Standing, sitting, not even looking…..

[Mark McClelland]

That’s funny! Cause I’ve played in so many hard rock bands and we blew the roof off places, with my bass high. I’ll add that every band I auditioned for, including a successful black metal band, asked me to join. My playing ability and energy were/are way more important than where my bass hangs.

Absolutely fair enough. Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, Mark King. Hell, the jedi bass master himself Scott Devine from whom I actually got the advice about sitting and standing using the same strap length. I really don't have many legs to stand on here. I kinda knew I'd put a bit of a target on myself when I wrote that and you are of course totally correct.

 

[swink]

This is essentially what I do when I rehearse. A stool is taller than a chair, and you can sit on a stool in a way that's almost more of a lean, leaving the front of your body in more or less a standing position. You can actually sit in a chair this way, too, but it's a little trickier.

Take a higher chair for practice.

Not joking, this is what I use.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Absolutely fair enough. Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, Mark King. Hell, the jedi bass master himself Scott Devine from whom I actually got the advice about sitting and standing using the same strap length. I really don't have many legs to stand on here. I kinda knew I'd put a bit of a target on myself when I wrote that and you are of course totally correct.

Eh, I’m just speaking from experience. I’m 6’4” and when I first started playing in 1989, I had my bass so low that I had a shoestring tied between the strap end and the button. Within 6 months of playing my first stringed instrument notes (I’d never played anything before) I spent days sitting in my living room trying to learn Cliff Burton’s Anesthesia. I actually made it halfway through and wanted to show the band. I got to rehearsal and couldn’t play anything above the 12th fret. That’s when I started moving the bass up. Now the whole fretboard is my playground.

 

[Mark McClelland]

Eh, I’m just speaking from experience. I’m 6’4” and when I first started playing in 1989, I had my bass so low that I had a shoestring tied between the strap end and the button. Within 6 months of playing my first stringed instrument notes (I’d never played anything before) I spent days sitting in my living room trying to learn Cliff Burton’s Anesthesia. I actually made it halfway through and wanted to show the band. I got to rehearsal and couldn’t play anything above the 12th fret. That’s when I started moving the bass up. Now the whole fretboard is my playground.

I should probably stop after this as I feel I'm in danger of hi-jacking this thread but it's fun chatting with you about this and, to be fair, at least still mildly relevant. I hope.

Brilliant. Yeah. I totally hear that and I did go through a similar journey. I considered my long strap length sacrosanct until around 10 years ago when I decided I was going to get serious and learn this thing for real. I was 20 years in by that point and it's quite embarrassing to think about how much I was still lacking after so long. When that process started, I soon realised I had little physical scope for arpeggios and modal movement and the like. So the strap came up. I still kept some length as you can see from the profile pic over on the left, but I was finger picking with an almost straight arm before the change.

 

[Kaa]

Practice blindfolded, sitting or standing. Or yes, with the lights off. Like you're in a training montage in a kung fu movie.

Watch this, then, practice your bass in all the chambers of Shao Lin. Then, you will be ready.

 

[Dr. Keebs]

I adjust my strap, like Billy Sheehan, so that it’s the same position sitting or standing. It just barely touches my lap when sitting. I do a lot of studio and live performance, so that consistency of ergonomics helps.