Thumb pain

[Rukkus]

While playing bass, my thumb (on my left fretting hand) always burns with pain. The thumb muscle in this diagram is where most of the burning is:
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This causes my hand to get very fatigued. I keep my thumb behind the neck at all times, but I think maybe it's because when I fret notes I use my thumb to press against the neck too hard, tensing the muscle. If I press notes without my thumb pushing against the back of the neck, I'll have no support.

How do I stop this bad habit? Are there any causes for this pain?

 

[Vorago]

You could be tensing too hard.

Or, your bass is balancing badly and you support your neck (unconsiously) with your thumb.

How's your action btw?

 

[PIZZAcato]

Well Adam Nitti suggests that when your playing, take your thumb of the back of the neck sometimes and see if it affects your tone or speed. Sure the thumb is an anchor but you should be applying pressure to the strings down and not the back of the neck. In other words see if you can use your fingers to press down firmly without the use of your thumb! It is possible and more importantly the right way! You may need some support from the right hand (i.e. forearm resting on the body).
As for your second question, I'm not too sure what your asking. If your asking what causes the pain then you hit it right on the head when you said your pressing down too firmly on the back of the neck; it causes cramps in the lower portion of the thumb muscles that is extremely painful. I used to do the exact same thing but it was easily fixed for me. Good Luck.

P.S. Good point Vorago, the action can be a huge problem too

 

[Rukkus]

Thanks for the quick reply. I think the tensing may be a part of the problem, since my thumb swells with pain when I play fast. I usually play my bass in a seated position, sometimes I tilt the neck towards me so I can see the fret board when I play. How do I position the bass so that it balances properly? The action on my bass is high.

 

[Vorago]

That balance really depends on the bass you are playing, so, what bass are you using?

Setting your action lower could help a lot because that way you don't have to press as hard on the strings to get the same sound.

What would really be of great help is a picture of you playing in your practice position.

 

[PrimusNut]

I used to only own a cheap Typhoon pbass model that wasnt balanced at all. The neck would literally drop to the floor if i let go of it. When i would play standing up, I found that I had to literally HOLD the neck up, which caused my thumb muscle (the one you are talking about) to severely cramp up. Now that I got a new, much better bass (Rick 4003), I find that this problem has gone away, altho my wrist bothers me a bit now, because of the transition from a pbass neck to a Rick neck.

All I can say is.. if your bass isn't balanced, that is definately the prob, plus, having high action doesn't help. Find a way to balance uour bass (is it possible?) or buy a new, better bass.

What kind of bass are you using now?

 

[Rukkus]

I am using a Spector 4 DLX Performer. Thanks for all the advice.. I'll try paying more attention to how my bass is balanced, and lowering my action.

If you press the strings down instead of towards the back of the neck, wouldn't that change your pitch? I just tried this and without my thumb anchoring my neck, it was very unsteady and wobbly.

 

[PrimusNut]

What PIZZAcato meant is try to fret the note without holding your thumb on the back of the neck. Release your thumb, and see if you can still fret the note, without it buzzing like crazy. The strength to fret the note should come from your fingers themselves, not your thumb.

 

[daffy]

+1 to the tension idea.

Sounds like you are really squeezing that neck. Play some scales slowly and experiment with just how little pressure you have to apply to make the notes sound properly. Then speed it up double time, stop after two scale runs and check your tension. I bet you will be a lot more clenched!

The trick is to play with relaxed hands and a light touch at any speed - relaxing will also help your high speed playing no end.