How to stop the middle finger claw?

Watching my recent cover I posted, I noticed my middle finger is constantly in a “claw”-type form, sticking up. Any advice for how to fix the claw?

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If it is more “cosmetic” and not in any way impeding your playing, I wouldn’t worry about it.

It could be your own “signature thing” and in twenty years, hordes of new bass players will try to copy your style :sunglasses:

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I have The Claw hand too, particularly if trying to do something faster. I’ve watched a lot of videos on the subject and they all say the same thing: go sloooooooooooowww. Like snail pace slow, one note at a time (like practicing a scale or just walking up the neck and moving up/down strings). I hate it personally because I’m impatient. But I think I’ve noticed some improvement.

I met a bass teacher yesterday and he said similar, that you go slow and it will work out in time. Of course, time is the annoying part as I want it to work nooowwwwww.

Edit to add: the bass teacher also told me not to stress too much about it :slight_smile:

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Generally good (if slightly annoying) advice. But, judging from the video @Old_WannaBe referred to, he wasn’t using the middle finger much at all, i.e., it was “just” hovering there in a slightly claw-like fashion. However, when he did use the middle finger, it didn’t seem to create any issues. But… that’s just from judging from that video :smile:

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Yeah, its just its natural position is to rise when when my index and ring are actuated—it feels like a seesaw thing going on with my tendons/finger muscles.

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In my case the key seems to be to relax the fretting hand and fretting fingers as much as possible. The more tense I am, the more likely they are to fly around uncontrollably and look stupid in general.

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Definitely. Relaxation of the fretting hand leads to accuracy and fluidity of motion. And it’s totally possible to achieve by practicing relaxing the hand when playing very slowly. Speed will follow eventually, but only after teaching the hand how to relax.

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well thats my problm, i am a high strung always tense kinda guy

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It will sort itself out in time

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wouldn’t worry about it. I do some bizarre stuff. If I’m playing a rif and not using my pinkie sometimes it sticks out and other times its tucked under the fretboard. It’s usually tension and concentration which happens less the more I practice and don’t have to think so hard.

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