Thanks. I did get something out of the video, and I just rewatched it to see what I had missed. I get your overall point -- it's just that at the beginning and at the end, you say that among the options is for the thumb not even to touch the neck. And maybe you don't mean that literally -- that your point is that the thumb doesn't need to be in a certain position all the time. That I get, and I do appreciate the point about not getting carpal tunnel syndrome by trying to adhere to a rule about thumb placement that makes no sense.
As a relative beginner, I'm probably less able to discern the overall message from the specific statements made on a video. The other video I cited I found more helpful because I got more of a sense about how my thumb's position will naturally change as I move from the lowest notes to the middle to the highest. I think you both were making the same point -- it's just that the thumb-no-touchee demo threw me into "huh?" land.
There is no right or wrong for the thumb when playing, but there is a right and wrong for the thumb as to its use.....and this is just not related to playing.
The thumb is the unique part of our anatomy as no other animal on the planet has one that can do what ours can do....oppose the fingers of the same hand.
The hand position and thumb debate is not new, the problem is it beats confused with mis-information because those talking about it do not understand it. Even respected teacher have got it so wrong because they used up-right bass teachings and applied them to the guitar. There is the clue guitar....it is a bass guitar, not a bass, acoustic bass, up-right bass, contra bass etc...it is a guitar.
It is based on the plane (angle to the body) that the neck lies, so it is based in body mechanics of what the human body can do, so its as much about an individuals capabilities as it is about function....before we even talk about or teach a student to play any bass.
Sure it pays to learn and start out with the basic fundamentals and rudiments of playing.....but start from the right place and for the right reasons applicable to you.
The problem is you cannot if you do not have a teacher, and even then the teacher may be using flawed ideas, so how can you be sure what is being taught is for you?
Simply put, up-right bass sits on the ground in an vertical plane, a bass guitar sits on the player on a horizontal plane......and all points between it and the vertical. The wrist/forearm lines need to be a straight and in-line as they can be when playing. That means for the most part, you can change angles, but always use 'straight and in-line' when ever you can.
This means ignore the thumb, do not lose the 'lines' to keep the thumb in position.....let the thumb go.....it can move in many planes so let it
All I show (and Adam in his) is that the thumb has to move and change to keep the wrist/forearm lines to minimal angles with the least amount of pressure.
Then it is posture, (again not just bass guitar related) being relaxed and tension free and understand that playing problems and injuries come from two sources, mis-use and over use. Those are hard to live up to when learning because you will want to play as often as you can.....over use, and for long periods.....mis-use.
But playing an instrument is as much about learning bookwork, as it is about the actual practice. So in this way of learning there are lots of breaks to read and learn as there are about practicing what you read and learn.....this way of learning helps insure your learning and practice is balanced.
But there are those that do not need any of the above, so for them it is just pick up the instrument and play, and since a majority of players learn this way does not make it right, it just makes it popular.
In the long run (as I see regularly) young and relatively new players (up to about 7years in) developing the same problems in their playing with the related Injuries to how they learned to play.
So even if it is just one lesson, go and have your set-up looked at by a teacher, and even if you cannot afford lessons, at least you can practice correctly with what suits you.
Now what suits you changes and develops, as a rule a player becomes stronger and more dexterous, so can move on to more challenging playing....some players start off way out of their league with obscure ideas about how they can play, and this is how they do it....they actively do the opposite of what is good.
So with all that, here are three videos showing players using the 'wrong techniques', they break every 'rule' there has ever been taught, but the fact they are three of the biggest bass players to ever influence their generations of bass players........should make you think a bit about why you do what you do when you play.
Is it because its functional, or is it because you just assume its function has to be this way? In the second video you will see some of the worlds top players on stage, check out the techniques they use....again every 'rule 'you will ever have read or heard about is being broken.
http://youtu.be/Cqh54rSzheg
http://youtu.be/rdRG-hD5ZKo
Invalid Link Removed
