Snaxster said: ↑
Hello, Happy New Year, and welcome to TalkBass. Some probing questions:
- Are you playing bass guitar righty or lefty? RIGHT
- How many strings does your bass guitar have? 4
- How long have you been playing bass guitar? ABOUT 6 YEARS
- What type of music are you playing at these gigs? MOD, PUNK, BAGGY, BRITPOP
- What is your bass guitar role at these gigs (groove vs. constant sixteenths, arpeggios vs. pedal notes, single notes vs. chords, etc.)? SINGLE NOTES, A MIX OF GROOVE AND ARPEGGIOS
- How long are your sets? WE USUALLY DO 2 1 AND A BIT HOUR SESSIONS PER NIGHT
- How far into a set does your hand start to cramp? TENDS TO BE DURING MORE COMPLEX RUNS BEYOND THE 12th FRET
- What is your personal warmup before you start your set at these gigs? TO BE HONETS, NONE! SO ANY ADVICE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED
- Are you habitually well hydrated, well rested, and sober before your sets? I DRINK VERY LITTLE AS IM USUALLY DRIVING: BUT I ADMIT I DONT MAKE AN EFFORT TO STAY HYDRATED EITHER
Generalizing, I think that if your hands are much more relaxed than not while playing, all good things will follow: less fatigue; more precision, speed, and stamina; and so on. Notably, relaxation is a cornerstone of strength.
Thanks: comments above: maybe I need a warm up regime and more hydration....
Cheaper than a new guitar but less fun!!
You are quite welcome. Since you didn't say how far into a set the cramping starts, let me ask: Does your hand cramp during complex runs above the 12th fret whether 5 minutes in or 50 minutes in?
Here's the deal: don't drink alcohol at all on gig days (the whole day long) until your sets are done. Alcohol kills the singing voice and (as was noted) is anti-hydration at the expense of playing. Since you already drink little at gigs, switching your habit to drinking not at all should be easy.
Pre-gig warmup lets your hands and arms know what they are in for; it gets the machine ready to work. It can be as simple and informal as noodling or as rigorous as doing, variously, chromatic runs, arpeggio runs, and intervals that get you stretching a little (even for large intervals you shouldn't need to stretch much unless you're playing harmony, but do what you must to do some stretching). Stay fluid and smooth throughout the structured stuff. Stay joyful while noodling. Stress kills, joy sustains (I myself am joyless, so I know).
My diagnosis is that your are stressing out for the stuff above the 12th fret. If anything, your fingerboard work there should be easier than down in the money frets, since the space between the frets is smaller. Relax, relax, relax.
Relaxation is a skill that can be developed, in general and also for specific activities. As you practice alone, add to your regimen an ongoing assessment of whether your left hand is relaxed, and your right hand, and your arms, shoulders, neck, etc. Then take that habit to your band rehearsals and periodically check your relaxation there. Eventually you won't need to think of it consciously. Then, when you hit the stage you'll be so relaxed that you can almost take a nap while nailing the set list.
I remember hearing that in his maturity Michael Jackson said that he was so comfortable on stage that he could just fall asleep there. This from one of the most disciplined and experienced musicians and performers of our time (whatever his shortcomings in other ways), whose gigs involved tens of thousands of people and millions of dollars.
