One finger per fret bass fingering in lower register

by Ariane Cap 10 Aug 2023 2 minute read

Two tips if one finger per fret is hard for you in the lower registers.

Small hands? No problem!

Video Transcript

I love having the one-finger-per-fret position under my belt – but that doesn’t mean I always use it.

If I have a groove like this, for example: [ 🎵 Ari plays groove 🎵 ] I’m not gonna bother… to play that. I don’t need any other fingers and if I should need them my hand’s right there.

However, I do train myself to be able to do one-finger-per-fret in case I need it. And permutation drills are wonderful for that.

If you have a hard time doing permutations like one, two, three, four in the lower register, first of all make sure you’re not over-gripping. The next thing you can do make little micro shifts. [ 🎵 Ari plays permutation 🎵 ] My hand is very soft when I do all of this.

When I drop my hand and bring it up, it’s in the perfect position. Hit a low F – and see how few calories you can potentially use on this – which tension can you let go of – breathe into it and be gentle.

Check out these related posts:

👉 A Peter Gunn -inspired! permutation drill to reinforce 1-F-P-F

👉 Weighing in on the Alternating vs Raking ‘debate’

👉 Here’s a great Pinkie Workout!

👉 The one-finger-per-fret “controversy”

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Bassist, author, educator.

Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.

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Hi. I'm Ari.

As a bassist, I have toured/played/recorded with a variety of rock, Jazz, and funk bands, I have worked with some incredible producers (Keith Olsen) and musicians (Paul Hanson, Muriel Anderson) and I toured Brazil with Stu Hamm as a duo.

 

As a bass teacher, I have taught at London Bass Day, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, SBL, Truefire, notreble… I even ran my own music school for a few years before gigs took me back on the road.

 

One thing to know about me is that I teach because I am absolutely fascinated with the learning process. And I am obsessed with helping others realize their musical potential.

 

When I started playing bass, I excelled very quickly because I had an amazing teacher who taught me using a powerful method. This method transformed my playing so quickly that I passed a bunch of high-level university auditions and even tested out of entire classes at university even though I had been playing for only a very short time.

 

That’s what, many years later turned into one of my books, co-written with Wolf Wein, called “The Pattern System for the Bass Player”. I created entire systems of learning based on some of these ideas and wrote books and created courses together with Wolf. Our bass books have sold over 30,000 copies and garnered rave reviews.

 

I started teaching online in 2009 and have embraced technology as a powerful learning tool since then, never losing sight of the importance of providing feedback and personalized guidance to learners.

 

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