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INTRODUCTION
I am happy to be able to commence my on-line forum, fuelled by my readers.
If you would like to submit something for discussion, please click on the
"feedback" button above. I look forward to hearing from you.
(I invite you to take a look at my bass
page also!)
JOIN
THE BASS RIYAZ USERS GROUP
To
be kept abreast of developments and to join related discussions subscribe
to the Bass Riyaz Users Group. You can unsubscribe at
any time.
(Please replace the [AT] with an @ symbol. This is to inhibit spam mail.)
1. Carpal tunnel
syndrome (tendonitis)
2. What CDs should I listen to?
3. Right Hand Technique - ring finger and "rest strokes"
4. Updated page 152
5. Counting bars
1. Carpal tunnel
syndrome (tendonitis)
I
found out about your book while surfing the web for bass exercises, fell in love
with it, and got it for Christmas. I must say it is an excellent book,
and I can see that I will find it useful well into the future. The reason why
I am writing is more serious though.
I love playing bass, and try to play it as much as I can (sometimes as much
as 5 hours a day) but recently I have been having chronic pains in my fretting
(left) hand, and sometimes I wake up at night with my hands going numb - tell-tale
signs of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. I havent played in the past few
days and the pains have gone away mostly, but I want your help in ensuring
I dont seriously mess myself up.
I usually to integrate a stretch/warmup into my practice routine and I try
to have good posture, but nevertheless, my wrist hurts. I'm gonna try to hold
my elbow a little farther away from my body from now on, but I dont know what
else to do. Should I play less and try to build strength before playing for
longer durations? Should I use hot/cold packs? Should I carry around a hand
exerciser/stress ball with me? I really love playing bass and I don't want
to ruin my future by ignoring this, so I would deeply appreciate any advice
you
can give me, or any references you can provide.
Thank you so much for writing the book, I love it!
Henry
Hello Henry,
Thank you for your feedback.
I take physical health very seriously, and am sorry your left hand has been
having problems.
These problems are always complex and difficult to treat quickly, but I can
share some positive aids with you which my students have benefited from in
the past.
Remember that once the tendons are inflamed, the best thing to do is to get
plenty of rest so that they can recover. Any kind of prolonged use will slow
down the healing.
5 hours of daily practice which is not aware of physical responses such as
tiring is the obvious cause of your condition, so the good news is the cause
is no mystery!
So here are some suggestions:
•
Alexander Technique. Check out Pedro
de Alcantara's web site and read his
book "Indirect Procedures". This is the best type of "physical
therapy" I know of for musicians because it necessarily goes beyond the
physical. Alexander Technique is "psycho-physical re-education of the
Self", which is exactly what you need to do! You can find
a teacher on-line.
• Don't go under the knife! Any kind of surgery has risks, and drawbacks.
Try the methods which undo the bad habits that have no side effects, patiently!
• Hot packs prior to playing and cold packs afterwards are known to ease
pain, reduce inflammation, and feel good.
• Warm up. Do stretches first and pace your practice. Take it slowly and
take frequent breaks. Play less and do more mental practice while you are suffering.
• Practice awareness. Learn to listen to your body's messages and obey
them!
•
Posture. This is covered by Alexander Technique. But you are right to avoid
the "contracting posture" where your elbows are tucked in. (I talk
about this in my warm up chapter.) You want an expanded feeling, rather, and
adjust the strap and your stance to accommodate
this. For seated playing I have just started using a Dynarette
cushion under
the bass and on top of my left thigh.
I recommend a large size.
Technically, make sure your left thumb is opposing and supporting correctly,
and that the fingers are curved over the fingerboard, not flat.
These are some initial comments. There are more on-line resources including
this article on bass
ergonomics.
Good luck, Keep me posted,
Jonathan Dimond
Back to the Top
2. What CDs should
I listen to?
I have been
playing about three years now. I have never had a teacher and feel like
my playing has been unproductive at times because of this.
Your book looked like it would aid my musical journey. I first saw it a while
back on Abstract Logix.
I also listened to clips of your music and enjoyed it thoroughly.
I have not
purchased any CDs of yet but will do so soon. Some of the players that I
really like to listen to are John Mclaughlin, Jeff Berlin, Jaco Pastorius,
Bill
Evans, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Allan Holdsworth
ad
infinitum. The music of Shakti introduced me to Indian music although in
a fused form. Perhaps you could recommend some music that has been important
to you as part of your journey. I look forward to getting the book.
Joseph
Dear Joseph,
Thanks for the kind remarks about my music. It is great to know people are
listening. Your book is on it's way!
I was impressed by the breadth of the artists you mention. They are all, needless
to say, masters and worth listening to closely and often! I am of the opinion
that good music - and good art - is good no matter what "style" people
badge it with. Having said that, as a beginner, I recommend having some amount
of focus and systemization to your listening. This is because there is SO MUCH
music out there it is easy to get distracted and overwhelmed. While you are
a beginner, I think it important as you develop your ears, experience and technique
that your listening be somewhat purposeful and geared towards your particular
stage of development and practice.
To clarify, there is the music that inspires but is sheer wonder (outside of
our present comprehension); music that we don't like NOR understand (put that
in the "maybe later" box); music of our peers; music of our very
own making (don't forget to record yourself for this purpose); music designed
for ear training; music for playing along with; music for style broadening;
music for historical education; music for passive listening and/or entertainment;
and music that we can see as being on our own path that has various gradations
of level from one just beyond our present abilities to that of our ultimate
goals.
These are not completely separate "categories" and there will be
cross-over, of course.
My musical journey has been very eclectic, broad and deep. I don't come across
many other electric bassists who will listen to and perform the range of "styles" that
I do, and so I doubt my path is for everyone. I will say, however, that our
instrument - the electric bass - is young and many-faceted, and lends itself
especially well to the fusions of the type you mention (and many others), and
despite the gravity of the personal style of such icons as Jaco Pastorius,
allows itself to be an instrument of clarity for the development of your own
personal voice.
I try to address the concept of "how to practice" in my book, and
extrapolate on it with such thoughts as the preceding ones in my private studio
instruction.
Sorry if this seems a long-winded answer to your question, but that was a huge
question!
In recent years I have been listening to North Indian classical music as much
as anything else, and in the last year I have been rediscovering the beauty
of 20th Century classical composers (especially Schoenberg, Stravinsky and
Bartok.)
Keep up the practice and the inquisitive mind!
Jonathan Dimond
Back to the Top
3. Right Hand Technique - ring finger and "rest strokes"
Hi
Jonathan,
I wrote an email to you a year ago about tendonitis problems, and your
advice helped so I want to thank you for you input, as well as your
awesome book.
I've now got another issue. Part of the fun of owning an electric
instrument seems to be experimenting with the different models, settings,
and effects to give a musician his own unique sound. In experimenting on
my bass I feel as though Ive found the sound I like best by using a
slightly different right hand technique. Basically I use three fingers in
a 1-2-3-1-2-3 pattern under the belief that the ring finger is a perfectly
usable finger, and including it allows for much easier use of high speed,
string crossings, and multistops.
Secondly I've been using only the very tips of my fingers for a few
reasons. First I've experimented and believe that following through to the
next string results in a dead plunk noise which is more distracting than
the rumble it stops (not to mention that following through to the next
string does not completely eliminate rumble to begin with).
Secondly, I
sometimes think that following through is just wasted motion, and lastly
becaue hitting it with the tips gives a sharper attack that sounds very
good, and gives a clear note. I'd also like to add that I play in such a
way as to avoid pulling my fingers into my palm.
Anyways, I sometimes wonder if my thinking is wrong for some reason I
haven't thought of, or if my bass is set up incorrectly or maybe just
because it is a cheap bass. For instance I read in your book that playing
with the tips does not give a full enough sound (though as I got better at
my technique I developed callouses and strenth to give a pretty bassy
sound). I haven't been able to find a good teacher out at college so I've
been left studying on my own, which worries me. Do you have any advice on
this?
Thanks, Henry
Hello Henry,
Good to hear from you.
You are correct - the ring finger is a valid candidate for right hand execution
of attacks - especially multi-stop "free strokes", where the chords
are arpeggiated or blocked-out, and allowed to sustain.
My teacher in Boston, John Lockwood, said to me in the early 1990's that he
was inspired by Dave Holland to consider its usage in the kind of multiple
attacks you mention. To this end, he recommended to me an exercise which resembled
drum rudiments, considering the three digits as "sticks". I recommend
considering other patterns than "1-2-3" in order to abide by prevailing
phrasing/accents. I.e. "1-2-3-2-3" might be a worthy fingering for
a grouping of 5 consecutive attacks.
Despite exploring this kind of fingering, I found that the index and middle
finger callouses made the ring finger sound quite different (softer) by comparison,
and I tend to use it for special situations (such as multiple stops) more than
my normal playing technique.
Your second question concerns how much of the finger tips contact the string.
It is a relative term, "tips", and I need to see to be sure. However
I can say quite confidently that the value of using a decent portion of the
finger tips and stroking across the strings is that the sound is thicker, and
the following impact on the lower string ("rest stroke") has the
advantage of string dampening and allowing for a circular, effortless feeling
when executing consecutive "walking" type strokes with the index
and middle fingers of the right hand. The less of the finger tip you strike
with, the more "plucky" sound you get, with accentuated high frequencies.
(You are actually bringing out higher harmonics by touching with less finger.)
This does not translate to mean "clarity" however. There are other
issues if your sound is unclear without doing this. (Possibly with the rest
of your technique and/or bass/amp settings.)
Furthermore, you make a logical point in terms of the very low frequency "thud" that
the rest stroke may create when the finger hits the unused string below. However,
this sound is masked by the true notes, and is usually rolled off in the most
critical playing situation - the recording studio - so as to not muddy the
mix and create sub-audio speaker deflections. If you get an audible thud then
I suggest your are playing too hard! Increase the gain and decrease your effort.
This will give you a more dynamic sound. Practice accents and articulations
at all dynamic ranges!
If your fingers are pulling into your palm, you are pulling the string up,
rather than across. This is not correct (apart from slapping technique!).
Studying with a decent teacher is always better than out of a book. Lacking
that, how about you get together with another interested student? Another set
of eyes and ears would be helpful to you.
Regards,
Jonathan Dimond
Back to the Top
4.
Updated page 152
I
have noticed that in the 3rd edition page 152 did not print correctly. The
manuscript appears without noteheads. Please click
here to download the replacement
page. Very sorry about that! (Some kind of PDF/post-script error occured.)
Back to the Top
5.
Counting bars
Hi Jonathan. My name is Lele from South Africa.
Iplay electric bass guitar. I need help: my problem is when I solo I cannot
count
bars. What should i do to overcome that?
Thank you.
Hello Lele,
Counting bars is just one form of a complex of counting tasks that a musician
needs to absorb and make subconscious. It doesn't matter whether you are
soloing or playing a bass line.
Counting consciously in a repeated fashion (either silently or aloud) is one
way of working towards this goal.
I recommend working with time cycles in a fixed metre and with unchanging subdivision/pulse,
with a simple melody, groove and/or chord progression at first.
E.g. 12 bar blues in 12/8.
Practice counting out the pulse, beat (dotted quarter note), bar (4 beats),
4-bar phrase/line, and finally chorus/cycle.
As you see, you work from the micro- to the macroscopic level. Eventually you'll
be also able to feel multiples of cycles at the macroscopic level.
Good luck,
Jonathan
Back to the Top