Sprinters trainings approach for increasing finger speed?

[Infernal Affair]

The sprinter analogy just doesn't work. Sprinters go for huge bursts of speed within a short time. How is that gonna help you play long sets? I'd say playing bass is more like long distance running. You keep a well maintained, consistent pace and adjust your speed accordingly.

Easiest way to develop speed is to do the exercises (scales, permutations, whatever) over and over and gradually increase the speed on your metronome. Speed without dexterity or precision is kind of pointless. I'm not much of a fast player, but I'm sure most people can vouch for that. Sure the exercises get boring, but in my case I got bored doing them when I would overload myself practicing them. If you do a little each session and each day it'll be less boring. Or try to make a game to it. Or sing along (which you should be doing anyway to develop the ear.)

[Phil Smith]

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

You're right it isn't the same. Wiggling is random. Playing is precise, but you need as much strength for both. Have you actually stopped to think how much force it takes to pluck a string? A baby can do it. Playing 16th notes at 200bpm requires extraordinary precision, not strength.

It's not something that a baby would be able to do for any period of time because it requires conditioning. Conditioning of your muscles allows you to play longer, smoother i.e. more control/coordination, and faster for a longer period of time.

[Erick Lam]

That's exactly my point, Phil. It's not strength that's needed but motor skills.

[JtheJazzMan]

i cant beleive noone has mentioned one of the most important aspects...playing lightly!

on your fingerboard hand (i wont point out lefties and righties in particular make sure youre only using as much force as you need to keep the string on the fret. sounds like a very simple principle but most people press too hard. its extremely important to get your touch sorted in practice, as onstage youll probably press even harder when youre under the pressure.

and on the other hand make sure to lighten up your touch compared to what you normally play. you cant keep up exerting full force plucking the strings when pulling off fast notes for long. youll wear yourself out, your fingers will sieze and your tone will be lost

strength is important to a bass player but if youre using all your strength to play, youre using too much! forcing out your notes sounds and feels awkward, and you cant keep it up.

and at the end of the day set some realistic goals. not everyone can play at the tempo some other guys can, we all have different bodies and genetic dispositions in our muscles.

lastly, just keep practicing. if youve done the best you can, you should be happy

[southpaw76]

I couldn't agree with you more J. Years ago, it took me a long time to realize that playing the strings hard will get you nowhere fast. So, when I would practice 16th note runs at fast tempos, I learned to develop two different things which would ultimately allow me to overcome this obstacle....

1) As you said, playing each note as even as possible and just hard enough to pronounce the notes clearly

2) Also, I found that keeping your picking fingers from spreading too far apart will help to develop clean and consistent speed

Btw, I never used a metronome. It always seemed to get in the way. Believe me , I discovered that way before I ever met Jeff Berlin. Of course, if you feel comfortable with a metronome it's all good .

[EricF]

As someone who spent 10+ years racing bicycles, I'm a bit famliar with many training concepts for strength, speed, and endurance. Some of the same concepts apply to playing the bass. The only way to go fast is to practice going fast, but it can NEVER be at the cost of precision. Muscle strength is a component to the equation, but increasing it can NEVER be at the cost of precision (sound familiar?). Having good strength can certainly help with control, when you are working well below your limits (in this case, playing lightly). Strength also helps with endurance. For example, if you can lift 1000 lbs. once, lifting 100 lbs. is easy and you can do it many times. However, if 200 lbs. is your one-time limit, 100 lbs. is going to be a challenge pretty quickly. Above all else, NEVER sacrifice proper technique while trying to improve strength and speed.

[Rakie]

Start using 3 fingers, it will help increase your speed, for the music i play i dont really need to but... im just being a lazy ass, really i should get my 3 fingers in sync.

[HELLonWheels187]

I do sprinting and long/triple jump i can think of couple things that might help

1.) When sprinting your supposed to run on your toes because your lighter. Same goes for bass the lighter the touch the faster you play.

2.) Its all about technique. I'm 5'5 and i can long jump over 18 feet. In bass just because your physically stronger doesn't mean your faster or better.

3.) When training for an event like the 100m dash in practice you always do longer events(i.e. 200m, 400m....). So practice playing slower but be able to keep up the speed for a longer amount of time.


Technique is the key and the way to get the best technique is by starting slow and getting faster and fast. Taking everything step by step.