High Fret Frustration

I have the Squire by fender PJ, 20 frets. So it’s tough to reach those high notes as well. Here’s what I look like right now:
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I tried that thumb on the same side as fingers thing, but that’s very awkward:
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It’s like it wanted to bend my wrist backwards.

Here’s another angle:

Seems like my best bet here is having my thumb wrapped around the neck. That makes it impossible to use the pinky on the E string, but I am able to do the C major scale passably.

Like others on here, my main problem is doing all this seated. Mainly because I think my strap is too big even when it’s tightened to its fullest. So I may get a smaller strap. Standing generally seems to be easier for me, again, because the bass is fully supported. Sitting I have to sort of balance it with my right forearm and left thumb. And yes the pointing the neck away from you somewhere does help.

Down the road will definitely look into getting a model with more frets so high notes are easier to access.

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I generally only play standing so I haven’t noticed a difference, but one thing I have noticed is that for reaching the high frets, for me, elbow position is key. Try moving your elbow away from your body and see if that helps?

It looks like you have plenty of body cutout remaining there so I don’t think the particular bass model is contributing here, it seems more about ergonomics.

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Yes, thank you for the input, again, sitting is really the issue because my knee brings the instrument up a bit because I think I need to get a smaller strap. That’s when things can get really tight with my wrists inside the curves of the instrument when reaching for highest frets. I try and practice all exercises standing and sitting. Standing, with more support plus I tilt the neck up toward the ceiling a bit seems to work best for me for the whole neck. I also have a bad back so it gets stiff when I stand up for long periods of time so that is why I sit. Again, hopefully a new strap will help.

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Tilting the neck up and playing around with neck angle and bass position is a good call. I have found that helpful as well for lower positions.

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It’s not as much the cutout as it is the giant block of wood that meets the hand when you get past the 16th fret. Our puny Yamahas are no match for the redwood-sized lump of wood that constitutes the neck-to-body joint of a Fender.

It’s probably Fender’s way of telling us that we have no business in this register.

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@phillyball Tiliting the neck up is not enough, you need to tip the neck away from the plane formed by your shoulders as well (away from the body). This will give your left arm and wrist the “natural position” to access the frets up high. Also be sure the the plane defined by the body of the bass is as vertical as possible (as you would if standing); this keeps you have having to wrap your wrist around the neck more than is needed to fret your notes.

If you keep these things in mind, access to the upper frets is much better. Bear in mind the way the bass is held is not static, but rather it changes as it is played. I realized this when @Gio gave a tip about the Spider Climb. How often do we see our guitar heroes in various cool poses? Well, those poses are sometimes necessary depending on what is being played. Put another way, what is natural for the money notes down low on the neck isn’t natural for the upper frets, and vice versa. It’s a process; you’ll figure it out.

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@phillyball to play on high frets while sitting I have to play like this:

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To prevent some confusion:
What @enkhiel is referring to is how the bass rests on the left leg (he’s playing the lower frets in the video’s thumbnail, but don’t let that fool you – it is about the way the bass’s body is between the legs, allowing better access for the left hand to the higher frets).

This is why many players find it easier to play standing up, as it is easier to shift the bass to the left during playing.

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Exactly, thanks @peterhuppertz for pointing this out :slight_smile:

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When you talking about angling the plane away from me, are you talking about standing or sitting? Because I already angle it at about a 45° angle away from my body when sitting. And a little bit when I stand as well.

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Yeah. So, if you are sitting facing north, then the neck would move out to point northwest a bit when you access the high frets (closer to the pickups).

Another thing is make sure when seated that the bass doesn’t tilt against your body, you want it to be as vertical as you can, so you don’t have to wrap that wrist around so far when accessing those high frets. I know there’s a temptation to want to see the whole fret board, but there’s a reason by the dots on on top.

When reaching with the pinky, I like to rotate my wrist a bit to help my pinky reach the frets.

All these motions are fluid; there’s no set stance or posture. Hence practice, to get the movements down. I like to watch experienced bassists and study that left hand: “What’s he or she doing? How are they doing that?” etc.

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Er… is that legal? Never even considered using the thumb like that. Will definitely try that on higher frets

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Totally legal and it helps a lot!

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@tamaraster, out of curiosity, do you use that technique across the fretboard or just on higher frets?

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Since I saw that picture that Josh made and also a lot of other comments/recommendations to let go of the thumb I do that too.
Lower on the fretboard I keep the thumb on the neck.

One excpetion: sometimes I still practice with the thumb not on the neck even on lower frets on purpose to train not to “deathgrip”. You just use the counterweight of your right arm and the fingers for pressure.

In summary: You don’t need the thumb and letting go with it can actually improve other aspects of your playing.

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Yeh, that’s one of the benefits I was thinking about using this technique! Will give it a go right now!

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I mostly use it on the higher frets. But sometimes when I’m sitting down, my bass will tend to be tilted towards me too much, and playing on the E string even on the lower frets can be a little challenging, and I sometimes do it then. But mostly when I play on lower frets, my thumb is on the back and pointed towards the headstock.

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I’ve been practicing the same way as much as I can remember to. When I first tried it I was surprised how much fretting pressure could be applied without any thumb contact. I haven’t yet figured out what people mean by neck speed since I’m barely touching it. It’s also probably because I am yet to play fast enough for the neck design to be what’s holding me back :sweat_smile:.

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Yeah I would imagine as the fingers get stronger then automatically there would be less thumb pressure. I tried to do the no thumb thing on the high frets, but it was impossible. I will attempt to practice on lower frets with no thumb just to build strength.

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Totally agree, this helped me a lot while I was getting started.

It’s also that with a proper setup, you will be surprised how little pressure it takes to properly fret a note. It should be almost effortless.

I’ve posted it elsewhere, but this early Adam Neely vid was super helpful for me. I am convinced it saved me from an RSI.

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