where do I start?

[jg42]

Hi everyone,
haven't touched bass in 15 yrs, played maybe 1 yr prior to that. I feel that my left hand technique is very limited. Any specific excercises other than simple scales?
also - I have little hands - kind of hard to play the bottom (especially on fretless) - anything I can do about it? (don't want to switch from 34" tho).

Thanx!

p.s. was reading through talkbass for the last 3 days - looks like Ibanez is a swearword here. My 2 cents - I find them very easy to play, especially for people with small hands. I remember playing p-bass in the past and I literally had to struggle, no such thing with SR - very playable. (obviously, playablilty is just 1 part of the equation).

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Hi everyone,
haven't touched bass in 15 yrs, played maybe 1 yr prior to that. I feel that my left hand technique is very limited. Any specific excercises other than simple scales?
also - I have little hands - kind of hard to play the bottom (especially on fretless) - anything I can do about it? (don't want to switch from 34" tho).

I have small hands, and I am a pattern guy, so I slide when needed....... Adapt and do the best you can.

As we play arpeggios more than melody notes I would recommend you get your maj7 R-3-5-7, m7 R-b3-5-b7 and dominant seven R-3-5-b7 arpeggio into muscle memory. See a chord coming up and your fingers already know what will work. Now the song may only give you room for the root, so just play roots. If you have room adding the 5 is a step in the right direction. Still have room throw in the 8. Still have room add the correct 3 & 7.

If you need help with what those numbers mean just ask.

www.studybass.com and the book Bass Guitar for Dummies proved to be helpful when I switch over to the bass. For example:

http://www.studybass.com/lessons/common-bass-patterns/

http://www.studybass.com/lessons/common-bass-patterns/roots-and-fifths/exercises/

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Welcome back to the bottom end.

 

[jg42]

Awesome, thank you for a very useful resource! Added to favorites!

 

[radiojunkie]

I have small hands too. Muscle memory will help you develop quicker hand position as much or more than finger spread. I don't overdo the spread down low, I try to move hand position when possible, still making a point to use the correct finger per fret.

One thing that helps me is practicing patterns higher on the fretboard and working my way down as finger stretch progresses.

 

[sammyp]

Hi everyone,
haven't touched bass in 15 yrs, played maybe 1 yr prior to that. I feel that my left hand technique is very limited. Any specific excercises other than simple scales?
also - I have little hands - kind of hard to play the bottom (especially on fretless) - anything I can do about it? (don't want to switch from 34" tho).

Thanx!

p.s. was reading through talkbass for the last 3 days - looks like Ibanez is a swearword here. My 2 cents - I find them very easy to play, especially for people with small hands. I remember playing p-bass in the past and I literally had to struggle, no such thing with SR - very playable. (obviously, playablilty is just 1 part of the equation).

I have very small hands and have no problems...I've been a lead guitar player for a 1/4 century so I'm used to good size stretches. However when I got active on bass it did take 3 or 4 months to feel I good really man handle it. I too went to a Sr 500 small neck bass in my first year but I'm back to regular size basses now....jazz, Warwick and p bass. I have no trouble and the desire to play a smaller neck was all in my head. I like the tone and feel of a regular weighted axe.

I do play a lot of simpler lines favoring my first finger and pinky to minimize stretch and or cramp.

 

[t77mackie]

It's not the tool - it's the craftsman. So long as the intonation is good an Ibanez is just as good as a Warwick or anything else.

LOL - you'd probably bust your hand playing my axe! Play a little bit every single day or you will lose your finger strength in a hurry!

A new guy playing fretless? Interesting. That's great - just make sure you make good habits especially when it comes to intonation. Bad habits are harder to break than it is just to start with good habits.

There's no shortcut around scales - that is if you want to progress as a serious musician. But you can make them fun as other posters have explained. Learn the pentatonic scale / pattern. You can play tons and tons and tons of stuff with just that.

Stick around - the amount of musical knowledge on this forum is stunning!

Hope some of that ^ helps! Good luck and best wishes!

-mac

 

[jg42]

One thing that helps me is practicing patterns higher on the fretboard and working my way down as finger stretch progresses.

Thank you, will try!

 

[jg42]

I have very small hands and have no problems...I've been a lead guitar player for a 1/4 century so I'm used to good size stretches..

I used to play piano for 15 yrs, but feels like piano stretching is somewhat very different from bass - still need to adjust.

 

[jg42]

A new guy playing fretless? Interesting. That's great - just make sure you make good habits especially when it comes to intonation. Bad habits are harder to break than it is just to start with good habits.

There's no shortcut around scales - that is if you want to progress as a serious musician. But you can make them fun as other posters have explained. Learn the pentatonic scale / pattern. You can play tons and tons and tons of stuff with just that.

Stick around - the amount of musical knowledge on this forum is stunning!

Hope some of that ^ helps! Good luck and best wishes!

-mac

Thank you! I've actually got a regular bass as well now, ibanez as well, but a completely different one - so no excuses for me!
(fretless is sr370f and the other one is srt900dx).

 

[AndreBas]

When I teach kids or students with small hands, I teach them upright fingering first (on the electric.) Personally I play with a combination of upright and guitar fingering, whatever works best for the lines I'm playing.

A method book that starts with upright fingering right from the beginning:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Bass-Blu...1342533653&sr=8-1&keywords=reznicek+rock+bass
Only problem is, its first version was published in the early 90s, so might be a little outdated, but then again, the basics of good music don't change.

 

[jg42]

When I teach kids or students with small hands, I teach them upright fingering first (on the electric.) Personally I play with a combination of upright and guitar fingering, whatever works best for the lines I'm playing.

A method book that starts with upright fingering right from the beginning:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Bass-Blu...1342533653&sr=8-1&keywords=reznicek+rock+bass
Only problem is, its first version was published in the early 90s, so might be a little outdated, but then again, the basics of good music don't change.

Thank you!
As it is usually the case in Canada - found the book on US amazon for 3$, but delivery is 19$ ...
Upright fingering doesn't use the ring finger, am I correct?