All the bass teachers say keep the fingers perpendicular to the neck, position the thumb behind the second finger and, gasp, never let it protrude over the top .The problem is the only people who actually teach this are… the teachers. All the great players (with long careers) pretty much ignore it. Paul Macartney is a classic example but I was also watching Tommy Shannon just now - same thing. Fingers and thumb all over the place! The “teacher’s way” is just a sure fire path to injury IMO.
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Left hand technique
- Thread starter Geepers
- Start date
That's the correct position when you're playing notes (i.e. jumping from one note to another). If I'm only playing one note for a long time (which happens a lot in general), my hand sometimes wraps the neck. That's so that my hand rests a little before it gets busy again. I even sometimes play with my thumb on the E string especially when I slap because that's more convenient in some cases. Most teachers are going to tell you to never do that. They are telling you to play like so, so that you learn the right way first. Then you do whatever to play the instrument with minimal effort and fatigue.
Them’s fighting’ words!! (or click bait). Actually it should prevent strain over decades of playing.
I’ll use the ‘teachers way’ for 1/3rd of rock/pop gigs when doing tricky stuff.
I’ll use it 80% of the time on Fretless at gigs. It really helps with fretless intonation when moving around on stage, or when sight reading at a Jazz/ Big Band gig.
When you have muscle memory for clean technique you have more room to adjust and adapt based on the music and your body. If you have no technique you are likely to develop habits that are inefficient and/or unhealthy. Teachers are not stifling you because of some imaginary rulebook, they are instilling a baseline of clean healthy technique which you can build upon.
No, just an opinion based on personal experience. I had all sorts of carpal tunnel syndrome problems so I changed basses, relearned a whole new technique (which throws the conventional wisdom out the window) causes zero CTS and results in me playing better as well.
If it works for you then fine. But can you play Teentown or other advanced stuff with that technique? Teachers teach it for a reason.
Damn! And there was I thinking there was no downside .
The thing to consider is that a lot of these 'greats with bad technique' were born many years before the electric bass was even a thing (McCartney, b.1942, Shannon b.1946) and so were playing long before the significant expansions in the voice of the electric bass guitar were discovered, along with the advances in technique necessary to expoit those voices, which mainly started to happen in the mid to late '70's.
True. But the meat and potatoes bassist with great time gets the (real world) gigs where the “advanced technique” isn’t necessary and carries long term injury risk - hence why Sir Paul is still playing 60 years later! Carol Kaye is exactly the same deal. Her left thumb is ALWAYS left of her fingers, never behind them, and she moves her fingers as a solid unit (Rocco Prestia the same). I think many of us just need to be realistic about how “advanced” we want to be/in reality can be and save our (ageing) bodies the stresses of a technique that we’ll never fully exploit.
The point is that, when done right, the stresses are actually reduced. If every joint and every muscle takes a fair share of the work then there are no concentrations and no opportunities for strain or injury. The problems start with looking at static images and thinking that you have to hold your hand in a fixed, rigid and open posture all of the time.
There are a lot of players who use conventional technique that play for many years too. Much more than players with bad technique. That’s no argument for not learning proper technique. If you only want to do meat and potatoes bass lines then yes do what you want. But fortunately there are players who want to do more than that. Don’t blame the teachers.
Well there seems to be an awful lot of guys not doin’ it right judging by the tales of woe on this site alone. I think the simple test is this: is it natural? Place your soft left hand under the neck. Where does the thumb sit? To the left of the fingers. Move the thumb gently in behind the second finger. Feel that tension in the lower thumb area? That’s injury waiting to happen. Not now, not tomorrow, but it’s a comin’.
I’ll duck out of this one now. Just want to give some encouragement to those guys with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, De Quervians, tendonitis etc that there is IS a pain-free way to play to a high standard coz I’ve been through the mill on this one and come out the other side after a LOT of study and work on it. Happy to be pm’d by anyone interested in learning more.
It's not about static position. It's about being relaxed, flexible and in control, using minimum effort to get a good clean stop. After 40 years without a twinge I'm not in any rush to change my technique.
I love Mcartney but, he's definitely not one I'd look to for technique.
Plus, bass playing has changed A LOT since the 60's.
I'd say listen to the teachers until you become so comfortable with the technique that you can break it and go back to it without skipping a beat. Intentionally going for "halfway" technique or just blatantly ignoring solid advice might make you feel better when playing NOW, but it will only be detrimental in the long run. Put in the time now instead.
There's tons of great free courses on youtube, I wish I had access to that 20 or even 10 years ago. Would have saved me A LOT of un-learning poor technique..
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OH MY GOD, it's a sales rep for some hocus pocus pyramid scheme arthritis hand lotion or something
I'm glad that I'm a meat and potatoes player! Lol. Also, a proper setup (that's comfortable for the individual) is a big factor when it comes to avoiding unnecessary strain.
You know there's another exercise that some recommend - take your left thumb off the neck completely. It really helps you feel how to play while reducing the strain in the left hand, as the tension moves up into the arm when you do that. Can you do it for an hour, not likely. Can you do it for the easy part of a song, yes.
Point being, there are good practices to learn and your teacher is doing his/her job. Don't get hung up on what you see on YouTube.
Point being, there are good practices to learn and your teacher is doing his/her job. Don't get hung up on what you see on YouTube.
If you don't like what your teacher is teaching you, maybe it's time to find another teacher, or start self-study.
You made a commitment to a teacher, he teaches and you are taught. Do what he tells you and you will learn something, Do your own thing and you will find you are wasting precious time.
Maybe you can learn how to do it first and then you can make your own deviations.
