How to stop flying fingers on bass guitar

[@thomasfioriglio]

Really simple and elegant solution to what could be a major problem. Thanks Scott.

[@msladyonbass]

As a newbie to playing the bass, so glad I am getting this squared away now. Thank you for this! EXTREMELY helpful that you slowed it down to actually how to work with the other fingers by hovering over the string. I've watched few flying fingers videos, yours was TOTALLY on point! Thanks again!

[@ScottWhitley]

Oh wow - thanks for the positive feedback, very much appreciated. Really glad to have helped here. Thanks again, Scott.

[@mtp4430]

Ms. Lady On Bass, If you're a Newbie, you've come to the right place. I've played bass for 52 years now (OMG, I suddenly feel really really old) and if I was a beginner I would hang on every word this man has to say. If they had things like KZbin when I started learning I could have avoided a lot of the bumps in the road that beginners experience. Subscribe to his channel and become a patreon. You will learn all the technique and ear training you will ever need to be an excellent bass player.

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks a million for the kind words, Mike.

[@mtp4430]

@@ScottWhitley You're Welcome. Keep up the great work sharing the gift of music through the Bass. Which IMO is the foundation of everything. Take out the bass and what have you got? Everyone thrills in playing air guitar, but I don't care how gifted the guitarist is, without a good bass player and drummer holding down the fort, that guitarist might as well be playing air guitar also 😂

[@niallsbasstones9713]

Excellent Lesson. I am SO GUILTY of Flying Fingers so this is really helpful and a brilliant template for me to study and improve. Thanks again for these brilliant instructional videos. Cheers 🙏🎸

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks Niall! You are NOT ALONE! Something I revisit periodically even now. It really works doing what I do in this vid - takes time but doing a little every day say as a warmup reaps long term rewards for sure. Thanks again for the warm feedback, Niall - always glad to be of service.

[@thomasfioriglio]

Hi Niall! I came across this video and thought of you. Wonderful advice and simple lesson.

[@clussell7938]

Great lesson! I'm teaching myself to play the bass and, as you said, going glacially slow is one of the most important things to do when learning bass. I have the flying fingers problem so I'm going to follow your advice. Thanks!

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks for the comment - absolutely re the slow thing. It's actually the best way to get proficient more quickly (as you're noyiced). :-) Nice 1 re trying this out - keep in touch and let me know how you get one. :-) Thanks again, Scott.

[@myrstika]

I glad I found you. Thank you so much.

[@luckydougfergus1877]

Amazing! I've been playing bass since 1981 and I know I have some bad habits and areas that I need to change/correct. This is one of them! My pinky especially, when it's not fretting a note.. it's a mile off the fretboard. Recently I tried taping my pinky to my 3rd finger to try to 'train' it to stay down!! It hasn't worked so far. I'll be eager to try this technique. I've always been baffled by bass players who don't even move their fingers, but just keep them all together in a line and move their whole hand back and forth.. like Francis Rocco Prestia.. watch one of his vids.. You could wrap tape around all his fingers and he would play the same! Weird! I thought we were supposed to play "one finger per fret"?

[@eliotmccann2589]

And that's today's practice regime sorted. I'm very guilty of this, so I'm going to be giving this a good solid go.

[@ScottWhitley]

Nice 1, Eliot. It's something I revisit from time to time and it definitely works. And it's a great warmup too.

[@DavidJohnson-pp4sy]

Great video. I thought it was just me! Was about to cut off my "flying" middle finger, which has a mind of its own. Much appreciated. PS: I'd love a video on the plucking hand: Anchored thumb or floating thumb?

[@ScottWhitley]

Haha - thanks, David!! Glad it helped. Good idea re the plucking hand - now on my to-do list. :)

[@robertwatson5104]

Thanks for that,, and damn my impatience 😊

[@markbass354]

GOOD VIDEO SCOTT, MUCH THANKS FOR THE HELP. I USE TO HAVE THE FLYING FINGER THING THEN IT JUST WENT AWAY

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks Mark. Glad you got on top of it. :)

[@zombiepyrate4969]

Great vid mate. Will use this as a warm up 😁

[@ScottWhitley]

Thank you! Yeah - great idea, a perfect warm up!! :)

[@cherylhunnisett7944]

Really helpful, thank you!

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks, Cheryl

[@jurgenkarlurban7125]

Excellent Lesson in kombi with spyder walk

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

Another great lesson . . . would love to see a lesson from you covering Chas Chandler's 'walking lines' from songs like 'Around and Around' and 'Talkin' Bout You' . . .

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks, Steven - much appreciated! Good idea re Chad's lines (great player). I'll stick it on the (rather extensive lol) to-do list Cheers, Steven, Scott.

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

@@ScottWhitley Sounds Good!

[@pkyt2458]

This isn’t a must to fix if it isn’t causing any discomfort right?

[@XhristinaMacey]

Brilliant I love live music 🎵 KZbin is great for learning

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks - agreeed, it is a fabulous platform for learning. :)

[@donh5794]

Nice video to help beat a tough habit. I have a little less takeoff after watching this. What actually causes flying fingers? Can wrist, arm or bass position cause flying fingers?

[@ScottWhitley]

Thanks, Don. I'm not sure what actually causes flying fingers - my assumption is when we learn to play we don't pay close attention to how much movement we make with our fingers. Then as we progress we start to become more aware of it and want to improve the situation, but by this point it's become programmed into our muscle memory. That's why slowing things down incredibly is the only way to improve it imho. :)

[@donh5794]

@@ScottWhitley Thanks!

[@ScottWhitley]

@@donh5794

[@lucaspalma8083]

If you did have flying fingers at some point, how long did it take you to get rid of the habit?

[@ScottWhitley]

Hi Lucas, I don't think I ever had really bad flying fingers but, every now and then, I'll still come back to this method myself! Cheers, Scott.

[@jessejordache1869]

I have a question: i practice to get my flying pinky grounded, and then I immediately want to work on difficult songs. Can I do that, or do you have to correct this before you play something else? Would I be undoing the anti-flying fingers training by going on in the same session to play something else?

[@changgeng]

do you really need to lift other fingers when fret with pinky?

[@MsCellobass]

The flying fingers are my alternating ones

[@ScottWhitley]

Flying in a good way? :)

[@thedanandannieshow]

Great video! A good friend of mine is a bass player. I'll pass this link along to him

[@ScottWhitley]

Thank you - very much appreciated! :)

[@ink2467]

i physically cant press a string with my pinky hard enough without my other fingers flying away xD

[@DarrenLGoldsmith]

Genuine question; does it really matter if your fingers are flying?

[@ScottWhitley]

Hi Darren - great question! No it doesn't matter at all in the scheme of things. BUT - dealing with the issue will facilitate such things as cleaner sounding playing, less fatigue, the ability to play faster and for longer, feeling more relaxed to name but a few. But as said - no-one died from flying fingers so it's definitely a person choice/development thing. Hope that helps, Darren, Scott.

[@DarrenLGoldsmith]

@@ScottWhitley Cheers, Scott! I guess it's that balance between learning to do something the 'right' way, and doing what actually feels comfortable for you as a player. I'm all for good technique, by the way, but there's definitely always some room for individual method.

[@ScottWhitley]

@@DarrenLGoldsmith Completely agree - a lot of innovation comes about through doing things your own way and some of the most unique players are doing things many would say are kinda "wrong". My personal line has been one of trying to maximise and stretch my limited natural talent by using the minimum amount of physical movement and energy. Over the years it allowed me to play things I simply didn't naturally have the stamina for if that makes sense.

[@DarrenLGoldsmith]

@@ScottWhitley Yes, perfect sense! :)