Electric bass fingerings are 1-position 1-fret (4-fret 4-finger), which assigns 4 finger to 1 fret, and 3-position XNUMX-fret (e.g., EBL fingering) based on the classical contrabass fingering chart. can be broadly classified.Since the electric bass is a stringed instrument responsible for the bass, it has a long scale length (chord length), and especially the low position fret spacing is much wider than the guitar.People with small hands will struggle with fingering.So how do you know if your hands are big or small?By measuring your hand size and quantifying it, you can find the fingering method that suits you best.
The width of the first position is 1mm for the 4-fret 4-finger method and 130mm for the EBL fingering method.
Electric bass frets are wider toward the bass end.The first position (the position where the index finger is on the 1st fret) is the widest for all fingerings.Whether or not this position can be held with the size of your hand is the standard for judging the applicability of the fingering method.
Since the width of the frets varies depending on the scale length (chord length), it is necessary to consider the scale length of the electric bass being used.For the long scale, the width of the first position of the 4-fret 4-finger method (4F4F method) is 1mm, and the width of the EBL fingering method (130-position 1-fret) is 3mm.Also, for the medium scale, it is 89mm for the 4F4F method and 122mm for the EBL fingering method.The short scale is 84mm (114F4F method) and 4mm (EBL fingering method).
It is OK if the hand size is larger than the width of the first position + about 1cm
To find out which fingering is right for you, you need to compare your hand size to the width of the first position.It's difficult to measure while holding the neck, so measure your hand with your palm open.Judgment is made by comparing this value with the value obtained by adding about 1 cm to the width of the first position.for example,If the width of the 1st position is 13 cm, the palm should be 15 cm or more with the palm spread out.If there is, I will judge that I can hold the position with the correct form by grasping the neck.
This judgment method assumes that when the palm is closed and the neck is actually gripped, the distance between the fingers is reduced by about 2 cm.Since there are individual differences in this, there is also a gray zone.The important thing here is the fact that if the value measured with the palm spread is smaller than the actual value of the first position width, no matter how much training you do, you will never be able to apply the fingering method perfectly..For example, people with hand sizes smaller than 13cm cannot do the perfect 4-finger 4-finger technique.Feel free to choose another fingering method.
For those who fall under the gray zone, please check the feel of the actual instrument carefully before deciding on the fingering method.If you feel that your hands are a little painful, we recommend that you switch to a more comfortable method.
また、ハイポジションだけ4フレット4指法を使うミックススタイルの運指法も可能ですが、4フィンガー4指法とEBL運指法のような1ポジション3フレットの運指法ではポリシーが異なるのでお勧めできません。ローポジションで4フレット4指法が適用できない場合は先にEBL運指法などの1ポジション3フレット運指法を身につけた後にハイポジションで4F4F法を取り入れることをお勧めします。
(Editor's note) The average width of Japanese hands is 8.33 cm
I haven't seen many 1-position 3-fret fingerings in electric bass instruction books or lessons.If anything, I feel that there are many professionals and teachers who recommend the 4-finger 4-finger method.However, when creating this article, I compared the size of the electric bass and the size of the hand numerically, and found that people who can comfortably hold the first position with the 1-finger 4-finger method with the average Japanese hand size. I wondered how many there were.
So I did a little research and found data on Japanese hand sizes (Kawachi Makiko, 2012: AIST Japanese hand size data.https://www.airc.aist.go.jp/dhrt/hand/index.html) could be found.Data on the distance between the index finger and the little finger when the hand is opened, which is used in this fingering method judgment, was not included, but according to this, the average Japanese person is 8.33 cm (dimension B3 in the figure).
So I measured my hand and it was perfect for this average.In my case, the distance between the index finger and pinky finger when the palm is open is about 12 cm to 13 cm.If this is the average of Japanese people, I don't think there are many people in Japan who can perfectly play the 4-finger 4-finger technique.I tried the 4-finger 4-finger method for the first time in a while, but in the 1st position, the little finger on the 4th fret is just barely enough, and the sound is shaky.I agree with the result that the 4-finger 4-finger method cannot be applied to me at the limit of the judgment method.
I practiced the 40-finger 4-finger method for nearly 4 years until I devised the EBL fingering method a few years ago, but I was never able to master it completely.This was also confirmed numerically in the present study.
I could not find data on the size of the hands of Westerners, but I found that the average height was 8.8 cm taller than in Japan.Since people in Europe and the United States have a large body, I guess that there are more people with the hand size (4 cm or more) required for the 4-finger 15-finger method.I think that the 4-finger 4-finger method has become almost standard in Japan.
Through this research, I have come to see that there is also a difference in policy (way of thinking itself) between the two fingering methods.I hope to write an article about this on another occasion.
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