One thing that most beginner bassists don’t take the time to learn is proper plucking hand position and technique. Poor plucking hand technique can lead to serious problems down the road including carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome and other muscular problems in the shoulder, wrist and forearm. On top of that, having a poor technique can prevent you from playing bass as fast as you want to play, and since playing bass fast is cool, let’s look at how to develop a good technique!
In this beginner bass lesson, I’ll show you how to develop a good bass plucking arm posture that will allow the muscles and tendons in your wrists to move freely. I’ll also show you three different positions you can use to place your thumb on the bass to make it easy to play notes while also allowing you to keep the strings you don’t want to hear muted.
The key to your posture is the position of your elbow. After watching this lesson, I want you to look up some videos of some bass players that are known for their speed. bass players like Jaco Pastorius, Vincen Garcia and our Instagram friend Gerardo D’Abundo who has a player of the month feature on our page. What do you notice about the position of their elbows? This should tell you all you need to know…..
CD
This lesson is from our course “Better Beginner Bass – Vol. 1” which features online bass lessons with personalized one-on-one feedback from your instructor. You can check the full course out here.
