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Double Bass Pain!

Scott Lynch

Scott Lynch

Supporting Member
Nov 27, 2002
1,490
1,884
#1
I have played bass (and performed most other tasks with my fingers) using my pads, but after after a few correspondences, and hearing some great advice in the last thread I started on thumb position basics, I have made a serious effort to use my fingertips when I play.

Really, I have developed an obsession with my fingertips in the last couple of days. I have been bringing them into my awareness when doing everything, from driving to other normal everyday tasks such as holding objects or opening doors. Even as I type, I am focused on pressing down the keys with my fingertips.

Recent attempts to play the upright up on my fingertips, however, have been excruciatingly painful, to the point where my body is seriously reacting to the pain I am feeling in my fingertips. I am involuntarily wincing, I am secreting blood in my mouth (which only happens to me upon reaching a rather high pain threshold), and really, I can't play for much more than a few minutes without having to stop. It has been very frustrating.

I went through a similar thing when first learning to play the guitar, as my guitar had somewhat high action. The pain was not nearly as intense, however. My bass has medium low action and medium tension D'Addario Helicores strung on it.

Is this pain I am experiencing normal? I would imagine that the callous building process would be uncomfortable, but this is truly agonizing. If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I am willing to trudge through, but there is no way I would be able to play for extended periods of time in my current condition.

Please help! I desperately want to play with proper left hand technique.
 
#4
I have been focusing more on using my tips all over the bass. I am having an easier time with my 2nd and 3rd fingers, but my index and pinky instinctively want to flatten out.

The structure of my index fingers is different than than of my middle, ring and pinky fingers. While the latter three seem to have enough flesh protruding beyond my nails, my indexes do not. I am wondering if this is why my index fingers hurt way more when I play up on my tips.

In thumb position, the pain is beyond what I can tolerate. It literally feels like the tip of my index finger is being sliced into. I have to flatten to the pad of that finger. The other fingers are ok, however, and with some practice and concentration I should be able to play on the tips consistently. This may not be by the book technique, but I figure if there is a way I can maintain finger curvature and get the clearance and efficiency that I need, how could I be holding myself back?
 
#5
And one other thing: I have found that on all fingers, it hurts more the closer I get to the nail. It seems that there is some "sweet spot" I should be looking for that is a balance between the fleshy part of my finger and the area where I can get a god lock on the string with curved fingers.

J, I think you're right. I need to take a day or two off after the punishment I've put my fingertips through this weekend.
 
#7
It is getting ever so slightly easier. I found myself spending a little bit more time on the tip of my index finger in thumb pos. than I could handle yesterday. And a callous is starting to grow.

Flattening out the finger and collapsing the knuckle is less painful right now, but it seems more difficult to shift strings than when the finger is arched and I am pressing on the tip.

Rubbing alcohol? I have heard both good and bad about that. Does it really speed up callous growth?
 
#8
This is the approach I would advocate, starting the neck positions.

There is a flat spot between the centre of your fingerprint and the end of your finger (on most hands?). Aim at bisecting that with the string. If you rest your fingers on a table as though you are playing a keyboard/piano you will see the fingers resting on this same flat spot.

Bring the relaxed left arm up from your side to place the hand in playing position with the thumb about opposite or just higher than the second finger and resting on the middle of the back of the neck. When you are playing on the top three strings there should be a natural line from your elbow to your arched fingers across both relatively flat wrist and large knuckles. This puts your fingers in the best position to rise and fall naturally in their arched shape by "flapping" from the large knuckles, driven freely by muscles in your forearm through your straight wrist. Another reason for playing on the pads is that your fingers operate more powerfully as "hooks" (as though you are rock climbing) rather than "presses" that might collapse the last joint.

At the base of the neck, as the hand starts to turn and head for thumb positions and the bridge, the index finger becomes more curved and begins to stand up on its end whereas the third finger begins to flatten. The hand and forearm try to remain in as natural a line as possible by rotating the wrist in and bringing the arm forward to avoid grounding on the ribs of the bass. In the meantime the thumb has followed the hand by tracking diagonally around the base of the neck until it flips over on top of the string.

So, from the neck positions through into thumb position the grooves caused by pressing the strings down will move from across your pads to more and more diagonally across the ends of your fingers.If your forearm, wrist and fingers keep as good alignment as possible the moves into and out of thumb position should be powerful and comfortable.
Of course, callouses are both the result of , and necessary for ease of, shifting.

Having said all this, not everyone has enough flesh on the ends of fingers beyond the nail to stand right up there when pressing/hooking strings down in thumb positions. These people may have to collapse the last joints to avoid resting on the fingernails. I worry about the risk of injury to the last joints, also wether there is a double action before enough pressure gets the strings cleanly to the fingerboard.

So I would say, use finger ends more in thumb position when necessary and use pads for neck positions. Develop callouses by moving up and down strings while almost fully holding the strings to the fingerboard. Practice going into and out of thumb position powerfully, using different overlapping fingerings and keeping your index finger hooked slightly over the inside of the strings (like a train wheel on a single rail track).
Basic examples might be

Eflat F G A Bflat (1 4 thumb 1 2) and D Eflat F G A Bflat (1 2 1 3 1 2 or 1 2 1 3 2 3 )

Or the Great Slide (glissando) from one end of the fingerboard to the other, passing freely over the shoulders of the bass, observing the way everything tracks and changes shape in order to remain powerful.

Finger tips will always be more sensitive than pads because of the larger concentration of nerve endings (sensors?) so avoid using them where possible and develop callouses to help protect them.

Cheers......

DP
 
#9
I have a callous, finally, on the tip of my index! It hurt like hell for a while, but I am beginning to see, hear, and feel that it is totally worth it.

I bought some GHS Fast Fret a while ago to use on my electric, and I found that, when working in thumb position, rubbing a tiny bit on the tip of my index finger really helps with shifting. I have been careful not to go past the end of the fingerboard with the ned of my left hand, as I could imagine that getting any grease on my bow hairs would have some disastrous consequences.

David, thank you for the great advice. I have been experimenting with the Great Slide. It is an excellent exercise.
 
#13
Hey Scott, it's Brent. You should consider that when a violinist plays, he uses a whole range of contact points on his fingers from the utmost part of the tip to the meatiest part of the pad. The tip is going to bring a certain degree of clarity, but will ultimately hinder you in speed, and of course is a more intense sensation. If I touch my fingertips, they are calloused from just above the "bulge" all the way up to the nail. I only play on my tips when I am in thumb position, and mostly only if I'm playing high up the D or A strings, to help clear up the tone. Maybe a lighter touch on the G string would help too, sometimes I like to contrast a forte in the right hand with a piano in the left hand...if that makes any sense?
 

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