Hello bassists! As I did in our last issue, I want to look ahead to the return of live shows and tours post-pandemic, and what that means for us as performers. With it being over a year now since most of us last played live, there are going to be elements of our live performance skills that may have regressed, to some degree. This might mean learning to play and lock in with other musicians again; relearning and retaining material; anxieties around returning to the stage and playing in front of audiences – or even just having the stamina to play for an extended amount of time under gig conditions. I’ll be tackling all of these areas over the next few issues, but first we’ll start with endurance.
It’s important to take our time in rebuilding endurance: anything too taxing to begin with can lead to aches, pains and longer-term issues. I appreciate that some of you may have replaced gigging with an increase in personal practice, so some of the endurance needed will have been preserved through that simple switch. However, this completely depends on what you focus on in your practice – if it’s transcription or theoretical study, then it’s not going to play into the development of your playing stamina. So, with that in mind, here is what I would recommend focusing on.