What songs cramp your hands?

[Flashback Bass]

Carol - Chuck Berry/Stones. We play it as fast as we can! I play "double shuffles".

Evil Ways - Santana. The fast part at the end.

Two Ticket To Paradise - Eddie Money. Shear repetition!

I Saw Here Standing There - Beatles. Guitard plays it way to fast! My tongue is hanging out by the time we hit the "pre-chorus"!

Since I make the set list, these songs tend to end the sets!

 

[Jeb]

I used to play "Senorita" (Los Lonely Boys) with a band a few years back. I remember that one hurting a bit.

 

[mike.b]

hehehe I wish I could be so lucky as to get a cramp playing that one.

For me the problems start in the second set:

Mustang Sally (C)
Chain of Fools (C)
Land of 1000 Dances (D)

My main bass is 35" scale -- Mustang and Chain of Fools do it every time. By the time we get to 1000 Dances, the guys think it's really funny to count it off extra fast just to see the grimace on my face. Yeah. REALLY funny.

putang sally is in our first set so it ain't too bad. in land of a thousand dances,its one of our last numbers and we play wipe out through it plus a blues song i can't remember it(old age) and by the time we get back to land of.....my hand feels like a train wreck.more practise i guess.

 

[chakah]

Billie Jean - fun song to play. Hate the repetitive pattern.

 

[Smoof]

I'd have to say
Jockey Full of Bourbon - Tom Waits
Little Sunflower - Wayne Shorter
both on upright. The octave patterns kill me.

 

[Depth_Charge]

The octave jumps in "Hot Stuff" (Donna Summer) and "Danger! High Voltage" (Electric Six) are common culprits that forced me to find better playing angles to prevent cramps and lock ups, especially the Electric Six one...at least in Hot Stuff I got a reprieve in the chorus

Riffs to songs like "Come Out And Play" (The Offspring) and "When I Come Around" (Green Day) also do it to me but again it's because I have a habit of strangling the neck while gluing my fingers to the fretboard to play these riffs without having to fly my fingers everywhere!

The rythm guitarist in my cover band constantly gets cramps and no matter how many times the lead guitarist and I tell him that he shoudn't be cramping up on basic chords and to review his playing position, he keeps saying he just "needs to get used to playing these parts". :scowl:

 

[MtManiac]

Elvis' Burning Love - have you *heard* that song? Holy crap - quick tempo, very repetitive with lots of left nad movement up near the neck. One could use open strings to make it easier, but I try to avoid that.

 

[Guiseppe]

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.

I think that the OP is talking about his left hand getting fatigued. Turning your amp up won't help that - and may very well accentuate the errors you make BECAUSE you're tired. There's a few tunes that I still would confess to getting the burn going, but I think that practice/technique/strength are the biggest ways to avoid fatigue. I know for a fact that I start "gripping" the neck when I'm playing a song that isn't second nature or is more difficult for me to play; if it happens more than once, IMHO you need to bone up on the tune until it is in that "muscle memory" place, where it is old hat to play it. Technique can come into play (where you sling your bass, the angle of your hand/arm, your hand position) and impact adversely just through the strain. In addition, if you have other physical issues, bad technique is as sure-fire way as any to aggrevate the issue and cause problems (numbness, etc). Finally, insufficient muscle in your left hand on long, difficult passages are going to be WAY obvious to you...if you're getting "burned", either ditch the song or get back to the woodshed and get practicin'.

Just my $0.02.

Since the OP DID ask for songs:

Free Bird (I know, I know, but it goes over w/ this band)
Lemon Song
The Real Me
Apostrophe

 

[Time Consumer]

from fear through the eyes of madness from cohed and cambria, just listen to the song n you'l know why its makes me cramp.

 

[bigcatJC]

Never had a problem with my left - the right, however...

The first time I EVER played seriously with a pick, my band was covering Zeppelin's Achilles' Last Stand. It was one thing to practice it by myself, but the first time with the band...OUCH! Our drummer could get a little enthused and speed up, and up, and up - Imagine that song, faster and faster, for nearly ten minutes: My right hand was like a club when we finished, and my forearm was clenching.

Fortunately, I eventually learned how to play with a pick without overdoing it and nearly killing myself.

 

[jalv6]

Generally, while playing shows, the rest of me cramps up before my hands will. I like to move to the music So by the end of the show my back is tight, I'm out of breath, and I almost falling over from exhaustion, but my hands feel OK. I guess I need to start doing some cardio, instead of just playing constantly.

 

[Ray C Parrish]

My right hand never really cramps up, but playing Roots Bloody Roots, by Sepultura, never ceases to turn my left hand into "the claw." It's such an easy song, too. I think it's TOO easy...holding down the first fret on the B string for almost 3 minutes straight is what does it!

LOL...this is where I get pinched sometimes to!

 

[DanielleMuscato]

I totally agree and know that's how I developed my bad habit of playing very hard. Haven't always had the luxury of having an amp set up in the house.

Link Removed

There's a demo video on the page.

Talkbass sent me one for free when I became a Gold Supporting Member. They're *amazing* for practicing - you can hear all the string noise clearly, so it encourages you to work on that, and also, it has no volume control (entirely "powered" by vibration), and is pretty loud, so it encourages you to play gently and softly (i.e. good technique without digging in too much). I use mine all the time.

 

[Rocinante_x1]

Digital Man, and Analog Kid. Both by Rush. Great songs, but they're so fast an all over the place. I recommend them

 

[matrok]

thanks Dave, I'll look into that.

 

[PapaJustice]

Sabotage by the Beastie Boys-- if you're not used to using a pick(sounds like crap w/o it), it is a pain to get the feel right, and you will cramp-- hand, forearm, the works

 

[joegeezer]

Immigrant Song--Zep.

 

[Drkwdsman]

All Along the Watchtower - DMB version that I go absolutely crazy riffs

 

[Spencer!]

Mike Stern - Tipatina's

The melody twists my left hand into a pretzel.

 

[nofrets5]

"My Sharona"...

I play it on a Fretless 5 Wal, not the widest neck, but I have medium sized hands at best an do not have particularly long fingers, so when playing it about 4 songs from the end of the 3rd/last set, and the band "trying" to hit songs in a rapid fire pace to keep the dancers going, it was getting a little uncomfortable and had me worried a bit, as I don't want hand issues.

So as usual, reminded myself to stay loose a bit more, kind of pace my gig intensity, watch my hand position, which is necessary on fretless anyway, make the AMP work a little more (Eden WT-800 so plenty of headroom, thank goodness) and play the second tag in the song (the "My sharona" C Bb, C ,Bb tag) in the first position, they alternate it around to the third position to change the stretch and hopefully loosen any tension I may be building up. Lucky for me, the drummer only sometimes lifts the tempo a tad, so it's not usually too fast.

I can only agree with everything said, about hydration, stretching, pacing, etc, just wanted to throw in another tune, especially after noticing a "pattern" here !?

Lately, with steady gigs, rehearsals, and home practice, it SEEMS to not be an issue, but I have to give a hats off the the older upright players who honed their skills playing 5 hours a night, 6 nights a week in clubs !