Bass Warmups
by Glenn Letsch
reprinted by permission
Electronic Musician Magazine
It's showtime! The curtain begins to rise. It's now or never. Are you ready to hit that stage, play your best, and burn some heavy grooves? Whether the gig is at the House of Blues or the Black Diamond Brewery, you want to be a confident, loose, and energized soul, ready to set the musical world on fire. Here are some general points to consider in getting ready as well as specific routines that I like to do before the gig. Be prepared. Know your material, backward, forward, and upside down. If you need to tape record rehearsals for home-alone study, do it. Your bandmates will love you because group rehearsals will be qualitative, not quantitative. If you have your tunes down cold, performance anxiety will be minimal. It's just like final exams: if you study and go to class all year, the test is a breeze. If you have to cram, you will be uptight and won't do as well. In similar fashion, be sure your gear is in perfect working order. Replace tubes and the like before they go bad. Have a spare bass head, a backup bass, strings, cords, batteries, and so on. Remember, regular, preventative maintenance is the key. If you move your own equipment, arrive early for setup. If you have a road crew, arrive early for sound check. This is the time for your final tweaks, so be careful and deliberate. If you are late or hurried, you will be uptight. Chances are, the first set will not be a memorable one. In addition, it helps to make sure there is a small practice amp and a bass for you in the dressing room. If that is impossible, at least get your axe, have a seat, and warm up. The following are some of my favorite routines for being prepared: Bass isometrics. This exercise accomplishes three things. It will make each finger stronger. It will teach them to hover closer to the fingerboard. And each finger will learn to move independently of the others. The result is efficient technique. First, number each of the fingers on your fretting hand one through four, starting with the index finger. Now, place the four fingers on E F F# G (frets 9, 10, 11, 12 of the G string), and fret each note simultaneously. Place fingers #1 and #2 on the D string at notes B and C (frets 9 and 10). Alternate plucking between B and C, lifting finger #1 up when fretting with finger #2. Be sure to hold down fingers #3 and #4 while plucking with #1 and #2. Do this with every finger combination (1-3, 1-4, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4). Be sure to play all exercises very slowly for maximum effect. Rhythm intervals. Fret the root interval with finger #1, the perfect fifth with #3, and the octave with #4. Arpeggiate between the three notes. Play legato. Ascend and descend the notes, but do not let the octave sustain into the fifth nor the fifth sustain into the root when descending. Play the exercise with precision and even tempo. Move it up and down the fingerboard. I like to call these the rhythm intervals because so many great bass routines have been written with them. Pickin' a winner. If you play any tunes with a pick, you will need something to warm up on. My favorite picked bass line is Anthony Jackson's "For the Love of Money" by the O'Jays. If you don't have a copy, you should find it because it is one of the all-time baddest bass lines. Listen to it, study it, and nail it! Playing this song puts me (and anyone else listening) in the zone. Rockabilly Walking Eights. This is one of Nashville great Mike Chapman's favorite routines and mine, too. This 12-bar, walking bass line is simple, but it grooves and will put you in just the right frame of mind. The note pattern is 1-1-3-3-5-5-6-5, which you play over A, D, and E chords. (For example, on the A chord, you would play A-A-C#-C#-E-E-F#-E.) If there is a guitar amp and a drum pad in the dressing room, try to get a jam going. There is no better way for the band to bond before a gig. If you can get off a good joke and a hearty laugh, then I'd say you are ready to hit the stage!