Bent wrist!

[Boodang]

Pick something up with your wrist bent, now do the same with your wrist straight.... my first lesson with Joe Hubbard many years ago.

Starting with the basics of posture, Hubbard, quite rightly, had a thing about keeping the wrist of your right hand (plucking/picking/slapping hand) straight. This means not resting your arm on the body of your bass, so does look a bit strange but ultimately gives you more strength, less fatigue on those long gigs and stops repetitive strain injury. 

My latest discovery, Gwizdala, is very much into correct postures, as is Scott Devine (great lessons!), Jeff Berlin and of course Hubbard but else where, particularly out in YouTube land, it seems to vary a lot. When people talk about the right hand they focus on finger technique (important) but not so much wrist posture (also just as important).

The result of being taught this way is that when I play sitting down I put my bass on my left leg, more classical guitar style, which feels more natural to keeping the wrist straight. 

Short(ish) story about the bass player from The Hamsters, a band famous for the prodigious amount of gigs they did each year, as a result developed RSI, and went from fingers to pick to eventually having to stop playing for a while, then relearnt with a special thumb pick. Although brought on by the relentless gig schedule I'm sure, not helped by the right hand technique (I'm sure he mentions this in an interview but happy to hear more if he's out there!)

 

[gjones]

I had to have an operation on my left hand due to carpal tunnel. I also had the same problem with my right hand but it wasn't as severe as my left and therefore my neurologist didn't feel it merited an operation.

 

Since the onset of carpal tunnel, I've always worn a weightlifters wrist brace on my right wrist and kept my wrist straight when gigging. When I see the sharp angle some bass players hold their wrists at, when they play, I'm pretty sure they're at risk of ending up with wrist issues in years to come.

 

 

[Boodang]

8 minutes ago, gjones said:

I had to have an operation on my left hand due to carpal tunnel. I also had the same problem with my right hand but it wasn't as severe as my left and therefore my neurologist didn't feel it merited an operation.

 

Since the onset of carpal tunnel, I've always worn a weightlifters wrist brace on my right wrist and kept my wrist straight when gigging. When I see the sharp angle some bass players hold their wrists at, when they play, I'm pretty sure they're at risk of ending up with wrist issues in years to come.

 

 

Some of the sharp angles you see! And yes, asking for RSI. To a certain extent you can understand it when you haven't been taught otherwise as resting your forearm on the body of the bass is comfortable but ultimately leads to this issue. Worse, is when someone is teaching bass (think particularly YouTube) and plays with a bent wrist. As you say, it'll be further down the line that problems occur which can be quite severe. 

[chris_b]

Being at risk doesn't mean that RSI WILL happen. Maybe the real issue is how hard the right hand plucking technique is. There are some players, like Stanley Clarke, with a very bent wrist who don't appear to have problems.

 

IMO digging in seems to be a more risky technique with a bent wrist. Maybe guys with a lighter feel are not in the danger zone.

[Boodang]

13 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Being at risk doesn't mean that RSI WILL happen. Maybe the real issue is how hard the right hand plucking technique is. There are some players, like Stanley Clarke, with a very bent wrist who don't appear to have problems.

 

IMO digging in seems to be a more risky technique with a bent wrist. Maybe guys with a lighter feel are not in the danger zone.

Good point. How light, or hard, you play must be a factor, and as you say there are plenty of players out there with bent wrist technique. 

However, as far as what could be called 'good technique', if I'm teaching a beginner, I certainly would be showing them to play with a straight wrist. 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

5 hours ago, Boodang said:

Good point. How light, or hard, you play must be a factor, and as you say there are plenty of players out there with bent wrist technique. 

However, as far as what could be called 'good technique', if I'm teaching a beginner, I certainly would be showing them to play with a straight wrist. 

As someone who has issues with both hands (broke the ring finger on my plucking hand and have tendon issues in my left) I’m always conscious of the angle of my wrist in my left hand and I agree, I wouldn’t tech a bent wrist technique either. I’m not sure Andy Billups (from The Hamsters) is on here, but I’ve seen them many times before and after the issues he had and would never want to be in that position. I remember seeing him for the first time after came back and was in awe of what he was able to do with his new pick technique.

 

One of the most relaxed looking bass players I’ve ever seen is Bryan Beller. He’s exactly how I wish I could feel when I gig. I wouldn’t mind be as capable as him as well 😂. 
 

 

[TheLowDown]

15 hours ago, Boodang said:

and as you say there are plenty of players out there with bent wrist technique

The damage is being done when the fingers are moving quickly, forcefully, repetitively while the wrist is bent at an uncomfortable angle. Light pressure and less finger movement will be less damaging than fast and furious finger movement with a bent wrist. A bent wrist with no finger movement does not cause any damage.

 

I would hazard a guess that punk, metal, and rock players would be far more susceptible to carpel tunnel syndrome than country or jazz musicians, for instance. Those fast and repetitive 16th note rhythms, while trying to look cool with their low strung bass, is a ticking timebomb that will inevitably take its toll.

[Oomo]

I've often wondered how to approach this when sitting down.

 

Standing up, it seems easier to have the bass at the right height for a straighter wrist.

 

Sitting the bass on my knee makes this a lot harder (without raising my elbow and shoulder, which then causes shoulder aches and pains...).

 

I've tried resting on the other leg (classical guitar style), but that just gave me pain in the shoulder of my fretting hand when playing the low positions.

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, Oomo said:

I've often wondered how to approach this when sitting down.

 

Standing up, it seems easier to have the bass at the right height for a straighter wrist.

 

Sitting the bass on my knee makes this a lot harder (without raising my elbow and shoulder, which then causes shoulder aches and pains...).

 

I've tried resting on the other leg (classical guitar style), but that just gave me pain in the shoulder of my fretting hand when playing the low positions.

When I play sitting down I rest the bass on my left leg, classical guitar style. To make this work, as the end of the neck is further away, I use a classical guitar foot rest to raise my leg and tilt the neck slightly towards my body. In this way my left hand is not too stained when down the low end and the body is at the right angle to make it easy to keep my wrist straight. 

If you want an example of someone doing this well, check out Janek Gwizdala and some of his YouTube vids.

In the long run I definitely think this technique is worth persevering with.