Feeling Rusty? (TT 14)

by Ari • 2 Jun 2016 — 2 minute read

Feeling Rusty?

Sometimes life happens and for one reason or another we don’t get to pick up the bass for a few days, weeks, or even years. But now you want to work up your calluses again and you are looking to find your old shape quickly. How to shake this rusty feeling? At first the bass feels clunky in your hands and nothing seems to flow how you know it could. What to do?

This episode of series with notreble.com (“Talking Techniqe”) deals with just that: how to get back into shape quickly after a longer break. You can also use these tips if your hands feel awkward as you are switching to a different instrument.

The most important part of this: go slow. Relax. Feel your hands, finger tips, the strings etc. I have some right hand warm ups, left hand warm ups, warm ups away from the instrument, warm ups for the body, warm ups for the mind. You will be surprised how this slow and relaxed approach will bring you back into top shape quite quickly.

Let me know how it is working for you. Please leave a comment here or with the post on notreble!
https://youtu.be/8GS3MRB1_ME

Great Short Course to get you back into it!

Anther articles/posts of interest:

Which book is best for me, Theory or Pattern?

My Gear here:

Bass: Votan Marleaux Four String
The fretwrap around the neck of the bass is by gruvgear
Amplification by TC Electronic
Dean Markley Strings, SR 2000!

Thanks to wolftrackaudio.com for sound!

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Bassist, author, educator.

Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.

Joined by 15,000+ Bassists

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Hi. I'm Ari.

As a bassist, I have toured/played/recorded with a variety of rock, Jazz, and funk bands, I have worked with some incredible producers (Keith Olsen) and musicians (Paul Hanson, Muriel Anderson) and I toured Brazil with Stu Hamm as a duo.

As a bass teacher, I have taught at London Bass Day, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, SBL, Truefire, notreble… I even ran my own music school for a few years before gigs took me back on the road.

One thing to know about me is that I teach because I am absolutely fascinated with the learning process. And I am obsessed with helping others realize their musical potential.

When I started playing bass, I excelled very quickly because I had an amazing teacher who taught me using a powerful method. This method transformed my playing so quickly that I passed a bunch of high-level university auditions and even tested out of entire classes at university even though I had been playing for only a very short time.

That’s what, many years later turned into one of my books, co-written with Wolf Wein, called “The Pattern System for the Bass Player”. I created entire systems of learning based on some of these ideas and wrote books and created courses together with Wolf. Our bass books have sold over 30,000 copies and garnered rave reviews.

I started teaching online in 2009 and have embraced technology as a powerful learning tool since then, never losing sight of the importance of providing feedback and personalized guidance to learners.

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Feeling Rusty? (TT 14)