speedily posed rather than showing an actual playing position.(Notice the hand blur?)

New picture.New bass.
With time to get into actual playing position.

Edit:And really,the hand angle depends on what you are playing at the time.
Which is not an indicator of full time wrist position.
(In that picture I was posing a root five nine form.Something I do by habit)

Submitted for study.
Watch how Alain Caron's wrist angle changes when he plays that diminished double stop.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Left hand angle playing a scale or line.

Left hand angle playing an octave or wide interval.

Thumb placement on back of neck.



My advice.Do what you need to do to play the notes you need.
Your hand and finger angle will change as you go up the neck.
The human body is not a machine that can only do one thing one way.

 

[StoneFrog]

I am thinking about moving the upper strap button to the lower horn, so my bass is more naturally angled out in front of me.

Scratching my head at Scott Devine's lesson about a "dropped palm" (see below). I mean yes, I keep space between my fingers and the neck, and sometimes his hand looks fine to me, but 3:19 looks incredibly uncomfortable. It could be that I have less flexibility in that area than other people.



I'm wondering now, should the fretting hand tilt "up" towards the ceiling more when playing the E string or when playing the G? I actually go more vertical with G, because I bring my thumb down lower to follow my other fingers, but some people seem to think keeping it higher (approaching the top of the neck/gripping) gives them better grip.

"Butt crack palm" plus a "popping" or "tingling" sensation in the wrist, are a really bad combination. Don't ignore these warning signs!

This still has me perplexed. The good news is I think working from home (my desk is too high, among other things) is what messed up my wrists the most. Well, that and a couple weeks ago when I installed some shelves into really stubborn drywall without power tools...oops.

But anyway, I get this wrist pop thing (usually without tingling) in both hands from time to time. When playing bass, it only happens in the left. It's more towards the base of the palm and it never caused me direct troubles before. It even can happen on the computer or while gripping something. Doesn't happen when exercising. I have no idea what to do about this.

 

[fearceol]

But anyway, I get this wrist pop thing (usually without tingling) in both hands from time to time. When playing bass, it only happens in the left. It's more towards the base of the palm and it never caused me direct troubles before. It even can happen on the computer or while gripping something. Doesn't happen when exercising. I have no idea what to do about this.

Perhaps the solution to your problem lies elsewhere than on a bass guitar forum. The "wrist pop" issue may not be bass related, but playing the bass just highlights the problem.

Maybe a visit to a doctor or physiotherapist might be the prudent thing to do, before it gets any worse ?

 

[Watchootognbout]

I am thinking about moving the upper strap button to the lower horn, so my bass is more naturally angled out in front of me.

Scratching my head at Scott Devine's lesson about a "dropped palm" (see below). I mean yes, I keep space between my fingers and the neck, and sometimes his hand looks fine to me, but 3:19 looks incredibly uncomfortable. It could be that I have less flexibility in that area than other people.



I'm wondering now, should the fretting hand tilt "up" towards the ceiling more when playing the E string or when playing the G? I actually go more vertical with G, because I bring my thumb down lower to follow my other fingers, but some people seem to think keeping it higher (approaching the top of the neck/gripping) gives them better grip.


This still has me perplexed. The good news is I think working from home (my desk is too high, among other things) is what messed up my wrists the most. Well, that and a couple weeks ago when I installed some shelves into really stubborn drywall without power tools...oops.

But anyway, I get this wrist pop thing (usually without tingling) in both hands from time to time. When playing bass, it only happens in the left. It's more towards the base of the palm and it never caused me direct troubles before. It even can happen on the computer or while gripping something. Doesn't happen when exercising. I have no idea what to do about this.

What I posted in #41 and#42 is exactly what Scott's Bass lesson is indicating.
Drop your wrist so you can spread your fingers.
But some still tell me I'm wrong.

You can't move around and play quick notes with your hand gripping like a baseball bat!

 

[SteveCS]

I am thinking about moving the upper strap button to the lower horn, so my bass is more naturally angled out in front of me.

...

Don't do this as you will almost certainly end up with the centre of gravity above the line between the two strap buttons. This will make the bass want to fall over and hang upside down. You will just end up having to hold it in place with your right forearm, wrist or palm.

 

[StoneFrog]

What I posted in #41 and#42 is exactly what Scott's Bass lesson is indicating.
Drop your wrist so you can spread your fingers.

My bad, I should have been clearer. There is some drop in my wrist, but it's pretty much just gravity. Some people seem to stretch/pull their wrist down to get more.

Don't do this as you will almost certainly end up with the centre of gravity above the line between the two strap buttons.

Hmm, true. What I want to do is shift the weight towards the bridge more. Right now my bass (SR300) always wants to fall at like a 40 degree angle when I want to keep it higher, like 50-60.