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Stiff fingers when playing with pinky finger?
- Thread starter mysterial
- Start date
If your hand is stretched wide enough to hinder control, it's stretched too wide. Learn to shift more and stretch less.
So should I practice more before trying to do the one-finger per fret technique? Could it be my hands are too small?
Practice fanning your fingers whilst keeping the fingers bent and relaxed…. first without your bass, then with the bass using fretting hand only, then with normal playing.
You might be using the wrong muscles.
- Fanning muscles (lumbricals) are between the bones in your palm or to the sides for index & pinkie. They widen the fingers without bending them. These need to be trained more.
- finger bending muscles (flexors & extensors) are different and aren’t necessary to fan the fingers. You are probably over-using these ones.
If those don’t work….
+1 to more position shifting and keeping a relaxed hand. Practice this with the light out to get really good at position shifting without looking.
You might be using the wrong muscles.
- Fanning muscles (lumbricals) are between the bones in your palm or to the sides for index & pinkie. They widen the fingers without bending them. These need to be trained more.
- finger bending muscles (flexors & extensors) are different and aren’t necessary to fan the fingers. You are probably over-using these ones.
If those don’t work….
+1 to more position shifting and keeping a relaxed hand. Practice this with the light out to get really good at position shifting without looking.
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Also, I'm having trouble with keeping my not-currently-being-used fingers low to the fretboard when I'm fretting with my other fingers. They just pop up and my muscles won't let me keep them low to the fretboard. Especially my middle finger for some reason. (no intended joke, im just having trouble keeping my middle finger low to the fretboard because of my muscles). Any tips on that?
I never had any formal training but did have to solve similar problems. I wanted to do some things the way JJ Burnel does them, but my hands are definitely smaller than his, so I have to do what @AGCurry says, shift more, stretch less.
Every day I find it difficult to start with but after getting into it the adjustments for speed make my aim much better. It's rare that happens from a standing start. Having early stages of arthritis in my little finger doesn't help at all.
If I am not excited enough by what I'm doing it can take a long time to get going. I find that mental stimulation from what I'm doing is more important than formal physical method. There are things like proprioception that are best improved by becoming more aware, hence more efficient.
Picking a tune that brings that up to speed fast works well for me. To use JJ Burnel's tunes as an example, Nice And Sleazy's rapid opening scale is very awkward from a standing start, but if you play Toiler On The Sea first it is a LOT easier.
A wake-up call like that can work in as little as three minutes. Faster than coffee. Learning tunes that do this is extremely useful.
My (likely unorthodox) methods are to use fingertips that are free to stop another string ringing to do exactly that, especially if that point of contact gets good results for the song. Again, for me it's an awareness thing, once it's up to speed it gets great results, especially when playing with a pick because the picking hand can't be used to damp a string, unless the pick itself be used. Developing strong reasons for using the fretting hand to damp used notes helps me to get clean phrasing when I need it. I have no fixed rules about this, other than to optimise for efficiency when possible because it gets good results while reducing strain of concentration or strain in my hand.
The payoff is that my method might work well for a tune I have practised often, but it may fail for more general use, and with unfamiliar tunes. I can't sight-read so for me this is not a problem. I just learn to apply it as needed. It definitely keeps my fingertips close to where I'm likely to need them because my brain overrides any tendency to raise them out of reach.
In my fingers, it's not great. I'm overall pretty flexible but my fingers are my weakness.
Maybe your frets are huge. Some basses have like really big frets IME and I can't barely comfortably stretch my fingers on the first like 7 frets. Most 24 fret basses don't seem to have this problem for me. I have no clue how any of that works since I'm no luthier, but uh, yeah. Lol
It's not uncommon to not be able to do the one finger per fret in the first position - I have medium large hands and can't do it. Many of us require a slight shift when the 4th fret is involved. You can shift and still use the pinky (lesser shift than forcing the ring finger) , but it's still a shift.
Trying to not shift will cause you harm. Stretch to what's comfortable and learn to shift when needed.
All of this is just beginner stuff my friend. Keep at it and it will all loosen up whilst getting stronger. Sit with your bass on your lap and just fret 1234,1234,1234,1234 using the fingers and starting on the E, working your way up and down the 4 strings, right? Just the first 4 frets. Do this while watching a movie or whatever, you don't have to pluck the strings. This is to get your fingers stronger. Do it for as long or as short as you'd like, but preferrably until you feel your fingers tiring noticeably.
You could also get one of those grip strength trainers, and allthough thats more for the forearm, it also helps the fingers, depending on how you use it. (Too cheap to buy one? Empty out a spray bottle, and sit with it "pulling the trigger" with 1 finger until it gets tired, then swap fingers) - I used that to speed up incorporating my index finger for plucking, it worked fast AF for building up a "weak" finger.
Ok, stretching! You don't really have to worry about stretching any muscles before you play at this point, as I doubt youre playing super fast trips thats gonna lock up your forearm after about 4 bars, but! You should still stretch and warm up for fingers before playing (and after too!). Here is some cool stuff u can do to increase your "range" on your fretting hand.
I've shamelessly stolen this from an old piano practice, but it's also used in foot/hand rehabilitation etc.
Ever seen those foam thingies the ladies use when doing toenails? It's like a divider of sorts, it spreads out the toes. It's the same concept. Basically, spread 2 fingers (index and middle) as far apart as you can. Then, apply mild pressure to both fingers while spread, forcing them slightly further apart. Do this both at the fingertips, and the finger-crotch a few times between each finger. You should feel the stretch on the insides of the fingers. If you feel pain, stop. But if it's like a slightly tingly feeling between the knuckles of the fingers you did it on, youre doing it right.
You can apply the pressure in many ways, like using your other hand, using a bottle as the spacer, or anything really. I typically use the pinky and thumb of the other hand.
And ofcourse, just normal finger stretches before and after a session
Theres ofcourse many other ways too. I've had issues with my fingers in the past, both being too weak, gout, what we here call "corpse fingers", which is basically when blood flow is limited due to cold, and early onset essential tremors. These excersizes have helped with all of that.
Oh, and drink fish oil.
No, thats not a joke.
Happy playing!
(edit: Dont worry about your fingers lifting too high off the board, that just sets you up for a sweet hammer-on
)
Oh yeah, thats a great one for the upper forearm! Martial artists do this by sticking both their hands in sand and moving the fingers around for a similar effect
It's more for the "opening" part of the hand movement, and as bass players (or actually, humans in general), we mostly use the "closing" muscles, as in grabbing, pulling, holding, fretting etc. atleast when it comes to our hands. So those muscles will be more developed in most people. So it's definitely a very very good idea to work on this aswell, to keep things in balance.
You know, how alligators have like 2300 PSI biting pressure, but you can hold their mouths shut with a piece of tape? Thats because they dont know about this exercise.
(and dont tell em either pls)
What worked for me was always trying. Not just when practicing but always. Eventually my muscles learned and I can do that without thinking, but it did take a long time. Bonus is I have more independent control to mute adjoining strings. Don't give up on it.
My guess is stretch isn’t the issue. Here is a way to check. Pickup a pencil and hold it between your fingertips and thumb. First finger on one end pinky on the other. Most folks can comfortably cover that distance. It is longer than 1 finger per in first position. Sometimes I have to “remind” my hand what it feels like to make the spread comfortably.
I get all excited and start squeezing sap out of the neck, technique goes to hell and I’m done for.
I get all excited and start squeezing sap out of the neck, technique goes to hell and I’m done for.
Oh yeah, thats a great one for the upper forearm! Martial artists do this by sticking both their hands in sand and moving the fingers around for a similar effect
I didn't know that, but I can testify how well it would work. I have mixed a lot of cement in large buckets by hand. I don't think it helped dexterity with my bass AT ALL, but it did help with strength and stamina. Actually it probably does help to get the strength to balance up and down strokes when playing hard and fast with a pick. Downstrokes use similar muscles to those that open the hand..
Exactly! It helps fingers too, even though most people don't pluck on the way back up, some of us do.
And even if you don't, you'll still be able to get faster into position for the next downstroke.
Oh, and strength and stamina is definitely a big part of being a bass player tho! Not just for hauling gear, but playing too. Even steady roots will eventually fatigue your arm
