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The flying pinky!

#21
MostlyBass said:
Easy fix!
Adapt this exercise:
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to the electric... go slow and give it a few weeks.
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I honestly don't understand why the pinky moves along with the ring finger in this video. Are they really that dependent? Just to make sure, I grabbed the bass and tried it. I can move each finger independently to a given string and back. In my playing technique I don't use the pinky a lot. Maybe I should use it more often...
 
#22
The pinky and ring finger move together in the video because the demonstration is on double bass, where 1-2-4 is the standard fingering, made necessary by 39"-44" mensure. On bass guitar, I use that fingering up to about the 7th or 8th fret and switch to 1-2-3-4 after that. In OP's videos, I see a lot of tension which, IMO, could be relieved w/ 1-2-4 fingering.
 
#26
I agree with MostlyBass, the 1-2-4 fingering is my preference. Too many beginner/intermediate players rush into 1-2-3-4 fingering, which is really not necessary for most music (and sometimes actually harmful). The human hand isn't really designed for the 3rd and 4th fingers to work independently.

Another benefit of 1-2-4 is it makes muting easier. Muting IMHO is the single most overlooked bass technique.
 
#29
That one finger per fret business is a guitar technique. Use the 1, 2, 4 finger technique. Finger 1 goes on the first fret. f2 second fret and finger 4 on third fret supported by the 3rd finger. To reach the 4th fret slide your hand keeping your thumb anchored. This is Carol Kaye's technique. Check out her website or on FB to check out her books, DVD and cds. Well worth it.
 
#30
Mushroo said:
...Another benefit of 1-2-4 is it makes muting easier. Muting IMHO is the single most overlooked bass technique.
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Muting certainly is very important and should be learned right from the start. In my first months of playing I spent a lot of time practising this. Muting is a matter of both hands. That's what makes finger style a little easier.
 
#32
neurotictim said:
I've always been the odd man out in this - I tend to use my pinky more than my ring finger for anything above a fifth, as long as I'm below the 7th or so fret. Many times I've played or jammed, and someone will inevitably ask me why...

I dunno, just works better.
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It appears most of us (including the great Carol Kaye) play the same way you do, so I don't understand why you get strange comments about using your pinky.
 
#33
apkbass said:
Hmm. Depends on the genre, how you define "famous," and what you would consider a non-standard tuning.
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By "famous" I meant Pop Songs/Hit Songs. Maybe I'm off topic, but I was reading this thread and another one about tunings and I read someone found easy to play certain positions in different tunings, maybe thanks to the flying fingers style!
Besides, by standard tuning I mean Standard E, so Drop D Flat would be a non-standard one if you know what I mean! ;)

P.S: Pardon my English, I'm Italian! :D
 
#34
Well, as for mainstream pop and stuff, it's usually in standard or e flat tuning. Drop tunings are really only common in metal (especially those crazy low ones that usually require a five string). But one of my favorite pop-punk bassists, Zack Merrick of All Time Low, plays a lot of stuff in drop d and d flat, even sometimes d-g-c-f tuning.
 
#35
A little update, I wish my ipad was still working, id post a new video if it was.
I took all of your recommendations to heart and tried several things out. Its been a few weeks and it is a LOT better now. My hand pain (ache) is gone now. my left hand is moving around much more fluidly and ive lost the death-grip on the neck :-) I have a pretty good warm up, practice routine now thats 2x 30 min (30 min of theory stuff, sheet music etc , 30- 45mins of scales and modes. All before before I work on actual songs,. Having a decent structure seems to help me a lot. So thanks guys, you all helped me immensely and i've progressed quickly to my next problem :-) (band jitters- met some cool local guys to play with :bassist: )

Seriously, you guys are the best !!!
 
#36
keep your pinky really close to the fret board and play extremely slow all different variation of fingering on the fret board. is pretty tough especially when you need to go from pinky to the middle and then index and ring. the trick is keeping you hand really close to the fret board. once you get better at it. try skipping all around the strings and get a good stretch going and keep that pinky really close along with all the other fingers. play the scales or what ever if you want really just keep the your finger tips close to the fret board lol.

you will feel the muscle in the inside of your palm after a bit. make sure you take the time to rest because this is a brutal exercise. keep in mind your pinky will probably always wiggle around a bit when you play. it is just how your hand is designed. the exercise i mentioned certainly will improve the independence and dexterity drastically though if do it a little bit every day or so.
 
#37
Synthax said:
A little update, I wish my ipad was still working, id post a new video if it was.
I took all of your recommendations to heart and tried several things out. Its been a few weeks and it is a LOT better now. My hand pain (ache) is gone now. my left hand is moving around much more fluidly and ive lost the death-grip on the neck :-) I have a pretty good warm up, practice routine now thats 2x 30 min (30 min of theory stuff, sheet music etc , 30- 45mins of scales and modes. All before before I work on actual songs,. Having a decent structure seems to help me a lot. So thanks guys, you all helped me immensely and i've progressed quickly to my next problem :-) (band jitters- met some cool local guys to play with :bassist: )

Seriously, you guys are the best !!!
Click to expand...
Hey, just saw this. Glad things are going better. They say no pain, no gain, but it doesn't work that way with musical instruments, so that's good. A little advice, though: cut your time down on the scales and work more chord arpeggios in there instead. The music is what's important and the chords tell you what you need to know about what's going to sound best for the music. It's good to know scales and modes, but when you're trying to think of what to play on a gig, the chords are what's going to guide your ears and fingers. Plus getting to the music quicker will keep your morale up. I applaud your work ethic. That's how you get it done. But have fun, too!
 

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