What's your finger span?

[camthebassman]

5" exactly. Big hands, short fingers. I can not play 1,2,3,4 in 1st position (shames me to admit that). I can stretch 3 frets in first position by using the pinky. I play 34" basses, J and P necks, but I prefer the wider P-style necks for some reason.

I always wear mittens in the bass guitar locker room!

 

[deepseabass]

lol even though my hands are so big, I don't use 1,2,3,4 on electric bass, I just use 1,2,4. probably because doing 1,2,3,4 will screw with my upright playing.

 

[camthebassman]

Well I've determined that my hands are big (xl gloves) and my fingers are longer than average (informal survey around the office with a ruler). My "problem" is stretch... they don't stretch very far apart!! The guy in the cube next to me has smaller hands and fingers, but he can stretch that pinkie out like some kind of side show act!! I recommended that he see a specialist...

I'm taking my mittens off now! I feel much more confident that my hands are OK.

 

[wednesdayagain]

This stretch has nothing to do with the scale of your bass but the thickness of the neck when playing. A thicker necked bass will allow you to play a longer scale.

Close your fingers to your thumb as if you were holding an egg. See how your fingers curve in naturally? It takes more work to spread them laterally then is necessary.

I learned this in my studies of upright basses. At KC Strings, there is a 4/4 testore clone with this huge neck on it, the shape of the neck still makes it very comfortable. I can play it easily in tune in all positions.

The reason is because the neck is thicker, causing my fingers to spread naturally further apart.

Want to play a longer scale? Get a bigger neck.

Interesting. I never thought about it this way

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Most player spans are irrelevant in measured size, because a measured span does not account for functionality.
A player should have a stress free two tone spread on their bass, that's a comfortable two tone spread free of tension on the back of the hand.

So even with the fore finger on the first fret 'F', there is no need for the little finger to cover the fifth fret 'A' the open 'A' will achieve a two tone coverage rather than a fifth fret 'A' if need be...but a slight pivot or slide of the hand can be used if that fifth fret 'A' is what you desire.
The same also applies 'F#' - 'A#' and 'G' -'B' and so on.
They should be attainable with a slight pivot or slide...but again it should be stress free.
That area of stress and tension is on the back of the hand not the front.

As many never really exercise the extensors fully, this musice group that pulls the fingers back and open becomes tight and restricted, but exercise them and your span will increase, remember that is both hands.
Your plucking hand extensors would benifit from exercise a well.

As for me...i have a comfortable two tone span, that is more than functional for me.

A great exercise for anyone looking to see the functionality of their fretting hand is this one.

Play four chromatic notes one finger per fret, so lets take at the 7th fret 'A' string, E F F# G.
The next chromatic note will be 'G#'.
Rather than spread the little finger up the neck to it, hold that 'G#' postion and spread the forefinger back and play 'G#' 6th fret D string.
Then repeat the action and play G# A A# B, then go back and play C 5th fret 'G' string.

You can use this frame work all over the fretboard to play chromatic scales forwards and backwards up and down the neck.
The fact you have to make spans will stretch your soft tissues and increase your span over time with practice....again all this should be stress free. Any further spans are really not needed because a standard bass is tuned in fourths, a two tone span should work great.
Those looking to play chords have a different set of criteria in their function, but that said, the playing of chords will in itself exercise the hand and increase span.

In both senarios it is important to exercise the hands in a way that fully opens and spreads them, this allows the joints to move in the correct order and in the correct way.
Full finger speads and fans are great exercises, as are finger spreads and warm ups. For details of some great basic ones check out the link.



Any questions that this throws up, post them or PM me and if i can answer them i will reply.

 

[stratovani]

6 1/2 inches for me. Interesting at how all the responses to this poll so far draws a bell curve.

 

[Feral Feline]

Most player spans are irrelevant in measured size, because a measured span does not account for functionality.
A player should have a stress free two tone spread on their bass, that's a comfortable two tone spread free of tension on the back of the hand.

So even with the fore finger on the first fret 'F', there is no need for the little finger to cover the fifth fret 'A' the open 'A' will achieve a two tone coverage rather than a fifth fret 'A' if need be...but a slight pivot or slide of the hand can be used if that fifth fret 'A' is what you desire.
The same also applies 'F#' - 'A#' and 'G' -'B' and so on.
They should be attainable with a slight pivot or slide...but again it should be stress free.
That area of stress and tension is on the back of the hand not the front.

As many never really exercise the extensors fully, this musice group that pulls the fingers back and open becomes tight and restricted, but exercise them and your span will increase, remember that is both hands.
Your plucking hand extensors would benifit from exercise a well.

As for me...i have a comfortable two tone span, that is more than functional for me.

A great exercise for anyone looking to see the functionality of their fretting hand is this one.

Play four chromatic notes one finger per fret, so lets take at the 7th fret 'A' string, E F F# G.
The next chromatic note will be 'G#'.
Rather than spread the little finger up the neck to it, hold that 'G#' postion and spread the forefinger back and play 'G#' 6th fret D string.
Then repeat the action and play G# A A# B, then go back and play C 5th fret 'G' string.

You can use this frame work all over the fretboard to play chromatic scales forwards and backwards up and down the neck.
The fact you have to make spans will stretch your soft tissues and increase your span over time with practice....again all this should be stress free. Any further spans are really not needed because a standard bass is tuned in fourths, a two tone span should work great.
Those looking to play chords have a different set of criteria in their function, but that said, the playing of chords will in itself exercise the hand and increase span.

In both senarios it is important to exercise the hands in a way that fully opens and spreads them, this allows the joints to move in the correct order and in the correct way.
Full finger speads and fans are great exercises, as are finger spreads and warm ups. For details of some great basic ones check out the link.



Any questions that this throws up, post them or PM me and if i can answer them i will reply.

Awesome!

I was already doing a few stretches similar to the first one in the linked video, but the "rotating the fingers around the thumb" stretch and the thumb stretch itself have just been added to my stretching routine.

Many thanks for that Mr. Fulton!

 

[Tupac]

5 inches on the dot. Scales above the fifth fret just murder me


Please tell me your hands continue to grow after 16...

 

[camthebassman]

Thanks for the stretching advice, Fergie! My entire body is about as flexible as a hunk of granite. I need to stretch out almost every day to obtain a reasonable level of flexibility. The same applies to my hands/forearms!

 

[jblmusic1994]

Don't got a ruler on me, but I can comfortably play tenths (C to E) with one hand on piano. And will a little stretch, 11ths. (C to F). I have the biggest hands I know

 

[camthebassman]

Post pictures...I'll call the folks at Guiness...

 

[lindseyp]

Mine is 5.75, so I clicked 6 inches. I prefer 35-inch scale (MTD535), but I also have 34.5- (FBass) and 34-inch scale basses. My MTDs are the go-to basses. I'm only 5'3" so some folks joke my basses are as tall as I am

 

[jamminology101]

7"....I play 34" scale basses. I generally keep my 4 fingers covering 3 frets but cover 4 if it means I dont have to shift hand position on the riff. So basically pinky will slide down to 4th or even 5th fret to preserve the hand position(like playing a 2 octave major scale where u cover the 1,2,3 &4,5,6 with whole step jumps down the fretboard). I guess im a minimalist where I cover anywhere from 3 to 5 frets in the first position w/o a position shift...whatever the passage calls for to be most efficient.

 

[jblmusic1994]

Post pictures...I'll call the folks at Guiness...

 

[jblmusic1994]

Comfortable 1st to 5th. I can do 1st to sixth, even though its nonsensical. I can play 10ths on the piano comfortably with one hand and if I stretch (and if I practiced not hitting other notes) 11ths.

 

[jblmusic1994]

Have you never heard of Jaco Pastorious? To get the harmonics in portrait of Tracy the way he does it you have stretch just about 7". My max is about 7.2" but I'm also over 6' tall and I can stretch my hand really far. It's only about 6" on my non-fretting hand.

What's Jaco Pastorius

 

[Fergie Fulton]

I would like to point out the hands "release" mechanism as it is important when discussing span.

The hand and fingers have a release mechanism that will open and weaken the fingers or any grip.

We see this in movies, as well as in real life, to dis-arm someone when the wrist is bent forward the knife, gun, or weapon they are holding is released and dropped.

That is the extensors being stretched, the very muscle groups that pull the hand open, being stretched beyond there natural stop point that we can control for a firm hold or strong use, by an external force.....the person applying it.

This is why in playing we advise a straighter, or straight as possible wrist, as it is a stronger position so less stress free.

So on a piano the wrist is straight and the pressure to push down the keys is minimal because the weight of the forearm helps through the hand, with gravity, helps push the keys down...individual finger use is slightly different but the wrist is still straighter and of course moving to meet the demands of the piece......no thumb trying to hold the instrument here.

Now look at your own action.......
The more the wrist is bent the weaker the use.....
The more the wrist is bent the more strain you are using....
The more the wrist is bent the more those extensors in the hand are stretched.

WHEN A MUSCLE IS TIRED OR UNDER STRAIN IT CONTRACTS...IT DOES NOT LENGTHEN

This is why stretches and warm ups work, they stretch the range of motion the body does not get to use and "reminds" it of what it can do. Stretches as well as preparing the muscles for use can help relieve them or tension during and after use.

So when looking at your span remember its use it linked to wrist angle.

 

[chris_b]

My relaxed span is 5.5".

I don't stretch. I move my hand so that my fingers are over the note I want.

 

[Wyattsgroove]

With a measured span of just under 8",
I have really large hands and long fingers. I use the one finger per fret method and anchor my thumb under my ring finger, which is, almost always placed on the root (depending on the scale).
Using the method described above, I can cover vast distances on a 34" scale (my preference) by using the pivot off my thumb. If rooted on A (low E string) I can move comfortably from G to D ( 8 frets ) or 6 frets,if anchored on G ( F to A). I learned this method from my first teacher ( he played double bass and electric bass part time).

Side note:
I played in a band with another bass player who took the lions share of bass playing. He had ridiculously small hands and a giant ego.The only reason I played bass at all in this band was because of the poor technique employed by this guy. He just couldn't play certain songs. If not for the ego I think he would have been fine, as he would never allow me to make any pointers about his playing. I've seen many great players with small hands. I do believe that you need to keep an open mind, and not let anything get in the way of always learning.
I learned a lot from this guy, as I was just getting back into playing and gigging again after a long break. The biggest things learned were:
Be humble.
Check the ego at the door.
Right hand/left hand technique are very important, and always keep working on it.
Never let troll play your guitar when you are playing bass!

Back on track:

Anyhow, I try to use the best left hand technique I can, and after 27 years have no issues with my wrists or finger cramping or any pain.

WG.

 

[jsbarber]

As many never really exercise the extensors fully, this musice group that pulls the fingers back and open becomes tight and restricted, but exercise them and your span will increase, remember that is both hands.
Your plucking hand extensors would benifit from exercise a well.

As for me...i have a comfortable two tone span, that is more than functional for me.

A great exercise for anyone looking to see the functionality of their fretting hand is this one.

Play four chromatic notes one finger per fret, so lets take at the 7th fret 'A' string, E F F# G.
The next chromatic note will be 'G#'.
Rather than spread the little finger up the neck to it, hold that 'G#' position and spread the forefinger back and play 'G#' 6th fret D string.
Then repeat the action and play G# A A# B, then go back and play C 5th fret 'G' string.

Great post. You shouldn't think of yourself as being stuck with your span. If you haven't focused on stretch exercises you should be able to increase your span you need to, up to a point. You span is a function of the geometry of your anatomy and your ability to stretch your fingers apart.

Here's an example of where you can get with some serious hand-yoga: