Disheartened

[Twincam]

Ok so I'm going to order a nice new Fender Mustang hopefully next Monday. My first quality bass, so to say. Which has made me question what warrants me spending that much on a bass.
As the other day I realised how bad my fingers are while watching bass playing vids. I can't make certain stretches which others make look easy and I play a short scale bass! seriously for some reason my fingers do not stretch well. It's literally physically impossible rather than me just needing to stretch them.
Certain parts I have to play slightly different and can most of the time get away with it but others I just can't get.
A few people said I play ok. But to me I'm crap and though I've not played long, I'm starting to worry that time and practice now won't be enough.
I'm not gonna stop playing and I'm still gonna order a awesome bass.
But I do feel disheartened.
Anyone else ever feel like that?.

[xilddx]

All the time.

If you've not played long, your fingers need to get used to playing and stretching. Practice the stretches after a little warm up exercise. It takes a while, I couldn't stretch far when I started either. Play as much as you can, even sitting on the sofa watching tv, your fingers need the work.

There is ALWAYS stuff you can't get. But you can't be the best bassist in the world cos there's no such thing. It's a lifelong process of continual improvement in your musical imagination, ear training, and physical ability. We are all beginners, even the great bassists will (or should) tell you that.

The Mustang is a short scale, right?

[Happy Jack]

Try putting your hands together and splaying out your thumb and fingers as far as they'll go without pain.

Even after only a few months, you'll see that your fretting hand can stretch further than your plucking hand.

By the time you've played for two or three years, you should see a difference of maybe a centimetre.

IME that's pretty much where the process stops, i.e. your fretting hand doesn't continue to stretch until you turn into something out of The Fantastic Four, but then (hard to believe) but I'm on the wrong side of ... ahem ... 30.

[toneknob]

Where's your fretting hand thumb? If it's hooked over the top of the neck, getting big stretches in will be really hard. If it's lightly supporting the back of the neck, your four fingers will fan out more naturally.

Scott Devine's got a good vid about fretting hand positioning - see http://www.scottsbasslessons.com/technique/right-and-left-hand-positioning.html about 4 minutes in.

[LukeFRC]

so what?

honestly, and I'm being serious and not wanting to be rude, but so what if you can't do something?

You'll never be victor wooton/jaco pastorious/mark king or whoever - you may never have a cd in HMV. But then I probably won't either and nor will 90% of this forum.
Maybe if you practice you'll be able to make those stretches, maybe not and your fingers never will work that way - but you WILL improve as a musician.
Django Reinhart changed the way people played guitar and he didn't have half his fingers- maybe physically you'll never be able to do x y and z on the bass.

But that doesn't stop you.

Enjoy your new bass.

[Twincam]

Been playing 8 months and that's practicing most days for a hour or so, I do various exercises and while my hands are a lot quicker and I'm in control. My fingers are still not stretching. Like I say I really do put in the effort.
I have bleed from practicing many times that's with calluses too lol.

[Twincam]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1390239852' post='2343024']
so what?

honestly, and I'm being serious and not wanting to be rude, but so what if you can't do something?

You'll never be victor wooton/jaco pastorious/mark king or whoever - you may never have a cd in HMV. But then I probably won't either and nor will 90% of this forum.
Maybe if you practice you'll be able to make those stretches, maybe not and your fingers never will work that way - but you WILL improve as a musician.
Django Reinhart changed the way people played guitar and he didn't have half his fingers- maybe physically you'll never be able to do x y and z on the bass.

But that doesn't stop you.

Enjoy your new bass.
[/quote]

This is probably what I need to hear.
I have no delusions of grandeur. But my limits are hard to take lol.

[HowieBass]

Learning what you can and can't do with your left and right hands is probably what instils a playing style for all of us; I suspect that when people come up with bass lines for material (where they have input) they play to their strengths rather than their weaknesses, so what is easy for some is difficult for others and vice versa. The main thing is to have fun whilst you're making music.

[Roger2611]

I've been playing 30 years, I still need to practice and still can't play half the basslines of some of my mentors, stop telling yourself what you can't do and start being impressed with what you can do...a bit of self belief will make you a better player

[xilddx]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390240108' post='2343030']
Been playing 8 months and that's practicing most days for a hour or so, I do various exercises and while my hands are a lot quicker and I'm in control. My fingers are still not stretching. Like I say I really do put in the effort.
I have bleed from practicing many times that's with calluses too lol.
[/quote]

PATIENCE! 8 months an hour a day is not long, your body needs time to adjust. Your stretch needs a while. Do you have small hands? Any injuries? What is a hard stretch for you? I have fairly small delicate hands and for me the widest usable stretch for playing scales on a standard 34" scale bass is G A B on the E string using fingers 1 2 4.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390240280' post='2343032']
This is probably what I need to hear.
I have no delusions of grandeur. But my limits are hard to take lol.
[/quote]

anyone can do what they can already do.
the measure of a person is how they approach the things that they currently can't do.

Plus you're getting a nice new bass! focus on that!

[skankdelvar]

Couple points:

* The 'Feeling Crap' thing: The internet is useful but can be misleading. If - as you say - you've not been playing long, then watching some of these vids is like watching Usain Bolt hurtle up the track and beating yourself up because you know you're not as fast as him.

Fact is, some of these people have been playing for hours a day over any number of years and you're not going to be able to do what they do - [i]yet[/i].

* Going for big stretches early on is inadvisable without warm-ups and a structured approach. Get yourself a bass tutor (not a guitarist who does a bit of bass on the side) and get him to devise you a practice routine.

* The quickest way to avoid feeling crap is to do what you can currently do but do it well. Technical intricacy is lovely, but if you can't place each note with conviction then there's no foundation. When I say 'conviction' I mean those moments when your passages are correct, you [i]know[/i] that you know what you're doing, there's a smile on your face and you're listening more to the band than you are to yourself. It will come.

* As you progress, you'll find yourself playing certain passages using a different approach to other people. If you play with the afore-mentioned conviction, this is part of the development of your own 'style'. This is a good thing.

Enjoy your Mustang when it arrives

Edited January 20, 2014 by skankdelvar

[Lozz196]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1390240759' post='2343041']
PATIENCE! 8 months an hour a day is not long, your body needs time to adjust. Your stretch needs a while. Do you have small hands? Any injuries? What is a hard stretch for you? I have fairly small delicate hands and for me the widest usable stretch for playing scales on a standard 34" scale bass is G A B on the E string using fingers 1 2 4.
[/quote]

But it certainly doesn`t stop you being a darn fine basist Nige

But the thing is, we all have to fit to our own limitations, think of Django Rheinhardt & Tony Iommi for instance, with some parts/whole fingers missing on their fretting hands yet it didn`t stop them being rather tasty players.

[JapanAxe]

Everybody judges themselves against the stuff they can't do yet. Many players will do a partial position shift rather than a full stretch to get to the note they want, but you may find this less necessary with the Mustang. BTW it's a great bass!

EDIT: sorry I missed that you already have a short scale.

Edited January 20, 2014 by JapanAxe

[xilddx]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1390240829' post='2343043']
Couple points:

[b]* The quickest way to avoid feeling crap is to do what you can currently do but do it well. Technical intricacy is lovely, but if you can't place each note with conviction then there's no foundation. When I say 'conviction' I mean those moments when your passages are correct, you [i]know[/i] that you know what you're doing, there's a smile on your face and you're listening more to the band than you are to yourself. It will come.

* As you progress, you'll find yourself to playing certain passages using a different approach to other people. If you play with the afore-mentioned conviction, this is part of the development of your own 'style'. This is a good thing.[/b]

[/quote]

These two points are especially bang on for me.

[Twincam]

Measured my hand ok from first to last little finger full stretch is 15 cm. But if I turn my hand like I was holding the bass my stretch is 12 cm uncomfortable max. I don't know how that measures up to others lol.
I guess I'm impatient and a bit competitive.
Anyhow good replies. Feeling more positive

[Coilte]

As others have said, eight months is a short time to be playing. Try to relax and enjoy the learning process. Take things in small bite size chunks. At one time, we were all where you are now.

As far as stretching is concerned, it can cause injury if you force it. Try using the thumb as a pivot, especially on the lower (1-5) frets.

[icastle]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390240108' post='2343030']
Been playing 8 months and that's practicing most days for a hour or so, I do various exercises and while my hands are a lot quicker and I'm in control. My fingers are still not stretching. Like I say I really do put in the effort.
I have bleed from practicing many times that's with calluses too lol.
[/quote]

8 months at an hour a day is about 240 hours... or ten solid days.

Give yourself time.

[gjones]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1390239497' post='2343016']
Try putting your hands together and splaying out your thumb and fingers as far as they'll go without pain.

Even after only a few months, you'll see that your fretting hand can stretch further than your plucking hand.

By the time you've played for two or three years, you should see a difference of maybe a centimetre.

IME that's pretty much where the process stops, i.e. your fretting hand doesn't continue to stretch until you turn into something out of The Fantastic Four, but then (hard to believe) but I'm on the wrong side of ... ahem ... 30.
[/quote]

Hey I checked, and you're right. My left hand has a stretch about an inch wider than my right. I doubt that happened overnight.

[skankdelvar]

Saw this in a similar, current thread and thought it was so good it should be quoted it here:

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1390156809' post='2342093']
Remember at all times that every time you play the right note in the right place you're as good as anyone else on the planet.
[/quote]

And if it's not in the famous quotes thread it soon will be.

[Twincam]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1390241659' post='2343065']


8 months at an hour a day is about 240 hours... or ten solid days.

Give yourself time.
[/quote]

Haha never thought about it like that lol.

[peteb]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390241300' post='2343053']
Measured my hand ok from first to last little finger full stretch is 15 cm. But if I turn my hand like I was holding the bass my stretch is 12 cm uncomfortable max. I don't know how that measures up to others lol.

[/quote]
Exactly the same as me and I have been gigging regularly for nearly 35 years! I've never needed a bigger stretch in all that time.

Keep doing your chromatic 'one finger per fret' exercises and you will be fine...

[xilddx]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390241300' post='2343053']
Measured my hand ok from first to last little finger full stretch is 15 cm. But if I turn my hand like I was holding the bass my stretch is 12 cm uncomfortable max. I don't know how that measures up to others lol.
I guess I'm impatient and a bit competitive.
Anyhow good replies. Feeling more positive
[/quote]

I just measured 15cm stretch on the neck, wrist joint to middle fingertip is 19cm. I've been playing for 33 years. None of it really means sh*t when you see how small Esperanza Spalding is, and she plays string bass and electric like a demon.

[chris_b]

You shouldn't be stretching anyway!

You should be moving your hand so that you place your fingers over the right note.


Have a listen to this. No stretching here.....

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6x--c9SZak"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6x--c9SZak[/url]

[Twincam]

'Remember at all times that every time you play the right note in the right place you're as good as anyone else on the planet".

Unless you get a load of fret buzz right?? haha