Beginner struggling with fretting hand pain

[Biscuit_Bass]

Hi all,

 

So I haven't been playing long at all, literally a few days, so it may just be that I'm being impatient but here's the problem I'm having....

I try to maintain a straight wrist and a relaxed position with my fretting hand but I'm finding it extremely difficult to do... everything just hurts. Even starting on the 5th fret I struggle to place 1 finger per fret and I find my wrist bending in weird ways to try and reach the strings and it causes quite a lot of pain in my wrist as a result. Is this just my body not being used to playing guitar? Is this something a lot of new players experience and what are some good practice methods to try and help and keep everything relaxed?

Many thanks

[TheLowDown]

The neck should be around 45 degrees so that your wrist is not at such an uncomfortable angle. I don't know anything about what bass you're using or how you're holding it, so at a guess there may be neck dive, which means that I would invest in good wide leather strap that has rough material on the inside to grip well. The more it grips the less effort you use to hold the bass in a comfortable position, which means that you can focus on playing and have less fatigue over a long play session.

 

Try using the simandl technique where your little finger and ring finger are pressed together to give extra strength to your fretting. The nerves in the little finger and ring finger are joined anyway, so this makes them less independent from each other than other fingers.

 

But yeah a lot of it is just building up the required muscles and actions in your hand an fingers.

[Guest]

I would imagine you might be locking your wrist and/or fingers and may not be as relaxed as you think, or in stretching your fingers apart you’re getting tension across the back of your hand. As you’re new you won’t have likely developed much of a stretch with the fingers, so generally the only way to hold the strings down is with tension rather than technique. Don’t play through any sharp pain as that’s not a good sign, but a slight ache from playing isn’t necessarily bad, especially when starting out.

I would practice fretting a single note, press the string down onto the fret less and less until the string buzzes, then just add a tiny bit more pressure to remove the buzz. That’s exactly how much pressure you need to fret, and it’s probably a lot less than you are using. Get control of each finger and the pressure you use to fret a note with each, and look at span separately. I don’t recommend playing one finger per fret constantly below the 5th fret unless the player has very large hands and/or plays a short scale bass (32” or less). I assume you’re playing a 4 string bass (correct me if I’m wrong), so for most players one finger per fret should be fine down to the 5th fret, maybe a little further, and fine for the odd line lower, but not for constant playing as it’s asking for tendon issues over time.

[Biscuit_Bass]

34 minutes ago, TheLowDown said:

The neck should be around 45 degrees so that your wrist is not at such an uncomfortable angle. I don't know anything about what bass you're using or how you're holding it, so at a guess there may be neck dive, which means that I would invest in good wide leather strap that has rough material on the inside to grip well. The more it grips the less effort you use to hold the bass in a comfortable position, which means that you can focus on playing and have less fatigue over a long play session.

 

Try using the simandl technique where your little finger and ring finger are pressed together to give extra strength to your fretting. The nerves in the little finger and ring finger are joined anyway, so this makes them less independent from each other than other fingers.

 

But yeah a lot of it is just building up the required muscles and actions in your hand an fingers.

Thanks for the reply.

Is that 45 degrees up and away from my body? Or just raised up by 45 degrees?

Cheers

[Biscuit_Bass]

13 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

I would imagine you might be locking your wrist and/or fingers and may not be as relaxed as you think, or in stretching your fingers apart you’re getting tension across the back of your hand. As you’re new you won’t have likely developed much of a stretch with the fingers, so generally the only way to hold the strings down is with tension rather than technique. Don’t play through any sharp pain as that’s not a good sign, but a slight ache from playing isn’t necessarily bad, especially when starting out.

I would practice fretting a single note, press the string down onto the fret less and less until the string buzzes, then just add a tiny bit more pressure to remove the buzz. That’s exactly how much pressure you need to fret, and it’s probably a lot less than you are using. Get control of each finger and the pressure you use to fret a note with each, and look at span separately. I don’t recommend playing one finger per fret constantly below the 5th fret unless the player has very large hands and/or plays a short scale bass (32” or less). I assume you’re playing a 4 string bass (correct me if I’m wrong), so for most players one finger per fret should be fine down to the 5th fret, maybe a little further, and fine for the odd line lower, but not for constant playing as it’s asking for tendon issues over time.

I would say it's more like a burning ache than sharp pain. Similar to when you hold your arms out to your side for a long time and your shoulder tenses up and aches badly.

I'll practice fretting single notes as you suggest, and try for each finger in turn. You're correct about it being a 4 string. Yamaha TRBX304. I tried a couple in gear4music and the TRBX304 felt most comfortable and has a slightly narrower neck which helps, but still aching quite a lot. The guitar is also set up out of the box and to me the action seems quite high. Would that be contributing to my difficulties? I'm going to take it to a luthier after I've played it for a couple of weeks so any adjustments can be made. I'm thinking it might help to lower it a touch.

Cheers

[itu]

A pro setup and light string set would certainly help. Costs a bit, but makes the playing a breeze.

[Guest]

Yes, a poorly-set up instrument often puts beginners off. it depends on the style(s) of music you intend to play, but the general guidance is that a well set-up bass shouldn't have any fret buzz when playing normally (assuming it's not the player, or a player whose style has fret buzz or "clank" and therefore a lower action). Everyone is different, but a good middling starting point should be 2mm between the top of the 12th fret and the bottom of the (highest) G string to about 3mm for the same gap between the top of the 12 fret to the bottom of the (lowest) E string. From here, heavy players may want to raise the action a bit, lighter players may want a lower action (if the bass can take it!)

If your bass action cannot be tweaked to at least this level without buzz then it needs a setup. As @itu says, as a beginner it's probably best to take it to a decent instrument repairer/shop to have it done for you - particularly if there are high frets that need attention, or the nut is too high or low, as if so, no amount of adjusting the bridge/truss rod will dial in a good setup.

[zbd1960]

3 hours ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

Thanks for the reply.

Is that 45 degrees up and away from my body? Or just raised up by 45 degrees?

Cheers

Raised up by 45 deg - it reduces the stretch of the fretting hand

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

... everything just hurts.

 

Even starting on the 5th fret I struggle to place 1 finger per fret and I find my wrist bending in weird ways to try and reach the strings and it causes quite a lot of pain in my wrist as a result.

 

A couple of things as a relative newbie myself and having gone through some of these challenges relatively recently.

• If it genuinely hurts and is causing a lot of pain then stop ... you shouldn't need to be bending and twisting anything in weird ways and if that is causing a lot of pain then continuing to play will only make things worse.
   
• Simply start at the 7th fret rather than the fifth and as you adapt to playing bass you'll find stretches will become easier over time (months and years rather than days or weeks). And be prepared to slide your index finger a little (or a lot) as you fret with your little finger depending on how big you can stretch as described here:

 

 

• Some other good ideas and a description of posture and position of the bass ....

• I also wouldn't get hung up on the one finger per fret for playing ...

 

Don't expect miracles when it comes to learning. Think how long it would take you to learn a language or get fit enough to run a marathon if you are a couch potato (like me!). Trying to do too much too quickly can easily become demoralising and \ or cause injuries which hold you back even more. 

 

I started with a course called BassBuzz and found it a great introduction to Bass to get me playing quickly while focusing on good technique and introducing some basic music ltheory and learning the fretboard. Other options (paid and free) are available e.g. Scotts Bass Lessons and Talking Bass which are the links above).

[Doddy]

If playing one finger per fret hurts, don't do it. Try a 3 fret stretch instead, using your index, middle, and little finger, and use your thumb as a pivot to shift position. It's easy to grip the neck too hard and lock your thumb on the back of the neck, but it needs to be loose enough that you can make slight position changes without stretching uncomfortably.

Let's be honest, there are very few players who stick to playing one finger per fret religiously. Play what is comfortable for you, and as you progress you'll find that you'll probably be able to stretch a little more.

[WishICouldWalk]

Sorry if this has already been said as I've not read every response...

Try the Simandl technique as your default stance and only use one finger per fret for lines where you need it. I would say that's what the majority of bassists do. There's lots on YouTube demonstrating Simandl on bass guitar.

Good luck.

[Biscuit_Bass]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone.

I took the day off yesterday to rest my hands and picked up my bass again today. I just experimented with what felt comfortable for me. I tried something very simple (with or without you by U2) to get used to shifting my hand up and down the fret board, and then started learning the C major scale.

I tried to keep my wrist straight and relaxed and experimented with different thumb positions to keep things comfortable and also kept things slow.

As many of you have suggested, I'll take a look at the simandi technique and try using my thumb as a pivot more tomorrow. Things are feeling much more comfortable after practice today, so I think that's a good sign. I'm not going to get tied up with 1fpf and instead work on position shifting of my hand to achieve the same result with 1-2-4

[WishICouldWalk]

1 hour ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone.

I took the day off yesterday to rest my hands and picked up my bass again today. I just experimented with what felt comfortable for me. I tried something very simple (with or without you by U2) to get used to shifting my hand up and down the fret board, and then started learning the C major scale.

I tried to keep my wrist straight and relaxed and experimented with different thumb positions to keep things comfortable and also kept things slow.

As many of you have suggested, I'll take a look at the simandi technique and try using my thumb as a pivot more tomorrow. Things are feeling much more comfortable after practice today, so I think that's a good sign. I'm not going to get tied up with 1fpf and instead work on position shifting of my hand to achieve the same result with 1-2-4

I'd say you're on the right track with that. Use one finger per fret at the other end of the neck when you're soloing like Hadrien Feraud 😀