Left Hand Positions and Technique

For the correct and most comfortable way to play bass guitar the left hand postion should be as follows:

The fingers should be in an arched position, with the fingertips held close to the strings. Do not allow the fingers to straighten out or curve under the neck. Keep your knuckles bent, not flattened.

The thumb should be behind the neck, not laying on top, and be relaxed and moving up and down near the centre of the rear of the neck.

The thumb should ideally be in rough alignment with the second finger. Avoid gripping the neck like a stick and don't hang the thumb over the fretboard - this will cramp up your left hand and reduces the distance your fingers can reach and stretch.

Use one finger per fret; First finger for the first fret, second finger for the second, etc, and fret the note just before the fret wire.

Your wrist should be comfortable and relaxed with a slight arch so the tendons that move the fingers have the utmost freedom.

Too much wrist bend will bind the muscles and hinder finger movement. The wrist should be relaxed, and roughly in line with the bottom of the neck.

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