posted
So today is Day 1 of my New Years Resolution to bring art back into my life. I did choir through high school and kept up with dance in college but I haven't had a chance to do anything during the past year and I miss it. I never had any aspirations to do either professionally but I like having something to balance my high stress levels.
After months of increasing interest, I've decided to start playing on a bass guitar. I'd prefer an upright but as I am broke and that is a silly dream, I'm happy borrowing my boyfriend's electric. If I graduate in May, he's offered to help me buy one for myself but for now, he's got a spare lying around and doesn't mind me using it (he's more protective of his guitar.)
After getting over the shock of just how heavy a bass is and missing my fingernails, I've discovered a kink in my plan.
I have ridiculously short fingers. Compounded by a small hand and short arms. I have to keep the neck almost vertical just to get my left wrist into a not-so-painful shape. I can extend over three frets but there's no way my pinkie is getting the fourth.
Its sad but its not going to stop me from strumming out some quarter notes alongside the metronome tonight.
So, are there any Hatrackers who can remember their own days as a beginner and are willing to share their knowledge? Any tips for how to overcome physical lacking?
Or I'll take some inspiring music recommendations. I listen to quite a bit of modern jazz and otherwise I've recently gotten into Tiger Army (going to see them later this month. woot!) And of course there's Kim Deal of the Pixies, though in truly dorky fashion, I want to be the female version of Jim Creeggan from BNL. But seriously, listening to good music is a new thing for me so throw me some bass-inspiring recommendations.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
For some reason I really love the bass on the track "John, I'm only Dancing" by David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase.
As my youngest brother is the musical genius, and I am but a talentless peeon, that is all I can give.
(The only instrument I have seriously tried to learn is the castanets, which are very difficult. I'm still at novice status.)
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posted
I have pretty small hands. For me, the trick to playing bass is making sure your left hand is positioned correctly, with the thumb pressed behind the neck, rather than over the top as you might on a normal guitar. It takes some getting used to, as you'll be working out some muscles that don't get used much normally, but once you're used to that position, you'll find that you have a much broader range of movement, as well as an easier time holding down the notes.
Also, once you're ready to buy a bass, make sure to get one with a thin, fast neck. I play an Ibanez SR300, and the thin neck made a huge difference in the speed at which I was capable of playing. Avoid big basses like Stingrays at all costs.
If you wanna be Kim Deal (and let's face it, who doesn't? ), learn to play with a pick. For jazz, though, you'll need to play with your fingers. Personally, I think it's well worth learning both, as there are strengths and weaknesses to both approaches.
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quote:I have ridiculously short fingers. Compounded by a small hand and short arms. I have to keep the neck almost vertical just to get my left wrist into a not-so-painful shape. I can extend over three frets but there's no way my pinkie is getting the fourth.
I took a few guitar lessons once, and I told my teacher that I couldn't make a certain stretch with my pinky. "Hold up your hand," she said, and held up her small hand next to my large hand. "If I can make that stretch, you surely can," she told me.
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It's not quite the same, but based on my experience with cello and bass viol, you need to be careful what you do with your left thumb. Tarrsk described the proper technique.
Even though it may seem silly, your fingers probably need exercise. Most people (except musicians and rock climbers) don't have a lot of strength in a single finger, especially not their pinky, but that's an easy problem to solve. (Unfortunately, Guitar Hero won't help you here.)
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Well Shanna as one who has never played an instrument but always wanted to play the piano, I should say congratulations on the venture and good luck!
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quote:Originally posted by Joldo: Lots and lots of Guitar Hero, of course.
Haha. Good to know I'm on the right path. We had a Guitar Hero party a few weeks ago where I was crowned Queen. My boyfriend's roommate still talks about and he's probably my first groupie. I've joked about getting him a t-shirt.
And thanks for the technique advice Tarrsk and NotMe. My bf showed me that thumb-positioning and I'm making sure to be really conscious of it. My experience with voice lessons has taught me the value of learning the basics so you don't waste years later trying to reverse bad habits.
As for the small hands thing, I don't feel as insecure on a regular guitar and I hope with lots of stretching I'll feel more comfortable on the bass. My bf has me working my hand at the top of the neck (1st position?!) so I can really get used to stretching.
And what are good hand strengthening techniques? Of course, the best way to workout the muscles for an instrument is by playing that instrument, but I've also got this GripMaster thing I've been playing with all day while watching videos online. The other thing I'd like is to build up the calluses on my fingers but I guess that's just going to have to come with time. And I just got some awesome new hand cream for x-mas that I probably shouldn't use now. I used to rock climb when I was younger and this is bringing back memories but I've certainly gotten soft since I was a kid.
And Shawshank, you should go for it. Get yourself a keyboard and start tapping away! I used to play piano and I did a year of flute growing up but I lacked the discipline to practice so its not like any of that knowledge is coming back to me after all those years.
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posted
I have small hands and play both a regular (acoustic) guitar and bass guitar (upright in church, electric for bumming around and having fun). Once I figured out how to reposition my hands for the bass, I actually find the bass more comfortable on my small hands.
I've never tried any hand strengthening techniques other than daily practice. When I first started playing the upright bass, I couldn't play for more than fifteen minutes without getting major cramps. Now I can play all night without a problem. Calluses are the same, I think. Only way to get past them is to work through them. No pain, no gain and all that jazz.
Good luck! I hope that you can have some fun with it!
Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Or I'll take some inspiring music recommendations.
For inspiration, check out Django_Rhinehart's biography And in particular, look at the picture of his left hand at the top of the page. And you thought stubby fingers was a problem!
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:For me, the trick to playing bass is making sure your left hand is positioned correctly, with the thumb pressed behind the neck, rather than over the top as you might on a normal guitar.
I have no idea what you are talking about. I started playing guitar about 2 years ago and every teacher and book I've seen says to position your thumb behind the neck more or less opposite the finger you are using to depress the string.
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posted
As mentioned above, I started playing guitar about 2 years ago. The initial awkwardness will wear off if you practice. I also hold my guitar nearly up right. That's the position thats recommend for classical guitar where you are doing a lot of finger work with the left hand.
The teacher from the short course I took recommended an exercise that has really helped me build my finger strength and flexibility. You start with your index finger on the first fret of the lowest (pitch) string and play the note. Then place the next finger on the next fret, play the note, then ring finger on the third fret (play the note and finally place your pinky on the forth fret. Now move to the next string and repeat the process. When you finish on the last string. Slide your hand down one fret and repeat the process going backwards from pinky to index finger and from highest string to lowest. When you finish on the lowest string slide down one fret and repeat the process until you hit the end of the neck.
It will seem really awkward and painful as first but it will get easier pretty fast if you do it regularly. You want to do this exercise as fast as is practical and speed it up as you get better.
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Don't practice sitting down. The hand position is significantly different standing up and you won't have any precision or strength when you do finally wind up playing standing up. This is especially true if you favor a punk-rock, low-slung bass position.
Figure out what position you think you look coolest in (why else play an instrument?) and always play there. That way your finger strength and flexability will develop in that position.
Start off using multiple fingers, and not with a single finger or with a pick. Playing with a pick and a single finger is easy, and will do fine for a lot of songs, but if you ever start playing more complicated music, it will slow you down. If you start off using two or three fingers, you'll already be ahead of the game and you'll be able to play faster and more intricately.
If you're worried about your hands, figure out how to play the riff with as little stretching and hand-motion and possible. Most tabs are pretty sloppy and can be reconstructed to include open and higher strings for quicker and easier play.
Don't just learn songs. Learn simple theory for the instrument and start to learn basic riffs for the bass guitar. This will mean you'll pick up music faster and be able to play jam sessions without really knowing much beyond the chord progression (and sometimes not even that).
If you can, play with a drummer or a drum machine if you can't find one. You should learn how to play rythmically above all else (as you are the bridge between the melody and the rythym of a song). Playing with a real drummer will teach you how to get a feel for all of the fills and beats a drummer uses and you can learn to adjust your playing style to suit. A drum machine will at least let you get a feel for the beat.
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The best piece of advice I can give you: don't learn scales and chords first, learn songs. You will end up getting bored and frustrated, and you'll more than likely give up. 95% of the people you'll ever meet who have ever had a guitar but never learned how to play it; this is what happened to them. You need to learn a little bit to get started, but start right out learning actual songs that you like, that you can play along with. You'll start feeling like you're actually in the band, and you'll develop the love of playing at a much faster rate than you develop frustration, and nothing will stop you then.
As you progress, keep picking up on exercises and theory. Also, don't get bogged down with learning theory and sight-reading first.
As for bass-inspiring music, I would recommend Rush or Yes, but you've got a long way to go before you start playing that sort of stuff. The Pixies is a great place to start.
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
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quote:I have no idea what you are talking about. I started playing guitar about 2 years ago and every teacher and book I've seen says to position your thumb behind the neck more or less opposite the finger you are using to depress the string.
Rabbit: You're learning classical style. The thumb behind the neck is useful no matter what style of music you're playing, but there are certain chords that are used in Rock and Jazz that actually require you to fret the low E string with the thumb, hooked over the top of the neck. You can actually do barre chords this way without bridging the entire fret with your index finger, which helps out some people.
I've found that most people tend to stick with whichever style they learned first, but there are some people who can easily switch between the two, and it gives them a lot of flexibility.
I tried learning the thumb over the neck style and got a song or two down that way, but it was never comfortable to me and I've since lost the ability.
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quote:The thumb behind the neck is useful no matter what style of music you're playing, but there are certain chords that are used in Rock and Jazz that actually require you to fret the low E string with the thumb, hooked over the top of the neck.
Yes I've seen that style played and I've tried it a bit but with my hands, it seems even harder than playing a bar chord. It hadn't occurred to me that Tarrsk was referring to this technique since it is generally used only sporadically and I would have thought of it as "looped around the neck" rather than over the top. I was picturing some bizarre style with the thumb over the top of the strings and couldn't figure out how one could even hold a guitar that way unless they were playing it laying on their lap like a Doblo.
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Bit of trivia: The thumb positioning being debated is the biggest distinction (other than the type of music played) between being a violinist and a fiddler.
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), learn to play with a pick. For jazz, though, you'll need to play with your fingers. Personally, I think it's well worth learning both, as there are strengths and weaknesses to both approaches.
