Flying fingers, hand size etc etc!!!

[99mustang]

Guys, I am at my whits end

I have developed the flying finger syndrome on my left hand, and was gratified to find a video on how to cure it.

http://www.scottsbasslessons.com/technique/fretting-hand-technique-exercise.html

The thing is, I have a confidence problem.

I have have what I think are small hands for a man, and since taking up bass four years ago I have "coped" by developing a sloppy technique. Hence the flying fingers.
When I watch Scott in the video, he's sat down, comfortably, left hand relaxed with his little finger easily able to reach the E string.

When I try the same, my little finger will only just reach the D string with out either raising the neck so it sits like an upright bass, or by bending my wrist 90 degress to my forearm and twisting it slightly, which is painful to say the least.

I am finding now, that this is inhibiting my playing quite noticably, to the point that I am struggling to learn the songs I want to play, that in turn is making me not want to play anymore.

Please forgive my negativity, part of me is making excuses to quit, and yet, another part of me knows there are one handed bass players out there that are a darn sight better than I am and they aint moaning!

So I guess I am hoping that someone can give me some suggestions and possible workarounds, to A: my flying fingers, and B: having only 3.5 fingers on my left hand!!! "Not litterally"

Thanks everyone in advance. Hope some of you can cheer me up!

John.

[JapanAxe]

A video clip would help.

EDIT: I mean, of your playing. We will be gentle with you

Edited May 16, 2014 by JapanAxe

[Roland Rock]

I find this hard to picture. My hands are on the small/medium side, so I've just picked up my bass and placed my fingers over the fingerboard around the fifth fret. Just loosely placed, no stretching. You can see that the pinkie goes right over four strings and almost reaches the fifth. The wrist is bent, but not much.
Whan you look at these pictures, are there any big differences in the way you are fretting? Is your thumb resting on the back of the neck?

Edited May 16, 2014 by Roland Rock

[99mustang]

http://s1235.photobucket.com/user/mustang_john/media/Squier%20Pbass/20140516_203854.jpg.html

Hope this helps to explain what i mean.

Edited May 16, 2014 by 99mustang

[Roland Rock]

You are playing with the neck really far back into the centre of the palm. Also, it's hard to tell, but are you playing the bass really low down?
Sit down with the bass on your lap, then, place the pad of your thumb on the centre of the back of the neck, with fingers straight up over the strings. Try not to let the neck touch the palm at all.

Any better?

Edited May 16, 2014 by Roland Rock

[JapanAxe]

^^ This. The further forward you can get your left elbow, the easier it will be to get your fingers where you want them.

[99mustang]

I think the pic is misleading? I took it with my phone whilst holding the neck with the other hand. Normally there's quite a bit of room behind the neck to my palm, a good 2 inches i'd say.

As for paying to low, I'm fairly confident I don't do it. When stood, the body of the bass is above my waist, left hand roughly bent about 90 degrees to my torso.

Not sure what you mean JapanAxe about getting my elbow forwards?

Cheers upto now guys.

Edited May 16, 2014 by 99mustang

[Roland Rock]

I can see your entire thumb over the top of the neck. Have a look at the following two pictures....

1: Hold your hand so that the thumb and fingers pointing straight up
2: Keep this position with the neck between thumb and fingers. note the thumb pad is in the centre of the neck, not way up over the top.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Roland Rock

[99mustang]

Okies, got the missus to take another pic.

http://s1235.photobucket.com/user/mustang_john/media/Squier%20Pbass/20140517_104219.jpg.html

When this was taken, the bass was in its normal position when I stand, and my thumb was dead centre to the back of the neck.

So, is it looking like I'm holding my left hand in the wrong place? And if so, any ideas how program my brain to alter this?

Thanks,

John.

[Coilte]

[quote name='99mustang' timestamp='1400354211' post='2453189']
Okies, got the missus to take another pic.

[url="http://s1235.photobucket.com/user/mustang_john/media/Squier%20Pbass/20140517_104219.jpg.html"]http://s1235.photobu...104219.jpg.html[/url]

When this was taken, the bass was in its normal position when I stand, and my thumb was dead centre to the back of the neck.

So, is it looking like I'm holding my left hand in the wrong place? And if so, any ideas how program my brain to alter this?

Thanks,

John.
[/quote]


My suggestion would be when playing the E string, to move the thumb to slightly below the middle of the neck, drop the wrist down and forward, and finally, try to keep more of a curve on the fingers.

This clip might help :

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeRoQuXlj9w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeRoQuXlj9w[/url]

[99mustang]

That's an excellent video, better than than other one I feel as it appears to address the problem, in that unlike the guy in this video, my thumb has been parralell to the neck, not at 90 degress as in the video.

When my hand is as the 9th fret. with a bit of a stretch I can reach the E string with my little finger.

So hopefully it's just a case of modifying my playing technique until I "learn" it.

Thanks very much to all who responded and mega thanks to Coilte for finding that video, you've cheered me up no end buddy

John.

[Coilte]

[quote name='99mustang' timestamp='1400404755' post='2453444']
mega thanks to Coilte for finding that video, you've cheered me up no end buddy
[/quote]

Glad you found it helpful John.

[odyseus]

[quote name='99mustang' timestamp='1400404755' post='2453444']
That's an excellent video, better than than other one I feel as it appears to address the problem, in that unlike the guy in this video, my thumb has been parralell to the neck, not at 90 degress as in the video.

When my hand is as the 9th fret. with a bit of a stretch I can reach the E string with my little finger.

So hopefully it's just a case of modifying my playing technique until I "learn" it.

Thanks very much to all who responded and mega thanks to Coilte for finding that video, you've cheered me up no end buddy

John.
[/quote]

I'm having the same problem !!! It's driving me nuts..It's so hard to have your finger tips hovering over the frets they all want to stick up unless it's the fret I'm going to press.

So have you overcome your issues?? I don't think I should continue perfecting chords, fret board exercises etc until I have this finger issue sorted ???

[Coilte]

[quote name='odyseus' timestamp='1422221762' post='2670102']
I don't think I should continue perfecting chords, fret board exercises etc until I have this finger issue sorted ???
[/quote]

IMO you would benefit more from a "little and often" approach. Spending an entire practice session just doing the exercises in the video would not be the best idea.

I'd recommend spending five to ten minutes on the video clip exercises at the start of your practice session. Then do your other practice exercises [i]slowly, [/i]at the same time keeping an eye on the fingers. Then come back and spend another five minutes on the video clip exercises. If you have five or ten minutes to spare during the day, grab the bass and do the exercises. It should not take too long for the fingers to "get the message" and do what you want them to.

[JTUK]

Hardly a problem and I think you'll learn to use the fingers and tuck them out of the way as you play more.
I can't see the pic so am going on the video mostly....and as long you can return the finger to the required
position efficiently, it is almost a minute problem if this is what bugs you most...??

[timmo]

Have you thought about going to a tutor? You would only need one lesson, because any decent tutor should show you the right positioning of your hand and fingers in that lesson