Does any other bassist experience this? even guitarist?

[JimBeed]

Well basically trying to get accustomed to actually using my little finger to make longer stretches on the neck easier and more fluid to play, but however i find when i do then, i seem to have what i like to call BSS(Bass Swearing Syndrome) unless BSS is already taken hehe, but anyways basically when i move my little finger down on the fret board my fourth finger moves up a little, and and middle alot almost like swearing.
now ive watched a video of a guy playing Kansas, and he has exactly the same thing happening.
Is this a regular occurance till your fingers adjust, or is it a natural thing that your hand does?
Not that i have objections swearing at an audience during a gig  :laughing7:
But they may not see the funny side of it, Just seems very pronounced when i play if i keep little finger on the note for a while.

 

[mayfly]

I constantly battle this syndrome.

 

[Cagey]

The chances that the audience thinks you're "swearing" at them, or that they'd even notice the directions your individual fingers are pointing is so remotely small that I can't even imagine that you'd worry about it even if you were in a church. What are you, 11 years old? What are you going to do when you reach puberty and start having spontaneous erections? Wear a girdle? Cut off your schwanz? <grin>

Stop looking at my crotch!​

But, if it really bothers you and you can't afford a psychiatrist, it's possible to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to be effective. It's called "practice", and you have to do it slowly and deliberately. Get yourself a metronome, crank it down to a ridiculously low speed, and simply fret/pick (or finger) individual notes by half-steps. Start at the first fret on the first string, and simply play each half step until you run out of fingers, then move to the next string and start over without missing a beat. No scales, no music, no nothing. It's simply an exercise. When you run out of strings, move up a fret position and run backwards, then move up a fret and go forward, and keep doing that until you get as high on the fretboard as you'd like to ever be able to be accurate. Then, run it back down again. You can damn near do it in your sleep, but you're better off doing it while you watch TV or something mindless like that. Don't need an amp or anything, this is exercise. Do it slowly and accurately, being very deliberate about how you place your fingers. After a week or so, crank the metronome up a couple beats, then again after a couple weeks, and so on. It's very slow going, but it's effective. After about 6 months or so, you'll not only get control of your finger placement, you'll develop a sense of timing that you only thought you had before.

 

[line6man]

Cut off your schwanz?

You'll have to cut off your balls if you have any hopes of becoming a castrato singer. :dontknow:

 

[Panthur]

I personally wouldn't worry about it, Clapton loves it...

 

[Cagey]

Cut off your schwanz?

You'll have to cut off your balls if you have any hopes of becoming a castrato singer. :dontknow:

Who's worried about singing? That's a different thing altogether. This is purely a string player's exercise that gives every finger an even, non-preferential workout. Your thumb should be behind the neck the whole time, with the wrist straight. Nothing musical, no scales, no keys, no modes, no patterns, no thought. Just work. Start very slow and be sure every note sounds clearly and on time. If you hear buzzing frets, go slower - you're still too sloppy. Never speed up unless every note sounds clearly, no matter how boring it is. Stay on the metronome, and if you can't, slow it down. Accuracy is everything. And make no mistake - this is some profoundly boring stuff. But, the payoff is the ability to accurately and deliberately place your fingers on clean notes on time. Few people take the time, and it's painfully obvious to anyone who does. It's even obvious to yourself the first time you do any recording. It's like hearing your recorded voice for the first time. All you can say is: WTF? Is that me!?!? Can't be! I'm much better than that!

 

[JimBeed]

Haha nah im 18, and i couldnt give a fudge if that kinda happens when im playing,i just wondered if my hand had some mutant muscle that made that happen!

 

[kboman]

But, if it really bothers you and you can't afford a psychiatrist, it's possible to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to be effective. It's called "practice", and you have to do it slowly and deliberately. Get yourself a metronome, crank it down to a ridiculously low speed, and simply fret/pick (or finger) individual notes by half-steps. Start at the first fret on the first string, and simply play each half step until you run out of fingers, then move to the next string and start over without missing a beat. No scales, no music, no nothing. It's simply an exercise. When you run out of strings, move up a fret position and run backwards, then move up a fret and go forward, and keep doing that until you get as high on the fretboard as you'd like to ever be able to be accurate. Then, run it back down again. You can damn near do it in your sleep, but you're better off doing it while you watch TV or something mindless like that. Don't need an amp or anything, this is exercise. Do it slowly and accurately, being very deliberate about how you place your fingers. After a week or so, crank the metronome up a couple beats, then again after a couple weeks, and so on. It's very slow going, but it's effective. After about 6 months or so, you'll not only get control of your finger placement, you'll develop a sense of timing that you only thought you had before.

Hey, the first primary. Didn't expect to see it here :icon_thumright:
For a brutally humbling experience, try it in reverse! I.e. not 1234 but 4321.

 

[JimBeed]

Cheers for the advice, yeah i do need to work on using all four fingers so ill take that exercise into account, as for the finger thing it doesnt really bother me, just intrigued me as to if i was just wierd  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

It's not unusual. Although, for myself and many players I've seen, it's a constant battle with the flying pinky finger rather than the index. Same thing tames them: slow, deliberate practice. I've been fighting a different problem for the last several years in that my index and ring fingers tend to want to follow each other. But, that's a neurological issue related to a traumatic brain injury I had some years back that affects a number of things on the left side of my body. I'll get past it, though. They also said I'd probably never walk again, and that turned out to be a bad bet. I'll probably never dance ballet, but at least I can get to the beer store and back <grin>

 

[AutoBat]

It's a biology problem because the two sets of nerves that control your hand.
one set runs your thumb, index, middle, and half your ring finger, the other operates your pinky and the other half of your ring finger.

Next time your hand falls asleep, check both sides of your ring finger, you'll probably have no sensation on one side, while being able to feel the other.

 

[NQbass7]

It's a biology problem because the two sets of nerves that control your hand.
one set runs your thumb, index, middle, and half your ring finger, the other operates your pinky and the other half of your ring finger.

Next time your hand falls asleep, check both sides of your ring finger, you'll probably have no sensation on one side, while being able to feel the other.

Yeah, google "Dermatomes" and you can find pictures of which nerves in your spine control sensation in what areas of your skin.  I used to have a thing where if I slept with my elbow bent more than 90 degrees, I'd wake up with my ring and pinky fingers asleep, and that was it (ulnar nerve pinch).

 

[JimBeed]

Ah awesome, nice to know the reason why this happens, though i probably learnt and forgot it during science at school  :icon_scratch: haha
well been doing what cagey suggested for alot of today, and it has been improving the fretting my little finger does, remember how my other fingers felt when i started, cause ive pretty much never fretted with my little finger before now seriously, so at the moment its feeling the burn so to speak haha, but hence why im on the computer giving it a break dont type with them, almost never  fourth finger come to think of it
Anyways off topic