ADD!

[trev5269]

Help! I have horrible ADD and find it very hard to sit down and practice...what are some very constructed/drawn out practices I can do that I can follow very strictly so I wont get off track... Any Ideas Welcome

[berman3313]

Don't fight the ADD, that might be your personality. But, do go with the flow. Jot down various things you want to practice and assign them numbers. Then Roll a die (singular of dice) to see which one will get your attention for that moment. I'm not sure why you want constructed or drawn out practices....IMO

Example;

1. Scale runs (vary forwards and backwards)
2. Play along with songs (vary by tempo and genre)
3. Sight Read (bass and treble) (feeling uber lazy? Go tab)
4. Strength and Speed development
5. Ear train
6. Learn Chords

It's not different from working out in the gym. In fact, the more you sweat, likely the better you'll become. Good luck!

[waleross]

Where are you on the bass? Beginner, Intermediate, Expert?
Working or just practicing in your garage? I am just getting back to the bass, so I have or had the skills chops muscle memory. I started taking guitar lessons which seems to be motivating me to practice the guitar and then the bass. Discipline is important. Its just like going to the gym, you can't do it all at once. You have to stick to a plan..
1- Don't start with boring scales, play some ac/dc and start by jamming.
2- maybe you need to get a bass teacher to press you for deadlines and help you to get motivated.....By paying out $ you'll find your ADD will not be an issue....

.Got to go, now my Steinberg is calling me.........

Practice a few times a day (or evening) for short stretches. 10 - 15 minutes.

[davidjbass]

Having ADD myself I have found that natural substances like fish oil and vitamins help me concentrate better. Also coffee being a stimulant helps me focus more. I do take concerta when I really need to focus but I try not to take it because I really don't
like taking controlled substances.

For practice purposes I do exactly what jhan above said. Practice in short spurts. Even 15 minutes at a time. Take a 15 minute break. Then practice some more. A good to book to read about ADD is "Driven to Distraction" by Hallowell. It has help me a lot and I highly recommend this book.

[tpmiller08]

Having ADD your going to go through 100 different practice routines in the next year (if your anything like me)

Remember though, having ADD is the best thing for a musician. Practicing is a pain, but your far more creative then our non-ADD (or ADHD in my case) bass playing counterparts.

These are things that work for me :

You need to learn to play without looking at your fretboard, and watching TV while practicing scales and chords is great for this. Your ear will pick up the scales or chords your playing. Play them enough, and you'll have a keen ear when you hear a piece of music.

Do things you normally do in your adhd filled "relax" time. If you surf the web for 2 hours, surf it with your bass on your lap, plugged in and ready to go. With that big distraction right on your lap, your bound to pick it up often. Then being on the web you'll look into tabs or standard notation, its just bound to happen.

NEW MUSIC! Learning a new songs a pain, but once I get all the notes, finding the right rhythm they go in is just a blast. New things for people with ADD is really attention grabbing, usually the more challenging the better. Only problem, is once you play something enough, you'll most likely get sick of it.

Finally, get a space where your bass can easily be set up and broken down. Having to get up, go across the room, move some books, find a place to put them, then take your bass out, then find your chord, tune, plug in the amp, ect ect, can get really discouraging for you to want to pick the thing up to practice. Put your bass, amp, and tuner in a place that is easily accessible, and somewhere where you find yourself most in your room/house.


I suggest learning your C major scale, then be able to go through the circle of 5ths and 4ths. Do this enough and you can do it without looking. Put some music on, put the tv on for backround noise ( we all know how much we love white noise) and go through your circles as your warmup. Do it 4-5 times. You use all your fingers to play a major scale, so it gets you all loosey goosey. Then do the same thing for the inner circle (minor scale / aeolian mode), then the rest of the modes (Dorian, Phygian, ect ect)

Well these are all things that helped me, get some adderall, and practice your ass off for 5 hours but when your not on the meds, or if you dont take them, try all that out.


Good luck,
-Troy

[Lichtaffen]

Practicing bass has actually improved my ADD (or rather reduced). I've forced myself to sit down and learn to read. I'm surprised that I was able to learn. For me, practicing things like scales and such is boring and I feel more of a sense of accomplishment when I learn a full song. Over the past year, I've learned between 30-40 songs note-for-note. I think a lot of it has to do with motivation. I was never this motivated when I played guitar.

[Andrea84]

wow...i thought I was alone OP. THIS IS WHY I GET BORED WITH PRACTICING. I have a learning disability/they call it ADD-but it was brain trauma at birth resulting now to learning things slower-and now I have a hard time just sitting still and keeping interested.
I want to gain skill in so many different areas of bass playing-but I get...lonely/bored while practicing alone.
I have been trying to find a teacher but that hasn't worked out. I want a teacher that has been playing for years and is patient and really can sit down and go over something many times and knows what they are doing.

I need help with stretching to the different frets. I need to know what exercises will be good. I want to get away from TAB and learn how to listen to the bass. I want to know how to play with the drums.

SO many basic things I need help with.

Anyway I am glad the OP mentioned/posted this. I am getting very frustrated because it seems so damn difficult to just sit there and play.
And I always feel the need to....not be perfect but some how I can't fathom that these famous musicians actually practice. I assume they are naturally as good as they are now. I dont' like to mess up=so I quit too easily.....

It's more of a mental thing...I need to get over some things first.

Anyway..thanks.