One of the most frequent question i get asked is about warm up and there benifits, basicaly "are they worth it"?
Well the answer is yes because they are a preventative measure to minimilise damage and aid any performance to come by preparing the body and a benchmark to ability. That benchmark to ability is an important one because players abilities vary due to daily life, your body and in particular the hands and fingers may not be up to what you want them to do.....this time. Just as we get tired and run down so does our hands, they may not be up for that 3 hrs show tonight.
Then you need a good warm up routine, something that you repeat everytime you pick up the bass to play. 5-10 min. is more than long enough but you must repeat it everytime.
By virtue of repeating the warm up everytime you will get to know your hands and how healthy they are. When you repeat the same routine you will have a bench mark to gauge your capabilities. Any tiredness or injury will show up here because you will know how well you should be doing the warm up from previous experience. Aches pains, twinges etc., that where not there before if they show up now then you can question why?
A good quick warm up and a great fun exercise is Alphabetic warms ups, that is to write your name and address on the neck through the all four strings at about the 7th fret.
This will take a little time to work out and finger at first but once you have it your away, it will give your hands a good warm up that can be repeated and used as a bench mark to your playing. Again because it is personal to you it is easy remembered, i like players to use name and adress but it could easly be a line from a song, or a phrase like,
A good warm up helps my hands stay healthy
Anything really that helps, is simple to remember and the player relates to.
Think how the letters would appear computer fashion across all four strings using the frets as marker points to corners or changes in direction.
Play the notes as you would write them..so an M would be from a players perspective of looking down, so upside down to any one looking on( you can do it either way)
D -----------Gb------G string
A--Bb----C---Db-----D string
E-----Gb-----Ab-----A string
B------------Eb------E string
a G would be
D--Eb---E--------G string
A-------B--------D string
E---F---Gb-------A string
B---C---Db-------E string
and so on.
Like i said play it as you would write it and finger it one finger one fret, no barring allowed, hence the idea to be up around the 7th fret, go higher if need be.
On the M
i start on the B and go up the 7th fret to the D the back down on the angle to the Gb then up on the angle to the Gb then down the 11th fret to the Eb.
On the G
I start on the B up 9th fret to the E then to the D down the
7th fret to the b along to the Db up to the Gb then to the F.
It will be all chromatic and across sting fingering so it is your imagination on how you picture the letters or word you use.
Again by virtue of using one finger per fret you have to use all the fingers on the fretting hand, four strings four fingers. How you travelling up and down the neck will depend on how you see the letters being written.
I like to stretch them out as it is more of a workout in the dexterity for the fingerings so do not worry about uniform size its just a bit of healthy fun.
I have worked out all the alphabet and numerals and use it to help players how want a quick fun warm up or use it as part of a more structured exercise plan in dexterity away from a pure music based structure, which it also helps as a good foundation for if you wish to apply it there..a win win situation on all accounts.
LOL
