About to give it up!

[PETE_COMBS]

I hate to say it,but I've noticed that about every time I set down to play,I ant no better than yesterday,and thers been a shit load of yesterdays if you know what I mean,Its like I just cant do it at all anymore.

 

I cant find any good resources,I play by my self theres no fun for me anymore,I dont want to quit at all ,but whats the use of playing when its nothing.

 

I dont no whats happen to me,but its not peachy,I cant get help,no creativity,nothing,I need some help.

 

I dont want to play fast or anything like that,I want to groove,but I cant make anything good up.Its getting to be like a bad job I hate going to every morning or something like that everything I look at online is no help for me, I need some help or a miricle.

 

please help me with this problem!

[jeremy c]

Pete,

1st. Don't give up. It's a long process and the process should be as much fun as the result...and hopefully you will always be learning.

2nd. You won't always see immediate results until you look back in the past and say, wow, I wish I knew then what I know now.

3rd. You've asked for a lot of resources, me included.

Buy a bass book. Go through it. Buy another one, go through it. Eventually you'll have a stack you can look at and say, "I know that'. There are not going to be free bass books on the web, unfortunately. However if you buy Simandl for $20 or whatever it goes for now, you will still be working your way through the book a year from now.

4th. Turn on the radio or your cd player and play along. You'll gradually start learning the songs. Pick one cd and make a project of learning all the songs. Imagine that the band called you up and said, learn all the songs on our cd so you can play with us next month.

(It happens to me all the time--although they usually say next week, not next month).

5th. Find someone to play with. They don't have to be in your style. There might be some great pickers down there where you live. Maybe they'd let you play bass with them. All you'll have to play will be the roots or the roots and fifths. If you can do that, they'll love you. And you'll be playing music. I volunteered to play a worship service the other day. There were three acoustic guitarists playing D, G and A chords. So I hit the roots at each chord change. People kept coming up to me and saying how good it sounded.

6th. Did I say, Hang In There? We're with you, brother!

[PETE_COMBS]

Thanks for the advice,Im not going to really quit its just frustrating at times,but with the find someont to play with part thers no one in this whole county to play with I've went through the search,my old band i played with are back together with a new bassist,and there drug heads anyways,not serious musicians,if you've ever heard of hazard ,kentucky then you would know whats here ,nothing so Im on my own.Im not looking for free books on the web,Im looking for what I want to play.feel,etc.New ideas are always a help for me.

[GeorgeR]

Pete, you're not alone bud. I've been playing for 20 years and still get feeling that way, especially when the "young 'uns" are more interested in music for hormones, than in music for itself.

 

You know, you work at something for a long time and you reach a plateau in ability and vision, and it gets kinda lonesome/boring/discouraging after a while.

 

If I ever get any money I was thinking of maybe taking some night courses at a local college, getting advanced lessons on bass, if for nothing else then to just brush up on old knowledge and seek something new.

 

Perhaps it's possible to meet up with right folks there. Maybe something like that would work for you too?

[PETE_COMBS]

I'll be going to eku for music here in a liitle while on,but does community colleges have a class for bass.Thats the only colleges around here.

[Bartolini]

I have gone through this and one day,it comes to a point that you realize you get better and better every day. You can groove as groovy as any player and play as fast as any player. You have to listen to as many players as possible and pick things that interst you. They will be bits and pieces from here and there, it will be the building of your vocabulary and that be so helpful in expressing yourself. You need to build up a library of sound clips that interst you and play them often. I usually save interesting segments in my computer (I even have some segments of players like Scott Henderson, the guitarist, from whom you can learn stuff to apply to bass)and if I cant figure it out, I expand the segment by half (with a simple software) and practice in half speed. Should never give up.

[sam 2000]

i know how you feel its hard to get creative when there is no band or anyone else to play with. but you have to remeber the "nothing" that you play is something. It's a refelction of your soulit is who you are andn if you think it sounds dull and boring its probabley becuase you aint playin what you feel. oh well that most likely didnt make any sence but what ever

[MattC]

I went through that exact situation- it's how I found bass in the first place. Lemme ask you this: if you were to pisten to a nice, instrumentally-rich mix, What would be the first instrument that you'd pick out of the mix? Myself, i can say that it is the bass. Back in the day when I was a guitatist, I'd still pick out the bass.

Maybe you need to expand your horizons a little. When I bought a drum kit, it seemed to fill a musical void. The same thing happened when I took a college piano class.

 

I will mention this, though. About 3 times a year I go through a period when I have no desire to play. These sad periods usually last no more than about 2 weeks, but they give me a chance to put things into perspective. When I feel like getting back into it, my head is clear and I can put forth what I need to make music. If you don't want to play, don't. As an ameteur, don't play becuase you have to, play becuase you want to. (It's a little different for pros who need to play to pay the bills.)

 

Who knows? You might actually decide that it's not for you. If you do, be sure that you do some serious soul-searching before the big decision. G'd luck!

[Skout]

Pete,

I went through this about 2 weeks ago. I felt like I hadn't made any progress since those first lessons. The only remedy I could think of was for one day, do nothing bass oriented . . .

 

The next day take a slow approach towards playing. Play it in a different room (that's what I always do when creativity isn't at an all time high) If nothing amazing comes out in 30 mins, take a little break. By the second time something usually comes out. Using what comes out the second time, I try to write a song to some degree. Hope this helps . . .

 

Skout

[jeremy c]

There will not be a bass class at EKU. (I assume that stands for Eastern Kentucky University) As a matter of fact, there won't be a bass class at any university, except for Berklee College in Boston.

 

But there will be music classes. Take as many of them as you can. Take theory and ear-training! It will help you in the long run. Take music history. Take harmony. Did I say, take theory and ear-training? There might be a piano class. And don't forget to take theory and ear-training.

[davebrownbass]

Okay Pete...this happens to all of us.

 

Ya know, even the greatest hitter in a baseball game misses the damn ball 60% of the time. And that hitter goes through enormous slumps.

 

We had a thread recently that was in a similar vein...one of our regular, more experienced players had a crisis of faith. Read this thread...it contains many heartfelt ideas.

[Graham56]

Pete, I went through similar troughs and plateaus when I was learning a martial art.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, I find quite a lot of similarities between learning a martial art and learning a musical instrument. It takes a loooooonng time, you need to spend hours and hours of repetitive practice getting the basics as solid as you can, you're always learning, you never truly 'master' it - and every so often you get an amazing rush as you realize you can now achieve something you never dreamed youd be able to do.

 

I can remember after about three years of training I hit a barrier. For over a year I felt I was getting nowhere. I wasn't improving (sometimes I felt I was going backwards), and for part of this time I wasn't enjoying it.

 

Except..... I WAS improving. It wasn't obvious, I wasn't getting badges or grades, I wasn't developing spectacular new techniques - but my understanding of the underlying principles, grasp of the basics, fluidity of movement and general muscle memory were all getting better. Even if I didn't realise it at the time.

 

I now look back on this for 'mental reinforcement' in my life in general. Yes, learning the bass is difficult (for me anyway!) - but there are no shortcuts. You have to put in the time, and I do think than when it's not going well, and when you don't 'feel like it', that's when you possibly get MORE value out of the practice.

 

And one of the things that kept me going was the other guys and gals in the class. If I felt I couldnt be bothered, or would miss a class, sure enough thered be the phone call:

 

Are you coming to practice?

I dunno. Im not sure, I

Yes you are you lazy b*****. Ill be round to pick you up

 

So all I can suggest is, firstly knuckle down, suck it up and work through it.

 

And secondly, I add my voice to those saying get out and find someone else to play with. It doesnt need to be to form a band - an informal jam session can be just as much fun. I can almost guarantee there will be a guitarist, or keyboardist somewhere near you, sitting in their room, staring at the walls, looking for inspiration to keep them going. They may not want to play the same music as you, they may not be at the same standard as you, but Im damn sure there are people out there whod be fun to jam with. The trick is to find them!

 

And remember, no one ever said this was easy. If it was, EVERYONE would do it!

 

Best of luck!

 

Graham

[Yogi]

Originally posted by PETE_COMBS:

if you've ever heard of hazard, kentucky then you would know whats here, nothing...

This may sound overly simplistic, and I don't know how old you are, but have you thought about... moving? To a music center? Where there will be scads of musicians to play with and learn from?

[orphan wells]

for a beginner, being creative on bass alone is extremly difficult. i tried the same thing when i first started. plug in some of your favorite CD's (smooth groove works best for me) and just play. the lines are usualy pretty easy. just think weather chanel jazz. if you just want to groove then you need the right music and most of all you need to relax and have fun. i love to listen to CD's and play along with the lights out until i almost fall asleep. when you get into that state then you start slipping back in the pocket and you can hear what it sounds like and feel what it feels like to just play and not think. and don't be afraid to ask for help wether it be looking up tabs or asking personaly. bass is a totally different state of mind than every other instrument and i love it. you just have to find it. i may sound a bit like a stoner or something right now but im not i just love playing so much it's hard for me to describe what it feels like. just try to find it. play what feels good. i hope this makes some kind of sense.

[jeremy c]

I've heard about Hazard. Sorry you have to live there.

 

But somewhere there is a guy with a banjo or a fiddle that you play with.

 

Somewhere at EKU there is another student with a guitar.

 

Learn millions of songs so that when you find someone to play with, you will have something to play with them.

[Tom Capasso]

Pete - hang in there. What they all said.

 

One advantage to being at a college is that the professors usually have more resources available. If you can't take bass as a credited course, you'll probably find a number of new teachers that your music department knows (if not someone already there!). For example, there may be a jazz band conducted by a teacher who is a woodwind ace. That person has played in other bands with bass players - some of them may be good people to get in contact with (or even just go see play).

 

All the best!!

 

Tom

[Scoot]

Originally posted by Yogi:

Originally posted by PETE_COMBS:

if you've ever heard of hazard, kentucky then you would know whats here, nothing...

This may sound overly simplistic, and I don't know how old you are, but have you thought about... moving? To a music center? Where there will be scads of musicians to play with and learn from?

Gotta agree here. I know it's probably too simple of a solution, but what do you have to lose? From what we've read from you since you joined the forum it sounds like you have more motivation than the average person and you're definitely eager to learn, so why not leave? Doesn't seem like you are happy there.

[Talisman]

Pete, we all know what you're going through. It happens to every player from time to time. Take a break. You can't force inspiration, and you're not doing any good by torturing yourself. After a while, you'll get the desire back. As long as you don't take too long of a break (maybe a month) you won't lose any of your skills. Music is about expression and enjoyment, and it doesn't seem like you enjoying it or being able to express yourself right now.

 

My band doesn't necessarily play the type of music that I like to hear (or play), but it does give me the opportunity to play, gain some stage experience, make friends and contacts within the music world, and make some extra money. Just because you get together with a couple of guys and form a band doesn't mean you have to stay together for the rest of your careers.

 

Opportunity really doesn't knock on your door at all. It hides from you, and you have to go find it. Hit all the local music shops, place a newspaper ad, visit the college and talk to the music professors. Find people to play with. They are out there. Sounds like a good project to undertake when taking your hiatus from playing.

[PETE_COMBS]

Thank you guys for the info,Im going to move as soon as I get my diploma,and head out for college,which will be atleast a year to come,hazard suck a big dick,moving is not a problem but im wiating for the time to come,I have to get my diploma,which im working on right now,after that here comes pete a thumpin at eku for a masters in music.

[SplitNick]

Pete:

 

I have been playing bass for about 10 years now. Some days I wake up...pick up my bass...and say "man I suck". That may go on for a week. Then, finally, I'll hear something either from myself, my bass, my head or another person. It will say "you don't suck, keep practicing, keep playing". I think one problem is that when we hear so many phenomenal musicians we start to feel like there is no way we can do it, but noone just picked up an instrument, started playing and played everything there is to play. I am still trying not to be envious of others with amazing talent and try to learn from them. It's hard sometimes, but if I open up my head to what others are doing I usually come out of my rut.