Exercise sticky

[Phil Hendren]

what about Index finger on your plucking hand.. I get pain in the last joint of my right hand index finger and on the side of it.. I use alternate plucking index, middle but only the index gets sore...I think using a mouse alot during the day contributes to it also.. Any thoughts? Stretching exercises for plucking hand ?

 

[Phil Hendren]

Oh found this on the above mentioned site...http://www.cyberfretbass.com/misc-wisdom/weinkum/right-hand-technique-exercises/index.php

 

[matthewbrown]

I favor right hand exercises using floating thumb technique while using the left hand to touch the harmonics at the 7th fret. I pair this with a metronome, working on different subdivisions. I also do lots of single string scales, and arpeggios all the way up and down the neck. On fretless these are critical. I use an app called Tunable for these to set s drone as a pitch reference.

 

[Five String]

Subd

 

[capnsandwich]

One of my favorite exercises and warm-ups before playing is a fun one but a tricky one too, especially if you're not used to practicing the 1 finger per fret method. You simply start on G on the E string, (that's where I start, you can start wherever you want) and do a simple major triad, so you would play G with the middle finger, then B on the A string with the index finger, and then D on the A sting with the pinky. OK, that's Ionian, then you switch to Dorian where you play A with the pinky on the G string, C with the middle finger, and E with the index finger on the D string. You just continue playing triads through the modes until you end up at Ionian again. Then, and here's the tricky part (at least for me), do it all again but backwards. It's really gets the blood running through your fingers and stretches out all those tendons and lubes up the joints before playing. Plus, it's a great way to learn your modes!

 

[Ewo]

Good one, Cap'n! As you say, it will help with fingerboard knowledge, as well. Just move it around through the keys.

 

[Michael Evdemon]

I think that exercises work better if they are used in a harmonic environment, since you learn things that you can use in music and not just movements on the fretboard. I often use Ascending Descending patterns (going up and down) on four note arpeggios. For example I choose a key, let’s say, G major and I play G – B – D – F# and then I play the next chord which is Amin7, but I start from the higher note of the arpeggio, G – E – C – A. Then I play the next chord Bmin7, B – D – F# - A. And play the rest of the diatonic chords until I am out of notes only in one position.

So to put in order the exercise is like this:
UP Gmaj7 (G – B – D – F#)
DOWN Amin7 (G – E – C – A)
UP Bmin7 (B – D – F# - A)
DOWN Cmaj7 (B – G – E – C)
UP D7 (D – F# - A – C)
DOWN Emin7 (D – B – G – E)

Then I return from Emin7 and I go back to D7, Cmaj7, Bmin7, Amin7, Gmaj7.

Then I go to the next position on the fretboard and I start the same routine from Amin7. And I do it for all the positions and for all the chords. At the end of the exercise I have my fingers beautifully exercised but my mind also, since I have played all the chords of the diatonic harmony in all positions and in both Ascending Descending patterns!

 

[braindead0]

Good stuff, thanks everyone for the contributions...

6 pages of EXERCISES and nobody pointed out the thread title is misspelled ;-).. might help show up in searches if that were corrected...

 

[misterCRUSH]

I acquired a great book called "Bach for bass" it's great for warming up, and I covered up all the tab so it's good for my reading too

 

[JordanFireStar]

I hope that I am posting this in the right area. If not, then please forgive me.

My index finger is slightly under 3 inches long (about 2.9 inches), and I was wondering, how much will not being able to reach from the 1st fret to the 3rd hinder me on a full scale? Would it be better for me to use a shortscale? I already play guitar and I tend to struggle a lot when trying to reach to the 4th fret, so I have to microshift which makes it difficult for me to play some faster songs. Would it be better for me to get a full scale?

Anyways, my main question was, would I be able to reach reasonable distances with lots of stretching exercises? Or would it be more worthwhile to get a shortscale?

 

[JfetPre775]

Thanks Pacman. I hope this thread will be useful for anyone that needs to improve their technique.

Concerning the left (or fretting) hand technique, I've suggested the spider exercise a number of times. It's good for practicing the one finger per fret technique and the overall left hand coordination, as you use all fingers in the exercise.

The spider:

G: -----7-----8-----5-----6--  (Repeat x times)
D: --5-----6-----7-----8-----
A: --------------------------
E: --------------------------
     I  R  M  P  R  I  P  M


-----7-----8-----5-----6--
--------------------------
--5-----6-----7-----8-----
--------------------------

-----7-----8-----5-----6--
--------------------------
--------------------------
--5-----6-----7-----8-----

Focus on learning the first line properly (on the D and G strings, only one tabbed out fully) before trying the other two incorporating string skipping, as they're harder and require a longer stretch.

Here's a variation of the spider that I've come up with as a complement. In this, all intervals you play are different:

Altered spider:

G: ------8-----7-----5-----6--- (repeat)
D: ---5-----6-----8-----7------
A: ----------------------------
E: ----------------------------
      I  P  M  R  P  I  R  M

You get the rest of that I think...


Then I have a good warm-up exercise too:

-1-------------4-5-------------2-3-------------6-7-------------4-5-------
---2---------3-----4---------3-----4---------5-----6---------5-----6-----
-----3-----2---------3-----4---------5-----4---------5-----6---------7---
-------4-1-------------2-5-------------6-3-------------4-7-------------8-ect....
 
 I M R P I M R P P R M I P R M I I M R P etc.
(Left hand fingering: I=Index, M=Middle, R=Ring, P=Pinky)

Feel free to post more exercises in this thread. I wouldn't mind learning some new ones either.



Warning: Be careful and listen to your body when practicing the spider exercise. Don't stretch too much if you feel you can't do it, as it may be hazardous. Develop the flexibility slowly. You don't learn to do a split in one day either, right?

So many of you are likely familiar with Steve Bailey; The Ridiculous 3-finger chord/harmonics 6 string fretless bass monster, Most well known in bassist circles for the Bass Xtremes albums he and Victor Wooten did together (plus the fantastic Book & instructional DVD). Well reading @Deacon_Blues post reminded me of a series of technical exercises from one of Steve Bailey’s books he called;
-THE HAZARD EXCERCISES;
You play up to the G string 2nd fret then LEAVE your index finger fretting the 1st fret as you descend to to the E string, at 2nd fret LEAVE your middle finger fretting (still keeping index down) as you ascend up to the G string etc.. Then do it in reverse like the spider excercise only MUCH harder particularly on 5-6 string basses!! (I have more of these but I’m on an iPhone now)

-Hazard 1 >=Hold finger down
A)
- - - - - - - - - ->1-2-3-2—————— - —3-4
- - - - - - -1-2– - - - -- -3-2——————3-4
- - - -1-2 ——- ————- - -3-2—- — - 3-4
1- 2- - - - —————————— -3>2-3-4
B)
-1-2———————- - - - ->2-3-4
— - -1-2- - - - - —— -2-3- —- - -3-4
- - - - - -1-2- - - - -2-3- ————- - -3-4
————— - >1-2-3– - —————- - - -3-4
In Steve’s version you shift from the G string 4th fret up to the 5th position in the second part 1st finger 5th fret. Then continue the excercise alternating between the two exercises shifting up at the end of each part all the way up the neck..