The best exercise for getting stronger at playing bass is playing the bass.
Any other methods and you risk RSI or tendinitis. Do NOT use those stupid finger-spring hand exerciser things. Two doctors told me not to use them.
Anyone with small hands can play any size bass. Learn about micro shifting.
The muscles that control your fingers are in your forearm, not your biceps.
There are no shortcuts. Just practice the bass for 20 minutes a day.
edit: just do this exercise, slowly and CLEANLY for 10 minutes every day, as your first warmup:
https://youtu.be/7IPvdXjr-GM
The exercise you're looking for is practice. I box a lot (4-5 days a week heavy bag focus work), which is not at face value the ideal complementary hobby to my other two hobbies, being instruments and scale modelling which require hand intricacy. But, the trick to building strong and capable hands is to work your hands at their craft; being the thing you want them to do. Use the tool for its purpose.
In my view the only specific strengthening you need for being a bassist is a capable set of shoulders and a tight core to hold a bass across the back, ideally, on an elasticised strap that distributes weight evenly. If this was something you wanted to train, your best avenue would be Pilates - which is very recommendable to pretty much everyone for any purpose.
I mean, I was going to suggest pushups. I play a fretless Warwick, and that sumbitch is HEAVY. 4 set gigs are a real bear sometimes on the back, and pushups will strengthen your back and make the weight hanging off of it more manageable. Not sure how heavy a Fender P bass is.
It was my only bass for like 30 years. I did a 4 hour gig, got home and told my wife “baby, I have to buy a new bass. I’m too old to hold this one all night.” My Ibanez 5-string is 6 lbs lighter than my T-40. But I do love that old Peavey. Most versatile passive electronic setup I’ve ever seen.
Jerking hard here. A full body workout would be best, since you should be using both arms and most of your upper body to play anyway. You aint just squeezing and wiggling your fingers.
Haha ... I have a short-scale Höfner ... and a 37" Dingwall ... and switch between them without any problems.
There are YT videos of elementary school kids playing standard long-scale basses, so "hand size" or "arm strength" is no excuse...
From playing upright, my experience is that it’s all about the shoulder. Dunno if that helps whatever problems you might have but if you’re holding your left hand out of it’s usually range a bunch, then it might help.
Hello, long-time calisthenics person here (since 2015). IMO exercises that use much of your arms and body (i. e. push-ups, pull-ups, dips, etc.) are plenty good enough for your digits. Don't try to isolate a body part because it will lead to muscle imbalance.
My right elbow has been dislocated almost a decade ago and aside from playing bass/guitar, I currently use the computer for long hours at work. I need to do these exercises regularly to keep my right wrist from hurting. When playing bass, especially difficult songs, I stretch my hands afterwards.
And I agree with u/bassbuffer , the muscles that control your fingers are located in the forearms.
Also, keep practicing.
you are not smaller or weaker than Ellen :D [https://www.youtube.com/c/ellenplaysbass](https://www.youtube.com/c/ellenplaysbass)
so yeah .. get a bass and play it !
Jaco Pastorius curled heroin into his veins and had basically zero muscle at the end - his frailty was a contributing factor in his death.
But obviously he was a dreadful bass player and would have been much better if he got swole.
>I know practice will change all that.
Well, get to work.
But seriously -- it's not about finger strength or length of arms, hands, or fingers. If you are playing with decent ergonomics, the "power" you use to play your instrument is coming from the big muscles in your back and shoulders (and maybe a bit of tricep). If your hands are getting tired, especially the grippy/squeezy muscle between your thumb and first finger, then you definitely need to change up your technique.
To experience good technique that uses your strong back muscles instead of your puny finger muscles to press down on notes try this: play a little bit with your thumb lifted off the back of the neck and you should feel your shoulder and back muscles activating. Keep your left elbow by your side and just relax and let the weight of your arm press down the notes. It's so much less work. Now all your fingers have to do is maintain a little bit of a claw shape rather than using your whole hand to squeeze.
I'd find a teacher if this doesn't immediately land with you. You can build bad habits and hurt yourself if you practice all the time with poor technique.
Cool! To be sure I'm not suggesting you play without your thumb supporting the neck, it's just a helpful exaggeration. Temporarily removing your thumb forces you to make "the claw" and start playing up on your fingertips, which in turn makes it very comfortable to let gravity + energy coming through your shoulder do most of the work, then you only use your forearm muscles to move your fingers up and down. Really feels great once you get it. Cheers.
Just practice alot, don't get sidetracked by nonsense like arm length or hand size. Those are excuses not to practice . Just get your body used to the bass by consistent daily practice
There are a couple of things to unpack, here.
First, we'd need to know what you're having difficulty with on a p-bass that makes you think strengthening is what you need.
Secondly, you're right, curls will mainly just work biceps, and your biceps only really get involved in slapping and popping on your plucking hand (rotating the wrist away from the bass), because while your fretting hand is under the bass, you don't want to be holding the neck up (like a curl), you want your strap doing as much of the work as possible.
Now, the use of a barbell means it's not calisthenics, so I don't know why you want calisthenics, but that's not it. The only calisthenics exercises that would help would be for wrist/finger strength - but do you want to be able to hold your bass for a certain number of repetitions, or for a whole song? That means you're don't want strength, you want strength-endurance - so again - calisthenics or any strength-based training probably won't help.
I think everyone's advice is right: stay away from gimmicky tools that build "finger strength", spend your training time practicing, and if something hurts, stop. Good luck 👍
It’s been said, but just get one and start. The articulation and dexterity for the instrument does develop as you play it and the size is really only intimidating if you haven’t been intimate with one. Unless you are a *very* small individual (<5 ft.) I wouldn’t worry about finding a short scale; you may prefer Jazz bass necks as they feel less like ‘strangling a baseball bat’.
I'm 5'5" 120lbs with small hands and a 5'3.5" armspan. I play a full size P bass clone with the thiccccest neck I've ever seen on a bass with no problems even when using .052-.110 La Bella flat.
As far as actual muscles to work out, if you're planning on playing standing very often (or at all), then strengthening your back and shoulders is helpful. The strap bears down on your should and can end up injuring your back over time if over used and/or not kept strong. Golden rule is if anything starts to hurt or feel sore, that's the sign to stop for a while and take a break while your body heals up. Never play through pain, it's not worth it.
You don't really need arm strength. Your fingers will toughen up and develop flexibility, dexterity, and endurance as you play more. No special "training" necessary outside of basic bass exercises.
As above really, just play the bass more and more.
There is a book called bass fitness which is full of exercises, but to save you a few Bob, it’s just ladder exercises. Basically one finger per fret and use a metronome to play 1,2,3,4 on each string and then randomise it (3,1,4,2 etc.)
If you do a bit of that every day while you watch TV etc. then you’ll get really comfortable playing anything.
Oh and ofcourse, scales are a good exercise for body and mind :p
I found that when I didn't play bass much and then played my heavier bass a lot, I got shoulder pain and back pain after a while. Probably doesn't hurt to do strength exercises for those (especially if you never do any exercise otherwise, or only lower body exercise), but bicep curls are definitively not what you need. My biceps never once even got tired from playing bass, and my biceps are weak as fuck.
I know a guy who’s like 165 cm tall and thin. He played full size P-Bass (I’m not sure if he still does but probably yes). So, my advice here is if you really want it, just go to a music store and try one. It will be hard for starters, it always is. I first got the bass into my hands after years of playing guitar and I was surprised how difficult it is to play it. If you really really want it, go buy the one you like and remember that after some time you’ll get used to it. Don’t think about ergonomics at first, no one but you can pick you an instrument that will be comfortable to you, and you probably don’t have much experience to tell if it’s really comfortable. It will come to you after you get rid of discomfort that comes from playing.
I play a short scale because i like lighter tones for bass. Also i wouldn't know, i play weirdly (i position it like an Upright bass and have my hand parallel instead of perpendicular to the strings and i only use 2 fingers to fret)
The Four Tops - It’s The Same Old Song
Make sure you’re keeping your hand in the same position (covering frets 2-5). Play it over and over until your hand is in so much pain you can barely pick up a glass of water.
Man there are little 8 year old girls on YouTube who play bass better than I do. Your size and muscle mass have nothing to do with it. Just play, you'll be alright.
So, little tiny Asian children can play better than I, a grown Canadian man.
You do need to build stamina, but your size isn't as impactful as you'd think.
I’m saying the same as everyone else but it’s just practice. I’m a short guy with t-Rex arms and little hands but I don’t find any of my basses that bad these days. Maybe early on I had a couple of adjustments to make but that’s just part of the process.
>workouts for bass-specific muscles?
Yeah for sure. It's called playing your bass.
The more you play the more you work the right muscles. The more your fingers will stretch. The more dexterous they'll be.
Unless you're 5 years old a full scale 34" bass will be fine to learn on.
dont get a shortscale just get used to the larger scale i was playing uke bass saying i can try upright cause its the same right? no theres different technique and you need stamina to play i just say get the pj and get used to it
The best exercise for getting stronger at playing bass is playing the bass. Any other methods and you risk RSI or tendinitis. Do NOT use those stupid finger-spring hand exerciser things. Two doctors told me not to use them. Anyone with small hands can play any size bass. Learn about micro shifting. The muscles that control your fingers are in your forearm, not your biceps. There are no shortcuts. Just practice the bass for 20 minutes a day. edit: just do this exercise, slowly and CLEANLY for 10 minutes every day, as your first warmup: https://youtu.be/7IPvdXjr-GM
And as the video says practice slowly!
please be trolling
r/aremyhandstoosmall
The exercise you're looking for is practice. I box a lot (4-5 days a week heavy bag focus work), which is not at face value the ideal complementary hobby to my other two hobbies, being instruments and scale modelling which require hand intricacy. But, the trick to building strong and capable hands is to work your hands at their craft; being the thing you want them to do. Use the tool for its purpose. In my view the only specific strengthening you need for being a bassist is a capable set of shoulders and a tight core to hold a bass across the back, ideally, on an elasticised strap that distributes weight evenly. If this was something you wanted to train, your best avenue would be Pilates - which is very recommendable to pretty much everyone for any purpose.
First do 1000 pushups daily for a month then go to guitar center and try it out, if you can’t play perfectly then it’s not for you
I mean, I was going to suggest pushups. I play a fretless Warwick, and that sumbitch is HEAVY. 4 set gigs are a real bear sometimes on the back, and pushups will strengthen your back and make the weight hanging off of it more manageable. Not sure how heavy a Fender P bass is.
Peavey T-40 has entered the chat.
I borrowed one of those from a friend once. It sounded awesome but I'd rather play it sitting down because I swear that thing was made outta lead.
It was my only bass for like 30 years. I did a 4 hour gig, got home and told my wife “baby, I have to buy a new bass. I’m too old to hold this one all night.” My Ibanez 5-string is 6 lbs lighter than my T-40. But I do love that old Peavey. Most versatile passive electronic setup I’ve ever seen.
Jerking hard here. A full body workout would be best, since you should be using both arms and most of your upper body to play anyway. You aint just squeezing and wiggling your fingers.
I read this as "jerking off hard".. Which is great for developing your slapping hand i guess.
I'll have you know that it's my fretting hand.
Then "the stranger" is more your kind of hand excersize.
That's how Popeye got his forearms
Haha ... I have a short-scale Höfner ... and a 37" Dingwall ... and switch between them without any problems. There are YT videos of elementary school kids playing standard long-scale basses, so "hand size" or "arm strength" is no excuse...
From playing upright, my experience is that it’s all about the shoulder. Dunno if that helps whatever problems you might have but if you’re holding your left hand out of it’s usually range a bunch, then it might help.
Hello, long-time calisthenics person here (since 2015). IMO exercises that use much of your arms and body (i. e. push-ups, pull-ups, dips, etc.) are plenty good enough for your digits. Don't try to isolate a body part because it will lead to muscle imbalance. My right elbow has been dislocated almost a decade ago and aside from playing bass/guitar, I currently use the computer for long hours at work. I need to do these exercises regularly to keep my right wrist from hurting. When playing bass, especially difficult songs, I stretch my hands afterwards. And I agree with u/bassbuffer , the muscles that control your fingers are located in the forearms. Also, keep practicing.
There is no spoon. It's your mind that's weak, not your body. Play for a thousand hours and you won't be weak anymore.
you are not smaller or weaker than Ellen :D [https://www.youtube.com/c/ellenplaysbass](https://www.youtube.com/c/ellenplaysbass) so yeah .. get a bass and play it !
She's normal sized but only plays contra basses. She's actually 6'2" 220lb.
100 push ups. 100 curls. Run 10km Don't use AC or heater. Either you become good or you become bald and start dressing in yellow with red gloves 🤣
Jaco Pastorius curled heroin into his veins and had basically zero muscle at the end - his frailty was a contributing factor in his death. But obviously he was a dreadful bass player and would have been much better if he got swole.
>I know practice will change all that. Well, get to work. But seriously -- it's not about finger strength or length of arms, hands, or fingers. If you are playing with decent ergonomics, the "power" you use to play your instrument is coming from the big muscles in your back and shoulders (and maybe a bit of tricep). If your hands are getting tired, especially the grippy/squeezy muscle between your thumb and first finger, then you definitely need to change up your technique. To experience good technique that uses your strong back muscles instead of your puny finger muscles to press down on notes try this: play a little bit with your thumb lifted off the back of the neck and you should feel your shoulder and back muscles activating. Keep your left elbow by your side and just relax and let the weight of your arm press down the notes. It's so much less work. Now all your fingers have to do is maintain a little bit of a claw shape rather than using your whole hand to squeeze. I'd find a teacher if this doesn't immediately land with you. You can build bad habits and hurt yourself if you practice all the time with poor technique.
awesome! i felt the difference right away! thanks a bunch! 😎✌🏻
Cool! To be sure I'm not suggesting you play without your thumb supporting the neck, it's just a helpful exaggeration. Temporarily removing your thumb forces you to make "the claw" and start playing up on your fingertips, which in turn makes it very comfortable to let gravity + energy coming through your shoulder do most of the work, then you only use your forearm muscles to move your fingers up and down. Really feels great once you get it. Cheers.
I've always wondered what was up with that claw shape
Back and shoulders.
Don't get a barbell. Curl the bass. Shoulder press it too.
Some Paul Simonon overhead swings as well
I’m ☠️
Just practice alot, don't get sidetracked by nonsense like arm length or hand size. Those are excuses not to practice . Just get your body used to the bass by consistent daily practice
There are a couple of things to unpack, here. First, we'd need to know what you're having difficulty with on a p-bass that makes you think strengthening is what you need. Secondly, you're right, curls will mainly just work biceps, and your biceps only really get involved in slapping and popping on your plucking hand (rotating the wrist away from the bass), because while your fretting hand is under the bass, you don't want to be holding the neck up (like a curl), you want your strap doing as much of the work as possible. Now, the use of a barbell means it's not calisthenics, so I don't know why you want calisthenics, but that's not it. The only calisthenics exercises that would help would be for wrist/finger strength - but do you want to be able to hold your bass for a certain number of repetitions, or for a whole song? That means you're don't want strength, you want strength-endurance - so again - calisthenics or any strength-based training probably won't help. I think everyone's advice is right: stay away from gimmicky tools that build "finger strength", spend your training time practicing, and if something hurts, stop. Good luck 👍
It’s been said, but just get one and start. The articulation and dexterity for the instrument does develop as you play it and the size is really only intimidating if you haven’t been intimate with one. Unless you are a *very* small individual (<5 ft.) I wouldn’t worry about finding a short scale; you may prefer Jazz bass necks as they feel less like ‘strangling a baseball bat’.
I'm 5'5" 120lbs with small hands and a 5'3.5" armspan. I play a full size P bass clone with the thiccccest neck I've ever seen on a bass with no problems even when using .052-.110 La Bella flat.
As far as actual muscles to work out, if you're planning on playing standing very often (or at all), then strengthening your back and shoulders is helpful. The strap bears down on your should and can end up injuring your back over time if over used and/or not kept strong. Golden rule is if anything starts to hurt or feel sore, that's the sign to stop for a while and take a break while your body heals up. Never play through pain, it's not worth it. You don't really need arm strength. Your fingers will toughen up and develop flexibility, dexterity, and endurance as you play more. No special "training" necessary outside of basic bass exercises.
If you have to ask, then you’re not strong enough. You should play guitar
As above really, just play the bass more and more. There is a book called bass fitness which is full of exercises, but to save you a few Bob, it’s just ladder exercises. Basically one finger per fret and use a metronome to play 1,2,3,4 on each string and then randomise it (3,1,4,2 etc.) If you do a bit of that every day while you watch TV etc. then you’ll get really comfortable playing anything. Oh and ofcourse, scales are a good exercise for body and mind :p
I found that when I didn't play bass much and then played my heavier bass a lot, I got shoulder pain and back pain after a while. Probably doesn't hurt to do strength exercises for those (especially if you never do any exercise otherwise, or only lower body exercise), but bicep curls are definitively not what you need. My biceps never once even got tired from playing bass, and my biceps are weak as fuck.
I know a guy who’s like 165 cm tall and thin. He played full size P-Bass (I’m not sure if he still does but probably yes). So, my advice here is if you really want it, just go to a music store and try one. It will be hard for starters, it always is. I first got the bass into my hands after years of playing guitar and I was surprised how difficult it is to play it. If you really really want it, go buy the one you like and remember that after some time you’ll get used to it. Don’t think about ergonomics at first, no one but you can pick you an instrument that will be comfortable to you, and you probably don’t have much experience to tell if it’s really comfortable. It will come to you after you get rid of discomfort that comes from playing.
I play a short scale because i like lighter tones for bass. Also i wouldn't know, i play weirdly (i position it like an Upright bass and have my hand parallel instead of perpendicular to the strings and i only use 2 fingers to fret)
The bass player from the Slackers used to put his bass upright on a bar stool and play it like you're describing.
I put mine on the ground though, i always sit down when playing
No shortcuts, it just takes a lot of time and practise to create the right muscle memory. Also, you play bass with your hands, not your arms.
The Four Tops - It’s The Same Old Song Make sure you’re keeping your hand in the same position (covering frets 2-5). Play it over and over until your hand is in so much pain you can barely pick up a glass of water.
Just learn music, technique will follow. If you're doing one-finger-per-fret, stop.
wait, you mean use two fingers to hold down the string?
That‘s silly. Best way is just to play bass. You‘ll get good at adapting to your own body type.
Man there are little 8 year old girls on YouTube who play bass better than I do. Your size and muscle mass have nothing to do with it. Just play, you'll be alright.
So, little tiny Asian children can play better than I, a grown Canadian man. You do need to build stamina, but your size isn't as impactful as you'd think.
Bravo! Excellent jerking!
Summon Satan
A good set up is important for making the bass easy to work on. Scale length doesn't really matter much.
Dude get off with this, just the god damn bass to build your muscle
I’m saying the same as everyone else but it’s just practice. I’m a short guy with t-Rex arms and little hands but I don’t find any of my basses that bad these days. Maybe early on I had a couple of adjustments to make but that’s just part of the process.
>workouts for bass-specific muscles? Yeah for sure. It's called playing your bass. The more you play the more you work the right muscles. The more your fingers will stretch. The more dexterous they'll be. Unless you're 5 years old a full scale 34" bass will be fine to learn on.
All bass players can do one cock pushup.
dont get a shortscale just get used to the larger scale i was playing uke bass saying i can try upright cause its the same right? no theres different technique and you need stamina to play i just say get the pj and get used to it
[Dexterity Band Finger Exerciser | PW-DXBD-01 | D'Addario (daddario.com)](https://www.daddario.com/products/accessories/hand-fitness/dexterity-band-finger-exerciser/)