Post by Farrin Evers on Mar 14, 2016 9:32:23 GMT
I don't need an official warm up for bass unless I haven't played in a long time. If that happens, I have my "go to" getting reacquainted exercise. It was given to me as something that should be done every day to keep fingers strong & stretched, but if I'm playing all the time, that happens naturally.
Using one finger per fret positioning, place your left hand across the first 4 frets on your lowest string. The numbers here represent your fingers: 1 being index finger, 4 being pinky. Strum whole notes of 1,2,3,4 on your left hand. Be sure to alternate between fingers 1 and 2 on your right hand. You want a slow tempo to build finger stretch and strength. As long as you keep your left hand holding a whole note or longer, you can play any rhythm with your right hand to build right hand chops. It is a warm up, so starting slow with the right hand is prudent, but you can gradually increase to eighths, triplets, and sixteenths as you get warm.
In the interest of time, I have a speedy way of progressing up and down the neck. After you have played the first 4 frets on your lowest string, shift your hand up one fret and up one string. You'll be moving diagonally up the neck. When you reach your highest string, then shift down the strings... so it's like a zig-zag.
Once you get all the way up the neck and reach your highest fret, the shift back one fret & (up or down) one string until you return all the way to your start position.
That was finger pattern 1,2,3,4.
Continue with 2,3,4,1 up and back.
Then 3,4,1,2
Then 4,1,2,3
You can see how the diagonal zig-zagging saves some time yet still covers your whole neck. On alternate days, switch your starting position from lowest string to highest string so that you truly cover all the bases, but even Rome wasn't built in a day.
Using one finger per fret positioning, place your left hand across the first 4 frets on your lowest string. The numbers here represent your fingers: 1 being index finger, 4 being pinky. Strum whole notes of 1,2,3,4 on your left hand. Be sure to alternate between fingers 1 and 2 on your right hand. You want a slow tempo to build finger stretch and strength. As long as you keep your left hand holding a whole note or longer, you can play any rhythm with your right hand to build right hand chops. It is a warm up, so starting slow with the right hand is prudent, but you can gradually increase to eighths, triplets, and sixteenths as you get warm.
In the interest of time, I have a speedy way of progressing up and down the neck. After you have played the first 4 frets on your lowest string, shift your hand up one fret and up one string. You'll be moving diagonally up the neck. When you reach your highest string, then shift down the strings... so it's like a zig-zag.
Once you get all the way up the neck and reach your highest fret, the shift back one fret & (up or down) one string until you return all the way to your start position.
That was finger pattern 1,2,3,4.
Continue with 2,3,4,1 up and back.
Then 3,4,1,2
Then 4,1,2,3
You can see how the diagonal zig-zagging saves some time yet still covers your whole neck. On alternate days, switch your starting position from lowest string to highest string so that you truly cover all the bases, but even Rome wasn't built in a day.