GETTING BETTER AT BASS INVOLVES DIGESTING HUGE AMOUNTS OF new information, but it’s just as important to unlearn the bad stuff. Most of us picked up the bass without much initial guidance, and even though subsequent study can illuminate a better path, our individual approach is often cemented in those early moments of discovery. One extraordinarily common habit is to rest the forearm on the bass’s body, like in Fig. 1. I do it almost all the time if I’m playing with a traditional fingerstyle technique. Unfortunately, this is a perfect recipe for carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful condition that occurs when the passageway of bone and ligament at the base of the wrist compresses the median nerve. If that weren’t scary enough, the forearm muscles weakened position seems to rob the plucking hand of strength. Try the approach in Fig. 2, lifting the forearm off the bass. For me, it feels a little awkward, but I believe it’s technically a better option.