Do your two middle fingers point in?!

[Craken]

When i put each finger a semi-tone apart, lets say on frets 3,4,5, and 6 on the E string, i find it hard to keep one finger per fret. Its because my 3rd finder seems to point towards my 2nd. Is this the case with anyone else? On fretless its a nightmare, because i have to angle my whole hand to get my 3rd finger in the right spot. It pisses me off.

[PaulyWally]

Me too. One of my old bass instructors had the same thing as well.

 

I don't know how "normal" it is... but it is an adjustment sometimes... especially on fretless.

[Kaesh]

My middle fingers are curved towards each other, but I have no problems putting them apart to fret.

[bpocall]

Mine do. I assume it's due to my smaller hands.

[Fran da Man]

That don't make any sense to me, but you may want to try stretching the "webs" inbetween your fingers.

Someone post a pic of this phenomena.

[PaulyWally]

Originally posted by Fran da Man Someone post a pic of this phenomena.

 

 

Sorry... this is as close as I can get to fretting position without my bass. But as you can see, the ring and middle fingers point toward each other when the fingers are curled in this manner.

[Fran da Man]

I see what your talking about, that looks like a natural hand shape, mine does it too, but i guess you can alter it by breaking your own fingers or sumptin'

I certainly hope you don't play with your hand like that...

[PaulyWally]

 

Originally posted by Fran da Man I see what your talking about, that looks like a natural hand shape, mine does it too, but i guess you can alter it by breaking your own fingers or sumptin' I certainly hope you don't play with your hand like that...

 

 

No. As I said, that was the best I could do. I don't typically study the position of my fretting hand while I'm playing... so I was just guessing there. But those two fingers do angle toward each other when I'm playing too.

 

*shrug*

[takeout]

I thought this thread was going to be about bass-related hand deformities. My fingertips are lopsided from years of abuse.

[PaulyWally]

Originally posted by takeout I thought this thread was going to be about bass-related hand deformities. My fingertips are lopsided from years of abuse.

 

It's been my experience that most bass players' brains are deformed from years of associating with guitarists.

[Supafly]

my old instructor had massive callouses (sp) on his finger tips. his hand looked like one of those crazy jungle frogs.

[adouglas2001]

I NEVER have my fingers that curved. Looks like you're getting ready to throw a knuckleball!

 

Try fretting with your fingers more straight and relaxed. Hold your thumb straight and parallel to your fingers, and your fingers straight as well. Put the neck between thumb and fingers, with the thumb on the center of the back of the neck.

 

How low do you wear your bass? If you have it up high, it's much easier to fret with relaxed, straight fingers.

 

It's also much easier to play fast with straight fingers. Try it...claw up your hand like that and wiggle your fingers. Now straighten your fingers and wiggle them. Which is easier?

 

I bet you get muscle cramps if you play for a long time with your fingers clawed like that.

[DrSquirley]

Normally my two middle fingers point towards each other untill my hand gets to about a c-shape then they start point away, explain that.

 

-Alex

[PaulyWally]

 

Originally posted by adouglas2001 How low do you wear your bass? If you have it up high, it's much easier to fret with relaxed, straight fingers.

 

 

Not that low.

 

 

Originally posted by adouglas2001 It's also much easier to play fast with straight fingers. Try it...claw up your hand like that and wiggle your fingers. Now straighten your fingers and wiggle them. Which is easier?

 

 

Sorry... but I gotta disagree with you on that one. I've been taught Bass, Piano, and Violin. No matter which instrument, I was always told to keep an arch in my fingers. If I don't, I lose dexterity, speed, and accuracy.

 

Now... I've never really TRIED to play with flat fingers. But I honestly can't see how I'm supposed to play arppegios like that and not hit dead notes.

 

 

Originally posted by adouglas2001 I bet you get muscle cramps if you play for a long time with your fingers clawed like that.

 

 

Nope. My pinky still needs a little strengthening with the more intricate stuff I've been playing lately... But I can go a whole gig without a cramp.

 

Your hand (at least mine does) should naturally curl like that when it is relaxed. It actually requires muscle tension to keep your fingers laying flat. Think about it, when you are walking down the street, and your arms are naturally swaying back and forth, are your fingers extended flat? Or are they curled a bit?

[twostone]

Hey PaulyWully that statment about guitarist made me bust a gut that was funny.

[bassplayer7770]

I think it's natural to have difficulty keeping the finger-per-fret position when you're playing in the first position on the fingerboard (frets 1-5). My ex-teacher actually recommended using the ring and pinky fingers on the same fret when playing in the first position, but he did appreciate that I tried keeping a finger-per-fret.

 

On a side note, I guess now you understand why some instruments use the Novax fan fret system, eh?

[Jazz Ad]

I have big hands and a lot of training so there's no such issue for me.

At least one I avoided.

I have a quite easy span of 5 frets even at the top of the neck.

Stretching is your friend.

[adouglas2001]

 

Originally posted by PaulyWally Sorry... but I gotta disagree with you on that one. ... I was always told to keep an arch in my fingers. If I don't, I lose dexterity, speed, and accuracy.

 

 

I don't mean totally straight, stiff fingers...of course you need some arch to them.

 

But that photo looks (to me, at least) like it shows massively clawed fingers, not a mild, natural curl. If you turn that hand over so that you're looking at your palm, you're also looking at the surface of your fingernails, right? When you walk down the street with your hands relaxed, are they really bunched up like that?

 

If I claw my fingers so that the surfaces of my nails are parallel to my palm (as apparently shown in the photo), then sure...my fingers all point in towards one another.

 

But when I play, my hand is not in that position. It's much more relaxed. If I look at my palm when my hand is in the position I use to play bass, I'm looking at the ends of my fingertips, not at the surface of my nails. So the fingers are curved, yes, but they're much straighter than what you've depicted in the photo.

 

Hold your hand up and look at your palm. If you're looking at the pads of your fingertips, then your fingers are totally stiff and straight. Obviously you cannot play like this.

 

Now curl them a little bit so that you're looking at the ends of your fingers...no farther. That's how I play (more often with somewhat less curl than that, but never totally stiff and straight).

 

Now curl them so that you see the tops of your fingernails. That's what your photo seems to show.

 

Are you pressing on the strings with the pads of your fingers or with the ends of your fingers? I use the pads, not the tips.

 

With something like a violin (never played one, this is supposition) you have to claw your fingers because the strings are so close together that if you did not, you'd be pressing on more than one string at a time...you need to press with your fingertips, not with the pads. Not so with an electric bass.

[DrSquirley]

 

Originally posted by adouglas2001 With something like a violin (never played one, this is supposition) you have to claw your fingers because the strings are so close together that if you did not, you'd be pressing on more than one string at a time...you need to press with your fingertips, not with the pads. Not so with an electric bass.

 

 

I actually play the bass like a violin, if my cans werent clawed on a 4 string, id never be able to play even the E string. I also play with the tips of my fingers and not the pads, but i was always taught to keep my thump on the neck and never the fingerboard (which is where i see alot of quitars put theirs).

[PaulyWally]

Originally posted by adouglas2001 I don't mean totally straight, stiff fingers...of course you need some arch to them.

 

At the risk of arguing symantecs... I'll just quote what I said earlier:

 

No. As I said, that was the best I could do. I don't typically study the position of my fretting hand while I'm playing... so I was just guessing there. But those two fingers do angle toward each other when I'm playing too.

 

I didn't mean to imply that I actually play with my hand clawed like that. I agree, that was an exagerated picture. But like I said, I don't really know what my hand looks like (exactly) when I'm playing. And when I try to mimic my hand in fretting position, everything I try feels unnatural. It was also surprisingly difficult to get my middle/index fingers angled toward each other - even though I know that's what they do when I'm playing.

 

So I just made a claw, took a picture, and posted it for the sake of Fran's request to see a picture of the fingers in question.

 

*shrug* Sorry... wasn't trying to make a production. Carry on...

[adouglas2001]

I was playing the other night and thinking about this topic, so I watched my left hand.

 

Question: With your fingers curved enough so that you're using the ends to press down on the strings instead of using the pads, how do you mute the strings you're not playing?

 

I mute the strings above the one I'm playing with my fingers.

 

Just curious....

 

PS: I mute the strings below the one I'm playing with the side/heel of my thumb...I move my thumb from string to string as I play.

[DrSquirley]

I dont have a need to mute the strings im not playing. So you wrap your thumb around the neck to mute as well?

 

-Alex

[adouglas2001]

 

Originally posted by DrSquirley I dont have a need to mute the strings im not playing. So you wrap your thumb around the neck to mute as well? -Alex

 

 

So if you play, say, the open D string followed by the open A string you just let it ring? I can't imagine not muting the strings you're not playing. Please tell me more.

 

No, I don't wrap my thumb around the neck, ever...nor do I keep it arbitrarily anchored in the exact center of the back of the neck.

 

As I said, I mute the strings above the one I'm playing with the fingers of my left hand. I mute the strings below the one I'm playing with the heel/side of my right thumb.

 

For example, when I play my B string, I anchor my thumb either on the body or on the side of a pickup. The E through G strings are muted with the fingers of my left hand. When I play, say, the A string, the D and G strings are muted with the fingers my left hand. My right thumb is anchored on the E string, and the B string is muted with the side/heel of the right thumb.

 

Is that more clear?

[DrSquirley]

Ah i see, i forget we have two hands.

 

In response to your open d and a question, i find that either i will mute a string that is open with either my 2nd or 3rd finger of my right hand, or still the tips of my first 2 fingers on my left hand. The latter usually only being put into use for very long sutstained notes.

 

-Alex

 

Oh, and i suppose when im playing anything higher than the E string my thumb rests on it, but thats not specifically to mute, although i suppose it does that(not that it would be noisey if i didnt).