BASS
NEXT LEVEL PERMUTATIONS | Adam Nitti
In this column we are going to dive a little bit into the topic of building fretting hand fingering independence . These exercises are primarily targeted at improving your technique , and you will find that the dexterity gained from these will help to make challenging lines easier and more enjoyable to play .
Before we get started , let ’ s look at a few foundational concepts associated with our fretting hand technique :
• Avoid using a flat-fingered approach - In other words , try to play more using the pads or tips of the fingers , which involves keeping the fingers of the fretting hand slightly curved . This is so you can effectively minimize the surface area coming into contact with the strings and the fingerboard , and the result is better intonation and greater accuracy with your fretting hand .
• Keep your thumb at the back of the neck - Whenever possible , try to avoid bringing your thumb over the top of the neck . The higher your thumb is , the more inhibited your reach will be for your fretting fingers , especially when playing the lower pitched strings of your bass . A good place to keep the thumb is somewhere midway at the back of the neck so you can maximize stability and reach .
• Maintain space between your palm and the back of the neck - The main purpose of this is to maintain consistency with hand position , regardless of what string you are playing . You will notice that if your palm meets the back of the neck , it naturally pulls your thumb over the top of the neck and turns your fretting fingers to a position less perpendicular to the strings .
• Avoid sharp wrist angles , especially under tension - The importance of this cannot be overemphasized . Sharp wrist angles , combined with hyperextension and / or awkward hand positions , can significantly contribute to pain and injury and can sometimes do damage if ignored for too long . Maintaining relaxation and comfort is essential for your endurance and your long term playing health .
Keep in mind these are just some general guidelines , and the refinement of your technique is something you should certainly continue to explore on your own . Try and keep these good habits in mind as you work on these exercises .
FRETTING HAND PERMUTATION EXERCISES I ’ ll bet a lot of you have seen the 24 permutations before . Permutation exercises are a fantastic way to get started with improving your fretting hand technique and fingering independence . You place your hand in a one-finger-per-fret position on the fingerboard as shown in Figure 1 , starting from any location and work through each of the 24 fingerings individually or in sequence . Figure 1
These can be practiced on either a single string or across all of your strings in order both ascending and descending directions .
Here are the 24 basic permutations that many players use for warmups and technique practice . ( The numbers in each permutation correspond to the numbers associated with each finger of the fretting hand , i . e . 1 = index , 2 = middle , 3 = ring , 4 = pinky )
1234 1243 1324 1342 1423 1432 2134 2143 2314 2341 2413 2431 3124 3142 3214 3241 3412 3421 4123 4132 4213 4231 4312 4321
So for example , if you were to play the first permutation ( 1234 ) on the E string starting from the 5 th fret , it would be played as indicated in Example 1 on the next page .
Similarly , if you were to play the permutation ( 2134 ) on the A string starting from the 5 th fret it would be played as indicated in Example 2 .
Of course all 24 of the permutations could be extended across all strings and played in a variety of ways . Feel free to explore these basic ones on your own if you have not played through them before . However , I want to focus on some more advanced versions of these that are a little more challenging to play .
STATIC FINGERING VARIATIONS There are all sorts of variations you can apply to static fingerings in order to really stretch your technical facility and fingering independence . Instead of fingers 1 – 4 being assigned to adjacent frets on a single string as shown in Figure 1 , you can also spread them across the strings to static locations and then apply the permutation fingering order . Figures 2 and 3 show two different positions you can place your fretting fingers in and play through the permutations . Notice that they still retain a onefinger-per-fret approach but require the ability to step through each fingering across two adjacent strings instead of one .
Figure 2
Figure 3