Personally, I started playing the bass like many other bassists, standing. I did it for years and years and years, until for some reason, some one introduced me to sitting on a stool, and my butt has never left one since. Well, not exactly, but pretty much for the most part when it comes to bass playing, I'm glued to one.
I have not the strength (yet) to play standing up--my thumb gets sore after a while, and in general I use muscles I didn't know I had. I do however, want to learn how to play standing up. I can do it now, but my intonation suffers, and I never really get comfortable. Plus if I were ever to stand and play, I have a feeling I'd need an even smaller bass than usual, to get around it adequately.
Which brings me to....what do you do when you are stuck with an instrument too big? And you're standing? And you're wearing the most beautiful shoes ever?:
Well, essentially you just deal with it. I could have taken my shoes off---3 3/4 inch heels are quite a bit---yet I'm not a wuss. I decided to suck it up and make the most of it, and make the most of it, I certainly did!
I have found the solution to playing an instrument that is too large for me while standing up while wearing high heels----one foot on the ground, and one on the podium. I swear, the balance I had was AMAZING.(Plus I looked pretty cool.)
2 comments:
What a cool way to deal with the standing issue! Heels have really got to throw a monkey wrench into the whole bass stance thing. Thanks for checking out my post, and it's great to hear your perspectives on this!
I think my picture should be added to all your pictures of different bass sitting/standing postures, as Figure 12: standing with heels! Ha!
(Actually, I never wear heels when I play bass. I just happened to be at a Minnesota Orchestra concert dressed all nice, and afterwards, Colin let me try out his bass. But yes, they do indeed throw a wrench in to everything.)
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