playing and dancing\thrasing around

My tip would be forget the dancing around if your playing suffers. If you can't dance around without your playing suffering, don't dance around.

 

Try telling The Who that.

 

i think that your problem is the way you hang your bass
for example if the strap is in a proper confortable position i think you can dance and do what ever you want

i used to have the same problem

basically was that i wanted to hang the bass as trujillo (example) and i j ust couldnt...so now i hang it like claypool (not so up not so down)

and i can do what ever i want!

and it is also more confortable play in that position

 

practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.
i'm one of those firm believers that a performance should be just that, a performance. i hate watching a guy just stand there and play everything note for note.

i used to do bass calestenics. jump around the house all day with my bass strapped on. practice moving with it. playing with it in ALL POSSIBLE positions. grooving real slow and dancing with it around my head, between my legs, on the strap, off the strap. i'd do it not even playing sometimes just to kind of meld with the bass. practice jumping and landing on the ones. practice playing eight notes tightly real slowly while jumping to them and gradually speed them up.

i used to be real still. i'm a hell of a lot freer now, and it comes naturally. just cuz i'm a whole lot more comfortable with my bass.

 

Wireless helps...

 

like the dude said, practice it. boingign in time to the music also helps a lot, turns yer whole body into a metronome too.

 

i dont really try to dance on stage or anything..this sounds corny,but i let the music come over me...maybe if you didn't try to dance around,you would be able to.

 

If you want to move while you play, you have to make sure your movements match the groove you're playing. Moving for the sake of moving takes away from the rhythm of the song and doesn't help your playing either. Playing is the action, moving is the reaction. If your moving is getting in the way of the playing, you're moving too much. Start simple and build from there.

 

Ding.
Winner.

 

Give him the $10 000.

 

No. I need that money. You give him the money. He wouldn't known A THING unless you opened your mouth about the prize money...

 

...I am confused.

 

I got 10K?

Rad! Where do I collect it?

Brendan, I need the money too.

 

I've got a slightly different stance on it. Moving around is much easier if you know your bass back to front. When you practice playing bass, try not to look at your hands. Eventually you'll develop a muscle memory that lets you get around the fretboard without looking.

Once you've got that down pat, you won't be able to stand still on stage even if you wanted to........

 

In my band in high school, I was the only one besides the singer who was moving around. Well...I guess if you count the drummer thrashing about behind the kit, then I was one of three, but I don't.

Anyway, for me I usually start with tapping my foot or bobbing my head, and depending on the simplicity of the song as well as how well I can get around the fingerboard without looking (it seems to vary from song to song for me, largely because of differing gaps etc.) I'll either start doing a little dance, or I'll stay there with my head bobbing and my foot tapping. Of course, with a sombrero on my head it made things look a lot more interesting than me just standing there wiggling my head.

 

Watch Good Charlette(sp?) in concert. The bassist is freaking out, jumping around, thrashing and banging his head. When I saw him on SNL I thought he was gonna knock over his rig or jump off the stage he was going so crazy. I prefer playing the John Entwhistle way, non-mobile. Its safer that way