Regaining stamina quickly

[fatback]

Shocked to find my playing stamina has disappeared after the last couple of years not gigging and concentrating too much on learning to read.

Any tips on how to get it back as quickly as possible?

[Burns-bass]

I'm having a similar issue. I can play scales and arpeggios for an eternity but as soon as I need to play songs or tracks I'm knackered within minutes.

[TheRev]

Um. Rehearse with the band?

If my band haven't played for a while, I pop on one of our CDs and play along to the whole thing.

We haven't gigged for three weeks and have three gigs next week so I'll be putting in a couple of one hour sessions today and tomorrow.

[Happy Jack]

Yup. No short cuts available, just play more!

If you're out of shape, be sure to do some basic warm up exercises first ... nothing too strenuous, just loosen the rusty muscles.

http://youtu.be/bakDMyALGt0

[Staggering on]

The exercises in Jack's video are a good warm up and are part of my daily morning regime and are a big help in keeping me in shape and playing and gigging on BG and EUB at 70.Go for it!

Edited December 11, 2016 by Staggering on

[JoeEvans]

If you've got good stamina for scales and arpeggios but not for gigs, maybe you're playing harder at the gigs - bad left hand shape and lots of finger tension, and digging in harder with the right hand? I know I'm prone to doing that.

[Cat Burrito]

I find a powerball helps me get back on top of things if I haven't played in a while. Combined with playing more it seems to do the trick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/?ie=UTF8&node=397989011&tag=googhydr-21&hvadid=26285005251&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14599406660060690713&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006463&hvtargid=kwd-28427881&ref=pd_sl_898byq20vh_b

[fatback]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I've no band now, so that's not an option. But I find the same thing as burns-bass - scales help but don't seem enough. Maybe I'm not pushing the tempo enough.

It's a bit of a shock when you realise that if you had a gig you couldn't cope, in spite of all the practice. Possibly i need to work out a more balanced practice routine? Any ideas on that?

[philparker]

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1481480651' post='3192610']Possibly i need to work out a more balanced practice routine? Any ideas on that?
[/quote]

yes, and it's a very good point because it's surprising how much time or how little time can pass during a practise session. I have a 2-hour orchestral rehearsal every week (I will have also practised 1 - 2 hours that day anyway!) and I sometimes hope other sections of the orchestra will make mistakes, so I can have a rest. However. I also take part in the Wells DB Academy about every 6 weeks and between 10 am and 4:40 pm, there's probably about 5 hours worth of DB playing, which can be quite testing, but is well structured to cover various disciplines - although you can't cover ensemble on your own!

So, why I do I struggle to practise 2 hours in a day? Because, as we all know, it's quite a physical instrument in comparison to other instruments (I could practise 2 hours non-stop on classical guitar before breakfast and continue afterwards quite easily if I hadn't achieved enough).

It might not be for everybody, but I will chose what disciplines I need to practise and set the time on my phone broken down into 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes - and keep on practising that discipline until it rings! Then take a rest, although there have been times I've pressed the start button again and spent 40 minutes on scales because I haven't achieved what I wanted to achieve. If I'm stuck for time I have to reduce my rest times, but aim to get 3 to 6 disciplines per day, at least 5 days per week.

Pick the disciplines that suit you best - I have: Technique*; Studies**; Scales & Arpeggios etc.; Thumb Position; Sight Reading; New Pieces; Orchestral Pieces; Other Pieces.

* - Something I have picked up from David Heyes' Academy Workshop and is often very overlooked - it's not comparatively technical, but just exercises concentrating on maintaining or improving LH technique, bowing technique and ear technique, it can involve scales to drone (when practised on your own), finger placement, bowing dynamics etc. When done as a group it is surprising how much you never knew you needed it?!

** - I use Simandl Studies; Bottesini studies; Orchestral excerpts etc.

Divide these into how much time you can afford to study per day/week, but in this instance, structure and varied routine is good!

[gjones]

I didn't play for a couple of years and when I got back into playing regularly, used these to get my hand strength back up to the required level.

[attachment=233796:grips.jpg]

[Burns-bass]

I'm not able to play for hours a day, so a practice diary helps me structure things. I do an 80 bar warm up following 2 pages of the Walking Bass book.

I then spend about 20 minutes on scales and arpeggios (alternate between the cycle of 5ths and 4ths) and then what time left I spend playing along with a Walking Bass book. It's not nearly enough to get me making rapid progress, but family life mean it's all I can do at the moment... can't imagine the others in my office would be happy if I smuggled in a DB.

[tinyd]

I find that playing through a load of tunes along with iReal Pro really helps (or along to recordings if you prefer). I try to play for at least an hour each time if possible. For me, a lot of tiredness at gigs is caused by being tense because I don't know the set well enough. It sounds like you've been working a lot on actual technique so I reckon getting "gig fit" is more a matter of learning the tunes.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1481499203' post='3192790']
For me, a lot of tiredness at gigs is caused by being tense because I don't know the set well enough.
[/quote]

Yup, that's a good call. In my early gigging days (not as long ago as you might think) I used to have to remind myself to breathe! I'd be so keyed up not to make mistakes and let the band down that I'd be playing with cramped fingers while holding my breath ...

[petebassist]

I do a few press-ups to maintain my arm & upper body strength, this makes a huge difference. Particularly when I remember to let my left arm take more of the strain and keeping my thumb light behind the neck - I even do one of Ed Friedland's warmup exercises with my thumb off the neck to remind myself to use my arm weight. I treat rehearsals and gigs a bit like training for a 10K run, if I haven't prepared enough I know I'll be knackered, but then that's probably down to my sloppy technique ;-) good luck...

Edited December 12, 2016 by petebassist

[Burns-bass]

I'd be interested in knowing where you got those exercises from - be great if you could provide a link (happy to pay if it's a book etc.)

[fatback]

Great advice. Thanks all.

@philparker - I'll definitely use your 'disciplines' approach. I think one of my problems is I persist too long with just one thing. I need to get more systematic.

Tinyd's point about learning the tunes is a good one. Wish i had that problem, though.

Edited December 12, 2016 by fatback

[javasound]

I've also come across the problem of getting far more tired at gigs than when doing the same amount of practice - and I think that (as suggested by other people) its down to playing too hard o nthe gig! Ive just done a couple where I didnt have proper foldback (they were only small gigs) and I definitely was playing too hard because I couldnt hear myself. Im going to go back to always taking my own amp for foldback, even if its a small gig - then I wont be playing too hard just to hear myself.

(Im playing double bass BTW, not EUB ....)

[petebassist]

[size=4][font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]Hi Burns-bass, regarding the exercises, it's not a thumb-off exercise specifically in a book, it's the jazz dead notes exercise from 'Jazz Upright Bass Featuring Ed Friedland', which I do regularly, and sometimes thumb-off with just the weight of my arm & arm muscle holding down the string. I don't know whether it's advisable as I have no formal training except that from Ed's DVD and great advice from Geoff Chalmer's website, but it works for me & reminds me to not rely purely on thumb pressure to hold down a string. Ed does advise keeping the thumb light behind the neck so that the hand is free to move up and down the neck.[/font][/size]

Edited December 12, 2016 by petebassist

[Burns-bass]

That's great. I have that DVD somewhere - an unopened present from the wife. I haven't opened it because I assumed I wasn't good enough. It seems that maybe I am!

[fatback]

[quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1481576670' post='3193464']
That's great. I have that DVD somewhere - an unopened present from the wife. I haven't opened it because I assumed I wasn't good enough. It seems that maybe I am!
[/quote]

+1 to that video. I found it a great help when I started. Geoff Chalmers too.

[Burns-bass]

Geoff is a legend. I really enjoy how straightforward they are. It's no substitute for real lessons, but they're a constant reminder of new things to try and how to avoid common issues. Incredibly generous really.

[The Jaywalker]

.

Edited November 28, 2017 by The Jaywalker

[Burns-bass]

I had no idea how utterly amazing that iReal thing was. I'd never seen it before, but it's absolutely brilliant. Thanks!

[tinyd]

[quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1481646201' post='3194000']
I had no idea how utterly amazing that iReal thing was. I'd never seen it before, but it's absolutely brilliant. Thanks!
[/quote]

It's a great bit of software, probably the best tenner you'll ever spend (as a musician, anyway). Drumgenius is also really good to practice along with - it's just drums, but the loops are really high quality and a bit more realistic. I'm sure there are other apps out there that other people can recommend but these two really help me when I'm learning to play tunes and there aren't any real musicians to hand..

[fatback]

I never thought of iRealbook assuming it was all Mac and I only run Windows Just checked and it seems it can run emulated on Bluestacks.

Checking it out now.

Thanks for the tip.