How long does it take you to warm up to your most capable?

[WrapRough]

Hey all,

Just wondering how long before you feel you are playing at your best? ie, to the best of you ability, speed, dexterity etc...

I find after about an hour of playing or so I can tackle anything in within my ability, and then push over and above to the point of improving beyond that.

Thoughts?

 

[Marc valero]

I have been playing bass since around 1980 and guitar before that and don't really do much warm up. At gigs I usually play a bit during sound check. First solo and then with guitarists as drummer sets levels. I will play a few parts on my own, just through my amp, to warm up a bit. An hour seems like a long time.

 

[31HZ]

I am finally practicing enough to where I can pretty much just pick up a bass and play anything that I might have previously needed warmup time for, although it's nice to have 5-10 minutes to ease into anything since my hands are getting old.

More time needed in winter, though, since my hands get cold below 45 degrees F.

 

[bholder]

62 years so far, almost there...

 

[WrapRough]

I am finally practicing enough to where I can pretty much just pick up a bass and play anything that I might have previously needed warmup time for, although it's nice to have 5-10 minutes to ease into anything since my hands are getting old.

More time needed in winter, though, since my hands get cold below 45 degrees F.

Wow really? Nice. I play everyday, but can't pick up my bass and play speed and endurance tracks for a good while..not without cramping up like hell

 

[WrapRough]

I have been playing bass since around 1980 and guitar before that and don't really do much warm up. At gigs I usually play a bit during sound check. First solo and then with guitarists as drummer sets levels. I will play a few parts on my own, just through my amp, to warm up a bit. An hour seems like a long time.

Maybe an hour is a bit ott, but it does take me quite a while to get to shredsville and beyond

 

[JRA]

I find after about an hour of playing or so I can tackle anything in within my ability, and then push over and above to the point of improving beyond that. Thoughts?

ha! i congratulate you!

i used to have a set routine for warming up, but with some of my old age: along came some unpredictability, too. these days i play a little every day in such a way that i'm probably in a constant state of "warming up" --- you never know when you'll get the call!

seriously: some days i need to warm up a lot (and i may never 'get there') and other days the good stuff just flows without any/much prep, and others are pretty much "normal." it has always been like that for me to some extent, but it seems a little more tenuous or extreme, depending on the day, than i'd like it to be.

 

[bassdude51]

About 3 beers.

 

[JRA]

i forgot to include that part!

 

[LBS-bass]

It's not a matter of warming up, it's how long the drugs take to kick in.

Seriously, I have to take anti-inflammatories to keep my hands from swelling up, and they take about an hour to work. I don't do much warm-up to play. I find I either have it that day, or I don't. When I don't there's no amount of time that will fix it.

 

[DirtDog]

When I was gigging, after two or three songs in the first set. In my current situation, after two or three takes. So, maybe 10-20 minutes? I don’t have a particular routine to warm up.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Shoot, after an hour I'm ready for a nap .

Seriously, though, 5-10 minutes and I'm usually ready for at least a short break after an hour or so. That said, I don't have a set practice schedule, just a bunch of instruments on the wall that I grab when I've decided I don't want to do real work around the house.

 

[smeet]

Due to a combination of experience and the fact that I’m playing technically easier music these days, I very rarely warm up at all now. I used to do/need a solid 30-40 minutes of warmup back in the days when I was playing odd-time atonal funk metal fusion type stuff. Now people want Khruangbin. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

To be honest, I miss the days of being technically challenged. But ain’t nobody got time for that any more.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Wow, an hour to warm up?

By the end of the first tune/take for me most times.

 

[coy garcia]

Depends on how long sound check last.
I do respect those that have a proper warm up technique though.

 

[gonzkal]

To be able to play to my full capability, think technical and fast stuff needing precise finger articulation, I need 45-60 minutes of light/moderate playing as warmup.

 

[micguy]

Unless it’s winter and I did something stupid like walk into the venue without gloves, I take my bass out of the gig bag, plug stuff in, and I’m ready to play.

I honestly don’t need any warm up.

 

[arbiterusa]

Just wondering how long before you feel you are playing at your best? ie, to the best of you ability, speed, dexterity etc...

Strap on bass, play a few notes to make sure the rig works, and then off to the races. The time is essentially zero.

The only issue I'm running into is the occasional four-hour show. I really do start to crap out about halfway through the fourth set. That didn't happen in my twenties, but now I'm in my fifties and I guess something has got to slow down at some point.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I have a few riffs, including walking lines, that go through when I'm done with setup.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

Hey all,

Just wondering how long before you feel you are playing at your best? ie, to the best of you ability, speed, dexterity etc...

I find after about an hour of playing or so I can tackle anything in within my ability, and then push over and above to the point of improving beyond that.

Thoughts?

I would guess about 40 minutes to an hour.

Related story: my band opened for Dream Theater in the 90's. John Myung and Petruci were each in different back rooms warming up, runnings scales for about an hour. I remember thinking, well yeah that makes sense, otherwise they won't be able to nail all that mad complex stuff right out the gate.