Thumb Position Technique Basics

This video is the tenth in a series of jazz instructional videos featuring Chris Fitzgerald, assistant professor of music theory and jazz bass at the University of Louisville School of Music. This installment covers a number of issues related to thumb position technique. Each topic is indexed by a video time marker below for ease of reference. Future installments will cover various topics including an ongoing series of videos on walking bass line construction,advanced thumb position topics, tune learning strategy, melodic soloing, and more. For more information and bass-related content including articles, sound files, and videos, please visit chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com .
Due to the length of this video (44 minutes), it has been indexed on screen by topic so that specific topics can be more easily found. Clicking on the time code beside each indexed topic below will automatically start the video at that point. The sequence of events topics in the video is as follows:
0:00 Thumb Position Playing Example
3:06 Introduction
4:04 Definition of Thumb Position
6:10 Why Thumb Position is Useful
9:16 Thumb Placement on the String
13:06 Developing the Thumb Callus
14:49 Locked Thumb and Leverage
21:01 Chromatic Position
24:14 Finger Shape: Curved vs. Collapsed
28:38 Disclaimer
30:14 Fixed Position vs. Free/Vibrato Position
40:00 Conclusion and Bb Scale
43:08 Outtro

[@johnmontalvo9537]

This is great, I am a slow and on the chalk board learner. The thumbnail was a place for professions while I was in school, I realize now thought the things were small, we were left to our own to 'realize' the rest school was pretty much first pisitions; 'meat and potates' need to know basics. Thank you very much. I'll be back for more.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you! The whole issue of technique is a lifetime journey that we all need to take at our own pace. Glad to help in any way.

[@michaelbartlett9954]

Chris, you have a decidedly clear method of teaching that others shroud in confusion - and you do this for free! I can't thank you enough. This is just what I needed.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Glad people are finding it helpful! The reason it's free is because it's designed to be a form of educational outreach. Thanks for the affirmation. :)

[@OldBeatleMan]

Thank you for the videos on Walking Bass .... I appreciate your hard work and generosity

[@brandtpeterson8687]

Can't thank you enough for this, and the series and other resources you've created. It's really wonderful.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+Brandt Peterson Thanks for the feedback, and please share. :)

[@johnharrisjr.351]

Seriously, thankyou for creating this with care and clarity. It's what I needed to hear.

[@jupitor919]

Thanks Chris, this is very helpful..

[@PaulKaraRoss]

Moving back to upright after years of only electric. Thanks for these! You’re saving a lot of people from bad upright playing.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thanks, and enjoy the journey! Practicing the double bass is the best form of meditation I know.

[@Kevin-gd7ny]

Another great lesson, Chris! Looking forward to the next lesson sir!

[@MagneideaP5]

Your tone is impeccable! It has a warm mwah on it. Like warm baked cookies out the oven.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you!

[@mrd9365]

Thank you so much for this! Just what I needed to finally start getting my thumb position going...

[@DanielKinnaird]

Exceptionally well presented lesson. Thanks Chris.

[@MichaelFClef]

Excellent Lecture. Thank you.

[@starrguitar]

Thanks for the video Chris. Great information for a beginning bass player like myself. I'm looking forward to seeing your other videos!

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+starrguitar Thant's exactly what I love to hear. Enjoy the journey!

[@peterkelemer]

Great lesson which answers all the questions a beginner can possibly have starting to play in thumb position. Thanks very much, also for all your other lectures which are a great help learning to play the double bass.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thanks for weighing in, and enjoy the journey! TP is a world of fun once each player finds his or her sea legs.

[@nicktardifbass7]

Your videos are so comprehensive on the nuts and bolts and mechanics of playing the instrument, thank you!

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thanks for watching, and if you know of anyone who might benefit from them, please share! They are intended as advertising-free educational outreach.

[@jezwatson8211]

Great tone man

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you!

[@sylviawilliamson2208]

Excellent video!

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you!

[@frankus54]

Great work. Thanks

[@georgoskar1957]

Simply fantastic.Thanks a lot.Awesome lesson and lot of question answered.Thanks again.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+Georg Óskar Ólafsson Thank you!

[@nab626]

The more I teach and look for ways to explain the mechanics of the left hand and arm the more I find myself discussing the physics of building bridges. Strength in lines, rounded fingers, bent knuckles or joints, stress and strains etc…..

[@danwaineo]

Awesome introduction! Thanks so much. It's funny I play "Noel" all the time too. It must be a natural thing to do on bass.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+Daniel Waineo Thanks! Those "tunes that you grew up with" are always natural starting points for playing diatonic melodies. I recommend them highly for transposition work.

[@fabianmartin7126]

Great stuff, Chris!

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Fabián Martin Thanks, Fabian!

[@Zeesboy]

That was a fabulous and informative lesson. Thank you.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you!

[@mikemcgibney]

Great lesson, many thanks. You have a very soothing voice. Fantastic soloing on top of the video with lovely tone.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+Mike McGibney Thanks! Tone is incredibly important, and together with intonation is one of the main focuses of all my technical study. When you aren't happy with your tone, nothing feels right.

[@noelpaz4517]

Awesome. I just got my upright again and this is good advice. I actually go behind the knuckle and okay with a 4th spread.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Glad the video was useful. There a lot of ways to do it!

[@nicolaslher]

Amazing thanks a lot !

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thank you!

[@cbassscratch7785]

Love this 👀Thank you, answers so many questions. What's the name of this standard? Love this melody and the changes

[@JMoura-qj6rr]

Top!!!Obrigado!!

[@matanja1]

Thanks allot. All your videos are great Maybe you can make a video about practice routine and building a practice progression for ourselves?

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thanks for weighing in! I will put your idea in the queue. I wish I had more time to spend on these videos, but sadly, everyday life doesn't allow for making one of these as often as I would like...

[@ramoncoromotorodriguez7186]

gracias por compartir sus enseñanzas,,,saludos desde venezuela

[@ramoncoromotorodriguez7186]

muy pedagógicos sus videos class,,,gracias por compartir ,,,los estoy aprovechando al maximo,,,saludos desde venezuela

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Ramon Coromoto Rodriguez Glad they are useful! Thanks for the feedback. :)

[@michaherman8722]

Great video, very informative. I am beginner double bass player (about 8 months) with bass guitar background (few years). Now I am mostly concentrating on my intonation in lover part of fingerboard: up to the neck heel. I heard two theories about moving to thumb position: 1. You should do it later after you have stable left hand position and good intonation in lower positions. 2. You should start practicing thumb position from beginning, that will give you more experience in this area. What do you think? Should beginner player start exploring thumb position right away or leave it for future practice?

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Michał Herman Thanks Michael - I am firmly in the second group in principle as long as it is *in addition to* your focused study of technique and intonation in the lower positions rather than "instead of" or "taking time away from" the studies of the lower positions. Too often I have seen young bassists expressing a fear of thumb position, as if it was actually a different instrument from the lower positions, which it is definitely not. It is different enough that if a person's teacher wanted them to wait in the interest of developing stronger technique down low before trying to learn a second or expanded technique up higher, I think that guidance from the teacher should definitely be heeded. On the other hand, one of the nice things about TP is that the absence of physical landmarks up high makes the study of playing in the upper area of the bass a very ear-intensive experience - especially for budding improvisers. My experience with students has largely been that they tend to find the experience of playing in TP very enlightening in regard to their development of "relative pitch", both in terms of aural skills and physical technique. Often, some of the lessons they learn up high quickly help to shed light on and shore up holes and flaws in the technique and concept down in the lower positions.

[@michaherman8722]

Chris Fitzgerald Thank you for response. I will then add some thumb position exercise to my practice routine. For me most difficult part of thumb position is, of course, intonation. Notes are closer together (comparing to the starting area of the fingerboard) and even slightly error in finger position makes noticeable change in sound and being out of tune. I will be waiting for next video in the series. Cheers Michal

[@GwyndolinBingham42]

Feels like I’m trying to cut off the tip of my thumb can’t wait to get a thumb callus

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Just keep at it, little by little! it will happen.

[@marco-cs6gq]

Fantastic tutorial as always Chris. Thank you! As i have so- called double jointed fingers I find it really hard to play in thumb position. For 2 reasons: 1 my thumb curves too much at the knucle and that causes it to collapse at the base (of the thumb) thus messing up the hole hand shape. 2 my other fingers, (particularly the middle one) collapse and sometimes even lock making impossible to play without taking the hand away from the fingerboard to relax it and "reset". Do you have any experience or advice on how to deal with this? exercises that might help? Do you know of any bass giants who were double jointed? I wanna say Ron Carter? that would be encouraging for me☺. Thanks

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

+marco santaroni Hi Marco - thanks for the feedback. I don't have specific info about bass giants who are double jointed, but I have had a number of students with various degrees of double jointedness and have dealt with this issue a great deal. The answer is probably not what you want to hear, but the best strategy I've found is the present the students with as much "traditional/conventional" information on left hand technique as possible, then apply it to their hands and see where it works and where it doesn't. Where it works, use it, and where it doesn't, make the best compromise you can using the hands that are attached to the ends of your arms! Several of these students have developed into excellent players who have adopted unorthodox-looking left hand techniques to their particular physical limitations. The important thing, IMO, is to understand the big picture principles and rationales behind traditional technique so that you can apply the same sorts of thinking to the techniques adopted to use in their place when the traditional approach doesn't work for the hands.

[@marco-cs6gq]

Thank you for the quick reply! what you advice is pretty much what I've been doing. But it gets frustrating at times... My first teacher (and the Bille' method) didn't believe in starting the study of thumb position straight away (i wish you were my teacher!). That didn't help I guess... maybe if I did spend more time up there in the first year that would have helped building strength in my hand muscles involved in keeping the hand shape. Or maybe there's nothing that can be done to "solve" the problem and all I can do, as you suggest, is to find my way around it. One thing is for sure, I'll keep working on it! Thanks a lot!

[@andrujazz]

Thanks a lot, Chris!! One more question, what kind of string and tension do you use? Greetings from Brazil.

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Thanks for watching, Alejandro. I use Thomastik Dominant on the G-D-A and Spirocore Stark on the E string. String height is about 7mm for the g and 10mm for the G

[@andrujazz]

@@chrisfitzgerald8356 Thanks so much! it has a warm and clear timbre for me. Really liked it. Btw, of course I watch your lessons, you're a kind of my professor. So, thanks so much!

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

@@andrujazz Thanks again! It took my years to find that setup. You have to be careful with Dominant strings because they don't like to be taken off the bass and then put back on. I've had this set on for 8 years now.

[@kamohelotshabalala6563]

Greetings, last as on this video i downloaded your thumb position pdf, is that still available?

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

I don't think that I've ever had it linked here, but it's been on my website. Here's the link: www.chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Introduction-to-Melody-and-Soloing-in-Thumb-Position-2.pdf

[@johnsavold]

How would you play (fingering) a chromatic scale (2nd G to 3rd G) on the G string? T123T123T123? or T12312312312 with the thumb following behind?

[@chrisfitzgerald8356]

Personally, my hand likes the first option. The key is staying connected to the board while shifting the thumb to the next position.

[@johnsavold]

@@chrisfitzgerald8356 Thanks Chris. I guess I'll work both and see which one works for me.

[@vartago]

I disagree about the bent wrist Gary Karr's bent in the wrist helps him out more than taking strengths out of his position.