Technique/stretching question

[bassischill]

Good morning folks,

I'm finally starting (the key word being starting) to get the feel of the P-bass. I've stopped using the short scale and have immersed myself in the big boy and have been relatively pleased with progress so far but I have a question.

I'm struggling with the fast part of midneck blues on the SLOW speed because my small hands have a very difficult time stretching from frets 5-8. If I put my index finger on 5 and pinky on 8, I'm well behind the fret line of the 8th and get a buzz (not that kind of buzz....). As a result, I have to do I guess I could classify as an almost rocking motion when playing through that fast part using the proper fingering. Pivoting, begging my pinky to stretch further have been fruitless so I'm left with this jump/rocking thing going on.

I am wondering if that is okay at this point or if I should force myself at a ridiculously slow speed to move as little as possible and try to force my fingers to stretch until I hit these cleanly. I don't want to hurt myself but at the same time, I don't want to begin jumping and then have that ingrained as a poor habit. As you can imagine, if I'm having reach problems with frets 5-8, the lower ones are a real doozy. I'm working on the California song and it's that A C E G section hates me. But I press on....

Thanks for any advice.

[Bassix]

From Carol Kaye's website:

tip 75

Also, be sure to use that left thumb as a PIVOT also, it will help you keep your place without looking at the neck so much, and is an absolutely wonderful safe left-hand technique, the only way to play. Remember, as you slide up the neck, the thumb (which normally sits slightly behind the 1st finger, starts sliding back towards the nut to position the hand in an easy nice strong way. By the time you get up to the 10th fret, your left thumb maybe resting on the 8th fret (or even slightly lower than that) while you're playing with your first finger on the 10th fret. Sounds like you all should check into the left-thumb pivoting a little more. Just relax your left wrist, letting it hang down in a relaxed manner, and the only part of you that should move, is the very frong part of the hand. The fingers should move around as a group while the thumb pivots in one spot. Be sure AFTER you've played a note with the 1st finger to LIFT OFF the 1st finger and take it witn you with the rest of the fingers. Never leave it laying down on the fingerboard at all -- this is very common with upright bass players -- they tend to lay that 1st finger on the neck and that is a terribly bad habit, serves NO PURPOSE whatsoever and will not only slow you down, but you cannot effectively use your greatest left hand technique with that bad habit: the thumb pivot. You may want to check that, to make sure you're not doing that. You'll find your way around the neck very well with the thumb pivot which encourages the hand/fingers to move as group while you keep your place with the thumb staying in one spot -- you then have a range of say 5-8 frets while staying in the same spot. You will never have any physical problems with arm, hand, wrist, fingers if you use this wonderful safe and experienced left-hand/fingers technique.

Carol

http://www.carolkaye.com

[TobiasMan]

Get the pivot movement down pat and you'll find a lot more flexibility in how far you can reach from one position. Don't leave the first finger on the string. Play it, then pivot your hand, with the thumb anchored on the back of the neck, up the neck to play the note further up. When you go back down, simply move all four fingers down so that your index finger is approximately over your thumb and play the notes down there.