Electric Bass

For the right-hand you want to keep your fingers straight and relaxed.  You will want to angle your hand forward so that your fingers line up evenly with the strings (your middle finger is longer than your index finger, so angle your hand so they are even).  Keep your arm off the bass, so that you can keep your wrist as straight and relaxed as possible.  Place your thumb on the pickup when plucking the E and A strings.  Move your thumb to the E string when plucking the D string.  Place your thumb on the A string when plucking the G string.  This gives your fingers a reference point to land on when plucking and it helps to mute the E and A when you are not playing on them.  When plucking, move across the string without resting on the string and land on the next string up (or your thumb if you are playing the E string).  Don't bend your knuckles.  When playing constant notes (e.g. 8ths of the same note) try to keep the tone of every note exactly the same.

I have two exercises for this:

1. Play constant 8th notes for 20 4/4 measures at 80 bpm on each open string.

2. Play constant 8th notes for 20 4/4 measures at 100 bpm with your 4th finger on each string.

It is important to develop your left hand  so that your grip stays very consistent as you move around the neck.  This will help you eliminate fret buzz and with your muscle memory.  I have found there are generally 4 elements to your grip:

1. Thumb Placement

2. Play on your Fingertips (bent Knuckles)

3. Finger spacing

4. Keep your elbow out

The Thumb should be placed directly behind your middle finger in the center of the back of the neck.  You do not need to bend your thumb, keeping it straight will help to keep it relaxed.

ALWAYS play on your Fingertips, keeping your knuckles bent.  Your fingers are much stronger if you are using the muscles in your hand by bending your knuckles like you would hold a ball or a bat.  If your knuckles are flat, you are no longer using the muscles in your fingers to hold down the string.  NOTE:  You will want to add fingers as you change notes on the same string (in other words, when you place your 4th finger on the string, add or keep the other fingers on the string).  And try to keep the fingers hovering over the string that you are playing on when they are not pressing on the string.

The Finger Spacing is fairly easy as you have frets to distinguish where to put your fingers.  Make sure that each finger is as close to the fret as possible without impeding the vibration of the string.  For the first few positions, I use a similar spacing as the upright bass to help keep the wrist straight and relaxed.  You will use your 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers on 3 frets.

It is important to try to keep your wrist as straight as possible.  Extreme bending of the wrist will restrict movement and can cause pain in the hand and wrist.  A straight and relaxed wrist will allow easier movement and help the player to keep the hand relaxed.  Keeping the elbow out will help to keep the wrist straight.  You do not have to raise the elbow any higher than just below your shoulder.

I have one exercise which you can vary to work on your left-hand grip:

1. Play the tones in Ist Position (which starts on the 1st fret), 1 beat for each finger. Start with the E string playing finger 1, 2, 4, then move to the A string and so on. As you move from finger 1 to 2, keep the 1st finger on the string. Do the same when you place the 4th finger (all fingers will be holding down the string). Once you have reached the 4th finger on the G string, reverse the process. You can also name the notes as you play them. This will help you to memorize the note locations on the bass. (I highly recommend this)

Starting at the 5th fret you can use 1 finger per fret, relying on the same 4 element technique that we have already developed.  Make sure that each finger is as close to the fret as possible without impeding the vibration of the string.

I have many exercises to practice this grip for your hand.  Here's a few to get you started

1. Play each finger for 1 beat in consecutive order: ||: 1 2 3 4 | 4 3 2 1 :|| repeated 5 times per string.

2. Change the order of the fingers and repeat exercise 1: e.g. ||:1 3 2 4 | 4 2 3 1 :|| Note: there are 16 variations

3. Change the order of the fingers and split them between two strings.

4. Vary exercises 1 - 3 while playing each finger on a different string.
   Note: Always keep your fingers on or above the string you are playing. You want the fingertips to be as close to the string as possible so that you can move quickly and efficiently around the bass.