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I can't dance! Teach me how to move on stage!
- Thread starter davidjackson
- Start date
I'm on my mobile and can't watch this but... do I spy Chris Loftlin? If so, he is a PERFECT example of how one can get down HARD while playing the bass.
jive1
Commercial User
Practice playing bass and moving in front of a mirror. If you can get over watching yourself play and not feel ridiculous, it'll be much easier with other people around.
Start with playing off other guys in the band , the singer , a guitar player, hell even making funny faces at the drummer. you don't have to dance , but feel the groove of the music, bob your head, walk around a bit
This !
Or Bill Wyman and plenty of others. No need to jump around like a clown, to be a solid bassist. Just go with the flow and do whatever comes natural.
i mostly do the swaying thing, and the move over and make faces at the LG or the singer and then move back thing. We try and move around but i'd rather pay attention to playing than try to look cool. There are a few i can move a bit more to, but of course that's never the one anyone gets video of. 
I try to do that with my legs at least once a gig. I'd love to see a video of it to see if it works or not, but I know that if I ever saw myself jumping around like that I'd be too afraid to do it again. So we're stuck with questionable dance moves.
It's probably not a good idea, but watch music vids with fairly simple dance moves and try to duplicate them on stage as you can?
1. Find videos of musicians whose stage
2. Emulate them
3. Get so used to dancing you rock out all of the time
2. Emulate them
3. Get so used to dancing you rock out all of the time
Re-read that part in bold a hundred times, so it sinks in; then repeat that line a hundred times before each gig as a mantra (OK, you can do it ten times if you are in a hurry). There you got it. No need to learn how to dance. You discovered the secret yourself.
I always get inpiration from watching professional and well produced touring groups. I was amazed how effortless and comfortable Billy Corgan was this past summer with a couple silly rock poses thrown in for good measure. For your style find a kool and the gang dvd. Although a bit hyper active for smaller venues, there'll be plenty of fun move ideas. If you genuinly love people and can get comfortable making eye contact and being with your audiemce, the dancing and movement becomes that much easier. I think key for all entertainers is to be present with their audience while performing, loose, and not self-absorbed in their awckward discomfort. And we're the ones responsible for that.
Here's one more thing: exaggerate the movements you're already making. If you bob your head or tap your foot to keep rhythm, do it more and bigger. When playing notes on a simpler part, exaggerate the movement required to play them. One way to explain this is: don't play notes like a boxer throws punches, play notes like a professional wrestler throws punches, so that even people who can't hear you will know what you're playing.
When all else fails, develop some facial expressions.
There is a local country bassist that I've randomly caught a few times. He doesnt move. He plays such that his fingers barely move, like the lightest possible touch and his left hand doesnt need to move much either, only in special cirucmstances. It's like he's trying to earn some award for economy of motion. What he DOES have is a Look. A Look. He'll just look at you- maybe flash his eyes a bit- while he's doing what appears to be next to nothing and it's intense. [I'm not kidding]
There is a local country bassist that I've randomly caught a few times. He doesnt move. He plays such that his fingers barely move, like the lightest possible touch and his left hand doesnt need to move much either, only in special cirucmstances. It's like he's trying to earn some award for economy of motion. What he DOES have is a Look. A Look. He'll just look at you- maybe flash his eyes a bit- while he's doing what appears to be next to nothing and it's intense. [I'm not kidding]
I am pretty baffled by responses. If you aren't moving on the stage while playing it means that your body doesn't have an exaggerated response to such music, which is PERFECTLY normal, and even more normal than people losing their heads on stage (that's ********).
