Warmup Exercises for Playing Bass Guitar –> It’s extremely important to incorporate warmup exercises into your practice routine – every time you play the bass. There are a lot of reasons and benefits for warming up. These include:
- Prevent Injury – Unfortunately many bassists have suffered injuries when playing bass. Common injuries include tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. When you develop injuries such as these, it may take months (or longer) to recover – meaning you can’t play the bass during this time. Some cases have been so extreme that some bassists have had to stop playing all together.
- Perform Better – Just like athletes, bassists need to warmup their muscles before playing. Warming up loosens the muscles and tendons in your hands, fingers, arms and shoulders. This allows you to play more fluid, faster and accurate.
- Develop Fundamental Techniques – Any warmup exercises you use will have the added benefit of developing fundamental playing techniques. As you will see in the videos below, these exercises will help improve many aspects of your playing such as: developing finger independence, strengthening the muscles in your fingers and hands, developing speed & dexterity, developing coordination between your right and left hands, and improving your timing.
Make an effort to include warm up exercises every time you practice. It should take only 5 – 10 minutes to incorporate all of these exercises into your practice sessions. By consistently using these exercises you will help prevent injury, perform better, and see a noticeable improvement in your playing!
Below are videos showing warmup exercises we recommend using whenever you play the bass. These videos feature professional bassist Braun Khan. They are a part of his lesson series at JamPlay Bass. To view all of Braun’s lessons (and hundreds more), click here to visit JamPlay Bass!
Finger Exercises
Below is a video that shows you some finger and hand warmup exercises. Take a couple of minutes to complete these exercises before you play. These will help prevent injury. They will also help to develop finger independence and strengthen the muscles in your fingers and hands.
Left Hand Chromatic Excerices
Below is a video showing you some chromatic exercises that are great for warming up your left hand. These can also be used to develop important fundamental playing techniques. They will help to improve hand & finger speed, dexterity, and coordination. They’re also great for developing coordination between your right and left hands. Take a few minutes at the beginning of your practice sessions to complete these exercises:
Right Hand Plucking Exercises
Below is a video showing you exercises that can be used to warmup your right (plucking) hand. Often times the focus is on warming up and developing your left hand. But it’s also very important to incorporate right hand exercises into your playing. These exercises will also help develop the fundamental techniques of plucking, alternating your fingers, and raking techniques. They will help with improving your timing, and coordination between your right and left hands. Take a few minutes at the beginning of your practice sessions to complete these exercises:
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Warmup Exercises for Playing Bass Guitar