Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

Left_Hand_Strat

Left_Hand_Strat

New member
yo.

Right. since August, when I got my bass, I have been playing bass with a pick, lemmy style. standing up mainly. However over the last month the pain in my strumming arm shoulder is that bad I cramp up and can't play for ages. (In mind I am Left handed so Strumming arm = Left arm)

I don't have this problem at all with my guitars on a normal basis and cannot understand why this is happening. Anyway, I have decided to use my fingers a lot more and the pain has almost disappeared totally. I wondered, does scale length have any bearing on this type of issue? I only ask because if that is the case, I could try a shorter scale bass guitar for strumming with.

Just wondered what you guys thought.
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

How much facial hair do you have?

Seriously, tho, I'm betting you hold the bass differently when you use a pick.
 
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Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

If the pain is in your picking arm, and not in your fretting arm, then the scale has nothing to do with it.

You need to adjust your strap to take some stress off your picking arm and shoulder. Strap on your guitar like you have always done pain-free, strum it, and look carefully at your shoulder, elbow, and wrist in a mirror. Then strap on the bass and adjust the strap height until you can pick the bass with your shoulder, elbow, and wrist the same angle as when you play guitar.
 
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Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

I'd be willing to bet you're having problems caused by gripping the pick too tightly while you play. It takes more force (obviously) to play bass than guitar, and working your arm muscles while also maintaining a grip on the pick could be causing muscle/tendon issues.

Try to keep a very relaxed grip on the pick (same as you would for guitar), or try using your bare fingers for awhile. Even the finger strength you'll build from playing without a pick should help you if/when you switch back to one.

There are also a lot of bass techniques that you won't really master if you use a pick all the time. I've even carried some of the slap/tap stuff back over to the six-string after a good workout regimen on the bass.

Whatever you do, don't ignore the pain. Your body is trying to tell you something.
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

L_H_S has not posted in this forum for quite a while. I shall send him a text message to make sure that he gets to hear about this thread.
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

Funkfingers said:
L_H_S has not posted in this forum for quite a while. I shall send him a text message to make sure that he gets to hear about this thread.
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Good point. I even knew that and checked the date of the OP before I responded. Somehow I read it as "05-06-2013".

godzilla-facepalm.png
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

dotsdad said:
If the pain is in your picking arm, and not in your fretting arm, then the scale has nothing to do with it.

You need to adjust your strap to take some stress off your picking arm and shoulder. Strap on your guitar like you have always done pain-free, strum it, and look carefully at your shoulder, elbow, and wrist in a mirror. Then strap on the bass and adjust the strap height until you can pick the bass with your shoulder, elbow, and wrist the same angle as when you play guitar.
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This makes no sense. The strap goes over your fretting-arm shoulder, not your pick-hand shoulder.

And yes, the pain is from gripping the bass pick harder than you would a guitar pick.
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

Alternate fingers to pick , takes time but it worked for me . When the pick hoits ya put it down and finger it out .

HR
 
Re: Excruciating pain whilst playing bass.

DrNewcenstein said:
And yes, the pain is from gripping the bass pick harder than you would a guitar pick.
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This is not necessarily true. I'd be willing to bet the problem is primarily in the wrist angle with which he uses the pick, not the strength of his grip. Playing with fingers allows for a straighter wrist.

I'm primarily a bass player. I used to play with a pick (a couple of decades ago) and still occasionally do, but mostly it's all fingers now. Just FYI.

(Come to think of it, I have bad wrists, and they've been that way for a couple of decades. I never consciously decided to switch playing styles because of my wrists, but now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure it was a factor.)
 
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