Developing Safe Right Hand Technique for Bass Guitar 

10 years old and filmed on a potato yet still more informative and straight forward than 99% of the polished videos uploaded

Any one who makes a tutorial about how to not hurt yourself is a legend!

You still play bass so I consider this technique proven.

9 years later, I was trying to find a way to lessen strains on my plucking fingers. I clicked, and realized, it's Adam Neely!

@intioyarzun I would suggest watching this video again, because I never say "use floating thumb!" nor "don't rest the forearm!" I specifically recommend resting the forearm, and I never advocate any method over any other. Also, "I never had any health problems," as a philosophy for technique isn't helpful. There are too many people I've known who have contracted RSI's after a career of telling themselves that for me to believe that anything besides straight and relaxed wrists is how to play.

I've played guitar for 40+ years. I switched to bass 3 years ago. When I was shopping for my first bass, I put a lot of emphasis on how comfortable the bass felt. How did it hang on me, where would my right hand/arm have to be, etc. I found a number of basses did not lend themselves well to keeping my hands/arms in a neutral position. They were great sounding and nice looking basses, but that wasn't as important as how it felt to play them. When I played a Fender Jazz, it felt very natural. My right arm just laid on the body, keeping my wrist in a very neutral and relaxed position. Because of my budget, I settled on a Squier VM Jazz. I have enjoyed many hours of continuous playing without any fatigue. I can literally play all day and not have any issues. Everybody is different so my choice may not suit others. If you are just starting out and looking for that first bass, do yourself a favor and give careful consideration to how the instrument feels.

So this is how you play _the lick_ for 5 hours straight...

Dude. Thank you so much for posting this. I've been struggling through right wrist pain for the last 6 months and I just played for a solid 90 minutes pain free thanks to what I saw in this video. THANK YOU!!!

Adam why don't you make a new video on overall basic bass techniques? Rekindle the original bass guitar love, my man

thanks, Adam from 12 years ago! this was super helpful. I’ve been watching your videos for years but just started teaching myself the bass and was pleasantly surprised to see this video pop up in my search for proper right hand technique

Old Adam's videos are golden

You should redo this one mate...great video and great channel overall! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge :3 Greetings from Veracruz, Mexico...

Might be totally doing this wrong but it just transfers the strain to my shoulders

FFS this video is 11 years old and THANK YOU Adam fo posting this

10 years before I ever thought about playing bass, Adam Neely was making a tutorial I needed to watch to get started. I obviously have a lot of catching up and practicing to do. The basic theory of ergonomic movement in playing a musical instrument is very familiar to me as a congo player. Similar theory, but different instrument and different techniques...otherwise my bass slap would already be as good as my conga slap. No more wasting time. I'm starting today.

Still a great video, I don't really get why people ask for a remake. Just got a bass because Adams playing made me fall in love with the bass, and I am absolutely blown away at how comfortable playing can be doing this. I am a guitar player and had a really bad and long lasting shoulder injury from playing guitar with a bad posture, my teacher didn't say anything about my posture, so I only realized I was hurting myself when it was already too late. Now I discover Adams video, that perfectly covers how to play without pain. Thank you!

@meatyout Octaves/string skips are awkward at first, but like all things technique-wise, they can be made less awkward through practice. It won't happen overnight. I have made use of the thumb sometimes, however. Speed/precision also come from diligent practice. I might suggest also working on "open palm" technique like guitarists use. This involves angling the arm/elbow to more of a 30/45 degree angle with the strings. This can be very effective as well for incorporating the thumb.

Adam do you think you can do a video recapping some basic bass techniques for both hands, posture etc? Would be nice to get a redo Thanks

9 years later, here I am. Just started trying out the bass and I needed someone to show me how to position my right hand.

New to bass and i've been trying to correct my form, and stumbled across this video today.. exactly 10 years after you posted it xD pretty crazy. Cool to see your hard work got you over a million subs, even some of your earliest content is still useful today!

After years of watching his newer videos I finally start playing actual bass and find this! :D

As a guitarist who is new to practicing bass 'properly' this is very valuable!

thank you so much for this video. i'm a newbie and i start hurting a lot from my right wrist due to a very bent wrist just like you show NOT to do. i will first take some time to heal and then will switch to your technic. thanks again and cheers from France. will watch all your others video asap!

This advice is excellent. For much of my bass playing life I thought that my technique (which is identical to what you advise) was incorrect. I have never really been able to plant my thumb in one place (or on the pickup/lower strings) for very long, because unlike a lot of players I see my thumb doesn't bend to a 90 degree angle!

I'm currently practicing more time than before, but I started to notice a little bit of pain on both wrists. I have been following this channel on an alt account for a while, but this is the fist time I have seen these safe technique videos and they are a blessing. Thank you.

I love that when I feel like my right hand is feeling slow and I drunkenly search about it, I get a 14 year old video from Adam fucking Neely with exactly the thing for the thing I needed, and it was mind blowing because I got the same feeling today as the first time I watched one of your videos. Thanks for that and all of it

I've been having pain in my right hand when playing fast 16ths. I though it was because I got used to playing slower stuff but it turned out my posture was wrong! Thanks Adam!

i just searched 'right hand bass technique' and this is still the first video. love your videos man.

LOL, Adam! I've been following your current video's because they are so informative. But I'm also a bass player (somewhat) with a years long problem with my right hand position and no video helped me. This one surely did!

I really appreciate putting information in the description when possible, even though it's probably detrimental to views.

Thanks for this, even years later.

@intioyarzun I'm curious what specifically you don't agree with in this video. The elbow above the bass?

Yup. Because I am just another dumb guitarist switching to bass, this video actually helped me immensely, as I've sat through guitar lessons, etc but I want to play bass the right way not just to be cool (like I did with guitar) instantly felt better going for the D and G strings after this.

Thank you! I'm trying to teach myself how to play and the right hand position is the main thing I'm having trouble with. This video helps a lot!

This is very welcome advice; my new bass has a quite sharp edge to the body which highlighted to me that my forearm has been resting there lazily. So it seems this bass requires a good technique in order to be played comfortably. I will work on my right arm position!

Thank you so much for this. Although you only briefly covered it, you've answered a question I've been struggling to find clarity on. 2:20 specifically. I've recently been relearning alternate plucking + raking properly, and noticed that I curled my fingers in a lot during the alternate pluck exercises. Somebody online (a teacher) recommended that I should curl my fingers more, and I thought I was already doing it correctly by playing from a resting (neutral) hand position. Thanks!

Thanks for an excellent overview of right hand position. This ergonomic approach really straightened me out!

this is a good video, i used to have let squash my elbow against the top of the bass and i got pain in my knuckles, now i use movable anchor with my elbow raised up straight. much more natural feeling.

I love 2010 RU-vid, it was so genuine!

Hey Adam, Decided to pick up a bit of bass playing and I have to say your videos do a fantastic job at explaining some of the fundamentals. Props

These videos of been so helpful for me thank you so much

thanks for the tips man, just knowing that everyone plays differently is very open of you

thank you youtube for recommending this 11 years later

Really good stuff. May I ask for more of an explanation in picking technique concerning keeping your fingers bent instead of straight. Thank you.

Good video man. Made me realise I should probably stop resting my right arm so that my rest is all bent up. Thanks!

Great video mate and added to favourites. I'm beginning to get pain in the joint between thumb and index finger due to poor technique. Being a guitar -> bass convert, when I first picked up the bass, I simply adopted the technique that I 'thought' was the accepted way of doing things. That was the thumb on pup method, and I therefore stretch as you illustrated. This has caused the pain so I'll need to start work on your technique, plus the floating/movable thumb...

It's pretty impossible play like this. The shoulder fatigue is crazy

Great explanation, good job and thanks. I just found your videos and really liked the ones i watched. I've been playing like this for a while but not because RS injury (thankfully), because changing between techniques(finger, slap, tap etc.) is a lot easier and keeping the unused strings silent is easier(since i'm playing 6 stringed) with this technique. I was wondering if I'm doing right by radically changing my technique but thanks to you i approved myself. Great job, keep it up!

Lol I'd never imagined running into 2010 Adam Neely when googling this. Keep on keepin' on liccman

By using your left hands unused fingers to mute the strings. For instance, you hit an A (2nd Fret )on the E string (Top string), and you mute the A/D/G strings with your middle, ring, and pinkie finger. You can also mute multiple strings by laying your finger across multiple strings

Hi Adam, Thanks for this lesson and congrats for your work and talent. I'm suffering from a light RSI in the right wrist (plucking hand...) so I'm trying to take in your technique... My experience so far is: + I feel more relaxed + My wrist doesn't hurt - it slows me down a lot - I have problems playing octaves, especially when the lower string is involved. Would you suggest using the thumb? - More generally, I have problems plucking the lower string with regularity Any advice? Thx!

Thanks a lot for these videos, it's all good advice. I was wondering if you would mind explaining weight distribution? I'm used to slumping my right forearm over the top of the body slightly, which pins the bass in place. But with my arm nearer to vertical, I can't get the same 'grip', and more weight is shifted to my left hand, making it less dextrous. Any tips you can give me are greatly appreciated. Thank you kindly.

You're welcome! Glad I could help :)

great lesson!!! I wish I had seen this 20 years ago when I started.

So I’m practicing playing this way as opposed to whatever wild way I had been. And my hands are pretty exhausted. I wonder if it has to do with my hands having build their muscles to the lesser technique and now having to almost relearn in some ways. I hope so.

Great video, more people need to be aware of the bent wrist thing... It prevents you from using all of your strength too and therefore limiting your dynamics! The part about anchoring your thumb and pivoting it to gain access to the higher strings? ... I have never thought to try it before now! Thanks a lot!

My problem with the "limp hand" position is actually shoulder pain, not hand/wrist pain 🤔 I assume the neutral position is just going to make my shoulder work more(?)

I know this is an old comment, but I'd like to reply nonetheless. I've found that when playing with straight fingers, I just end up hitting the strings and then rebounding, which makes practically no sound. But when curving the fingers, there's a hook shape that's created, which allows the strings to move, snap and recoil to make sound. Also, curving seems to make concentrating force in the fingertips easier. It's kind of like trying to activate a rubber band by slapping it.

Moving from acoustic guitar with that big body to drape your arm over to electric bass, I'm really needing to figure out how to get my wrist straight. Maybe I should get a wrist brace...

Great video! Thank you so much! 👍

Thank you papa Neely

can you do 3 videos going in depth to each of the 3 right hand techniques

Finally actual good advice!

I'm a self taught bass player and been playing for more then 20 years.I 've been playing with a cover band for 3 years and we play 2-3 nights a month 5 hour long shows with breaks in between and now i am having issues with my fingers feeling sore and stiff.I'm gonna try this out and see if it helps..

I noticed that in the years since you made this video you seem to have started using the bent right wrist and even recommend it like in your vid about how to make an electric bass sound like an upright. What's up with that? Also, I really like the bass and feel like it makes the most sense to me out of any non-percussion instrument I've played, but every time I try to teach myself through my usual immersion/obsession/isolation method. I just end up overplaying and getting crazy blisters on the fingers of my right hand and then quitting the bass for way too long and at this rate I'll never be able to practice enough to play bass comfortably and confidently. How do I get around this problem? When I asked my dad (a semi-professional jazz/funk/gospel/classical bassist) all he said was "Keep playing" but that's hard when it feels like your fingers are falling apart. Should I practice with a pick when my fingertips start getting sore? and if so, how do I play with good pick technique? I play most of my instruments bare handed so I don't really know what I'm doing with one and even if I did, I imagine picking a bass is a lot different from, say, a mandolin. help

Thanks for your videos on RH and LH technique. I play mainly double bass these days, and when picking up the fender again, I noticed a few problems - now I know why! If I may add something though, I prefer looking at posture not downwards starting from the fingers, then hands, arms, shoulder etc,, but upwards starting from standing / sitting posture, then spine, shoulders, arms etc. Now, your right shoulder is pulled up compared to the left - won't that put unequal strain on your spine?

Really well articulated even back in 2010(=

@havic5 Thanks for your swift reply, Sir! Back to my "diligent practice", then...

thank you so much!! this is what i looking for!!

Wow, you’ve come a long way.

Thanks for the video. I have severe tendonitis in my right elbow and it comes back slightly after playing, the postion i use is wrist bent and forearm resting. is this why i have flare ups. I think i just answered my question, right? but Humerus gets tired if i do it your way

My wrist will always hurt when I play in any other position other than this one.

You are my savior.. thank you so much!!

Exellent Adam Neely, thanks so much

Also super helpful. 🙌🏻🙌🏻

nice, I'd also like to see one for plectrum too.

I think I'm misunderstanding something - how can one possibly rest their forearm on the bass with the elbow above, and then actually access the strings?

Adam, why did you get rid of this bass?

Excellent

Hi, thanks for your videos. Do you still stand by this technique? I am going to try it and I wanted to know if you still use it after all these years. Cheers.

cool video, dude

Thank you!!!!!!

thanks for making this video man. i currently play acoustic guitar, but decided to begin learning bass as i think it's a ton more fun! this is a great video for a beginner like me. cheers!

Thanks for these old videos. I’m wondering if there is a bass course online or in book format anyone would recommend?

How do you mute the lower strings while playing the higher ones without using the thumb?

I tried this, but I have a problem with it: sliding.... If my wrist or lower arm is not attached to the body, I can not put the force on the body to hold it enough for a slide with the left. Any ideas anyone? Maybe the body of my bass is not big enough.

I'm a short guy, 5'1. Im tryna practice this safe right hand technique, however the neck dive on my bass makes it hard to keep in place especially when playing some fast lines so i grew the habit of resting my forearm on the body of the bass to counteract the neck dive. Do you have any tips for this matter? I'm using a Fender standard precision bass.

Interesting technique :) I'll look into it. I don't have any problems with my wrist, but I just don't like the wrist angle I'm playing with. Is it normal for this technique to be really tiring for my arm?

hi great info ,is it possible to do more on this,the picking tech,i use the whole of my fingers ,straight to pick,but your saying use the first joint of finger to pick,can you please explain more on this so i can get out of the habit i have been doing for a long time,hopefully,also what you said about the position of the shoulder,where the hand is curved i am doing that aswell,i have been doing both bad techniques for about 15 years,do you think it is possible to correct my tech.on the correct posture of hand and the correct plucking of fingers.please do more indepth videos on this topic so i can try to correct the bad habits,thanks from a worried bassist,have subbed

ive guitar for 10 years so going to bass im most comfortable with my pinkie anchored on the fret board when playing fast, when not playing fast i use my thumb, pointer and middle finger to 'pluck' the strings. is this still a safe way to play? i tried it by bending my wrist over the guitar at a 90 degree angle and it is uncomfortable and unnatural, and i could feel constrained in my shoulders.

Young Adam! 😀

classical guitar position... nuff said Make a new series of this things!

I've noticed a technique problem lately with my right hand. To me, it feels pretty relaxed and this problem doesn't really translate into playing, but I've noticed that my pinky on my plucking hand gets all tense and sort of flies around whenever I start really digging in or playing fast. Of course this probably means my hand isn't relaxed, and I'm worried that I'm going to run into problems with this. Plus it looks pretty weird haha. Any suggestions for how to fix this?

As I'm practicing this it feels like I am having to intentionally push my elbow forward away from my body, this has definitely alleviated this strain that I was feeling on my anchor thumb, but it's a very awkward way to hold my arm. Especially when I'm resting my wrist on the top of the bass, I have to even exert more effort on pushing my elbow forward. Am I missing something or does this just take some time to get used to?

Anybody have any advice for slap style? Whacking my thumb against the string seems to bounce my wrist around

my only problem wtih this technique isi cannot seem to get a wide variance of articulation and tone compared to others and play fast???

Hey Adam question?...How do you approach Giant Steps when walking bass?

Mm, makes really good sense. Thank you.

What if all fingers are in use? Sixteenth note chromatic riffs etc.?

Sound advice!