Example Of Straight Wrists.

#61
Fergie Fulton said:
I play, with as often as I can, with what I call "straight wrists" .
OK my wrists are not straight, but they are as straight as I need.

In the video, shot live from a show, if you look at my fretting hand you will see that my fingers reach the fretboard without showing the back of the hand...in effect my knuckles point down, not forward.

It is the joints of my fingers that address the fretboard, not my wrist.
The knuckles on the back of my hand are behind the neck, not in front of it.
I use the natural curl of the finger joints to fret the strings. In this the natural strength of the fingers are used.

On the plucking hand the wrist is, again, as straight as it needs to be.
Notice how the plucking hand rests on the front of the bass, not over the top of it.
Also notice how the forearm comes away from the bass at very regular intervals.. it is not fixed to the instrument. The forearm mearly rests on the front of it, and it is the forearm that positions the wrist and the wrist positions the fingers relationship to the strings.

OK the bass is low, but both wrists are very comfortable and as straight as the need to be.
There is no restriction to the playing, the hands, and fingers move with fluid ease on both hands.

Notice on each arm the elbow positions, they are not tight to the body, they are free to allow the forearms to control the wrist position and a such the fingers relationship to the strings on both hands.

On the fretting hand the fingers are "short", in as much as only what is needed curls under the neck to the fretboard.... There is no wrist bend to push the knuckles forward, the knuckles face down if anything.

This is a default position of my technique which offers speed and fluidity, within a Blues/Rock genre.

Feel free to watch the video and if there are any questions I will be happy to answer them.... As for the thumb.. I give it not thought as it just follows the fingers.





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There is some restriction. With the bass that low you cant reach too much notes with your left hand.
 
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#63
Different strokes. I play like this. It doesn't bother me.

So I dunno the value of a post on your personal choices. I guess, it has some place and I suppose it's fine if you strap your bass at your crotch as you seem to. Seems it would work fine for simple music.

stan clarke old.jpg


But apparently this guy has been playing this way for the last 50 or so years. I tend to play the type of stuff that he plays. So maybe that's the gag to this whole thing. BTW that whole insurance thing sounded like BS too. Stanley Clarke isn't gonna get gigs because of his technique? Really?

I'm pretty sure if you get hired for a gig and make it, you get paid. If you get hired and you don't make it, then you don't and you suffer from that consequence. But, I've never heard of anyone pulling medical records to get a gig.
stan clarke young.jpg
 
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#64
Spin Doctor said:
Different strokes. I play like this. It doesn't bother me.

So I dunno the value of a post on your personal choices. I guess, it has some place and I suppose it's fine if you strap your bass at your crotch as you seem to. Seems it would work fine for simple music.

View attachment 3534680

But apparently this guy has been playing this way for the last 50 or so years. I tend to play the type of stuff that he plays. So maybe that's the gag to this whole thing.
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It's more than a matter of "personal choices": It's a fact that playing with a severely bent wrist greatly increases the likelihood of developing carpal tunnel syndrome or a related kind of repetitive motion injury. If you want to risk that feel free to do so, but don't criticize the guy who's trying to help others avoid it.
 
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#65
Lobster11 said:
It's more than a matter of "personal choices": It's a fact that playing with a severely bent wrist greatly increases the likelihood of developing carpal tunnel syndrome or a related kind of repetitive motion injury. If you want to risk that feel free to do so, but don't criticize the guy who's trying to help others avoid it.
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I'm not stopping anyone from playing however they want. But If I have to play music I don't care about just to keep a straight wrist, then I'll live in a sling if I have to. But I don't have that issue. Apparently neither did Mr. Clarke.

If you have personal physical limitations, then you do what you gotta do. Everyone doesn't have to deal with it though. Simple as that.

It's a different point of view. I'm not into the one size fits all mantra. Because it doesn't. Fulton already said himself it was a limiting technique. Why would I ever play with a limiting technique if I don't have to?
 
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#66
Spin Doctor said:
I'm not stopping anyone from playing however they want. But If I have to play music I don't care about just to keep a straight wrist, then I'll live in a sling if I have to.
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I don't know where you got the idea that you have to play a certain kind of music just to keep a straight wrist. CTS and other RMIs don't care what kind of music you play.

Spin Doctor said:
But I don't have that issue. Apparently neither did Mr. Clarke.
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You don't have that issue now, but the point is that injuries develop over time. Some people are luckier than others. The fact that Stanley has been playing like that for 50 years without injury doesn't mean it's a good idea, or that you'll be just as fortunate.

Spin Doctor said:
If you have personal physical limitations, then you do what you gotta do. Everyone doesn't have to deal with it though. Simple as that.
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Now, if you have some kind of "physical limitation" that requires you to play with a severely bent wrist, I apologize. Again, the issue at hand is the likelihood of future injury that might create physical limitations, not limitations you might have now.

Spin Doctor said:
It's a different point of view. I'm not into the one size fits all mantra. Because it doesn't. Fulton already said himself it was a limiting technique. Why would I ever play with a limiting technique if I don't have to?
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I also don't believe that there's only one right way to play -- but I think there are good reasons to believe that there are some "wrong" ways -- including hand positions that increase the likelihood of injury.

Really, all you'd have to do is lower the bass body a little bit, and hold your elbow out from your body rather than resting it lazily on top of the bass, and you could straighten out your wrist easily in a way that would accommodate any kind of playing. I don't understand why you want to make an argument out of this.
 
#67
Lobster11 said:
I don't understand why you want to make an argument out of this.
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I don't understand why you care how I play. I know my body pretty well and I understand how to keep it working well. At least so far. Be that as it may, I couldn't possibly care any less about how you play. Knock yourself out.

But believe me, you're not about to convince me of anything. Fulton is a great guy, but honestly, I've never heard him play anything that makes me want to emulate his style. I see Pattitucci, Clarke, Haslip and the others play, wrist bent, doing what I like. And killing it. There's a common pattern there and I've heard it mentioned before. In general, in fusion and jazz, you strap the bass kinda high to get at the stuff you want to. It works for me so far.

Anyway, I've seen it before and to me the bassists who only make bass playing about physical gyrations, generally have little to nothing to say musically. They may as well be out chopping wood.

OK, well. I'm pretty done with this topic. Enjoy!
 
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#70
James Collins said:
Are you now talking about the bent wrist on the right or the bent wrist on the left hand? Or both?

As with anything, you probably want to avoid extremes and find a position where you feel relaxed and playing is effortless.
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Both wrists. all i am showing in the videos is one point of view, based on that band and they music they play...

In this scenario it is not restrictive to what is needed for me to play...so any comments about it being restrictive are mute ones in this scenario.

The post is about making choices to suit playing situations, i see a lot of players playing with techniques/styles that are high impact, so the post shows that even what people may consider "restrictive", and the bass "way to low"..it shows it is not....or i would not use it.
 
#72
lat said:
I started playing with a bent wrist, then started having issues. I shortened my strap a few inches and angled the headstock forward and upward some more. Now, so far so good... touch wood...
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Is this a bent wrist?? it's me, I'm self-taught player, maybe it's not the right way to play
 
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#74
Here's my take on it. The human wrist can handle a certain amount of flexing. Just look at your everyday life, and notice just how much wrist bend you have in your everyday activities. I keep the neck plate on my bass over my belly button, and hold the neck at about a 30 degree angle. This helps me to keep my wrists relatively straight, but with a little bit of flex in my wrists which I believe does no harm to your wrists. Like anything else, I think going to extremes is what causes more harm than good. As usual, YMMV.
 
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#75
I broke my right wrist in February, had a cast and i'm still wearing a wrist brace most of the time because I got post-traumatic arthritis. I never stopped playing although I only get to play fingerstyle (my doctor said NO picking, NO slapping). I used to bend my wrist to some angle before, but now after the accident I have corrected the wrist bending since well, I cannot really bend it much LOL but i've gotten used to the new position even when not wearing the brace. I play the bass a little lower that I used to before because of it, and still feels comfortable.
 
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#76
Does anyone in here have experience with cubital tunnel syndrome? I was diagnosed last week and am wondering if there's anything I can do to keep it at bay moving forward. I play mostly with a pick and with the bass slung pretty low so that I can keep my wrist pretty straight, but find that I end up resting my funny bone area against the body of the bass while playing this way. I'm wondering if that contributed to the nerve inflammation.
 
#77
When playing with fingers, "slinging low" is great for the plucking hand (though usually terrible for the fretting hand) because you have a nice, straight wrist. However, it's usually terrible for pick playing, because you have to cock your wrist severely in order to pick perpendicular to the strings. Try shortening your strap, and make sure that your picking motion is entirely in the wrist and not in the fingers.

Here are two examples from a couple of the best pick players out there today:



 
#80
Bent wrists are fine, as long as you have the bass set up for, and you are playing with, a light touch. A gorilla grip and a bent wrist is a recipe for disaster. Low slung basses can cause problems as well.
 
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