How to stop "Flying Fingers"... Left hand technique exercise // with Scott's Bass Lessons
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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"Flying Fingers"... this used to drive me crazy! The best way of describing this, is when you push down a note on the neck with your index or middle fingers, your ring and pinkie finger seem to uncontrollably stick out from the fretboard. I used to suffer from this, as do most of the students I've ever worked with.
Don't worry... there is a fix! In this lesson I show you a simple exercise you can apply immediately. If you use this exercise every day for just a few minutes (I recommend around 10-20 minutes per day or practice session) you'll start to see improvements in your fretting hand technique, fast.
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I've been playing 22 years with flying fingers, and it's time to correct it. The exercises are great... super slow so the motor cortex can reprogram the movement. I found my pinky still flying even slow, so I discovered this helpful trick: play 1,4,2,3, but after playing the 4, LEAVE THE PINKIE DOWN, and finger 2 and 3 (it sounds like playing 1,4,4,4). This forces the brain/muscles to adjust to moving the 2 and 3 fingers without letting the pinky fly. After a while of doing this, it's an easy switch to lift the pinky ever so slightly so the 2 and 3 notes can be heard again, but now the pinky is in perfect position above the fret.
Also, I notice for my fingers not to fly, I have to rotate my wrist more so my pinky is higher on the fretboard - without it, the pinky and ring finger can't help but fly.
Nice! That is an excellent tip, thanks!
+David Barile Super!
I really feel I will succeed this time, thanks for the great tips. All I have to do now is just rewire myself to learn to play everything again from the start with the proper technique. Hope I'll succeed as it will be quite a battle.
I also noticed after trying to follow Scott a few times that I had to adjust where my thumb rests. I learned how to play by myself and now that I'm in a band thats getting serious, it's time to FIX THIS! I've been like this for 10 years and it's pretty hard. How long per day did you practice this, David? And do you leave your thumb sort of in between your middle and ring finger?
I did it for 5 to 10 minutes each time I practiced. I'll have to check where I position my thumb next time I'm at my bass. I found the adjustment happened pretty quickly, but it's like a new "mode" of playing, and I have to remember to get in that mode.. definitely a more subtle, delicate touch.
Been doing this exercize for a few days now, and Im starting to wonder if it might just be easier to chop my pinkie off instead
Look at the comment above yours, he suggests playing 1,4,4,4 but while still using your other fingers to trick your brain
K
Lmao
dont chop it off. it shares a tendon with the ring finger. its normal that it flys over the place. instead of forcing it to be still, which in turn wil cause to to go even crazier, just make it repeat exactly the same motion what the ring finger is doing. I assume your puinky behaves when using index and middle fingers.
My pinky crooked thank God it doesnt stick out as much lmao it leans in
watching your fingers move with the glove on is like watching a tarantula walking
I really appreciate the fact that you concentrate on helping beginners.
Bass players have the hardest time finding dependable instructional lessons online.
Other instruments usually have so many more resources. Thanks Scott.
Keyboards dont have
@@yuriaraujo1142 raw technique mainly comes from piano, which is plentiful. I make no claim about the more keyboard specific elements (MIDI control and other such stuff)
Yeah bro I’m sure oboe players have an extensive library of material to choose from
@yuriaraujo1142 plenty of piano out there though. Same thing as a keyboard ( basically)
I've got this problem BAD. I've been playing off and on for 30 years and (almost) never addressed it. I think it's worse for experienced players that are old (well, 42), like me, because it's so hard-wired into your brain. Watched the video and tried again, and man, it was all over the place. I think most people will have to go much slower than Scott shows, to start with. Like, one finger every 2-3 seconds. Really makes you feel like a dipstick when you thought you were a half decent player...
A really good one for beginners, then, because you haven't developed the bad habits yet.
Thanks for the lesson mate.
I’m 38 and just started playing again. The flying fingers is something I never really tried to fix and I think it held me back from going from adequate bassist to good bassist. Looking forward to trying these exercises
I hate it. I just hate it. It is so frustrating. How long does that need? I mean, my little finger is out of control. I really try to bring him down, but he just won't do it. My entire hand is shaking, because i concentrate so much to put down the little finger. And when i finally put him down, my index finger pops out. I mean...come on -.-".
Like he says, you have to do it slowly, like REALLY slowly (a lot slower than Scott shows, really) and make sure you've got it before you move up in speed. But also the keeping relaxed thing is vital too. Don't let your hand shake or strain. It could cause muscle damage in extreme cases. Also, getting in a good position body-wise is essential, so you're not stretching unnecessarily.
scubapig It's alright now :) This does really helped me alot! And i only had to train 10 minutes a day.
learning music is the entire life activities, even for the pro. So, never ask how many...
john bob I feel you bro xD
Nice
Your finger's position is so perfect, I can't do this. It seems my finger are crooked
Hi Scott. Its good to see that the flying fingers has become a point of attention for many great youtube bass/guitar teachers. Great lesson. Let me tell you my experience.
I had this problem (well... still when I'm not paying attention). The two best excercises I still do is to play the finger secuence 1-2-3-4, just as you shown, BUT changing only one finger at the time, leaving the other 3 fingers in the corresponding strings.
The other one is an small sequence I made that exacerbates the flying fingers problem. Starting on the 3rd string, E, F, (2nd string) G#, B (1st string) D, D#.
The notes are irrelevant, you can do it anywhere while respecting the shape AND lifting your fingers no more that a couple of milimeters. Slowly, painfully and "slugginshly" slow, up and down for hours and hours... If you try this, without training, you can see how the pinky finger struggles to keep still when pressing the E - F sequence.
And for everyone... remember: every musician, rock hero and legend were right where you are at some point of their lives. Keep it up!
I've been playing bass for the past 21 months and this is the best teacher I've come across.
Thank you.
I've noticed this issue in myself when playing some specific riffs with my band, basically having trouble working in some really quick notes on a couple of blues-rock songs we wrote. I also noticed when I was having to rush to get my pinkie back into place to hit a note I'd affect my dynamic by hammering the fret board too hard. I'd also say having to move your hand so much more to play notes is going to cause fatigue issues as well.
This is a major technique improvement and if anyone is on the fence about it's importance I'd say DO it. You'll notice subtle and not so subtle improvements in your playing.
This is great! Been a guitarist for 10 years and now I'm discovering the wonderful world of bass. I've had flying fingers on guitar as well, and after finally beating down that habit for the most part, I'm doing it again on bass. Found a trick to add to these licks that's helping me. Push down a bit with your pinkie when playing the other notes, but not enough to actually touch the string. It gets the pinkie used to the right position without having to slow down quite as much I think.
My teacher had me do these, I do them with my students now. Great for building independence in the fingers and perfecting left hand technique. It's nice to see parallel thinking amongst teachers. Cheers
Never thought about this flaw before and after seeing this vid I pick up my bass and low and behold my pinky was a frequent flyer. Its hard to break old habits but I will defiantly be working on this tech.
I need to get rid of my old pinky and buy a new trained one.
Thanks Scott! From a finger-flying-pinky-flapping guitar player from the USA. I'm adding this exercise to my daily routine!!
Thank you so much for that wonderful lesson. No flying finger since last August. Warming up with that excercise for a couple of weeks, and everything changed. Even my speed went a little bit up.
Interesting. How much time did you devote to this exercise daily?
John Michael Silva About 15-20 minutes. But doing it really slow. As Scott says it's really hard on the beginning, but when you get used to it you got a treasure in your left hand
I tell #4 to get ready to mute the string when I go to the next. It helped me be aware that I really do have some control of #4. Mine wants to curl up into my palm when not in use.
Also your glove led me to get one as my carpel and ulnar nerves heal. I have 4 gigs over the weekend, and could not do them without the glove. Thank you for all you do, Mr. Devine.
Thanks, boss - much appreciated. I've only been playing bass for five months and while I've made some great progress, the flying fingers thing is annoying the hell out of me. I'll practise these exercises uber-slow and see where it takes me.
This video has been tremendously helpful. I've been playing for over 6 years, and I never even realized that I have flying fingers! After watching this, I had to go watch one of my videos to see that I was doing it. This is going to be one of the most useful advancements in my technique I've spent time purposely working on in years. Thank you!
This is god sent! I'm a drummer converted bassist (to get my buddy drummer in the band) and I have a major flying finger problem! I'm happy I found this video.
Thanks, Scott !
Last night while playing a very fast solo I noticed that I really needed to fix my 2 flying fingers in order to play it well.
This video fell from the sky for me !
Scott I thought you said that the bass lessons on your website was free, there not free at all man! But I still watch your videos because they are helping me big time
I know I'm 6 years late to this post but man, I really needed this. I'm already seeing improvements in controlling my fingers. It takes a lot of slow hard work but good things usually do.
This video is exactly what I've been looking for. I've been on my dad's bass for about a year and a half now, and trying to stop the "flying fingers" for quite some time now. Thanks!
Hi Scott. I remember something like this from an old lesson from John Patitucci. And it's a very good lesson. I like your lessons alot. Keep up the good work. We bass players are thankful for a man like you who will share his wisdom with us! A fellow TB'er says Hi!
how long did it take you to master that
Guitar player here. I've never even thought about this before! Just tried to do what you said but it's reeaally difficult. Looks like I'll have to practice this a lot. Thank you for the lesson.
Hello Scott:
Stumbled upon this video by chance while searching for a tutorial about this. You seem like some kind of rocker dude, but I gotta tell ya, I'm hardcore classical and renaissance player, and I found your instructions to be completely relevant to my instrument, and your presentation was really impressive. Thanks so much. Stay awesome!!
thank you so much for this! Recently discovered your video's, they're immense. :-) Spent half an hour doing this and I can already see a small improvement. I'll be doing this every day. Your video's are really inspiring!
This is really helping. Saw an improvement in a few days. What i found also helps is to practice the above lesson, but only use the left hand, and very lightly touch the strings with a small movement of each finger, while keeping the other fingers just above the strings. When you can do this, start pressing a little bit harder, but not all the way to the fret board. Finally do the same as the vid above. Hope this helps.
This is the bane of my bass playing existence! God, give me strength & patience to overcome this!!
I have played bass for almost 30 years, and this lesson has really helped my flying fingers. Love the lessons :-)
Wrote a part on bass which required my pinky as one of the main contact points and this really showed me how to keep that pesky 4th finger in check. Thanks!
I had to become 54 years old to experience my brain can still learn sth new. The hardest thing was to lift the ring finger while keeping all three other fingers on the fretboard. I couldn't believe this finger wouldn't react at all. The secret is really to be patient and try it ever so slow. I am improving already after one day. Thanks so much, Scott!
gad this is a real nice technique
most of other lesson just tell you do not do what but not telling you what to do to reprogram your brain
and this really help me a lot, hope i can get through this :D
Hiya Scotty, and many thanks. I have been thumping along for...oh, a good thirty years or so. Your lessons are a big help; this one especially.
Gonna clean things up a bit. Stop by and see me when you're in Montana!
Hi Man! I've found your channel some weeks ago and had been watching all your vids. They're amazing!
I've been playing guitar for over 7 years and now took up the bass. And I absolutely love it. :)
and you just make me play more and more. Thanks mate. :)
That's a really difficult exercise and I didn't even realise I was doing the flying fingers thing. It's going to take a lot of practice to get out of that one. It'll be worth it though. Thanks.
These are all very useful tips You are sharing, Scott. I do apreciate Your work, man! Best regards from Poland
Similar to a keyboard drill where you have all fingers pressing the keys and only lifting and playing the fingers you are drilling. The heart of the drill is that the non playing fingers never quit pressing on the keys.
What instills that deep sense of frustration is when your fingers are unintentionally lifting and playing unintended tones, and the drill is to play two fingers at a time in different patterns and combinations. (Ex. Fingers 1 and 3 together, then 2 and 4, then 3 and 5)
Thanks for your help Scott 👏👏
Thanks for this Scott, hopefully this will resolve the issue I have with flying fingers! Keep up the great work.
Scott, you are great teacher! Thanks for your videos!
scott i hope you get to see this, i play guitar but still incorporate some of your techniques thought here as well, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge if its not much to ask, could you make some lessons as to how to incorporate some bass techniques to guitar? from beginner level to advance, thank you so much.
Thank goodness for your tip. I'm a guitarist and have played since 1987 but I'm cursed with the attitude of my pinky, he's being a brat and refuses to stick to the fretboard with the other fingers. I've tried everything but he acts like an opposing magnet, bouncing off the fretboard at any opportunity.
I watched your video and just drilled a 1424 pattern, up and down the Fretboard. Then I moved on to septuplet legato and wow, my little finger was sticking close to the frets. Once again, thanks for your tips
That's basically the best excercise to be able to play fast!
My fingers do this and its never been a problem for me and I didn't even know it was incorrect.
This is great for guitarists, too! :-)
Agreed im wielding a six string but I still find this to be a very helpful exercise
I was about to ask if it was recommended for guitarists too :P
Glad to know it is. Thx for the commment!
Thanks Scott. I take lessons but this is such a good supplement and covers so much more then we can get to during lessons.
Just noticed I did this, particular with my index and ring fingers though.
Thank you Scott!
Amazing lesson! Something i've needed for a heck of a long time! Thanks for the help!
This lesson was made for me. Thank you!
never even noticed.great lesson.
Omg my pinky is the worst on my right hand! Such a shame lol! :D
Fellow southpaw bassist?
Steve Soldwedel I play right handed but my right hand form is so jacked lol
Steve Soldwedel I'm left-handed as it happens, Steve.
But my LH bass is strung right-handed (or if you prefer: upside down). I deliberately learned bass that way since I thought (correctly) that I might at some point play upright bass. And: have you ever seen an upright strung left-handed? No, me neither. QED.
I can always spot the bassists and guitarist in an audience. They're the ones pointing at my bass and muttering to the friend standing beside them. ;)
Fantastic lesson. Especially this one I found to be extremely useful. Thank you!
this is so helpful!! i was looking for a video like this for quite a long time now
This is great! Every player in my area does this( even my cousin who taught bass, he had no buisness teaching though, he doesn't even own or play bass :( ) and scoffs at me when I tell them it's a bad habit.
I dig this lesson. The only thing I'd have liked more is if you'd sung 1,2,3,4 along with the notes you were playing, but that's a minor quibble. I need to go home and see whether my right pinky sticks out when I fret, now (yeah, I'm a lefty).
PHENOMENAL lesson, good sir! It really helped with playing things like Steve's Boogie by Eric Johnson. I notice it's not nearly as "exhausting" to play when I keep my fingers from flying. CHEERS!
Hi Scott thanks so much for the tips. My pinky is always flying high and never ever be under control. ( My own finger is not listening me ..funny ) I will start to practice as you shown and share my results. Thanks scott.
I can't control my evil little finger But I saw Pino Paladino playing with the same "problem". That relieves me a bit :-)
Godsend. I always have problem with my pinky and i found the normal climbing pattern not very useful to isloate it. Thanks Scott!
Whether I fret with a flat pinkie, whether I curb it the right way but then I have to bend my wrist a lot, which is painful. Am I the only one?
When I curve my pinky,my wrist also hurts.My problem is that I can fret a note only with a flat pinky,otherwise seems impossible.We have a similar problem mate :)
+1 :(
A little late but Adam Neely has a video talking about wrist technique and he said a straight relaxed wrist is the most important thing.
I am learning the cello and my pinky finger sticks out when i'm playing other notes. I will do my exercises slower -- 1434, 1323, 1424 on each string. Thank you!
Spot on! This lesson was right on time!
Cheers!
Hi Scott: What a fascinating lesson! And what an intersting exercise: a mix of muscle memory and NLP, I fancy?
Oddly enough, and ever since I taught myself to play bass aged about 14 (i.e. about 40 years ago), I used numbers to learn the scales. The book I was using was by Nancy McDevitt (of 'Chas and …' fame) and as many books do, it used numbers over the frets, hence a major scale of G to me is 3-5, 2-3-5, 2-4-5. :) But I'd never thought of using numbers for my fingers instead of the frets!
So fingers crossed (LOL!) that this exercise will in time remediate my own 'flying pinkie.' Nice one, Scott; oh and BTW I live in a first flat so, uh - no shed, mate!
Seriously though, keep up the GREAT work you do with SBL. Can't wait to try your exercise on my trusty 1974 Ibanez 'post-lawsuit' Rick 4001 copy! :) I'll report back on this at a later time after I've given it a proper go.
Question: Do you have to be intentional with everything else you play throughout the day? or just practicing it by itself will work? Thanks toots!
You are a godsend. Thank you.
Incredibly helpful, thanks so much man!
For the record, I don't have this problem for 2 reasons :
- I've learned piano first and I had an awful lot of exercises like this
- I'm left-handed but play a right-handed bass (!)
For obvious reasons, I have other problems (not to mention the fact that I have short fingers...)
Great video anyway, as usual ! Thanks a lot for all your work.
Hey Loic! I am also left-handed, I also play a left-handed bass strung right-handed (i.e. G string at the "top" and E string at the "bottom."
I'm pleased to meet someone else who plays like I do!
But unfortunately I *do* suffer from flying fingers despite being left-handed; they're just on my RIGHT hand. Unlike you, I never had piano lessons, so I'd say that's the real reason you don't suffer from this problem.
Cad Delworth Hey Cad, I'm in a different situation than you. I play a "normal" right handed bass, not even reversed, exactly the way a right handed guy does.
Just, my left hand is much more accurate than my right hand, so I don't have this "flying finger effect".
As a matter of fact, my right hand is less accurate, so I had to work a lot on the precision, speed & strength when I was a kid playing piano. :)
this is cool I've just started my lessons from scratch but this some bone for the brain
Very cool, and practical!!! I’m gonna do this one while I watch tv!!😁
Thank you for doing these videos
For the first time in Idunnohowlong, I understood all the music theory Scott presented.
Fuck me! I've been playing guitar for 16 years and just now figured out why I'm having trouble with speed...typed up my issue and came to this video gem. Why isn't this discussed more!? So many years of a bad habit I have to try to correct. Well practice is gonna be super boring for the upcoming months. Thanks for making this 4 yrs ago though!
Brilliant lesson Scott was going to ask you how to overcome this one!! Wish there was a link I could down load everything from your brain into mine so icould become an excellent bass player!!!
thank you once again!
This exercise is very similar to The Bass Fitness book by Josquin Des Pres. This is however a very good exercise for the fretting hand as well as getting both hands to work together when you turn up the tempo.
Great lesson, thank you Scott!
This is incredibly useful. I need to do it more! I also descend from the pinky; that's a b*tch.
thank you mr macavoy
I've been trying to figure this one out for while now...how do people play much faster and smoother. I'd better get practicing. Thank you :)
Thanku sir.....
This is very easy teaching method
great technique lesson
Oh and by the way, you have a new subscriber Scott, your videos are great.
Great thanks scott!
Thank you for this exercise-it has helped me reduce my “towel-hanger pinky” syndrome.
I think this is more often a problem of the left arm rather than the fingers - namely that the left forearm is too relaxed. Relaxation of the left forearm will lead to rotation that pulls the 3rd/4th fingers away from the fretboard; I suspect this is why "flying fingers" is such a common problem. You could of course also solve the problem by just bending the fingers, but I find this to be a bad solution as it puts the fingers in a weak position.
So the key is to ensure that the left arm is always set such as 1. to bring the fingers over the strings and 2. to put the fingers in the optimum position for strength. This involves a compromise, as the optimal solution for one finger probably won't be optimal for another. You have to experiment a bit to find the most comfortable position for you.
i had the same problem with guitar. I corrected it when I started to learn violin.
Get some excersize tape and tape those fingers together when you play for a week. That helped me..
Hi Scott, I'm a big fan of yours. I was just wondering how long will it take to get my fingers straighten out. Also how much should I practice every day. Thank you & keep up the good work. Thanks again, hope to hear from you again.
I'm a beginner..I have the flying finger on the INDEX finger....drives me nuts....I'll try some of these correction techniques
How did it go
Does anyone know if there is a similar lesson for the plucking hand?
If you are struggling, I have found it easier to focus the brain by just moving the fretting hand fingers and not using the playing hand at all. Once you feel a little more comfortable you can start working both hands
Thank you for this, I hope it will help...
no proble with my ring finger but my pinkey still goes out, i just have to practise. but its working, Thanks!
This one is a killer but worth it: play major and minor triads (over 3 strings) up and down across the next with fingers sticking to string but not pressing when a note is not played.
Thank you for this. Great video
Having long nails for years before picking up the bass was such a disadvantage! My hands became used to weird movements in order to do things and fingers sticking out to avoid hitting them. I also never noticed how weak my hands became. I've been learning for about two months and I can feel my hands getting stronger, but it seems like I have to learn how to use them properly again in general 🥲
Hope I can fix the problem through exercise