Upright Bass Standing Posture from a Physical Therapist (NOT what you learned from your teacher!)

Upright Bass Standing Posture

In this video I discuss upright bass standing posture, and it is probably not what you learned from your teacher.

Most bass players learn to put the left foot in front of the right to open up the left foot and leg, and to keep the left arm at shoulder height. These recommendations feel very natural because they reenforce our tendency as humans to orient the body to the right (see Postural Restoration Institute's work).

As we rack up hours of playing and practicing, exaggerating this tendency can cause us to lose adaptability in our system necessary to preserve alternating and reciprocal function necessary for a healthy movement system. The end result for many upright bass players is back, shoulder or neck pain.

In fact, most issues in the hand and forearm can be tied back to positioning of the rib cage and pelvis, making standing posture of critical importance when playing upright bass.

In this video, I describe a method of positioning the body that maintains or improves our ability to re-orient the body to the left. This is going to improve the ability of the back of the left side and front of the right side to remain more open, thus improving freedom of movement in the left arm and efficient force production in the right arm, both of which are critical for high quality (and injury free) bass playing.

To review:

1. Knees soft, right foot in front of left
2. Contact with the right inner heel, arch and big toe; pushing back and to the left
3. Contact with the left heel and big toe
4. Pelvis and thorax turn left
5. Left arm below shoulder height, allowing the shoulder blade to remain less compressed to the thorax
6. Sternum up on the right, allowing efficient force production of the plucking hand

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If you have questions, post them in the comments section, and I'll follow up with another video!