• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Seriously Disheartened about left hand

#21
When I first started my hand ached and my teacher would make me play through it.
Of course your left hand is going to hurt learning to play the bass, it's a demanding physical skill.

I think your problem is no one is pushing you. You practice for a few minutes, your hand hurts, and you stop. Practice for an hour a day, and suck it up, you will develop hand strength and dexterity over time.

Also, I am a firm believer in the one finger per fret method. The key for you might be to start up on the neck where the reach is shorter.
Try beginning on the ninth-twelfth fret for an hour a day. Then each week move down one fret. By the time you reach the first fret your hand will be much stronger than it is today!
 
#22
PRD, usually I like what you have to say, but I get a little worried when I hear "play through the pain." I've always believed that it should never be painful unless it's blisters forming into calluses. There's no real way to prevent that other than letting them build slowly. But any kind of muscle soreness or bone soreness concerns me, and it should be investigated and steps taken.
 
#23
I was going to suggest starting in the middle of the neck instead of at the top, but prd004 beat me to it. So instead I'll suggest going to a local jam session or two, just to watch at first, and talk to the various bassists and let them know you're a beginner. Then. about two weeks before you think you're ready, ask to sit in.
 
#25
It is generally agreed that it is best to have both wrists as straight as posible in order to avoid hand/wrist iinjuries at a later stage.
Click to expand...

I do believe it is I whom you are quoting here. The important words are "as possible", as there will be times when the wrist is bent. I fail to see how having it straight, can be detrimental at any stage.




.
Is this what is meant by pivoting?
Click to expand...

This clip is worth watching all the way through. He deals with pivoting around the 06.37 mark.





Another thing about position, I find that wearing my bass almost like a neck tie works well for me. It seems the lower I sling it, the "worse" my technique becomes.
Click to expand...

This is a personal choice. However, wearing it too high effects the plucking hand (wrist is bent), too low and the fretting hand is affected.

The ideal compromise is to wear the bass at about belt buckle height.
 
#26
prd004 said:
When I first started my hand ached and my teacher would make me play through it.
Of course your left hand is going to hurt learning to play the bass, it's a demanding physical skill.

I think your problem is no one is pushing you. You practice for a few minutes, your hand hurts, and you stop. Practice for an hour a day, and suck it up, you will develop hand strength and dexterity over time.
Click to expand...

^ This is very true. It does take time. I remember nearly giving up in despair because of an exercise that required me to stretch my hand into a power-chord shape. I couldn't understand how the human hand was supposed to stretch like that! But a few months of perserverance later, it was second nature. Keep at it and you will break those barriers!
 
#27
prd004 said:
When I first started my hand ached and my teacher would make me play through it.
Of course your left hand is going to hurt learning to play the bass, it's a demanding physical skill.

I think your problem is no one is pushing you. You practice for a few minutes, your hand hurts, and you stop. Practice for an hour a day, and suck it up, you will develop hand strength and dexterity over time.

Also, I am a firm believer in the one finger per fret method. The key for you might be to start up on the neck where the reach is shorter.
Try beginning on the ninth-twelfth fret for an hour a day. Then each week move down one fret. By the time you reach the first fret your hand will be much stronger than it is today!
Click to expand...

Worst idea ever ... never play through pain. If you have pain, you are doing something wrong or you try to do marathon when you never trained.

Simple exercise for developping dexterity and coordination should be no1 priority, scale/arpeggio are part of it. Working with a metronome.

Also, you don't need any strengh to play bass, you only need to work on your dexterity and coordination. The hand is already strong enough to push on the strings.
 
#28
Clef_de_fa said:
Worst idea ever ... never play through pain. If you have pain, you are doing something wrong or you try to do marathon when you never trained.

Simple exercise for developping dexterity and coordination should be no1 priority, scale/arpeggio are part of it. Working with a metronome.

Also, you don't need any strengh to play bass, you only need to work on your dexterity and coordination. The hand is already strong enough to push on the strings.
Click to expand...

Any who says strength is not necessary to play bass has NO IDEA what he/she is talking about.
Weather or not you choose to listen to me (28 years experience, music school employed) or not, I would ignore this post
 
#30
prd004 said:
Any who says strength is not necessary to play bass has NO IDEA what he/she is talking about.
Weather or not you choose to listen to me (28 years experience, music school employed) or not, I would ignore this post
Click to expand...


In my comparatively lesser time playing bass, I have discovered that yes, strength is required, but a minimal amount. This strength is there in all healthy people from an early age.

Stamina and dexterity however, are a different thing altogether.


I agree with Clef de fa, that any teacher worth his/her salt would never encourage a student to play through pain.
 
#31
Inverse Kinetix said:
Trying to hold my hand with the 4 fingers to 4 frets positioning causes a lot of tension and pain in the tendons in the back of my hand. This is after literally 30 seconds.
Click to expand...

DON'T DO IT!
This is one of the biggest myths about bass playing, that you are "supposed" to play 1 finger per fret.
Get a good teacher (even if it's just a few Skype lessons) who really understands the 1-2-4 fingering technique.
And, MOST IMPORTANT, your practice sessions should not consist primarily of finger-twisting exercises! You should be practicing your favorite songs and chord progressions. As a beginner it is much more important to understand I-IV-V progression, I-V-vi-IV, etc. than it is to play 3-octave chromatic scales or some silly "spider" exercise.

Just my 2 cents. :)
 
#34
AaronMB said:
There's a big difference between pain and fatigue - are the two being confused here?


Years ago I played through the pain when I first started. I'm paying for it now.
Click to expand...

Yes they do get confused because the person experiencing it cannot tell the difference between lactic acid burn and pain. Lactic acid burn is what you get from intense muscle use, lactic acid is a by-product and waste product that will cramp, slow down or stop muscles. You can train your hands, and body, to minimise the release of lactic acid and clear it faster from the system.

Strength is the same thing. Do not get hung up on the word strength. In playing, strength is about muscle tone, dexterity, recovery times of muscles, stamina etc. it's not a physical strength, it is more in use such as "what strength is that coffee " or what is your strength as a player " etc.
What you do not need in your hands as a player is a grip.
Anything that trains a healthy hand to develop a grip will bring problems.

Your fingers need to be able to lift off just as fast or as dexterous as they go on, grip training develops the fingers in only one of those motions...So it is not a balanced use. When a player has a fretting problem they can see it as the fingers do not play fast enough, rather than maybe the finger before never lifted off and got out the way fast enough. In certain situations, such as playing C C# D D# as one finger per fret or 124 it is not that obvious because the next finger does not need to get out of the way. But D# D C# C does need the finger to lift out of the way. Now see that scenario in your playing and runs and it becomes obvious why grip training will never ever develop your hands to lift your fingers away.
 
#36
prd004 said:
Any who says strength is not necessary to play bass has NO IDEA what he/she is talking about.
Weather or not you choose to listen to me (28 years experience, music school employed) or not, I would ignore this post
Click to expand...

I have 14 years of playing and a degree on the classical DB ... the EB doesn't require additionnal strength that you already have in your hand ... while dexterity isn't something you naturally have. I see strength as "I need a lot of strength just to make that E string touch the frets" if this is what you talk about ... something is really wrong.

I don't know your situation, how play etc but I play really soft, I don't have big calluses on my plucking finger. You just don't need to. Also none of my 3 basses teachers ever advocate to play through pain, never, even on DB ( but I must say I'm an arco player ). Playing music should be a pain-free activity.
 
#37
Tupac said:
You sound like me when I first started to fret with my pinky for the first time while learning scales. I have a feeling you haven't given it more than a couple attempts in a couple days.
Click to expand...



I'm with tupac .....if you're new to bass and stringed instruments in general this stuff takes time ....a lot of time ....the hands will condition and coorperate given the time.
 
#38
I think I will post a video sometime soon, it will probably be the easiest way to get more direct feedback.

About the "strength" thing, I realized that I was pushing with my thumb way too hard, so I have been practicing simple scales/exercised without using my thumb, I'm surprised how little pressure is required to get a clean tone.

Another thing that pleases me is, the speed of the "raising action" I really feel that my typing skills and finger drumming on my maschine have really served me well in preparation for playing bass. I can lift them as fast or faster than dropping them!
 
#39
If you are a new bassplayer if it hurts anything other than your fingertips you are doing something wrong. You might get a little sore as your hands get stronger but that should not hurt but so much. Either you are holding your hands wrong, your bass is not set up properly or you need to adjust the way you hold it in relation to the degree that the bass is perpendicular to your body (or paralell with the floor) or how high it sits between your waist and chest.... Take some of those videos with a grain of salt to some extent and try to play according to your bass and your body.. I used to play with my bass lower than I do today but over time I found it more comfortable to set my strap so there is not much difference between when I am sitting and when I am standing..
 
#40
A lot of the time your hand not doing what you want it to do is a result of poor posture with your arm or shoulders not being in a good position to facilitate efficient hand movement. Practicing in front of a mirror is something double bass students often do. It seems less common for bass guitarists but it can really show you obvious problems you were completely unaware of.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back