Playing bass with lost finger?

[Woodinblack]

I use mine, but I am sure it is easy enough to adjust to not using it, I am always spraining it when playing,  especially if you don't have it. I think I probably only use 3 fingers anyway.

[PaulThePlug]

Wonder if there is a similar post on BanjoChat... I only have the 10 normal fingers... recommend me a Banjo...

[Reggaebass]

Hi break-even and welcome 👍, I do use mine as I was taught 1fpf but don’t always stick to it, a friend of mine is a really great player and rarely uses his little finger, and he plays 4 string basses, so it’s definitely a yes, would playing a 5 be better as there’s less shifting because you can play across the board as opposed to up and down 

[T-Bay]

I can’t use my ring finger on left hand due to severe arthritis so I use my little finger instead. It works great for me. So three fingers certainly works, and as many above have mentioned, a lot don’t use the little finger anyway. It gets trickier on a 6-string ‘normal’ guitar when doing chords but even then there are get around you can do.

[PaulThePlug]

where are you bass-ed!
If ya a little uncomfortable going in to a music shop and giving one a go, i'm sure there is a basschatter local who will lend a hand(!)
If ya local to me (Orpington/Bromley) I'd be happy to pop by with a bass for you to have a try...

 

Unfortunatly it does mean you will have to miss out on the Heavy Metal Horns 'm'  hand gesture when playing open strings...
So will have to do with the middle finger or wombler sign, like driving... - WOMBLER Ha Ha ...

Edited August 12, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[Staggering on]

4 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Wonder if there is a similar post on BanjoChat... I only have the 10 normal fingers... recommend me a Banjo...

 

Steady now, there are some banjo artists on here and we are a sensitive bunch.😊

[T-Bay]

14 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

 

Steady now, there are some banjo artists on here and we are a sensitive bunch.😊

Indeed, and they never have strange fingers. Webbed feet and gills possibly, but NEVER strange fingers 😬

[fretmeister]

I’m reasonably ambidextrous from performing magic but playing bass left handed is a nightmare.

 

Stick with right handed. Far better choice of instruments and loads of amazing players don’t use their pinky anyway.

[break-even]

Hi all,

really thanks for your feedback's.

I wasn't afraid to start with the right hand, and was thinking this should work out in some way, but in some beginners tutorials was told to use the pinky.

I liked to know from artist, like you, if do they really use it.

 

Thanks again, and now I will go for it.

[FinnDave]

I have always used all four fingers on my left hand, but after a recent fall which involve me putting my left hand down to protect my head (instinctual, actually the wrong priority) I have had some trouble with my left hand, last weekend's gig saw my little finger develop a painful cramp, but I played on, albeit a little less enthusiastically.

[bass_dinger]

25 minutes ago, break-even said:

.... but in some beginners tutorials was told to use the pinky.

 

I liked to know from artist, like you, if do they really use it.

 

 

Tutorials tell beginners to use the little finger, because many players do not.  As you can see, many musicians manage without, with no real detriment. 

 

As for us being artists, that is kind of you to think of us in that way ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bass_dinger]

Those of us who do not use our fourth finger, have a role model...

 

 

[Velarian]

I had a quick go this afternoon playing only using 3 fingers. Not a problem at all. Way easier than playing left handed I reckon. 

[tauzero]

Just ha a quick go with three fingers. I've got hands which are a little larger than Donald Trump's but not that large - motorcycle gloves can be problematic, the width of my hand means I need to take a large as I can't get my hand into a medium but the fingers tend to be a little long on the large. Most things I tried just needed a small movement of the left hand, "Sunshine of your love" was easier with revised fingering so I wasn't going from fret 5 to fret 8 but to fret 3 on the next string.

[Bunion]

 

[Bleat]

I'm surprised at how many don't use the little finger. I personally use it quite extensively especially on the lower frets even though I have large hands. It is possibly to do with playing a LP type of bass that naturally likes to shunt out to the left though.

[uk_lefty]

On 12/08/2022 at 10:43, Mykesbass said:

I used to be able to slowly form some basic chords and pluck a few simple lines on l/h guitar but there is something very different about the two sets of motor skills required for the two hands on guitar/bass. I think it might be @uk_leftywho had some good knowledge on the subject (sorry for tagging if I got the wrong person).

Sorry, not me. 

[yorks5stringer]

On 12/08/2022 at 08:10, Mickeyboro said:

I slammed my index in a car door pre-gig four years ago.

 

I somehow played the set without it, using a tumbler of ice between songs. It’s amazing what the brain can do. And the feeling has never returned fully…

I'm sure they were on at the O2 fairly recently?

[Russ]

I'd say, if you can get your head around it, try the left-handed approach. 

 

I knew a guy who had lost his little finger in an accident, and, in addition to having lost the finger, the damage and subsequent amputation meant the ligaments and tendons around his ring finger were no longer as flexible as they had been, and the scar tissue on the side of his hand where the finger used to be was tough and limited the mobility of his remaining fingers. 

 

If you go the left-handed route, your fretting hand won't have any of those issues, and you'll only be using two fingers on your other hand (or just your index finger and thumb if you play pickstyle). 

[la bam]

I cant use my little finger on my left hand and the finger next to it is bent towards my other fingers, so in effect I play with 2.5 fingers, damaged it in a rugby accident before I even started bass. It's nothing to put you off, you soon learn to adapt to it. If anything it helps the stretch between the other fingers.

 

I've always played standard right handed 4 string basses.

Edited August 16, 2022 by la bam

[Lozz196]

I think I could adapt to all sorts of restrictions on my left fretting hand, but put a bass on me left handed and I’d be all over the place. 

[naxos10]

You could always try both options break-even and see which one suits best.

I have only been using my little finger over the last 18 months and the jury is still out on it being any real advantage.

[Rich]

Due to arthritis, I haven't been able to use my left pinky for many years -- it's still there but impossible to hold down a string. You'd be surprised just how quickly you adapt to it not being available for use. Stay right-handed. Far easier. 

[Downunderwonder]

What are the proportions of leftys playing on musical instruments that are 'handed' vs 'one size fits all'?

 

Afaik only guitars and electric bass come lefty.

 

Wind and classical string instruments all come one size fits all. If you are lefty and have your heart set on violin you play it righty.

 

My bro is lefty and jumped into clarinet after a govt sponsord touring demo group visited our primary school. I don't think he had even started recorder at that stage so handedness probably wasn't on his mind, rather the haunting tones of the lady on clarinet.

 

But I wonder if leftys generally gravitate to wind and keys if they don't fancy twang town?

Edited August 17, 2022 by Downunderwonder

[Woodinblack]

12 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

What are the proportions of leftys playing on musical instruments that are 'handed' vs 'one size fits all'?

 

Afaik only guitars and electric bass come lefty.

 

Wind and classical string instruments all come one size fits all. If you are lefty and have your heart set on violin you play it righty.

 

There are quite a few professional left handed violin players (ie, playing a left handed violin). Easier than a guitar or bass, a voilin is pretty symetrical so you only have to redo the nut and bridge and they are pretty low tech.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

My bro is lefty and jumped into clarinet after a govt sponsord touring demo group visited our primary school. I don't think he had even started recorder at that stage so handedness probably wasn't on his mind, rather the haunting tones of the lady on clarinet.

 

For most wind instruments I dont think the handedness really matters.  I guess it does for brass as the valves are one sided, but anything Clarinet / recorder type both hands get an equal part of the action.