What songs cramp your hands?

[Vic Winters]

When you play, what specific songs cause fatigue and cramping of the left hand?

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Heartbreaker

Can't chord to save my life let alone slide a chord. Ouchie.

 

[Pearldiver]

Dazed and Confused.

My bass instructor laughed when I told him. Basically said I was a weakling and needed to build strength and dexterity in my hand(s).

Still can't do it.

 

[bassteban]

Anything, about 5-6 songs into a set. I'm out of shape.

 

[the_fonz]

i've never really had a hand cramp
i guess i'm just lucky

 

[meev992]

Sublime - Date Rape

I'm also out of shape, I've been getting lazy.

 

[driver800]

any song that includes extended repetitive motions. i mean the same simple left-hand pattern over and over. some that drive me crazy:

Turn Me Loose - Loverboy..ugh
Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group

 

[Sahm]

Black Magic Woman, the extended version- at the end of a three hour gig!

 

[Stumpy]

Buried...if we extend the after solo space.

 

[Ripper]

a tower in the sky by sheehan

its not even the real bass part, its the melody thats probably his 8-string bari, but its a real repetitive stretch... i can usually go at least 5-10 runs through it after doing a major scale in every position... thats my workout

 

[tremor100]

maybe i was a uber weakling before but try out newborn by muse... that gets my forearms veiny, i generally dont learn songs cause it indirectly influences me. But i remebr about a year or so ago i couldnt actually get through the whole thing. I actually alternate which left hang fingers i do for the pattern every few bars. Now i dont feel a burn but before it would like kill my forearm.

 

[Kuchar]

Sleep Now in the Fire - RATM

the verse kills my hand T_T

 

[jollygiantchris]

captain beyond - dancing madly backwards
THE VERY FIRST SONG I DID BY EAR (with some help where i ****ed up)
the god damn first 2 minutes is brutal even though its a deceptively simple line

 

[gweimer]

The outro to "Rats in the Cellar" from Aerosmith.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Ian Gillan - Lucille

And every other rock tune with the same kind of repetitive riffs and speed.

I guess that the problem lies in the high setup I like to have, it's not that fast.

Sam

 

[Munjibunga]

If the House is a'Rockin'
Rocking Down the Highway
Rock and Roll

Pretty much anything that's all eighth notes, especially late in the gig on hot days.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

any song that includes extended repetitive motions. i mean the same simple left-hand pattern over and over.

+1

We cover, of all things, Without Me by Eminem. I'm pretty much bouncing a G octave through the song with a 5th/b6 fill every couple of measures. My left hand is usually fatigued by the end. It's even worse when I play my five-string Jazz, because it has standard string spacing. If I gigged every night, I'd have to put a petition in to play this song only two times a week, because I could totally see myself getting carpral tunnel from playing it too much.

 

[Valerus]

Iron Maiden - Dream of Mirrors

 

[DanielleMuscato]

You guys get cramps?

IMHO, your technique is flawed if you're getting cramps.... Strength is hardly necessary.

Playing bass should be like petting a sleeping cat.... you can dig in a bit if you want, but it's really not necessary to play any harder than that. If you need more volume, turn up your amp.

Check out this video:

 

[Jazzerbone]

I agree with Dave, but I'm not there yet.

Cherokee with 5 horns who like long solos.

Did Giant Steps on a gig once... ouch. I aviod that tune if I can. My head just isn't in that kind of ball game yet.