I have a friend who is interested in learning bass. I have tracked down several models for him, and it looks like we can get him a pretty good deal. He is mostly ambidextrous, but he doesn't have full control over his left little finger. It is, of course, much easier to find a right handed bass than a left handed one, but we were wondering how many fingers on the left hand you have found yourself using for fretting? I know that, as a guitarist, my pinky gets quite a workout, but bass is very different. He has complete control over his index, middle, and ring fingers. Please let me know what ya'll think.
--RJ
I use my pinky a lot when I'm playing bass - it's more of a stretch between frets than a guitar. In fact, learning bass probably led to me using my pinky more when playing guitar, as it gained in strength. Having said that, I see no reason why you'd ever need to stretch more than 3 frets at a time... all the notes in a given octave are within that stretch, unless you're playing high up the fretboard.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
While I agree with Vic, I'm thinking he might get by without the pinky if he shifts position when needed.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Just my opinion, but I'd say he should play whichever way feels more natural to him as opposed to trying to switch based on the problem with his pinky finger. If he really is ambidextrous and playing left handed feels natural enough, then yes, it could be advantageous to have all four fingers; but if he's going to feel unnatural as a lefty, I think he's better off right-handed even if it means no pinky.
For what it's worth, my left ringfinger (the tip, specifically) is messed up from an accident I had as a kid - it's a little shorter than my right and the fingertip was basically reconstructed. :shock: I have sometimes wondered if I'd be better off playing guitar lefty. As a teenager, I barely used that finger while playing guitar, and I still did OK. I stopped for many years and just started playing guitar again about 3 months ago, and as I got over my fear and started just using that finger anyway, no matter how weird it felt, it has turned out to not be such a big problem after all.
Good luck to your friend, either way. :D
-- Voidious
I use my pinky a great deal playing bass. I noticed the other day that a lot of the time my ring finger isn't stretching far enough to properly fret strings yet my pink almost overstretches, I think the pinky is important. My pinky and index fingers are capable of reaching a much greater angle of movement than the middle and ring (and I assume that this is normal since these fingers are on the outside of the hand and don't have anything else in their way).
Is the lack of control a from physical damage/nerve damage of some sort or is it just that he lacks fine motor skills from lack of functional use (like moving your ring finger or pinky independantly of each other tends to be hard for most people)? If there isn't a physical defect of some sort I would not let it change what bass I purchased but if a knuckle is fused then learning left handed might be easier in the end.
Hi,
If Django Reinhardt could play jazz of the sort of speed and complexity that he managed with only two properly working fingers then I think that anybody using three should be able to cope with the relatively relaxed pace of most bass lines. It's good to have a strong and effective pinky for any style of guitar, but you can usually work around it if you need to.
I am trying to use the 1 finger per fret playing style and training myself to use ringfinger for a 3-fret 2-string stretch (when playing on fret 1-5) but I often use the pinky as it is easier.
And I have seen Bass lessons where the teacher used pinky for this type of stretch.
Kalle
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
