A couple people have mentioned it in the course and Josh has said to simply adjust strap to appropriate height. I typically play the course sitting down with legs at 90 degrees and with strap on. My right leg tends to kick the bottom of the bass out a bit making it easy to see the strings. When I stand, (strap keeps the bass at same height) there is nothing to kick the bottom of the bass out and I can no longer see the strings. If I crane my neck over it help a bit but is uncomfortable and awkward. Any thoughts?
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@bobzak Iām glad you asked that, because itās been a challenge for me as well. I play mostly standing up and have developed some upper back pain from craning my neck to look at the fretboard. Sometimes I wish I was pregnant so my stomach would push out the bass and give me a better view. Iām sure a nice round beer belly would work too. Seriously though, Iād like to see the answer to this question.
I know this doesnāt answer your question or help you in any way, but what Iāve been doing lately is training myself to know my way around the fretboard without looking at it. Itās not easy, and itās going to take time, but I think I can do it. If I can type 60-70 WPM without looking at the keyboard, I should be able to develop this skill also.
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Well, I can say from a bit of experience that the beer belly really doesnāt help 
Iām going to try and put my right foot on a short stool. Raises the thigh and kicks the Bass out a bit.
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well I donāt have a beer belly and Iām pretty sure Iām not pregnant 
but the real question I have is : why would you need to see the strings ? on every bass (I think ?) there are dots on the fretboardās side, those things are here to show the frets when youāre standing
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I think what he is saying (Correct me if Iām wrong) is that heās trying to see which string heās on and if his finger is in the right position etc. I was doing the same thing, which is why I stated previously that Iām working on gaining the confidence of knowing where my fingers are, on what fret, and which string, without having to gaze at the fretboard. I think the more one plays the instrument and gains knowledge and confidence, the more one becomes liberated from having to visually find their way around the fretboard.
Just the humble opinion of a total bass newby.
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yeah @PamPurrs you must be right. as I have some habbit of stringed instruments I must probably underestimate the challenge of knowing on which string your fingers are. sorry.
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Pampurrs has it right. Iām sure as I gain experience this wonāt be as much an issue.
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I think I misunderstood, I was also thinking about seeing the fret markers on the fretboard itself. well yeah, sorry again, my answer was pretty irrelevant.
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No thoughts on how to tilt the body so you can see the strings becauseā¦
It does the tick for me 
However, I found that I was getting a sore neck & shoulder from constantly looking down at the neck. I started making a very conscious effort to āfeelā where I was on the neck - easier than it sounds when youāre still on notes close together or patterns such as scales. Now I have to make an effort to keep the bass flat to my body to stop tempting myself to look. I find the dots on the top edge of the neck help get the approximate position of a few notes and feel the rest out. You can look to begin with on a new line, but Iād say you want to be breaking that habit as early as possible. Interestingly, itās not something that Iāve heard any teacher talk about.
As with all things to do with learning an instrument (or anything new, really) it takes a little time to get through these little bumps in the road.
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@bobzak and everyone else, honestly this is one of the trickiest postural things to help with without being actually in the room with a student. If this helps at all:
- First of all, I donāt look at the neck super often, like @PamPurrs is working on
- BUT, when I do need to see all the strings for more āambitiousā playing (i.e. the kind hardly anyone ever needs to do on a gig), I do turn my head to the left and then tilt it down approx 1-2 inches. That seems to be plenty of movement for me, and my bass is sitting pretty flat (front plane of body perpendicular to the floor), as I do not drink beer.
Does that feel difficult, or like a very slight forward tilt isnāt making your neck visible?
@Gio, any thoughts on this issue? Have you had students struggle with it, and what did they usually need to tweak to fix it?
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No new help here.
The only thing I would add to this is what I call āBlast Shield Trainingā with my students.
Recall, if you will, Star Wars Episode IV. On board the Millenium Falcon. Luke is beginning his training with Obi Wan. Han scoffs.
HAN: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
LUKE: You donāt believe in the Force, do you?
HAN: Kid, Iāve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. Iāve seen a lot of strange stuff, but Iāve never seen anything to make me believe thereās one all-powerful force controlling everything. Thereās no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.
(Ben smiles quietly.)
HAN: Itās all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
BEN: I suggest you try it again, Luke.
(Ben places a large helmet on Lukeās head which covers his eyes.)
BEN: This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct.
LUKE: (laughing) With the blast shield down, I canāt even see. How am I supposed to fight?
BEN: Your eyes can deceive you. Donāt trust them.
Ok. So you had to read through some Star Wars to get there, but it needs the context!!
I make all my students go through their warmups and scale practice with Blast Shield training once theyāre comfy with their eyes. It helps to reinforce one of my most passionate and important messages: play with your ears, not your eyes.
Soā¦ my contribution here (in addition to the Star Wars referenceā¦ (youāre welcome)) is to practice everything without looking, and have playing eyes-free be a goal.
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Thank you Gio, that was quite enlightening. This is āsort ofā what Iāve been trying to do lately. As part of my daily warm up routine, I play (attempt) scales all over the fret board without looking. I start by finding the Cs and Fs in various places and just go from there. It takes a lot of practice and Iām sure it will be a long time before I perfect it.
I have this voice in my head saying, *The Force will be with you. Always."
And then, just when I think itās not working, I hear another, deeper voice saying, "I find your lack of faith disturbing.ā
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Oh man! There is so much GOLD in this thread. What a perfect example of why I look forward to checking in on the BassBuzz forumsā¦ Everyā¦ Singleā¦ Day.
Thank you all. This was the highlight of my day. 
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That sounds much cooler than what I said. Even cooler if you really commit, like thisā¦
Iām glad to read the comments from Jedi Masters and Council Members @JoshFossgreen and @Gio, mainly because I thought I mightāve been suggesting something more advanced than the course covers. I just know that for physical comfort reasons at this stage I had to change. Coincidentally, today I have a tension headache (have done since late last night) so if I hadnāt got to the point that I could play without looking at the neck 50% of the time I doubt Iād have been playing at all today.
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Thanks everyone for you comments and suggestions. Iām very new at this and just about half way thru the B2B course. Time to put that darned blast shield on me thinks.
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@Gio - Some of the best advice Iāve heard, and a great example given to support that advise! I never thought about it like that before, but now that I think about it, my wife has taken many picās of me playing my guitars and bassās, and in most all of them my eyes are always closedā¦
Iāve been told several times by people that I need to open my eyes and connect to the audience, but when I do, I tend to screw up - for me itās like loosing my focus (groove). Not sure if anyone else has experienced this same thing, but the only way Iāve found that I can play in any sort of public atmosphere is to wear my 'Maui Jimās" so that no one can see that my eyes are closedā¦ 
Damn, maybe I got a little off subject here - sorryā¦
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Super. Amazing. Thatās not my commitment levelā¦ but my heart supports it 100%
@Lanny - I worked for a long time with a classically trained, graduate degree from the conservatory super pro violin player. Every gig he preferred to wear a low slung ball cap and sunglasses for exactly that reason. Whatever works!
I will say this though - the next level of the blast shield training is the Jedi Mind-Meld with your fellow musiciansā¦ and this is much more easy to accomplish with awkward eye contact. It can be hilarious how difficult it is to make eye contact with your fellow musicians whilst playing. I am trying to make it happen more, and make it more comfortable. Itās like all of sudden youāre naked, and your guitar buddy across the stage is too, and youāre both like āum, why are you looking at me? Iām naked.ā
We, as musicians, have to get past the awkward eye contact phase and get into the āI can see your brain and follow your vibesā stage of the live playing. I think eye contact is a key indgredient to that.
Andā¦ all of that is to say - you canāt make eye contact with your band mates if youāre staring at the fret board or in Bass-Player-Landā¢ * with your eyes closed.
- Bass-Player-Land is a beautiful place where the crowd is totally ignoring the lead singer and soloist and only vibing on the killer groove of the bass player. Itās the place where the drummer is playing tastefully and in the pocket, and the singer knows all their entrances - a place where guitar players are playing at the appropriate volume and all of the gear works all of the time, and bass players are revered as the most integral and important member of any ensemble. I understand why we all want to close our eyes and be thereā¦ I get it. Really, I do. (check out that shaggy dude on the rightā¦)
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Iāll have a pint of whatever @Gio is drinking. 
Some of the most entertaining reading Iāve done on the internet this week. Thanks.
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I want to visit Bass-Player-Landā¢!
I would litteraly make that next yearās vacation spot. Where do I sign up?
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@Gio - Hmmmm. At 67 years old I think Iāll just stick to wearing my āMaui Jimāsā,ā¦ andā¦ my clothesā¦
Besides, not sure I wanna have mental āin the buffā visions any of the people I jam with who are also retired Viet-Nam veteransā¦ Hell, I already suffer from PTSD - why make it worse??..
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