Six Common Problems with Left Hand Technique on the Double/Upright Bass.

In this beginners upright bass lesson I show you the 6 most common problems that I see with left-hand technique and of course, how to put them right.

I compiled this list of issues I see most often with left-hand technique. It's really easy to not realise you are making these mistakes, so check them out to make sure you are doing things the right way!

Establishing a great hand shape will transform your tuning. Stop worrying about intonation and start focusing entirely on the music.

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[nemo]

I began learning double bass in 1952 and even after all this time I find it's important to review these tips. Sometimes our habits change so slowly that we may not notice. This channel can be very helpful. Very helpful.

[michaeljackson]

two things i immediately saw in my playing after watching this video.  my fingers are too bunched up and my pinky is not properly arched.  his videos are good and i have improved my technique significantly.  cheers!

[basstheory]

Thanks for the lesson. I made the 2016 All-state Festival and Double Bass for orchestra. If you haven't heard, the All-state Festival gathers the very best high school musicians in the state of Iowa. Thousands of people try to get in, but most fail. I haven't played nearly as long as the other people there. I made it on my first try(senior year). Neither my band or orchestra can help me really with bass. One plays trombone and the other plays Violin. The only one that could help, (that plays for Omaha Symphony Orchestra) is an cocky, conceited, egotistic asshole. I wasn't going to ask him anything. In short I wondering why I couldn't play that long. My hand posture isn't bad at all. I knew basically everything you said, it was just nuance things that you mentioned, that made me check everything twice. There was one thing I know I definitely wasn't doing. All in all, good stuff. :)

[DiscoverDoubleBass]

Hey Jem, that's really common and will take a bit of time to correct. You just need to keep focus on correcting it and over time it will start to feel natural. It should lift up only enough to let the string sound. Think about relaxing that finger as much as possible. Good luck, I know it can be tough to get that to become a habit, but it will happen. Cheers Geoff

[nicokruger]

Great tips. I have had pupils who are double jointed which makes it hard for them to keep a round handshape. Thank you, I enjoyed the video.

[nab]

Excellent! Just what I was looking for. Problem number 4! Thank you!

[jacek]

Thankfully I don't do any of these, but I have another one - the 3rd finger and sometimes 4th as well get stiff when I play with 2nd finger in lower positions (I - III). Because of a stretch between 1. and 2. it's hard to fix this problem, even if I keep attention to it!

[AgnazarTube]

Good video, good examples, good production. But it could be even better if you show 'correct' variant on all examples. In order to show real difference

[stevenbridgewater]

My bass teacher bunched his fingers, but he also was missing the tips of two of his fingers so it was hard to play like that. Sometimes you gotta do what's works for you. Also it was for bluegrass bass qhich is played completely diffrent.

[Fluffypara]

I’m gonna note these later after my nest

[hsben]

thank you i hve sick on the index finger but after i saw this contents and very good to my finger

[OPTRsgtbear]

I have a problem with #6. I do it sometimes during rehearsal, but I don't during concerts

[nicholasr-m]

hello, how can i improve knuckle collapse in thumb position if i'm not strong enough yet?

[jemdyson]

What should I do if my pinky splays out whenever I use my first or second finger?

[zacharymorin]

Good thing that siren only started going off at the end lol

[josemariacerisola]

Great lesson!i found it very helpful! Personally im havin trouble with number 5, maintaining the distance between finger 1 and 2 but im working on it, any advice to improve this?

[goranslavich]

I agree with 10% of what u're saying, but the rest I just find unacceptable. Just looking a few videos of Streicher, Stoll or Karr will explain better what I try to say, and then ina a jazz-vane there are also a lot of examples. I believe the only good left hand technique is the one that, first of all, doesn't exclude the connection with the right hand, the mind and the rest of our body, and that connection, of course, will vary a bit from style to style. If we only speak about the anatomic part of technique, then it should be the way we're able to use our hand "full-power" without getting tired and earning a tendinitis, without getting out of tune of course. In my and my students case, it's proven that having a thumb relaxed (but not static!) allows us to adjust perfectly the rest of the fingers on any board. As a clump between the thumb and the rest of them, with a difference that the pressure which is supposed to be coming from the thumb, in fact, is coming from where the resonate box is touching our body (stomac, hip, etc). That way, we work both left hand and the whole body position because each hand, body, double bass or bow is different. Greetings.

[johnf.hebert]

youre sitting in this video, but if "one" is standing i find a completely different feel...should the arm almost "hang on" to the neck pull the fingers back?

[saintanthony]

Is there an excessive you can recommend for finger posture

[joejohnson]

Lol jokes on you. I broke my little finger as a kid and it's never straight.