LEFT Hand Short Fingers Technique

[AK Bass Guy]

My suggestion would probably be to figure out some scale and arpeggio fingerings that omit the 3rd finger (for the universal major scale fingering it'd be something like 14114124 or 14124124) and be really diligent about sticking to those fingerings, then relearning familiar basslines focusing on applying a 124 technique. In the low positions that should be okay; things might get a little tight when you're past the 10th-ish fret (which for me is when I feel most comfortable playing 1234) with having to maintain 3 and 4 as a unit to cover a half step, but it's not impossible.

Thanks, I’ll try that out. Guess I’m going to have to take a trip down memory lane and just spend hours practicing scales with 124 fingerings instead 1234.I played a little DB back in the day and mostly used 3 finger, so maybe it might be easier to reprogram my brain if I can just convince myself it’s a DB and not an EB. I was also contemplating going fretless so DB technique would come a bit more naturally.
Cheers

 

[Shenron]

100%. I never really understood the electric bass players' obsession with 'fixed' or 'locked' hands and keeping all 'trailing' fingers down.

I agree. I haven't actually heard this much with bass, where is it even harder than guitar to keep trailing fingers down, but I definitely heard it many times over the years among guitarists.

Keeping fingers down can help in certain cases, for instance when you play a fast repetitive phrase on a single string (perhaps with an extra note on an adjacent) when those fingers will serve as an anchor, and you generally need to keep fingers down when playing legatos and certainly with trills.

But otherwise it is actually a mistake, because keeping fingers down increases tension which slows you down and cause fatigue. Pressing only the note you are playing is the most economical.

 

[Watchootognbout]

If you normally play the way you do in your avatar,with your bass at about 20 degrees,try raising it up more.
Then thrust you fretting arm elbow out.
This will put your thumb on the back of the neck enabling your fingers to spread open.