Getting in Shape Fast after a Vacation

Wow! I started writing this post almost a month ago. Things got busy, and I put it off while I took care of lots of other stuff. I'd really like to point out in this essay the difference between two distinct types of practice: technique and repertoire.

I'm back from vacation and I'm getting back to practice after almost 2 weeks of not playing the bass. I've had 2 days to get my act together before a double rehearsal with GPO. Fortunately, the repertoire is somewhat familiar. Unfortunately, it's difficult to play. Beethoven's 2nd is fast and tricky, and Mahler's 5th is full of abrupt changes in dynamics and tonality. I've got to get quite a few notes under my fingers pretty quickly, but that's not my biggest problem. The hardest part about recovering from a long break is getting your chops back. I'd almost rather have my technique in top form while I sight-read this stuff than to be fully aware of all the pitfalls that I'm about to succumb to. I really hate this situation, so I'm just going to have to practice my technique from the ground up, but in a short time. I hate to bore you with details, but I want to give idea of a good way to get back in the saddle.

The first thing I'll do is set up with a tuner, a metronome, and a mirror. I want to be careful not to blow all my time with my un-caloused fingers on any one thing, so I try not to dwell on anything for more than 5 minutes. 3 or 4 half-hour sessions is all I can manage on the first day back. After I've tuned the bass, I just want to make sure that everything I'm doing is done correctly, even if it's done very slowly. I might play some easy etude or melody off the top of my head just to relax, but making sure in the mirror that I'm bowing straight, and my shoulders are relaxed. Sure, I've been playing for years, but I still need to check once in a while that I'm holding everything correctly. I'll move on to some scales and long tones, but I won't do it too long-I really have some notes to learn. After 20 or so minutes of rep at a slow speed, I'm done for now. I really don't want to forget my vacation just yet. I repeated the process twice, but played some things faster.

I've got a couple hours worth of music to get down, and it has to be played a lot faster than I'm playing it now. However, I've found that it doesn't help to practice anything beyond the tempo you can play it perfectly, unless you're really just planning to fake it any way. I'm not going to lower my standards, but I do have to have a realistic plan for getting through the next concert. Quite often, I may only get a passage up to 3/4 speed in the practice room, but the adrenalin of a rehearsal or concert plus an extra cup of coffee will bring it up to speed on the spot. It may or may not be as clean as the slow, relaxed version of the practice room, but it's what I have now.

It's really important that you remember the value of playing correctly, even if it has to be sooo sloooow just to get it right. I've worked up some incredibly difficult modern pieces that I never thought would make it up to the proper speed, but it seems like if I can get it correct at half-speed, the vast majority of my work is done. After a few days, my fingers feel pretty good and I'm ready for the regular routines of practice. I think long technique sessions are probably a good idea, but I think it's also a good idea to spend 10 minutes or so on it at the beginning middle or end of every 30 minute practice burst.