The way you sling your bass?

[Vile]

Just asking, when you guys stand up and play, are your basses slung this way ( like a gradient? ) " / " or sort of horizontally like this way " - "?

Cause I noticed that if I sit down and play, I have no problems reaching higher frets with my pinky and ring finger, noticed that my bass is positioned in the horizontal way. " - "

However, once I try to stand up and play, my bass will be slung this way " / "
Making it very difficult to play higher frets as my fingers cannot reach it, and my ring finger have problems playing the octave ( but do note i have absolutely NO problems at all while sitting down )

So, I was wondering if either:
1. My fretboard is too big for my hand. ( Or in other words my hands are too small lol )
2. My strap is too long? ( Before posting this, I adjusted my strap to the shortest it can be, and noticed it is still strung " / " this way instead of making it " - " this way, I tried trying to make it as horizontal as possible but it just couldn't work. It always sling back to " / " this position.
3. Nothing is wrong? Its natural? O.O

Or if there's anything else you would like to add please comment, and sorry if my analogy of my problem is weird or anything, I couldn't find a better way of putting it. Thanks. ;D

 

[Resetti]

shorten the strap i guess.

if it's the minimum length already, then you can try buying a shorter strap....

normally, it's eaiser to reach those frets if you sling your bass higher up, but if you sling pretty high, you may look weird depending on the genre... but then who cares about look s right, it's more about your playing that is comfortable to you

 

[Vile]

Yeah, I think the strap might be too long even though its at its minimum length already.
If I cared about looks I wouldn't bother posting here
I look like a nerd with or without the bass. Doesn't matter. HAHA.

 

[cool-beans]

Perhaps take a pic of you playing the bass?

 

[Vile]

Would a picture help?
I'll post it up tml

 

[cool-beans]

It'll definitely help us see if you're having a wrong technique or something.

 

[engz]

to me it's a matter of preference. i personally think that a horizontally slung way looks way cooler, which is why 80% of the time my bass would be in the horizontal position. but the other 20% of the time it could be facing downwards (gaya maya only), upwards (to reach the top few frets) depending on the situation

 

[trowaclown]

Au contraire to engz, I like mine with a high gradient. Feels more like a classical guitar and my left hand doesn't need to stretch too far left, which feels unnatural to me.

And +1 to Resetti about WHO CARES ABOUT HOW YOU LOOK. You look best when you look like you're grooving and enjoying yourself. Compare Flea, with his bass low, and Ben Kenney, with his bass high. Both rock, so who's to argue?

 

[engz]

yeap. to each his own =]

 

[evanger]

Maybe we can learn from all our Bass heroes!

I have this problem when I first started learning bass too.

Take a look at Victor Wooten
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA-ZKDOoBnk
You will notice that his has a slight gradient, and is slung rather high. Since you are interested in the left hand (or the hand that presses the frets) lets take a look. His left hand is rather stretched out, and his wrist is bent in order to reach the strings. This uses more forearm strength. The right hand (or the plucking hand), right wrist is resting on the body of the bass, and right elbow is bent to an acute angle. The frets are close to the face and easy to see what you are pressing.

Take a look at TM stevens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvwyIeueCs4
His bass is slung rather low, and is almost horizontal. His left hand is close to his body, with his left elbow bent at an acute angle. His left wrist is not bent, instead his hand is bent at the knuckles. This uses more thumb strength when pressing the strings. His right arm is rather straight and only the heel of the hand is resting on the bass body. The frets are far away from the face and uses more 'feel' to know what you are playing.

These are generally the 2 positions. High and low. But when you sit, there is a mixture. The bass is slung 'high' but is horizontal, because its balanced by your leg, and you rest your right hand with bent elbow on the bass body. Thus you will be able to reach the frets with your left hand like TM stevens, bending just the knuckles, and using more thumb strength, and playing with your right hand like the position of Victor Wooten.

SO when we are seated, since the weight of the bass is balanced by our leg, we can reach easier to the high frets as we can pivot the bass. AND considering the bearings from the side view, when we are seated, we can make the bass face forward, which makes it easier to reach any frets. But when we are standing, the bass faces slightly upward due to the contour of our belly so the left hand need to bend the wrist like Victor Wooten. You understand what I meant by facing upwards? and forward, right? Forward = bass perpendicular with floor. On the other hand, if you slung the bass rather low, where the belly is not in the way, the bass will face forward, but then you need to reach down lower that's all. (hey, even a fit person with 6 pecs will have this contour.. so its not only ...) You could shift the bass out of the way, onto the side of your body where it will be facing forward.

That's my 2 cents worth, and a summary of my learning process about playing seated/standing!