I have struggled when josh changes the fingering and you start with your middle finger. There has been a couple of lesson hes done that on…Its when I have to fret with my index finger and pluck with my middle for some reason that really twists my brain lol its like it just says nope… I think he did that on one of the octave lessons, its one of the things that really stumped me no matter how much I practiced… funny.
2 Likes
Try looking thru them and see where they can be played easier then the way they are written.
Such as that part in the 2nd bar that goes 5,2. 4,0 The 5 could be an open D on the same string the 4 is played, so its a 2 string with 2 opens. Making it 0,2. 4,0. (different strings, just showing the fret order, not string played)
Also, look to see if there are finger positions (like cords, or not) where you can just use one finger for freeting different strings and frets, while the other fingers can stay still while you cross all over the strings.
1 Like
I mostly struggle with the pinky (oh, the classic!) but it’s not about strength, as my pinky can hammer on quite easily and navigate the frets with it; it’s that after maybe 5th? 7th fret? I can’t reach the string while resting my fingers apart on the same string. For example if I do the 1-2-3-4 exercise, the 4 which must be done with pinky, makes the rest of the hand to tighten and reach the E and the A string.
Does that make sense? 
3 Likes
When doing the 1-2-3-4 ecxercise, you should leave each finger on the fret as you go, so index - index stays down fret middle finger - index and middle stay down fret ring finger – all 3 stay down fret pinky.
This exercise is designed to train you.r fingers to not go crazy all over the place. after you do it a while, and build agility, and muscle memory it should start to be alot easier for you.
That should help, unless I am misunderstanding what you are describing.
4 Likes
If you can’t reach up to the E string on higher frets (down past the 9th fret) then adjust your wrist, bring it forward, while sliding your thumb to the bottom of the neck, and when you get down in the high teens and 20 frets, it may be necessary to take your thumb off the neck, and hold your whole hand in front of the fretboard.
5 Likes
Yes, you are right, you understood correct!
I am trying to keep my fingers on every fret of the 1-2-3-4 exercise, which is fine on D - G string but when I am, for instance, on 5th fret with my index - and so on, but on A string and E, my pinky can’t reach the height (?) of the other fingers.
So, I can’t keep one finger per fret, my elbow starts to push against my body and the fingers gather all glued to the pinky 
2 Likes
Try taking your thumb off the back of the neck and put your whole hand in front of the neck when you are fretting with the pinky.
There is no rule saying your thumb is planted on the back of the neck.
You also may be szueezing the neck with your whole hand. Try doing the fretting with your thumb off the neck so you can 't squeeze your hand.
You really don’t ever waant to get where you have a death grip on the neck, you want to be relaxed with your fretting hand, only fretting hard enough to get the proper tone without fret buzz (when you are fretting directly behind the fret, not on top of it and not in the middle of the frets) .
4 Likes
So I watch Ari or Mark or Josh and they effortlessly get all 4 fingers on all the strings and all the frets up high on the fretboard.
I don’t have what you would call small hands, my fingers are not the longest, but I feel like I should be able to reach, but cant.
If I reposition the bass, meaning pull it up from body to headstock it makes it easier, but that’s just silly.
How are you all doing this?
4 Likes
What I found for me: elbow position is huge. There is a tendency to want to hug your body with it when doing this. Fight that. Consciously try and force your elbow away from your body, and you will find the reach easier.
Also, as @T_dub mentioned, rotate your entire hand and wrist around the fretboard. Don’t even bother trying to keep your thumb in the middle of the neck when doing this - it’s harmful in my experience. It’s fine to have your thumb along the bottom edge of the fretboard, or even in front of it - as long as you rotate the rest of your arm around as well to try and keep a straight wrist.
Which gets back to why elbow position is key here. You need to move your elbow out kind of diagonally away from your body to do this. A lot, it feels like (though it really isn’t), for this to work well. But for some reason I tended to have a mental block against that.
Above all, you should be trying to keep your wrist as straight as possible at all times. Angling the bass up (so the headstock moves toward your head) helps a lot here too.
This whole video is great, and he gets in to this specifically just after six minutes in:
7 Likes
For me it’s a sore right shoulder and tricep. I find that bass positioning is a real important thing, otherwise it gets bad.
3 Likes
Being Lemmy
3 Likes
Practice! I think a lot of people assume, if they see someone playing a guitar with good left hand technique that they got fretting down before they did any kind of work with a guitar, and that’s not true. Fretting, in my experience, is the thing I am constantly evolving.
I started not being able to reach the frets, so I changed my posture and moved my fingers around a lot to compensate. I got stronger and my posture got better and I could stretch more. I wanted to start muting the strings and finally had the strength and had practiced my positioning enough that I could start to lay my fingers flat on the fretboard. My thumb started moving down the neck instead of having a chokehold on it. My touch became lighter. My fingers could extend further. My pinky could hold a string down by itself. Etc. etc. etc.
It happens over time, but it’s harder to unlearn something and relearn it than to attempt to do it from the get-go. Comfort is key, so don’t strain yourself, but really take a look at what you’re doing as you go along. Recognize what good posture is and correct accordingly when something isn’t working right. Hope this helps!!
4 Likes
I don’t care about one finger per fret theory. Unless you have fingers like E.T. you’ll only end up with wrist pains (like I did) if you try this below 5th fret. Instead I just micro-shift in that area.
6 Likes
100% This. Microshifting is something I still do even though I have long-ish fingers. I came from a place where I was used to a guitar’s more forgiving fret distances, I guess. I’m getting better with reach now, but that’s after a solid 3 months of practice by this point.
And check this out – Even cute little grandpa-types who used to be in The Beatles like to shift their hands around:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obFcsEtFIKA
7 Likes
If the notes come out right, that’s all that really matters . . . 
I’ll be microshifting til the day I die.
Cheers
Joe
7 Likes
And if they don’t just keep going, chances are very few will notice, and we are only talking about a fraction of a second.
Me too 
7 Likes
me three
4 Likes
It’s the only way to fly
3 Likes
Also, don’t keep your bass parallel to your body, angle the headstock up and away from you, this presents a much better wrist/finger angle when playing the upper frets.
3 Likes
Ditto
4 Likes