Adapting to a 5 string

I don't know if or where you anchor your thumb on a 4-string, but what really helped me get used to a 5 was to anchor my thumb on the 5th string. This put my plucking finger pretty much in the correct position for playing the top 4 strings. When you do need to play the 5th string, lift your thumb, play the 5th string. Go back to resting your thumb on the 5th string when you move away from it.

This not only gives you a somewhat familiar feel, but also mutes that 5th string, tends to vibrate sympathetically with the least little provocation.

Some people say to completely get away from playing a 4 until you get used to the 5. I didn't do that. I switched back and forth while learning and now switch back and forth all the time without issues.

I’m 99% five string and have been so for over a decade. It didn’t take long for me to adapt, but I also don’t switch back and forth.

Playing a 5-string years ago is what broke me of the habit of being a thumb wrapper, something I learned on guitar in my early days of playing. Classical guitarists do this, too. Shoulder is more relaxed, elbow down, the wrist straightens a bit. When we start with an instrument we're looking for brute strength to get those notes/chords clean, so sometimes we're too tense through the arm. It took me a while to adapt because I got weird pains in my wrist and had to figure it out by trial and error. Had I known going in it probably wouldn't have taken as long. I was still in my teens, so it may have been easier to break the habits than it would be for someone else.

Finding my way around the fingerboard took a bit of time, but not long. It felt weird to have a "middle" string, and I was used to the low string on any instrument being the E, and would occasionally grab the wrong string for a given note.

Most people who give up on 5-string find it isn't useful for them, rather than having playability issues. For some it is a shiny object and it turns out they don't need it. For others, it is a godsend if you want more flexibility for different key signatures. That is where I found it most useful... I was playing with capo junkies, and was finding it limiting to come up with good lines in Ab, Bb, Eb, etc.

I can't say I've talked to many (if any) people who had one and had to get rid of it because it was hard to play... the "hard to play" people are usually the ones who pick it up in a music store and say "no thanks" before logging any hours with it.

I made the mistake of taking a five-string on a gig without spending any serious time with it and only did that once. I was singing “Love Her Madly” by the Doors and suddenly find myself playing it in Em rather than Am because I forgot about that B string as I’m concentrating on the lyrics. It was a real awkward moment.

I spent a good week of constant practice after that to really acclimate myself to the fiver. I haven’t really played my four string basses since then for the last 35 years. I prefer the five because I can play a three octave range without a lot of hand movement.

I don't find it difficult to play and, as you said, it does seem to naturally require better left hand positioning than a 4 string. I'm just finding the process of consistently playing the right string frustratingly slow. Will try some of the advice in other posts.

In the 80's, I had a Hipshot D tuner on my bass. I played mostly at church those days, but I played at least 3 times a week, plus in a couple Christian bands. When I found myself leaving the D-tuner in D most of the time, I decided it was time to try a 5.

In 1990 I bought a used Washburn 5. It took about 3 weeks to become accustomed to it, but I loved it. That was the end of playing 4's for me, except for my upright, or giving lessons.

Now 34 years later, all my basses are 5's except for my uprights. I have no interest in playing a 4. I struggle with arthritis in my hands, and have adjusted my playing positions and style to compensate. I have one short scale 5 (Ibanez Mikro) for when stretching my fingers is just too painful) but still, no 4's.

I’ve had two five strings , got accustomed to the B string and decided I prefer fours.