Davemarks Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Hey y'all - I've just started posting a new series of vids on my Youtube page. This one deals with bad habits - mostly technique-related that I've seen in many students and lots of players on the net. Feel free to have a watch... [url="http://youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=davemarks"]http://youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=davemarks[/url] Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Look good to me Dave. When I first clicked the link I was expecting to come back and say 'What is bad in a textbook sense might be a perfectly good way to play the bass' or something like that - but I see a lot of the advice there is about making yourself comfortable and not a preachy 'do it like this, everything else is wrong' approach. Cheers ped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenofthedepths Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 [quote name='ped' post='190938' date='May 2 2008, 11:09 PM']Look good to me Dave. When I first clicked the link I was expecting to come back and say 'What is bad in a textbook sense might be a perfectly good way to play the bass' or something like that - but I see a lot of the advice there is about making yourself comfortable and not a preachy 'do it like this, everything else is wrong' approach. Cheers ped[/quote] +1 Very helpful videos - thanks for them I love your sign-off catchphrase: "It's a bad habit, don't do it, and don't teach it to other people; spread the word - see you next time" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 I liked the video I saw on "1 finger per fret". It makes total sense to me and I think I already do what you say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-basser Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 nice vids and i like the Wolverine look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestar Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 What a great series of helpful vids. Thanks very much Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjbass Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Sweet. Thanks Dave, this stuff is really helpful. Especially the info about hand posture - lots of scale work tends to give my fretting hand pins and needles so i'll keep an eye out in future! Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I was watching the video on the right hand (good job by the way), and whilst I agree that the tension in the ring finger and pinky that you described is not good (like you I've seen numerous bassists tense up their outer digits when playing), I don't fully agree that the method of tucking up these fingers is the optimal solution to this. When examining my two finger technique (starting again after spending a year exclusively using the 4 finger/Garrison technique for main playing) I found that placing my hand over the bass (ala Todd Johnson, Gary Willis) and relaxing yielded the best hand position (fingers uncurled). I found that tucking my fingers up (even without tension) pulled my middle finger more into my hand, (from what I understand this is likely due to a shared tendon/ligament? between the middle and ring fingers) and restricted it's movement, and introduced unnecessary tension into my hand at higher speeds and after longer periods of playing. Secondly, tucking your fingers up does not allow for ease of switching between other techniques. For example, using floating thumb and the hand position I mentioned above allows pretty much instantaneous switching into using three fingers, Matt Garrison technique, hand position for artificial harmonics, and also ease of movement into slap position, muted playing or near-neck thumbing as your hand is in a fairly neutral position. Please note that I'm not attacking your advice on this, some people's hands naturally relax into a more closed form (ala in your vid). However my hands do not do this, I'm sure other people's don't either, so I thought it might be an idea to share what I've found... and most definitely agree that comfort is the most important thing... but keep reassessing what is comfortable and working as you improve. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XB26354 Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I'd agree with you about the tucked up hand Mark. I think that it would be easy to get into the bad habit of clenching the fist - plus it's not so comfortable if you want to switch techniques. And if you use 3-4 fingers you can't anyway However Dave is definitely right to say that we should look for tension in the right hand and eliminate it, something that took me years to unlearn. The 1-2-3-4 exercise - spot on! I can't believe people teach that to beginners at the 1st fret! As I have said before - you don't need strength to play the bass! Flexibility will improve your fretting technique (and the span between them) whilst being relaxed. You're pushing a metal string (under no more than 30Kg tension) down no more than 5mm so it just touches the fret. A toddler could do it. Beginners usually fret the notes with strength instead of technique. That's why their hands get tired quickly. The 1 finger per fret system - I agree with Dave to an extent. It does depend on a number of factors: Size of fretting hand/finger - bigger hands and especially longer fingers can reach farther with less tension. Scale length of bass - longer scale means frets are a bit farther apart - counter to the above. Shape of bass - basses with a longer top horn bring the 1st fret nearer to the body, making it easier to reach. Number of frets - 24+ fret necks tend to reshape the bass so the 1st fret moves further away from the body, usually countered with the above. Number of strings - a 4 string will be easier to play root-5 on than a 7 string! If you have a Fender Jazz (20 frets, 4 strings, tiny nut width) and big hands then it's easy even in the first position. If you're playing a 36" scale 6-string and you've got small hands (like Anthony Jackson) you may have to play everything using a 3-fret span. I think root octave is more comfortable for most as index-pinky, so it's natural that root-5-octave will feel nice with index-ring-pinky. The big proviso here (which Dave mentions) is that this works [i]if there are no notes immediately above[/i]. I think, Dave, these videos are a good idea - wish I had them 25 years ago (or even at the bass institute 15 years ago because I'm afraid they taught nothing about right hand technique then - except how to play hard). Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathal Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Great vids Dave. Some good simple advise there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2wheeler Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Thank you so much for the lesson on bad habits with one finger per fret. Maybe I will be able to last more than two songs before my left hand cramps up now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alun Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 Very good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMech Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Good videos you have there. In all honesty I watched them presuming I'd sit there thinking 'yeah yeah i know this', but I'm now gonna start concentrating on relaxing that mischeivous pinky. Definitely brilliant stuff, especially for beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 I have a feeling my pinky sticks out when I'm playing, better watch out for that...... As a side note, what amp are you using? You're Jazz sounds awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemarks Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 [quote name='thedonutman' post='205930' date='May 25 2008, 12:51 PM']I have a feeling my pinky sticks out when I'm playing, better watch out for that...... As a side note, what amp are you using? You're Jazz sounds awesome.[/quote] It's straight into the sound card - a Digidesign MBox with a little compression from the Massey CT 4 plugin and a little eq from the pro tools 4 band eq. The rest is just that lovely bass... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-ic Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Davemarks' post='190933' date='May 2 2008, 11:05 PM']Hey y'all - I've just started posting a new series of vids on my Youtube page. This one deals with bad habits - mostly technique-related that I've seen in many students and lots of players on the net. Feel free to have a watch... [url="http://youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=davemarks"]http://youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=davemarks[/url] Dave[/quote] Hey Dave. All good stuff again. I have been following all your tube vids and this last lot make really good sense. I have only been playing for a couple of months and havent had a chance to get lessons witha local tutor. THis is really really helpful. Cheers Matt Edited May 30, 2008 by Absolute-beginner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loweringthetone Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Great stuff. .....but oh S**T ! seems Ive been doing it wrong for 30 years. Could teach an old dog the right tricks at last. Very helpful indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenofthedepths Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 These are so useful that this ought to be pinned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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