Double Bass Restoring hand endurance and preventing hand injuries.

[AdilArslanbekov]

Greetings. In the recent days I have noticed that endurance of both of my hands, left hand especially, decreased. After 1-2 minutes of playing I have to take a break for a few minutes for my hands to recover. I suspect that this happened because a little over a week ago I increased my practice time from 3-4 hours every day to 4.5-5 hours, since I am preparing for the entrance exams to the music school. I practice 6 days a weak with this regime and leave one day for rest on which I don't play the bass at all. I asked for advices on restoring my endurance on the double bass subreddit and received many messages that if I continue with this practice regime I could get carpal tunnel syndrome or various other arm injuries. For this time I took a break from double bass for one day to let my hands recover, but I can't afford to make this regulary or to decrease my practice time significantly as I don't have much time left before the exams, so I wanted to ask here for advices/exercices to both protect my hands from injury, and quickly restore hands endurance.
My background for context:
I started playing Double Bass in December of the last year and before that I played Electric Bass for year and a half. When I started I practiced for about 30 minutes a day and gradually increased my practice time. In February I practiced for about 2 hours, and in March-April - about 3-4. During practice I monitor how I feel and take short breaks whenever I start feeling tension so as not to overstress myself. I also split my practice time and practice for no more that an hour at a time and after that I take break for at least an hour before playing again. Regarding the technique I try to keep everything relaxed in both of my hands. To do so in left hand I try press strings against the fingerboard with a combined effort of flexing my finger and pulling back from a shoulder a bit instead of squeezing the fist. It allows me to use very little effort to press string down and also leaves the rest of my hand, especially thumb, relaxed.
Thanks in advance.

 

[crd]

Greetings. In the recent days I have noticed that endurance of both of my hands, left hand especially, decreased. After 1-2 minutes of playing I have to take a break for a few minutes for my hands to recover. I suspect that this happened because a little over a week ago I increased my practice time from 3-4 hours every day to 4.5-5 hours, since I am preparing for the entrance exams to the music school. I practice 6 days a weak with this regime and leave one day for rest on which I don't play the bass at all. I asked for advices on restoring my endurance on the double bass subreddit and received many messages that if I continue with this practice regime I could get carpal tunnel syndrome or various other arm injuries. For this time I took a break from double bass for one day to let my hands recover, but I can't afford to make this regulary or to decrease my practice time significantly as I don't have much time left before the exams, so I wanted to ask here for advices/exercices to both protect my hands from injury, and quickly restore hands endurance.
My background for context:
I started playing Double Bass in December of the last year and before that I played Electric Bass for year and a half. When I started I practiced for about 30 minutes a day and gradually increased my practice time. In February I practiced for about 2 hours, and in March-April - about 3-4. During practice I monitor how I feel and take short breaks whenever I start feeling tension so as not to overstress myself. I also split my practice time and practice for no more that an hour at a time and after that I take break for at least an hour before playing again. Regarding the technique I try to keep everything relaxed in both of my hands. To do so in left hand I try press strings against the fingerboard with a combined effort of flexing my finger and pulling back from a shoulder a bit instead of squeezing the fist. It allows me to use very little effort to press string down and also leaves the rest of my hand, especially thumb, relaxed.
Thanks in advance.

Quality over quantity.

You want to play the long game. There is no reason for someone who has only been playing a couple years to be playing over two hours a day. It takes a long time to get your technique together to the point that you can play all day. You just have to be patient or you will do permeant damage to your body. The basics of playing the bass take a long time for our bodies to figure out and you can't rush it. You have to pick up your bow and bass daily over years find out how to do hold the bass and bow properly for your hands and body. It can't be rushed. You will only delay progress by trying to make it happen fast.

I can't remember the exact Rabbath quote but he talks about falling in love with the bass every morning and getting a divorce after two hours of practice every day. He promises two hours of daily practice over six years will make a virtuoso out of anyone. I believe him! Find a teacher who inspires you and plan to play for the rest of your life. Good luck!

 

[Carl Hillman]

Greetings. In the recent days I have noticed that endurance of both of my hands, left hand especially, decreased. After 1-2 minutes of playing I have to take a break for a few minutes for my hands to recover. I suspect that this happened because a little over a week ago I increased my practice time from 3-4 hours every day to 4.5-5 hours, since I am preparing for the entrance exams to the music school. I practice 6 days a weak with this regime and leave one day for rest on which I don't play the bass at all. I asked for advices on restoring my endurance on the double bass subreddit and received many messages that if I continue with this practice regime I could get carpal tunnel syndrome or various other arm injuries. For this time I took a break from double bass for one day to let my hands recover, but I can't afford to make this regulary or to decrease my practice time significantly as I don't have much time left before the exams, so I wanted to ask here for advices/exercices to both protect my hands from injury, and quickly restore hands endurance.
My background for context:
I started playing Double Bass in December of the last year and before that I played Electric Bass for year and a half. When I started I practiced for about 30 minutes a day and gradually increased my practice time. In February I practiced for about 2 hours, and in March-April - about 3-4. During practice I monitor how I feel and take short breaks whenever I start feeling tension so as not to overstress myself. I also split my practice time and practice for no more that an hour at a time and after that I take break for at least an hour before playing again. Regarding the technique I try to keep everything relaxed in both of my hands. To do so in left hand I try press strings against the fingerboard with a combined effort of flexing my finger and pulling back from a shoulder a bit instead of squeezing the fist. It allows me to use very little effort to press string down and also leaves the rest of my hand, especially thumb, relaxed.
Thanks in advance.

Slowly stretch your chops (fingers, wrists, forearms, shoulders, back) before and after practicing. Drink plenty of water. Get 8 continuous hours of sleep at night to give your body time to recover.

 

[ILIA]

Greetings. In the recent days I have noticed that endurance of both of my hands, left hand especially, decreased. After 1-2 minutes of playing I have to take a break for a few minutes for my hands to recover. I suspect that this happened because a little over a week ago I increased my practice time from 3-4 hours every day to 4.5-5 hours, since I am preparing for the entrance exams to the music school. I practice 6 days a weak with this regime and leave one day for rest on which I don't play the bass at all. I asked for advices on restoring my endurance on the double bass subreddit and received many messages that if I continue with this practice regime I could get carpal tunnel syndrome or various other arm injuries. For this time I took a break from double bass for one day to let my hands recover, but I can't afford to make this regulary or to decrease my practice time significantly as I don't have much time left before the exams, so I wanted to ask here for advices/exercices to both protect my hands from injury, and quickly restore hands endurance.
My background for context:
I started playing Double Bass in December of the last year and before that I played Electric Bass for year and a half. When I started I practiced for about 30 minutes a day and gradually increased my practice time. In February I practiced for about 2 hours, and in March-April - about 3-4. During practice I monitor how I feel and take short breaks whenever I start feeling tension so as not to overstress myself. I also split my practice time and practice for no more that an hour at a time and after that I take break for at least an hour before playing again. Regarding the technique I try to keep everything relaxed in both of my hands. To do so in left hand I try press strings against the fingerboard with a combined effort of flexing my finger and pulling back from a shoulder a bit instead of squeezing the fist. It allows me to use very little effort to press string down and also leaves the rest of my hand, especially thumb, relaxed.
Thanks in advance.

I don't know if you are in North America, but in many parts of North America, it's starting to get humid and bridges are starting to rise and lifting the strings higher off of the fingerboard.

 

[jj.833]

You don't write about having a teacher. If you don't, try to find one quickly. Even at the music school you are attending, there might be one available for private lessons.
What you wrote seems right to me, but I've seen players - myself being no exception - who believe they figured it all out, and yet they might be wrong in some basic technique aspect. Any lasting pain is a good indicator this might be the case.
Apart from that, I feel a nervosity from your post. This is of course normal, but still you can gain something by telling yourself that good music is not done under pressure, entrance exams being no exception.
If you don't do it already, record yourself and write a practice diary: control your progress as objectively as possible.
Good luck!

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

Quality over quantity.

You want to play the long game. There is no reason for someone who has only been playing a couple years to be playing over two hours a day. It takes a long time to get your technique together to the point that you can play all day. You just have to be patient or you will do permeant damage to your body. The basics of playing the bass take a long time for our bodies to figure out and you can't rush it. You have to pick up your bow and bass daily over years find out how to do hold the bass and bow properly for your hands and body. It can't be rushed. You will only delay progress by trying to make it happen fast.

I can't remember the exact Rabbath quote but he talks about falling in love with the bass every morning and getting a divorce after two hours of practice every day. He promises two hours of daily practice over six years will make a virtuoso out of anyone. I believe him! Find a teacher who inspires you and plan to play for the rest of your life. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.
I agree with what you said and I’m aware that my regime may not be the most optimal one, but it’s the only way for me to stay competitive in the upcoming audition. I know that there is 1 more guy auditioning and possibly there are more, but there is only one guaranteed place, so in order to even have a chance against someone who probably has more experience than me I adapted this regime. The audition is in 1 month time and I plan to return to a much more relaxed regime immediately after it’s over.

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

You don't write about having a teacher. If you don't, try to find one quickly. Even at the music school you are attending, there might be one available for private lessons.
What you wrote seems right to me, but I've seen players - myself being no exception - who believe they figured it all out, and yet they might be wrong in some basic technique aspect. Any lasting pain is a good indicator this might be the case.
Apart from that, I feel a nervosity from your post. This is of course normal, but still you can gain something by telling yourself that good music is not done under pressure, entrance exams being no exception.
If you don't do it already, record yourself and write a practice diary: control your progress as objectively as possible.
Good luck!

Thanks for you reply.
I have a teacher. In fact over the course of my bass playing I had 3 different teachers at different points, but none of them said anything specific about my technique. They just made sure there were no mistakes in my basic technique, but didn't say anything specific about more subtle aspects like using arm weight, arm angle, etc. and told me I had to figure out those subtleties and a comfortable way to play for myself.
The only teacher who pointed me to specific problems in my playing was a bassist from local symphony, but I can’t take regular lessons with him since most of the time he lives in another city.
I'm definitely a little nervous because I've been working on my application for a long time and consider it very important. This is the best music school on the peninsula where I live and I can get a lot out of it.

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

Slowly stretch your chops (fingers, wrists, forearms, shoulders, back) before and after practicing. Drink plenty of water. Get 8 continuous hours of sleep at night to give your body time to recover.

Thanks. Could you please point me to specific exercises? There are lots of them and I’m not sure which are effective and which ones are not.

 

[AGCurry]

Thanks. Could you please point me to specific exercises? There are lots of them and I’m not sure which are effective and which ones are not.

In your particular case, I don't think you need MORE "specific exercises." You need to practice LESS.

Obviously, you really want to "win" the audition, but have you ever considered that you simply aren't ready? It's alright - in fact it's GOOD - to recognize one's particular place in the world of music. Do as much as you can do without hurting yourself, enjoy the journey, and live to play for as long as you have. If you "win" the audition, great! If you don't, keep learning, playing, and enjoying.

 

[Anne Millington]

At one point in my life I injured my left hand, and had to lay off using it for about 3 weeks. One thing I did was really up my game in high level bowing exercises like complex ricochet patterns, intricate string crossing rhythms and seamless bow changes. Also, you can work on specific pieces by playing it through with the appropriate string, duration and intensity per note, but the left hand is still. The latter is way harder than it sounds. But they both give your playing a boost while giving your left hand a rest.

 

[Bruce Calin]

There are several good suggestions here. Frankly, the entire process you describe makes me very concerned for your long term health as a bass player. You must not continue to force yourself to play in pain or discomfort. If you feel you must practice for hours a day, at least break them into intervals of no more than twenty minutes with breaks of similar length. You also need a teacher who can give you a "hands-on"(literally!) demonstration of how to use your body correctly and efficiently. If you wish to have a future as a bassist the time to think long term is now. Use the audition as a learning opportunity and not as an end-all-be-all. Your body and your future bass career will thank you.

 

[AGCurry]

There are several good suggestions here. Frankly, the entire process you describe makes me very concerned for your long term health as a bass player. You must not continue to force yourself to play in pain or discomfort. If you feel you must practice for hours a day, at least break them into intervals of no more than twenty minutes with breaks of similar length. You also need a teacher who can give you a "hands-on"(literally!) demonstration of how to use your body correctly and efficiently. If you wish to have a future as a bassist the time to think long term is now. Use the audition as a learning opportunity and not as an end-all-be-all. Your body and your future bass career will thank you.

This answer is how I wished I had worded mine.

 

[the_Ryan]

There are several good suggestions here. Frankly, the entire process you describe makes me very concerned for your long term health as a bass player. You must not continue to force yourself to play in pain or discomfort. If you feel you must practice for hours a day, at least break them into intervals of no more than twenty minutes with breaks of similar length. You also need a teacher who can give you a "hands-on"(literally!) demonstration of how to use your body correctly and efficiently. If you wish to have a future as a bassist the time to think long term is now. Use the audition as a learning opportunity and not as an end-all-be-all. Your body and your future bass career will thank you.

+1, but I think the exception is when building calluses. Beyond that, if you feel pain (particularly in the wrist and forearm) STOP. No short-term goal is worth risking your body and the possibility of no longer being able to play.

Doing physical activity away from the bass (particularly any form of strength training) will help with taking some of the load off your left hand fingers and is a good preventive measure for any form of RSI.

Beyond that, there are some setup things to consider, particularly nut height and fingerboard scoop/camber. Nut slots can sometimes be cut way too high (usually on instruments set up by someone who doesn't understand the intricacies of bass setup), and having a nut that's too high will make stopping notes in lower positions much harder. The nut only needs to be high enough so that when an open string is played the string's oscillation doesn't hit the fingerboard (which on my bass is 0.010" or 0.254mm). Anything higher will lead to notes in lower positions being much harder to stop. In addition, scoop is a very important thing for a fingerboard to have: there has to be some scoop in the fingerboard (and it's kind of a matter of personal taste) due to the vibration of the string, but too much will lead to notes between the neck block and about a fifth above the octave harmonic to be hard to stop.

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

Thanks everyone for your replies. After all the advice I received I decided not to risk and let my body recover before starting to practice seriously again. Today I only played for about 1.5-2 hours and rested a lot more than usual. For 2 upcoming days I plan to either don't play at all, or play very little. I also started to drink water more regulary and I'm going to sleep more for upcoming days to help my recovery.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Thanks. Could you please point me to specific exercises? There are lots of them and I’m not sure which are effective and which ones are not.

David Potts kindly posted some scans here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tired-and-cool-down.1403904/#post-22670856

You can google string player stretches or double bass stretches for more. Try some out and you'll start to find the ones that are effective for you. Just remember to stretch slowly and hold it for a while (count of 10?), stop if there is pain, and never bounce when you're holding a stretch.

 

[jj.833]

At one point in my life I injured my left hand, and had to lay off using it for about 3 weeks. One thing I did was really up my game in high level bowing exercises like complex ricochet patterns, intricate string crossing rhythms and seamless bow changes. Also, you can work on specific pieces by playing it through with the appropriate string, duration and intensity per note, but the left hand is still. The latter is way harder than it sounds. But they both give your playing a boost while giving your left hand a rest.

Good advices here also. Great thing to do when you can't play is also playing without bass - just do what you would do playing, but with no bass and no bow in your hands. This way forces you to think more about every movement you perform ("where should the thumb be?" "how high would i put my elbow?" etc.)

 

[Anne Millington]

Good advices here also. Great thing to do when you can't play is also playing without bass - just do what you would do playing, but with no bass and no bow in your hands. This way forces you to think more about every movement you perform ("where should the thumb be?" "how high would i put my elbow?" etc.)

This puts me in mind of the mental imaging concept in sports. I found this Strad article which addresses it well:
7 ways to harness mental practice for musicians

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

David Potts kindly posted some scans here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tired-and-cool-down.1403904/#post-22670856

You can google string player stretches or double bass stretches for more. Try some out and you'll start to find the ones that are effective for you. Just remember to stretch slowly and hold it for a while (count of 10?), stop if there is pain, and never bounce when you're holding a stretch.

Thanks, I’ll start doing some of those.

 

[AdilArslanbekov]

Good advices here also. Great thing to do when you can't play is also playing without bass - just do what you would do playing, but with no bass and no bow in your hands. This way forces you to think more about every movement you perform ("where should the thumb be?" "how high would i put my elbow?" etc.)

This puts me in mind of the mental imaging concept in sports. I found this Strad article which addresses it well:
7 ways to harness mental practice for musicians

Thanks, I’ll see how I can incorporate it into my practice.

 

[Anne Millington]

Thanks, I’ll see how I can incorporate it into my practice.

And good luck in your audition. If you don't make it this time, there will be a next. We are all pretty familiar with disappointment before success, and it is not the end of the world. It sounds like you are totally on the right track.