Hi Scott! Thank you very much for your lessons! You're doing a great job, it's just like an important public service! I mean, some people don't have the necessary financial resources to have a personal teacher (like me!), or to go to a music school, and you are giving them great instructions and advice for free! It's an honorable attitude. I play classic/electric guitar since I was 16, and learned all that I know by myself, by searching in books, in the web and so on. It was a long, and sometimes, exhaustive process. I'm 22 now, and I was a little bit unhappy with my skills and technique. Somewhere in the learning process I got stuck. I felt there were some hand and body position mistakes in my playing that didn't allow me to reach the precision, speed, and most important, the confort I wanted. I was thinking in giving up, that guitar was just not my "thing". I was so wrong. 2 months ago I decided to buy a bass, I started following all your lessons, from the first one, and "MY, OH MY!", I'm delighted with the progress I made! I've never felt so happy playing guitar, in this case, bass guitar! Cheers, from Portugal!
I got really worried for a moment when you took off your glove there. First time we ever got to see Scott's left hand. Thanks for all the great content Scott, you're the best.
I am stepping into Bass now after twelve years with Spanish and classical guitar and and six years of Sitar... Scott, your videos are AWESOME! You are really helping my transition to bass.
Hey Scott, The lesson is missing one piece of information that changed my fretting technique around, you mentioned that in your campus technique video. It's about not squeezing the neck with your palm, to get the string touch the fret board, just using you arm and back to pull them to the frets. That information alone got the tension out of my hand and fixed my speed, articulation and comfort of plying.
@@dieginkinstein No problem! I think it was one of the details that changed my whole plying around, whenever someone asks me for a tip it's the first thing I tell them.
Hey Scott, nice vid. What I recommend my students is putting the bass on the other leg and use a foot stand. This allows you to have the bass in the almost same position it would be if you are standing (for example on a stage). Anyway, thanks again for your wonderful lessons. :)
Ha. Watching this with 'American Boy' (Estelle sans Kanye) playing in the background, and the little run Scott plays at 5:23 onward, fit perfectly with the verse. I thought it was a part of the song.
Great lesson Scott! But I think you should do a video on right hand technique too. Particularly the positioning of your wrist on the bass' body. I assume that if your wrist is almost 90 degrees bent downwards, it wouldn't be good for you, could hurt your tendons and it makes a bad habit. I sometimes forget to relax my right wrist when playing, and my fingers tend to get weak after a while... Some people even recommend lifting your forearm off of the bass' body when playing fingerstyle, which I find to be difficult.
I knew why you wear the glove...my question is where do you get them? I have some of those tendon problems you mentioned and keeping the hand warm really helps me play. Great lesson!
Hi Scott! Great lesson! Is it possible that a person's anatomy (length of fingers, arms, etc.) could make this playing position difficult? It still feels quite difficult and uncomfortable to keep my wrist straight, and position my thumb the way that you suggest.
Scott, First off i know what your going through because i have seen my mother go through the tortures of the damned with widespread Cervical Dystonia. The condition only affects about 70,000 people in the U.K and it is one of the most debilitating illnesses i have seen ! Scott do you get any help from The Dystonia Society ? They were very helpful for my mother and they do a great job with very limited resources, So a big shout out to them ! Is it okay to not assign OFPF on the lower register when using things like hammer on's for example ? Crimson And Clover which Joan Jett covers has some hammer on's on the second chorus part but the way it falls under your fingers has you hammering on from the second to the third finger which is really awkward. I have just been shifting my fingers across to hammer from the first to the second finger whilst tucking in my third and fourth. It does create a dodgy hand shape but is that okay to do that ? I like to have my Bass up high a bit like the way Lemmy plays and the higher the better i say ! You kind of have your Bass pointing upwards like a Double Bass which i find comfortable and have easier access to higher up the board.
I definitely enjoyed this lesson but I feel like I'm one of your students that as you said, have the scales and arpeggios down but can't put it all together. I've been playing for three years and love it but I'm struggling to apply everything to songs. I want to add little solos and fills around the neck but can't seem to get anything that sounds right....which causes me to just play roots and fifths =( Any lessons or advice to check out?
I sorry for asking but, can you do a lesson for a 'gallop'; like, for example, run to the hills and killers from Iron Maiden has this type of playing in it. But if u dont that's fine too
Hi Scott (if you are reading this) I have played bass and guitar for years and years and I consider my fretting hand technique to be good or at least decent, however I have never reflected over the angle of the wrist as you demonstrated in this video. When I tried it I encountered a significant problem. When I play I keep the thumb on the back of the neck, use all four fingers, try to keep them curved and the little finger is not "saluting" every time I do not use it. I sit and play in the classical position, i.e. the bass/guitar on the left leg (I'm right handed), because it puts less strain on my back and shoulders, lets me keep my shoulders at a good and equal level, and also allows me to play on frets 12-24 more easily. Now to the question: it is more or less impossible to keep the wrist straight (or even at a slight angle) when sitting in the classical position with the thumb behind the neck, especially when I play a 5 or 6 string bass. How should I get around this? Many thanks for answering this question //Andreas
To get to the first few frets on the B and E string, I normally need to wrap my hand a little further under the neck. It's a bit tricky at first, but it is doable. Try to keep your thumb pointing towards the headstock. If it's pointing upwards, you've got no choice but to bend the wrist.
Hey Scott! Great lessons! thanks a lot! I have a question... How would I approach what you said about curving your fingers considering I have a 6 string bass with a wide fretboard and also considering I don't have such a big hand. This makes it difficult to have my fingers curved all the time. It's easier when I do it on the first strings, but almost impossible on the last strings, which are the ones I use the most. Got any recommendations for me? Thanks again...
Does the glove really help for focal dystonia? Christian Muenzner is a metal guitarist who has it, although I've never seen him use it (never heard of it either). I wonder if he ever tried that, maybe I'll ask on his channel.
Hi, I'm not Scott but I suggest you use two fingers, it will help to improve your speed in the long run. Just think if you had to play a quick G C# G or G# C G#. It's not possible to bar one finger across those frets. So using two fingers prepares you for licks of that nature, and also preps you for chord shaped patterns.
Howdy Scott!! I need help!! I broke my arm back in the 8th grade and the bones never grew together right so I have limited movement in my wrist. It is very hard for me to spread my fingers and keep then bend so I'm not buggering up strings I'm not playing. Any ideas on how I might transform the technique to where I can reach my notes proficiently?? Fatigue of my wrist and fingers are a thing I've been dealing with ever since, especially while attempting arrpegios and scales. I just want to be better!!
I see how you can get a fairly straight wrist for the fretting hand, but your picking hand is quite bent, in the unhealthy way. You should talk about the plucking hand technique as well. Also, by making a c-shape with your fretting fingers you can't mute the strings that you are reaching over.
