fingers

A few weeks ago, a family member of mine lost the tip of their lefthand ring finger in an accident. This person is doing surprisingly well with the injury, both with the pain and the mental factors. All of this has certainly led me to thinking how this would affect someone's playing and how...

i’m sort of a “learn how to do it and then be done with it” kind of musician, with exception as my time on an instrument increases. but simply put, once i learn how to play the instrument well i get onto the playing part. so all of this time, about a year or so, i haven’t been using my pinky and...

So I thought it would be interesting with poll on how people prefer to pick their bass, that is sound and feel wise, disregarding what the music they play might call for, as in an ideal world where one picking technique could do it all. Personally I prefer to play with a relatively flexible...

In my taste, I like the bass to be "felt" than "heard". I don't mean it has to be low in volume in the mix. I would say it's a vintage style sound approach. I prefer flats over roundwounds. When roundwounds I prefer (old) nickels. I prefer fingers over pick. Regarding cabinets I prefer 12" and...

Can I play well on double bass if I have shorter fingers? Does it have any connection? Thank you for all the answers

I'm a beginner, so I still got a lot to figure out, and right now it's that when I'm having for example my first finger on a fret and I want to put my third finger on a higher fret, my first finger keeps sliding up the string and over the fret, and it's annoying me so bad because I don't know...

Some days, I feel like I'm spot-on and my rhythm is right where it should be. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, it feels like my two playing fingers are suffering from Down's syndrome and they can't get out of each other's way. I have no logical explanation for why it fluctuates but I was...

There is a beautiful 6 string Warwick Thumb NT for sale at a price I could actually swing. Every time I hear a song that uses one, or demos, I GAS for one really hard. The soapbar pickups on the 6 string model give it a little something different. The design seems more balanced than the 5 string...

About 10 days ago, I was cracking my knuckles on my left hand in one of the usual ways I do so -- by bending my fingers back over to the back of my hand. Yeah, I know -- probably not the best practice, but I've been doing it for years and have never had an issue. Anyhoo, I didn't experience...

UPRIGHT PLAYERS (but not limited to) How do you deal with straining your hands and fatigue while walking for an extended period of time? I usually use turmeric but it hasn't been readily available since I've gotten to university. Any preventative measures you take? Treatment etc.?

I'm a teenage beginner bass player. (15 at that, I started sorta late) I've been playing bass for about 2 months now. (on and off with guitar, I can't seem to make up my mind between the two) Anyways, I usually practice about 30 minutes or less every day. (but I am guilty of skipping) Yesterday...

The arthritis has gotten pretty bad in the first knuckle of the left index finger. I'm wondering what others with this condition do to try to slow its progression, or at least treat the stiffness and soreness while still putting in hours on the fingerboard. My approach thus far is NSAIDs...

So before I get flamed because there's a 25 page thread somewhere delving into this, let me start with this: I am brand new to this forum :) Been an electric player for 30 years, tried upright at the beginning but had no idea the steel strings weren't proper and gave it up when it shredded my...

So I have been play for 5 months now and have not taken any class due to time and money and whatnot. Though I feel like I've developed a bad technique because I didn't really take positioning into consideration and I just kinda took off and did pretty well. Ok so, I fret (if that's how you say...

Thought this would be an interesting poll. I am trying to work my way up to using four fingers on my non-fretting hand, so I put myself down for 4.

Here's something to ponder and discuss. We're all aware that a felt pick gives a much more mellow tone than a hard plastic one, but have you thought about how the number of hours spent playing with fingers affects your tone? The longer you play, the harder the callouses. Do harder callouses...

Hello TalkBass! So I'm a stupid and a careless man. I've owned my bass (Ibanez Sr305) for over a year now and never felt the need to clean the strings or have a string cleaner in the first place. It sometimes left stains on my left index finger from slides and stuff, but not much, so I didn't...

I know my fretboard. I know my scales. I know my modes and shapes. I can even give history on some of these musical things. But when I'm playing, jamming, feeling creative, tooling around, etc. my fretting hand ALWAYS defaults to using only my index and ring finger. They're the strongest two...

Ok, I'm going crazy (er)....I think. Does anybody else have a problem with sweaty palms and fingers while they're playing? It's driving me nuts. I'm pretty sure it must be caused by nerves, but my technique goes straight down the toilet. My fingers feel like 'sticky spongy rubber'. Has anyone...

Ok, I'm going crazy....I think. Does anybody else have a problem with sweaty palms and fingers while they're playing? It's driving me nuts. I'm pretty sure it must be caused by nerves, but my technique goes straight down the toilet. My fingers feel like 'spongy rubber'. Has anyone else had...

Has anybody exp with burns. I didn't go the hospital because the burns didn't look that bad. They hurt like hell but didn't look bad until they kind of popped open to drain. Thats when I realized it's probably over a 1/16" of skin that appears to want to fall off my fingers. I think Im gonna...

We hear "tone is in the fingers" frequently. Sure, gear matters too, but Geddy Lee is going to sound remarkably like Geddy Lee whether he's playing on a Jazz through an Orange or an acoustic sitting around a campfire. (That would be an awesome camping trip, but I digress.) The notes that are...

have not posted for a while and some stuff from me ... When I was a child, I was taught ‘classical guitar’ I did my elementary studies exams etc and as a teenager, way laid with the distraction of rock and roll abandoned formal study, only to return to it intermittently over the last 40 years...

I just had an interesting experience. I used the rubbing alcohol method to soften my Pop's rosin last night, successfully softening my rosin. Just now while practicing arco I found the rosin a little too soft to apply directly to the bow (I didn't want gobs of it on my bow hair). So after...

Disclaimer: I kinda screwed this poll up. I got myself confused, wasn’t very clear, and it kinda defeats the purpose of its intention. I did get my answer I needed. But for anyone viewing this, understand there is a bit of confusion due to the OP (myself). Original: Hello. This came to my...

I eventually want to become a very good bass player. So far I've gotten by because I can play acoustic and electric guitar fairly well and used to play bass back in the late 60's when things weren't so advanced or complicated. We'd only use a thumb or a single finger. Becoming a better player...

Just stop! I'm getting so tired of hearing this! Unless you have the hands of a newborn baby, your hands are JUST FINE and you can play any bass you want! 4/5/6/7 strings, 30, 34, 35, 36 scale! Stop making excuses and practice! :roflmao::bassist:

My band has a new drummer. Great guy, good ability . In rehearsal I realize that he's been staring at my fingers as I play. Now, I rely on the drummer for a steady beat to lock into, but I realized that he is looking at me as the lead. He's staring at my fingers because he's waiting to see when...

I think Peter was fingers and Gary was pick.

This isn't intended to be a technique thread, but rather how you prefer to play when you you're playing with dirt pedals engaged. I learned to play bass finger style, and have been messing around with a pick for the past few weeks. When it comes to my gritty tone (choose your own flavor, OD...

I have been playing bass for a while now. I’ve been in a couple of bands and I am getting by pretty well. When I first started playing, I was clearly told by several people: FINGERS. I like to do things the best way, so I’ve been using my fingers pretty much exclusively. I am a guitar...

Hey TBrs, I've been a finger-style for a few decades, but I can't say I've ever reached anything close to Rocco Prestia level -- or even a fraction of that (because he's amazing of course). I'm playing with a rock trio these days, doing plenty of covers that range from Zeppelin to Radiohead...

Well this never happened before. Started playing fingerstyle at the gig tonight, and for the first time lost feeling in my two plucking fingers. During break the feeling started to come back, but then went away again when set was resumed. Like pins and needles, like your arm or leg falling...

Tomy Levin's site has em and I always wondered if they were hard to play. Should I take the plunge? Do i need a MM to go with it?

So, something I've been thinking about lately. Music is such a subjective and deeply personal thing. One man's music is another man's noise. But still so many people take a black & white, right & wrong view on it. I was talking to a guitarist at church one day and we were commenting on some...

Creepy Fingers Pink Elephant in original box with velcro... Sounds amazing $185 obo

Hello everybody. Recently I've been struggling to learn some pickstyle playing. I used to play a guitar a little, so when I started playing with a pick on the bass, I held it guitar-style like this: that is, it rested on the last joint of the index finger. With this approach, I had too big an...

So uh, whenever I play my bass for a long time or at a show my fingers get red and usually have a small patch of skin just hanging out. On my finger. I always have a small bump on my finger and I can't tell if this is happening because of my girly fingers or because of my girly fingers. I hope I...

Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up :( ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong :( Can anyone...