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Left Hand Form

Technique Beginner 2 min read

Updated

I look at technique as simply the process of getting the music you hear in your head out through your hands onto the instrument. You only need enough technique to play what you hear. This post walks through the left-hand default position — the most relaxed place your hand can sit — and how to practice from there.

Originally published June 20, 2015, lightly edited for clarity.

I look at Technique as simply the process of physically getting the music you are hearing through your hands onto the instrument. Looking at it this way it seems to me that you only need enough technique to play what you hear and in practicing technique, it is important that you, the musician, find the appropriate balance between practicing exercises and the practicing of playing music. If you do not apply the technical information of the exercise to a song, the exercise will not help you improve and you will be wasting practice time. That being said, when working on right and left hand exercises on the bass I suggest working on what I call the default positioning of your hands. This means find the most relaxed position for the hand and practice exercises and music slowly in this position. There will be, of course, times as you play faster in the lower positions of the bass that you will need to stretch out the fingers to get to your notes on time. The idea is to always go back to the default position every chance you get and mostly work from that relaxed place. The following online bass lesson shows how to set up the default position for your left hand. Left-hand technique is one of the fundamentals I teach. If you want personalized feedback on your left-hand form, online bass lessons via Zoom are available.

  1. Right-Hand Form for 5-String Bass

    Technique Intermediate 5 min read

    The extra string on a 5-string bass makes string noise your biggest enemy, and clean playing depends almost entirely on your right hand. Here's how to set up your thumb, finger mechanics, and left-hand damping so the strings you aren't playing stay quiet — plus three exercises to drill the form on open strings.

  3. Smart Right Hand Fingering

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    The quality of your bass playing on fast, complex material comes down to how efficiently your right (plucking) hand works. The goal is to move and deliver notes in the most relaxed, efficient way possible. Smart right-hand fingering is about finding that relaxed path — and knowing when to break the rules for a specific piece of music.

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