Beginner Bass Guitar Lesson: Left Hand Technique
View tabs at www.freeguitarvideos.com Left Hand Technique is a free video lesson by Russ Rodgers for beginning bass guitar. This lesson will teach you proper left hand form which will help you become a more efficient player. We will first cover the proper positioning of the hand and fingers and then move on to some exercises that will eliminate excess motion from your fingers.
Reader Comments
why 3 fingers on one string??
dirty minded
Thanks Boss Bless you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cheats
Prejudice is a negative perception of, not action against, something or someone before actually learning about it/them.
Learn what words mean before you use them, please.
When you say you need to “break” your wrist forward you’re forgetting that position is THE most unnatural position for a wrist… As a Bassist you want to make sure that your wrist is straight and feels natural as much as possible, given that certain notes cannot be played (especially high notes) with a straight wrist, but watch out, a lot of beginners watch this and will assume that a bent / angled wrist position is alright, it is NOT in long terms it will cause severe wrist injuries!
Try searching for “left handed” bass techniques
The majority of the world is right handed and they most likely cannot play left handed because they didn’t learn that way. It’s the same concept either way.
lol my little finger went crazy while doing this xD
4:40 is so hard for me =/ broke my hand when i was 12 and now my pinky finger and knuckle are just totally messed
Byfar the most important video for beginners.
Well, I’m off to relearn years of bass playing!
can’t get my thumb flat down… i can only get it side on, and it feels sooo unnatural. i physically can’t turn my thumb so it’s flat down on the neck. might it have to do with me being a piano player?
Man, it isn’t a lie, it’s just the most comfortable position and it gets the best tone. It’s the same for the guitar, but a lot of guitarists prefer to stick their thumb above the neck, but it doesn’t mean that they are bad guitarists.
the thumb on back of neck is a lie i’ve seen steve harris have his thumb stick out above the neck like es griping it, unless u wanna say steve harris is bad at playing bass
nice hawiian shirt
hey why is everyone on youtube freaking prejuiced !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLAY A LEF HANDED GUITAR FREAKIN Ass whipe
brilliant. thanks mate.
he dresses like tyler the creator.
Is that an Ibanez GSR200? If so, I have the same bass, also, in red.
Lol I want to listen to Electric Funeral now!
this question makes no sense! Watch some good Bassplayers and you’ll know why they got that high. (Tal Wilkenfeld i.e)
It’s interesting how many left hand techniques are suggested for playing bass guitar. This is a varation on the OFPF (one finger) per fret approach. Other variation would be to stretch over the first four frets and some people with spider fingers can do that just fine. Another method would be to not to pivot on the thumb but use 124 over frets 123 with ring finger unused in low positions.
The method Russ offers is logical, it doesn’t break the OFPF but how efficient the shifting (pivoting) is?
The thing I don’t get is, I see professional bassists (everyone from Wooten to Entwhistle to Burton to Geddy to everyone) break alot of these rules…..I see guys go over the top of the E string all the time with their thumbs (I’m guessing for muting purposes)….should I begin slowly with the techniques in this video and build my way up to what those guys are doing or what?
@overture13 thanks for the response!
yeh dude! sabbath rock! geezer is an influence m/
Yeah, man. It’s perfectly fine to do that! It’s a good habit to have. I see your user name is Electric Funeral, which suggest you’ve got a good influence in Black Sabbath and Geezer Butler! Good luck with your playing.