Peter,

Life is only simple for the simple minded! :-)

Seriously, if you have very narrow minded fixed ideas, you will be prevented from seeing the world in shades of grey, but only see it in black & white.

Have you seen the person who gave you this firm instruction actually play for any length of time, and play a wide variety of styles of using the Bass Buttons? If not, my advice would be to take that advice with a grain of salt.

You DO move your hand around on the buttons, depending on what buttons you are using - the hand follows where the fingers go! But it is the fingers (and primarily the buttons they need to push at that particular moment!) that control where you place your hand, unless you are the original "Indiarubber man"!

"consistently keep the shape of your hand in the ring finger, etc. pattern Foolestroup discusses in the First Part." Well, only if you are consistently using that pattern of button presses... If you are doing other patterns, different 'Rules' apply. In Classical Piano Playing, for example, 'Thumb Crossing' is frowned on for the very beginner, until you start to learn scales, when suddenly more Magic Rules appear, such as you can do it, but never put your thumb on a black note - until you reach the scales with lots of black notes... I couldn't play 'Down On The Corner' in the key I do, without putting my thumb on a black note! I only have so many fingers... :-)

The Button Pattern for the intro to 'Smoke on the water' involves using the one finger on more than one button, and shuffling the fingers around as necessary - the music decides what buttons you push (and anatomy decides what fingers you use), not some simpple Magic Theory. (I haven't given that pattern, since you already seem confused enough.)

If however, you ONLY play Polkas, or Irish Trad, or some other VERY limited range of music style, then the style of your finger patterns will be very limited, and some such Magic Theory or other may well be useful for novices, who plan to NEVER play any other style. The dreaded 'Om Pah Pah' style accordion player who can only play that sort of music comes to mind... :-)

There IS one overall elegant 'Rule' on a keyboard (or other similar style input manual access device! - like a Chromatic Button Board), you analyse what the positions are in advance, then allocate resources in an optimal manner. Clear as mud for the novice, isn't it! That's why good players practice scales on the keyboard - it gives you a considerable amount of that ability unconciously, as normal music is, for any given length, in one scale or another, modulating between one scale and another related one.

Again - "consistently keep the shape of your hand in the ring finger, etc. pattern Foolestroup discusses in the First Part." ... BUT, we are doing a DIFFERENT button pattern from the first part, so why would we WANT to TRY to keep the same finger pattern for the second part? Perhaps you were confused by my moving onto a third (unspecified) button pattern (with a different associated finger pattern), when I mentioned combining the techniques used in both parts. I didn't spell that third pattern out, because by the time you have absorbed the first two, the third one just becomes obvious. It takes time to learn a physical skill, and you can't absorb it by just reading about it.

Remember, 'Rules are for the blind obedience of Fools & the guidance of the Wise.' The more you know, the more you can see the wider picture, and understand why the 'Lies to Children' approach is often taken (I don't subscribe to it!) - it gives those with limited experience clear & simple Rules to follow - but if they outpace the teacher, both teacher & student get confused. I always did as a beginner.

Another piece of useful advice when learning ANY skill, physical or intellectual: if your current teacher/mentor (including me!) or style of instruction isn't making it happen for you, find another, and another, and another, and....

Gargoyle's good comment: " Fingers are usually fully released until you develop a style for a particular piece." Yes. I often slur, drag, etc that pattern, but always do it on purpose, under intentional control for that specific piece, or that specific rhythm style, but I can still do that strict clear pattern when I want to.

Robin