Fretting is one of the key concepts behind learning clean bass techniques. If you just picked up the bass guitar, you should want to pick up the basics of decent fretting prior to everything else. What do you have to understand? Well here are some useful directions and information:
Keep your nails clipped and tidy. It is incredibly difficult to play bass guitar with claws. Ensure you pare your fingernails before even picking up your instrument.
Discover your finger numbering. On bass guitar, your fretting fingers are numbered. One is the pointing finger. Two is the median finger. Three is your third finger. Four is your last finger.
Arm positioning. You want your arms to spread naturally at your sides. Try not to get into the habit of resting your elbow on your lap when you sit down. Also, ensure that there is no tension in the shoulders.
Safeguard your wrist. As many musicians are subject to hand or wrist injuries ensure, you must listen to your body if you feel tenderness. It is normal for your fingers to ache and niggle at in the beginning, but you should in no way feel piercing or other types of pain in your wrists.
Hold your palm away from the bottom of the neck. Your hand should not meet the bottom of the neck. Instead, there should be a small pocket of air.
Push softly. Always try to push with minimal force while still getting a fresh and precise tone.
Learn to change and polish your tempo. This might appear logical, but it is harder than it seems. You have to know the contrast between, say, 40 beats per minute compared with 60 beats per minute.
And as a final point, remember to rehearse, exercise and practice. Learning bass techniques can be time consuming, but sooner or later, you will become familiar with your instrument.
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