Left Hand Thumb Technique for Double Bassists

[@wyrdstone85]

Unbelievable. I was really struggling with ache and fatigue in my left hand after playing for only a few minutes at a time. Must be a technique problem, I thought; so I watched this video, then the “How to control your left hand” video. Instantly, my hand stopped aching and I could play on for longer BUT also my intonation improved straight away. So did my tone. Can’t believe it was that quick or straightforward a fix, but the results don’t lie. THANKS GEOFF!!

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Thanks for letting me know! I'm so pleased it helped. Cheers Geoff :-)

[@Doppelbasser]

Thanks for this lesson! What you explain at 05:30 about the thumb moving around the neck (to the opposite side of the low strings) really helped me to reduce fatigue and pain in the joint of my thumb when I have to play in the upper positions on the lower strings for a longer time.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

I'm so pleased it was helpful. Thanks for letting me know and best of luck with all your playing :-)

[@ricric4827]

invaluable for beginners, many thanks

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Glad it was helpful! :-)

[@cascanicoff5763]

As usual a great lesson. And one that I was badly looking for because - you guess it - I am having left hand pain when playing. I will definitely use this in my practice. Thank you, Geoff. You have the best DB channel in KZbin, as far as I can tell.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Thanks so much, I'm glad it helped. BTW, if you're having pain in the left hand, I would recommend checking out this lesson which might help: discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@conner2811]

This is an excellent channel! It has really helped with my transition from bass guitar. Thanks for the great content

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Happy to help! Best of luck with your musical journey and great to hear you're transitioning from electric to upright :-)

[@EvilSean62]

I`ve recently bought an upright ... played bass for 40+ years ..so...always wanted finally got it took a while but the pain did indeed arrive its a paradigm shift but i`ll live thank you from the corner of my thenar group and keep up the good work ( i realise this last comment was largely superfluous as I'm almost certain you weren't about to quit the whole genre without my impetus ) ...regardless once again ...thank you

[@frederickthorne2496]

These lessons are so helpful! Thank you so much!

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Thanks, I really appreciate that! :-)

[@Visorna1]

so so calm and methodically . thanks. ill check out the step by step course now. :D all the best

[@RachelWillmer]

I love the pulling a pint of beer analogy :)

[@hhohn]

Geoff, your technique videos have helped me play those monster 3 hour swing dance gigs and still feel like I could go out and do some combo work later. Thank you.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

hhohn That's great to hear! Thanks for letting me know, it's really cool to hear the lessons are helping :-)

[@Viwiane]

Geoff! That's what I've needed so much! Thank you very very much! =) Because I have a huge problem with playing while standing and now I have some tips of what to do. Maybe now it won't be painful and uncomfortable... Have a nice week and greetings from Poland! :)

[@angelicons]

Awesome, I appreciate that you are coming back to this issue quite often. I feel like I have seen so many videos on the arm weight topic... Mainly your posture video helped me a lot and I have been working on this simple, genious but also so difficult method for some two weeks and the G string feels so easy to pull down suddenly, it's just the E that causes me trouble sometimes. It might be that my strings are too hard, it might be that I don't lean towards the neck like you show in the video, I don't know, but time will tell. Thanks for the lessons. also #productionvalue

[@KriZeZZ]

angelicons What do i know, i struggle with kind of the same problem, but i think the best technique is to keep your wrist right. Use the bigger muscle groups and instead of putting your left elbow too high, put your head more forward.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

angelicons Thanks, I'm glad it's useful...it's very tough thing to describe and I think that as long as you are aware that it's an important area that your body will fine tune the best approach for you. It took me a long time to get fluent at using arm weight in my left and right hands, but it makes a huge difference so is well worth the effort. Best of luck getting the E sorted :-)

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

KriZeZZ That sounds like a good approach. I'm with you on the bigger muscle groups and I think it's possible to hold the elbow too high and that can cause problems. For me it's actually very similar with both the right and left arms, that they are slightly open at the elbow to allow the arm weight and keep the wrists straight....but there's a lot of different ways to approach it. Thanks for checking out the lesson, cheers Geoff :-)

[@felipegianei]

Amazing lesson! Thank you bro

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

***** Thanks Felipe, I hope life's treating you well mate, cheers Geoff

[@tompreston7580]

Super helpful tips, I’m learning as an electric bassist and had a lot of pain

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Glad it helped! Be sure to check out our beginner's lessons such as this one on our website if you're having pain. discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@tompreston7580]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass will do, didn’t expect it to be as different as it is

[@MrBlackbass59]

I studied with Bertram Turetsky back in the early 1980's. He taught me this stuff but apparently I've forgotten some of it. Thanks for the refresh!

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

+David Littlefield Thanks David, I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)

[@Lampropeltis]

I’m brand new as an adult taking lessons and this is VERY helpful. I’m having numbness in my fingers so I’m trying very hard not to bend my wrist at all but it also seems like folks do bend it slightly especially when playing on the E and A strings. I guess I’m trying to figure out what is realistic. Even playing electric there’s a slight bend and I’ve been ok in that regard, I just can’t figure out how to not bend my wrist AT ALL playing those low strings even with pushing my whole arm closer to the D and G strings as you do. ☹️

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

It's hard to say without seeing you play, but I would put your focus in your elbow and allowing your thumb to move across the back of the neck as you play notes on different strings. It's also very likely that you could be squeezing the neck, rather than using hand/arm weight, so take some time to make sure you have the foundations right. If you're unsure, check this out: discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@CaptainPedant]

Amazing to think you can teach for twelve minutes on the position and use of one single digit, but I look forward to applying this. My wife found me a "rescue" bass as a surprise birthday present this year (edit: as I see I've mentioned already!), I've just swapped out the broken endpin this weekend and I was quite annoyed to find how much the thumb was hurting now I've finally got the instrument ready to play. So if it's as simple as this, I am going to be so grateful!

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Glad it was helpful and thanks for watching! I've often found new players have issues with squeezing with the left hand. It's often caused by having the bass too vertical and not balanced properly. If that sounds like it could be a factor then check out this lesson for some more ideas: discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@CaptainPedant]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass Things have improved almost straight away, thanks! Lots to do, I haven't played since I was eighteen and that was all self-taught (crossed over from playing cello -- badly -- in the school orchestra!). But these videos are really inspirational.

[@KriZeZZ]

Thanks!

[@nealgrover2925]

Very helpful, indeed. I had sort of begun stumbling into this idea, as I’m a beginner on bass with a lifetime of experience as a pianist, and I know the value of using the arm’s weight to good advantage. I have been struggling with thumb joint pain for many weeks... been told to squeeze less... but unable to comprehend if not squeezing, how the devil to get any good tone especially in half position and finger 4. I’m going to work on a relaxed shoulder, non-squeezing, keeping the bass non-vertical... if I don’t get this right, I’m just going to have to quit bass!

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Here's a lesson which could help as this issue is often caused by problems with posture. If you are having to hold the bass in position that will lead to squeezing. You should only need a tiny amount of pressure for the little finger to sound the note cleanly as the pressure comes from your hand/arm weight and is transmitted through all the fingers, not just the little finger. discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@nickokun9382]

One thing I am wondering, using the left arm weight technique. With left fingers down on a note, should you be able to balance the bass without the right hand touching the bass at all? Thanks again Geoff, I never quite understood the arm weight from your other videos... Definitely been squeezing a bit (big forearm fatigue within an hour). This video has cleared it up a bunch for me, I will persist to correct it.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Yes, you should be able to position and play the notes without using the right hand. However, the right-hand does help to stabilise the instrument, especially jazz pizz.

[@nickokun9382]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass thanks for taking the time :) Hopefully it will click soon, re-learning the instrument is a such a drag haha

[@ianaldridge227]

Hey Geoff, I know this is an older video so I hope you still read the comments from time to time. I completely understand the concept of arm weight for stopping strings and I have no trouble playing without my thumb on the G and D strings but I run into problems on the E and A string. No matter how I seem to position myself/the bass/my hand, the bass will always rotate counterclockwise away from me when I try to apply arm weight into the E and A. Any tips?

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Hi Ian, it's a hard question to answer without seeing you play, but I'm sure you can fix that. I think that it's possible that you're angling the bass in the wrong way as it should be that when you add arm/hand weight that the strings press into the fingerboard in your direction, so the bass won't move. My best guess is that the angle of the instrument isn't right which is due to a problem with posture. However, I can't be sure what is the problem without seeing you play. I would also bear in mind that the bass should be flexible and generally the face of the instrument is more open when you're playing on the lower strings and more closed for the higher strings. Practising in front of a mirror or filming yourself should help you work out what's the root cause. Sorry I can't be more specific, as it's a hard one to visualise, but best of luck and I'm sure you will get it sorted. Cheers Geoff

[@ianaldridge227]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass Geoff, thanks so much for the thorough reply. I'll keep experimenting. I've brought it up to my teacher (who previously hadn't noticed anything wrong with my posture) so hopefully i'll have it sorted soon. Thanks again!

[@joeychew4906]

How to do the arm weight technique if I’m playing with a bow?

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

It's the same for both hands when playing the bow. You have to use arm/hand weight in the left hand as normal and you should also be using hand/arm/bow weight to play the string, not pressing.

[@mrbluemoose4296]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass If i’m playing pizzacato, this is no issue, but when I’m bowing, trying to use my arm to press down the strings just makes the bass fall to the left. This isn’t a problem while sitting, but I’ve never been able to find a solution while standing and bowing.

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

@@mrbluemoose4296 From what you've described, it sounds like the bass isn't angled so you can utilise your hand/arm weight as the action of playing right hand pizz is keeping it stationary, but the bass is moving when you switch to the bow which doesn't have the same effect. The solution is to work on your posture and having the bass scroll pointing towards your head and the bass less vertical. Here's a lesson which I think will address the issue: discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@Captain_Rhodes]

it sounds so easy but i find not squeezing the neck so hard

[@DiscoverDoubleBass]

Yes, it's such a common issue. Here's another video which might help as the issue is often due to the angle and balance point of the bass. There's a lot of text on the page which may also help. Good luck with your practice! discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/using-arm-hand-weight-the-balance-point

[@Captain_Rhodes]

@@DiscoverDoubleBass thanks x

[@fabriziomontemarano]

Don't choke the chicken, never!

[@jamesrichardson3322]

😆😂 John Clayton has video speaking on this very subject, you don't want choke the chicken 🐔 too hard.