Getting on stage movement

[xgsjx]

Man, I wish I could move like that when I'm not playing, let alone playing bass at the same time!

[JamieCooper91]

Playing quite energetic alt rock to crowds roughly the same age I feel stupid if im not moving about!

I practice playing while moving around, suddenly changing directions and trying to not stare at the fretboard. If you know your parts well enough and don't need to think I think you can move around a lot easier.
I've nearly fell over more than once doing a little too ambitious jumps or clipping a monitor - guess it all depends how many pints you have.

Obviously it depends on your genre and audience but I love seeing bands go mental, and if theres a dense enough crowd. Totally go for the stage dive [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1tiOpwH14g"]Twin Atlantic - Audience and Audio [/url]

[Cat Burrito]

I definitely did when I was 15 but I'd hope I've long dropped all of those moves now I can't recall staging anything for a long, long time.

Fast forward 23yrs & the moves aren't rehearsed, just ingrained. Or possibly inspired by Jack Daniels!

[the_skezz]

I used to practise - I'd do whatever I felt like while practising a song at home, allowed me to get more comfortable moving around with the bass. Then my neighbour started complaining about the noise, I had to start wearing headphones, and now I can't move about without them falling off

Couple of things I wish I'd practised before trying, though. Like standing on top of my amp during the slow bit of California Uber Alles - there's no time like onstage to find out how damn wobbly that thing gets when someone climbs on it...

[ezbass]

[quote name='KK Jale' post='1241073' date='May 23 2011, 01:07 AM']Now THIS is a bass player who knows how to move

Some band called Rich Kelly & Friendship, somewhere in New Jersey, 1978... be sure to watch past the 1.30 mark.

[/quote]
A friend of mine just posted this video on FaceBook and I must've missed this thread. Words fail me.

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='KK Jale' post='1241073' date='May 23 2011, 01:07 AM']Now THIS is a bass player who knows how to move

Some band called Rich Kelly & Friendship, somewhere in New Jersey, 1978... be sure to watch past the 1.30 mark.

[/quote]

Oh Yes, I have a new role model.

Now, all I need is a Riccy and I'll be off.

(I heard theres a great bolt on necked one on Ebay..........!)

[rOB]

Back OT I feel like the more gigs I play and the more relaxed I am, movement comes more naturally and doesn't feel so "put on".

(got a comment about my "stage presence" after our gig in Wednesday which was very flattering)

[ThomBassmonkey]

While I'm not sure you can really "practice" moving about on stage, there's a few facts that will make your stage presence better if you realise them IMO.

Biggest one is that the crowd sees you from the front. If you step forwards and backwards, it's a very small movement for them. If you do the same step from side to side (or turn your body 90 degrees the move forwards and back), it looks much bigger. Up and down movement is also good, so jumping, headbanging etc as required.

Also, practice moving your bass around, the less static your bass is compared to your body, the more natural you'll look. Stuff like raising and lowering the angle of the neck, doing stuff like when you're dropping to a low note for a hang, pulling the bass around your body with your fretting hand and pulling your picking hand back away from it. It will take some practice to keep your playing consistent while you're waving your bass around, but it really does make a massive difference.

Lastly, unless you're doing something properly daft like head banging at a pop gig, no one's going to laugh at you. Just do what you want, Stage show is stage show, even if you are doing your best impression of kiss does Spice Girls, at least it'll keep the audience involved instead of bored.

Obviously, that's written from the perspective of a rock musician.

[Dr.Dave]

Rod and I practised a few moves for the ZZ trib band in his garden but we felt like a couple of merchants and stopped !

I'm naturally a mover - with bass in hand my legs do their own thing whether it be wandering about the stage or dancing around. If my hands don't have a note to play they're waving around somewhere etc. I'm happy about that as I could never be one of those bass players who skulks motionless by the drum kit like they're apologising for being there. I'm always saying this but I set out to be an entertainer and becoming a halfway decent musician was a massive step towards that goal. Other folk are of different persuasion and consider their musical skils of highest , if not sole , importance. Fair play to them. I guess I'm saying that what you do on stage is likely to be influenced mainly by what sort of musician you wish to be.

For anyone who finds moving about buggers up their playing but still want to - well , doing anything differently is likely to affect your playing when you're not used to doing it , so the solution is to keep doing it.

I suppose too that dancing about a lot is far more difficult for a player who's yet to reach a certain level of competence , for those guys more practise and more playing will see you right. When your hands begin to do what your brain tells them without going through a mental middle man (hope that makes sense) you relax a lot more and stage movement becomes more natural.