Every player has to deal with challenges, whether they are mental, motivational or physical. Physical challenges require players to learn or create techniques that work for them as individuals.
Having a short pinky might require a player to microshift more than others, and that’s perfectly fine. It just takes time and dedicated practice to get comfortable with the technique to make it feel natural. Just keep practicing. It will come.
My pinky looks to just about come up to the last joint of my ring finger, pinky is about 2.8 cm short according to the ruler. I cannot do one finger per fret, nothing close. I have to microshift.
And I have recently discovered short scales are easier for me to play. I practice one finger per fret every time I practice by playing a simple groove - 11 33 44 flat5 5 and then just follow the 12 bar blues progression, A simple chromatic groove.
So I started to Beginner to Badass yesterday, and I’ve been playing bass for about 2 years now. I’ve already realized I have a habit of drifting off whenever the tempo is slower, and I tend to mess up the motes because im not paying attention.
And when i do pay attention, I tend to rush and hold down really hard, so my question is how would I pay attention yet not he so tense? My left hand hurts regularly and I know that’s not supposed to happen LOL
Both of those things happen to me when learning a song (if I am just noodling or what not, it’s not a problem)
So what I do is turn off the song/track and go over the part at a comfortable pace and focus on the problem, like must relax the grip, as I continue to practice and learn the song everything improves
For me it’s a mental thing
My pinky is just over 2.5cm shorter than my ring finger, it doesn’t impede my playing at all! Don’t get discouraged!
Same here. Especially on my dreadnaught guitar 
I don’t even want to. Simandl works great for me.
I think it’s silly to get locked into any particular way of playing. OFPF works well higher up the neck, but not so easy on frets 1-5. I don’t even think about the “right” way to play - just do what feels natural and allows you to play whatever you’re trying to play 
Adaptability in playing is key. The only real thing that matters is that the right notes ring at the right time. How a player technically achieves that goal is entirely personal.
That said, a whole lot of very experienced players have discovered/developed economy of motion techniques that can make hitting the note easier/faster/cleaner. It’s definitely worthwhile to study how they play and to experiment with what works best for you.
If it’s one finger per fret, go for it. If it’s primarily micro-shifting, do that.
As long as notes ring true when they’re supposed to, how you get there is entirely up to you.
I’ve been struggling with left hand technique, I don’t know if my bass neat the low end is too spread out for my hand or if I’m using too much force to try and stretch out my whole hand. Here are some pics. It hurts when I fret near the low end, and I know it shouldn’t lol
As has been said in this and many other threads, you don’t have play one-finger-per-fret in every (or really any) position on the neck. You can micro-shift your hand so your fingers can reach whichever notes you need to fret.
Listen to the pearls of wisdom from our Trusty Bass Teacher.
Speed of the Right hand right now. I find that the 16th or triplets fills are very tricky especially if they are fills. Going from s second to fifth gear sometimes my right hand can not keep up or at the very least get in the right gear.
It’s a slow development and it’s quite frustrating. I gotta start doing more finger exercises lol.
Ah thank you! I forgot about that episode, thanks!
i’d have a lot more free time 
I played (not bass) for about 10 years when i was younger and i’ve always struggled with that 
i have a really tough time playing without some kind of sheet music 
. I’m just way too chill 
My fretting is what I have a problem with. Getting my hands to stretch and keeping my fingers on the fret board without them flying off is my goal.
Hey everyone, wasn’t sure where to ask this but I’ve noticed (please dont laugh if this was obvious) that when I’m ascending the neck on the same string, I can keep the previous notes fretted and it makes no difference to the sound.
Is this bad practice to use all the time? Feel like this might be a very stupid question but I’ve been releasing every finger.
Most will likely tell you to keep them pushed down. It’s the whole “no flying fingers” thing. There’s always exceptions to every rule but, as far as most are concerned, you’re doing the right thing.
So If I was playing on the E string and I hit the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th frets in that order, the better form is to actually keep the frets pressed down in order to prevent flying fingers? If so, I’m gonna have to un-f**k some muscle memory 
