Shifting, Positions & Extensions
Shifting & Positions:
- The bass is such a large instrument, shifting is an important skill to master in order to reach the higher notes on the fingerboard.
- When bass music is written in "1st position" or "3rd position," this refers to where the hand is located when fingers are placed on the bass fingerboard.
- Shifting refers to the hand smoothly moving up or down the fingerboard in order to play notes with the hand in a different position on the fingerboard.
- The concept of positions and shifting is somewhat similar to an elevator traveling to different floors in a building. When the hand is in 1st position, the hand is closest to the scroll of the bass. In order to reach some of the higher notes, it's necessary to move the hand up to a higher position on the fingerboard to play the notes. This requires the hand to shift to a higher hand position such as the 3rd position. Using the elevator analogy again, it’s similar to the hand moving up in an elevator from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor.
- Due to the length of the bass fingerboard, the bass utilizes many different positions and increments of these positions. Here are some of the basic positions: 1/2 position; I position; II position; II 1/2 position; III position; III 1/2 position; IV position; V position; V 1/2 position; VI position; VI 1/2 position. Advanced players use 8th and higher positions, and also use the thumb position. In thumb position, the thumb functions as a fret, making it easier to finger notes in some of the higher positions, particularly above 7th position.
- It should be noted that advanced bassists are usually less concerned with what position they're using, and are more concerned about selecting fingering that works well with particular passages of music. For ease of playing, many musicians slightly shift their hands between positions, and use these "half-positions" to finger music, thus the entire length of the fingerboard could be used to number incremental positions, and the actual number of possible positions becomes irrelevant. To view a chart of basic positions, visit our Bass Fingering Chart.
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