How To Play Jumps Smoothly & Accurately On The Bass

[greghagger]

You've probably heard that to play the bass properly you need to use the one-finger-per-fret rule but you don't always have to follow this rule and you can also use four fingers over three frets.

The bass fretboard is large and because of this you need to be efficient if you want to play fast but still be accurate. But if you get your technique correct then it really doesn't matter if you've got small hands or don't have a big stretch as it's all about how smoothly you shift positions.

There’s an extended technique where you use four fingers over five frets. You don't have to physically stretch your fingers over the five frets but instead glide across the frets. This helps greatly when playing large intervals and big jumps.

 

I’ve prepared a lesson article on my website where I explain more about the extended fingering technique for bass. You'll also find an exercise that I've written for bass guitar based on a Bach Prelude that will help you to work on this technique and smoother playing.

 

https://www.gbshed.com/extended-fingering-for-bass-guitar