Post by Phillip Serna – www.phillipwserna.com
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My student Patrick Richards (has a fabulous project restoring amplifiers and bass guitars for low-income bass students http://www.myspace.com/thefreewheels &
http://www.myspace.com/swimmermissing) passed on this interesting post by Denson Angelo, bassist and teacher in the Salt Lake City area. It is always good to find new stretches and exercises to do while on the run. As many professionals know, it can be hard to find time when you are out teaching, on the road, or in between rehearsals to get in the practice time to keep in shape, so here’s a new one for you. WARNING: Like any exercise, do NOT over do it at first. It would be adviseable to work it in at the end of your practice sessions. I ALWAYS advise stretching before and after a lengthy playing session. I hope to get more in-depth information on good bass-calisthenics soon.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1870810 (original post)
step 1: Extend your arms in front of you with your palms facing out (wrists bent up/back) lock the elbows
step 2: make fists as hard as you can squeeze
step 3: open your hands as ‘hard’ as you can. fully extend the fingers.
step 4: repeat steps 2 & 3 as fast as you can for as long as you can…
i doubt many people here can go past 1 minute without wanting to cry.
this will strengthen and stretch muscles and strengthen the insertion points of your tendons….
Bio/Music Styles: Denson Angulo is one of the most sought-after bassists in the Salt Lake City metro area. With a Master’s of Music degree, and skills in all styles of music, Denson has worked extensively as an educator and free-lance professional playing electric bass, acoustic jazz, and classical double bass. A sample of his credentials include international tours to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Italy; and performances with jazz greats Bob Mintzer, Bob Berg, Randy Brecker, Victor Wooten, Conrad Herwig, Nicholas Payton, Ed Calle, Madeline Eastman, Bob Shepard, Jamie Abersold, Javon Jackson, Mark Whitfield, Terreon Gully, Wycliffe Gordon, Brandon Fields, Denise Donatelli, Eldar Djangarov, Kathy Kosins, Tom Scott, Shelly Berg, Bobby Shew, Gregg Bissonette, Carl Allen and many others. As a classical musician, he has recorded for ESPN, ABC, NBC television and LDS motion pictures, and performed solo bass repertoire with the Honolulu Symphony. As an educator he has maintained private bass studios for over 15 years. He has traveled the inter-mountain west as an adjudicator and clinician and has been a full-time professor at Brigham Young University Idaho coordinating their Classical/Jazz bass studio, running their jazz combo program, and teaching jazz history. Currently, Denson is free-lancing in Salt Lake City, the jazz improv/bass instructor at Snow College, bass instructor at the University of Utah (fall ’07), and an instructor at “The Music School” in American Fork, Utah. For more information and videos, visit: http://www.myspace.com/densonangulo & www.youtube.com/densonangulo.
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I was able to do this for about 45 seconds. However, it seems to me that this is the wrong kind of exercise to be building flexibility as it opens the risk for excessive strain.
Here are the exercises that I do. They focus on stretching the rest in building flexibility: The first is to hold your arms out to the side creating a straight line from one wrist to the other (i.e., arms held out to be in line with the shoulders). Move the hands so they face vertically (perpendicular to the wrists) and hold them there for three breaths. Then counterbalanced the stretch by making the fingers face downwards (again perpendicular to the wrists) and hold this for another three breaths. This not only flexes the wrist but also opens up muscles throughout the arm (in particular the armpit) which are important for rotation and movement of the whole arm (something I encourage when playing pizzicato or slapping).
The second stretch was suggested to me by yoga instructor. Sit on your knees with your hands on the floor, hands turned outward so that the fingers are pointing towards the knees. Your hands should be about 1 foot in front of your knees. Pushing your palms down and keeping your back straight, pull your hips back. This pulls back your whole torso and opens and stretches the wrists. Do this for a count of five breaths and then repeat the posture with the wrists stacked, palms up, fingers facing the knees. This reverses the stretch and builds/stretches muscles in the top of the forearm. This stretch has worked great for me and, when space and decorum permit, I try to do this before the start of each gig.
Thanks, Rob! I just put this up as a separate post to help call people’s attention to it. Much appreciated!
I’m wondering about ‘strengthen the insertion points of your tendons’. Are these actual muscles that need to be strengthened? Or are we just building scar tissue? Phrases like ‘as hard as you can’ and ‘wanting to cry’ kind of raise a red flag for me, too.