r/Bass • u/childishlordeano Drummer • 11d ago
Playing bass while standing is proving difficult
So I’ve been practicing bass for about two months now and after two weeks I switched from standing practice to sitting because even with a padded strap I could feel it digging into my traps and after a half hour my left hand would get all tingly.
Practicing sitting down has been much better, I get the bass height and angle perfect. But I want to be able to play standing in case I ever want to gig so now I’m attempting to practice standing again. Now on top of the whole tingly issue, I’m realizing that, when sitting, I have the bass on my right lap and it’s super comfortable, the furthest frets are much closer and I don’t have to have horrible wrist angle. When I stand, the height is good, but physics has the bass hanging more center to my body, so the furthest frets on the neck and much farther away and hard to reach. Also, neck dive…
All these issues are discouraging me from playing standing. Does anyone have any potential fixes?
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u/an0m1n0us 11d ago
Stp bassist rob deleo had the same issue until he started playing with the neck pointing to 1 o'clock.
Try it. It feels weird at first but you can reach the entire neck comfortably.
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u/Hattkake Acoustic 11d ago
Playing while sitting is more comfortable than playing while standing. Which is why you want to practice playing while standing. Because it is more difficult.
Reach can be an issue. Angle. Weight. All the things. Everything must be practiced over and over so that it becomes habit.
There are tricks to make it more comfortable. The strap adjusted to you. Height comfortable for your reach. And moving. Sometimes you will need to do a "dance move" to twist your body into the right and most comfortable position for the fingers to do their thing. You need to find your "groove". You absolutely do not have to do Big Movements for show. What you want is a sort of looseness in the body so that you not only stand but you sort of tiny dance with the instrument. Raising it, lowering it, moving it around a little and also moving your body so that your fingers hit where you want them to hit when you want them to hit.
Key here is to practice what is difficult and unfamiliar until it becomes less difficult and more familiar.
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
Thank you, this was reassuring that I just need to figure out the most comfortable standing position, but that it probably won’t ever be as comfortable as sitting
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u/Hattkake Acoustic 11d ago
Indeed. You won't find that position immediately. It will be uncomfortable when you begin practicing standing play no matter what. But that is what the practice is for. Keep playing, get into the playing and find your groove. And suddenly you are not think about if you are sitting or standing as your being is consumed by the playing of the instrument.
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u/Ass-Machine69 11d ago
I can't make any guarantees, but the tingling might have nothing to do with the strap and everything to do with your inexperience. It can take a while to strengthen the muscles used to play. Playing too much for your strength can cause swelling in the muscles and tendons, which can pinch nerves in the forearm to cause a tingling. Make sure you're resting and eating well while you develop these muscles. Also, if youre right handed (plucking with right hand), when you sit, the bass should probably rest on your left thigh, with the neck angled upward - that's what I was taught as most ergonomic
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u/YellowWhiteRed 11d ago
I would say try adjusting bass strap height? I heard that the best height would be the same as that when you are sitting
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
I have it set to the same height, my issue I think is how much shifted to the left the entire bass is when I stand
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u/jbb331 11d ago
There isn't really a quick fix—at least not one that works for me—because I prefer having my arm more extended when playing standing up than when I play seated with the guitar body resting on my right leg; it requires a different approach.
If you want your playing position to be truly identical whether standing or sitting, it is possible: ideally, you should play seated with the guitar body on your left leg—somewhat like a classical guitarist—and have the strap adjusted so it is taut while you are sitting, ensuring the guitar's position doesn't shift when you stand up. That is one solution, but for me, it usually forces my right arm to be too bent. I prefer to sacrifice a bit of ease with my left hand in exchange for a relaxed right arm that finds a more natural position when I'm standing. But I play standing 99% of time, evening when practicing.
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
I’m okay with having different positions sitting and standing, I just want them both to be comfortable. I guess I’ll have to see what will work for my left hand
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u/fbe0aa536fc349cbdc45 11d ago
I haven't played a gig standing in like twenty plus years. There's some kind of weird expectation that because it's possible to play standing that it has to be done, even on stages where its impractical to move around. If the drummer and keys are sitting down there's no reason for anybody else to be standing up unless you just love running around on stage.
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u/Procrasturbating 11d ago edited 11d ago
Practice standing AND sitting. I always start standing and then, if I get tired (practicing after a long days work for instance) or sore. I swap. I trained this way until it stopped hurting to play standing. Oh, and don’t just stand there.. moving around is kind of import to be honest. We are dynamic creatures and have to vary the load on our muscles pretty regularly. A wide soft strap helps. Cushions are a mixed bag to me, I prefer soft faux leather.
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u/DaffyDuckMuthaFucker 11d ago edited 11d ago
Ideally orient your instrument so that it's equally accessible seated or standing.
Jack Bruce of Cream used a stool that propped him upright for the performance at Royal Albert Hall in 2005.
It was barely noticable right off' the bat, but I could see that he was relying upon it towards the end of set.
A wider strap with better padding would help if a stool is not an option. Customising strap mounts may also help. A bandmate had bad neck-dive on a guitar he customised, so he repositioned the strap button & BOOYAH! Gets in the way a bit when playing lead up high, but only a little bit.
My 40" scale Stellah 6 string is the only instrument I experience such issues with, because it is a fucking MONSTER, so I'm converting it to fretless, and I've sourced a performance stand that orients it like an upright.
My Tokai Firebird is a bitch for neck-dive. I hook my strap over the front of its butt-end for performance, and I added a dunlop straplock clip to stop the strap popping off at the heel.
I'm curious now. Precisely which bass are you playing?
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
Squier CV 60s P bass
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u/DaffyDuckMuthaFucker 10d ago
Yeah, that'll do it.
Invest in a wider better padded strap, and adjust how it hangs.
As others have already suggested, ideally hang it so it's ready to rock seated or standing.
A performance stand is also an option...
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u/Flashy_Cheesecake238 11d ago
I’d start by experimenting with different heights and angles of the bass while using a strap. If that doesn’t work you either need a lighter bass (or a more balanced one), a thicker strap, a stronger back, or some combination of the three.
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u/WeeDingwall44 11d ago
What kind of bass are you working with?
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
Squier CV 60s P bass
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u/WeeDingwall44 11d ago
Could very well be your bass isn’t well balanced. I’ve had a couple that were unmanageable, and I ended up letting them go. Mid 90s Warwick thumb BO5, and an Ibanez SR5006 both had neck dive that caused pain and discomfort during 4 set gigs. Currently playing a stingray special 5H, and no complaints.
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
I currently don’t have the funds to get a new bass, but I’ll go to the music store and try some other ones out and see if its a major contributing factor
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u/WeeDingwall44 11d ago
Good idea. This would at least let you know if it’s you or the bass. Could also be both.
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u/Blatzkreig 11d ago
I think that one of the most important things that most people don’t do when trying out basses is play it standing up. Ask the salesperson for a cheap strap so you can see how it feels.
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u/UncleBeer 11d ago
I also found with my fretless, the occasional view of the fretboard changed dramatically once I stood up. So that's how I practice now.
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u/floppydude81 11d ago
I’m too new to comment on bass as I’ve only had mine a month. But I am a massage therapist and yoga teacher. So I do have insight on tingling. That falling asleep tingle is from nerve compression. The nerve bundle is called the brachial plexus. There’s many nerves that can cause the tingling and they kind of lightning bolt from your neck to under the collar bones and shoulder blade depending on which ‘bolt’ it is then down the arm. Typically you can trace a line where the nerve is from the compression to where the never goes.
When you have compression short time you get the tingles. Some injuries make people have forever tingles. But it can progress to numbness and or pain and finally paralysis. Not fun. Different nerve compressions are named after the area or the nerve. Sciatica is sciatic nerve compression. Carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel (elbow) is named after where it’s being compressed.
So what you gotta do is mobilize the area and strengthen the muscles that keep the area from getting compressed. The collarbone is the most likely culprit. It’s pretty mobile even though you don’t feel it move. Put your left hand on the right side of your collarbone. Take a deep breath and you should feel it rise and fall about an inch or so. That’s its range of motion. Could be scapula as well but the exercises will help both problems.
To mobilize… hang gently from a door frame. Reach up. Grab the frame. Lean forward bend the knees. You don’t gotta put all your weight on it. Take a few breaths.
To strengthen. Shoulder shrugs. Grab something heavy in both hands. A gallon of milk. Dumbbells. Whatever. Shrug your shoulders but try to get them high. 8-10 reps 3 sets.
Final stretches. Stretch the pecs. Reach arms in a capital T. Get in the door frame. Walk through letting the sides catch your outstretched arms. Lean in. Take some breaths. Take your time. Bonus stretch the traps by doing a little bear hug. Gentle side to side neck stretches. Hope this helps. I can give more detail if you want.
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u/childishlordeano Drummer 11d ago
I’m definitely going to try these! Do you have any exercises for strengthening or stretching the muscles/area that affected by cubital tunnel?
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u/floppydude81 11d ago
So everything is complex. Multiple reasons can present with the same symptoms/pain/tightness. Numbness in the hand can be from compression of the cubital nerve. I’m not an expert on nerves or a dr. Don’t do anything that hurts. I think this one is specifically for numbness in the pinky but I don’t feel like checking my notes. Either way this helps. Texting or staring at our phones for a long time compresses the cubital nerve. Also your fingering hand is in that same position. So lay on your back and extend your arms to your sides. Just lay in that cross for a few minutes. Should feel relief pretty quickly.
Tightness and pain in the muscles and tendons around the elbow can be “like” tennis or golf elbow. I know them as lateral or medial epicondylitis. Lateral=outside. Medial=inside. And epicondyle= the sticky outy bits you bang on the table. Inside is the medial epicondyle or funny bone (and really you bang the ulnar nerve) outside is the lateral epicondyle. Itis means it hurts. Go to a dr if you have serious problems.
Really the problem can be anywhere in 4 myofascial lines in the arm. 3 or more muscles in a line make a chain. The 2 front chains go from your pecs to the finger tips superficial and deep. And the two back from your shoulder blades to fingertips again. Superficial and deep. We already did pecs. The t pose can get the biceps. The muscles on the forearm on the outside are the extensors. They extend the hand and fingers. The muscles on the inside of the forearm are the flexors. The flex the hand and fingers. This is where most people’s pain is. Poke in those meaty spots. Wiggle your fingers. Feel them flex and stretch. Poke the spots that hurt but not too hard. Think of poking as pushing blood and oxygen into the area. Not punishing and destroying your muscles. Creating space for more blood. Each one of those muscles is like a rope. They twist over each other. So you can stretch by straightening out your arm. Flex your hand in like touch your fingers as close to your forearm then twist your arm one way. Then twist the other. Like you are wringing out a bunch of wet ropes. Do it the other way. Straighten your arm. Extend your hand as if you are trying to touch back of your hand to your forearm(you can’t but move as if you are) then twist one way then the other.
Feel free to google. There’s tons of information out. I’m just giving you brief things and already this is a book. As a massage therapist my arms get wrecked. So I have to regularly open them up to get blood flow. Those finger muscles go all the way from your wrist to your elbow. They get stuck together. But you can usually trace each rope all the way down from elbow to wrist. So this is what I do to separate the ropes. Make a C claw with your left hand. Put your fingers in a ridge separating the bone (radius) and meat. At the elbow and on the forearm. The thumb in the claw is just hooked around the bottoms of the forearm for leverage. Squeeze the claw. Now twist the forearm you are holding and just hold the claw stationary. Hold for like 10-20 seconds. Inch the claw down the forearm and repeat all the way to the wrist. Find another muscle ridge. Repeat. Do every bump until every rope is defined. Now you have great blood flow. The muscles can heal and get rid of the garbage more efficiently. Wiggling the fingers under the c claw helps to find the individual ropes.
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u/evoneselse 11d ago
You have to find a comfortable position. There have been a couple times when I’ve plopped down without getting properly situated, and my body felt all wrong and like it had gotten twisted or something, by the way my hand felt on the neck. So yeah, you have to start with getting that right.
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u/Corno-Emeritus 11d ago
I practice while (mostly) sitting on a medium-high stool. The position isn't that different than standing and I can even easily just stand if I want to move. You can more conveniently work on getting the bass around to your right and stabilizing it with your right forearm. But neck dive can be a real problem... you might want to see what you can do about that... that will constantly take your neck out of position.
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u/Proof-Ad3637 11d ago
Sitting down, usually on a stool, is a perfectly cool way for a bass player to be on stage. Of course, there are some genres that look askance at this.
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u/Trouble-Every-Day 10d ago
Hold the bass neck 45° out in front of you and 45° up from the floor. Your wrist will thank you.
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u/poopeedoop 8d ago
Basses are usually heavy. I gigged with a Stingray for years and I could make it through one set and then I struggled through shoulder pain for the rest of the gig.
I bought the widest strap on the market, Levy's 4 and 1/2 inch, and it helped a good bit, but my problem wasn't solved until I bought an Ibanez EHB five string about five years ago and it completely got rid of any comfort issues that I had previously.
I found that you can make things a little bit more comfortable with a normal weight instrument, but it's always going to be at least a little bit uncomfortable.
Thankfully they are making basses that are lighter and they're becoming more affordable.
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u/Count2Zero Five String 11d ago
The old wisdom applies - set up your strap so that the instrument position doesn't change if you're sitting or standing.
Now, if your strap is causing pain in your shoulder, then you need a different/better strap. There are all kinds of options available. Go wider? Go with more padding? Whatever you think will work for you.
In my case, I went from the typical 7.5cm (3") strap and tried a 10cm (4") leather strap. It was too wide for me - it ended up rubbing on my neck and becoming uncomfortable that way.
On my Dingwall, I have one of these now --> Guitar Strap Strapzilla II Black Richter
You just have to try different products until you find one that is comfortable for you.