your first ditch.

[boltbass4]

ive just hit the one year playing mark, and im still loving every minute of it.

however, i seem to have hit a road block with my playing. cant figure out anything new to do.

i was wondering what your first road block was at any point in your bass playing career, when it was and how you overcame it.

[J. Crawford]

When I got over learning songs, and started learning the basics of theory.

Much harder than I expected, but now I know the bare minimum.

And if worse comes to worse, which other people have said this before, put your bass down for a week and then come back to it. It usually makes everything feel better and smoother.

[Billnc]

Pat Martino calls them resting periods, not roadblocks or ditches. Amazing how changing the terminology changes the psychology. You are probably assimilating what you've learned. Continue on if you're still enjoying it. There are more to come.

[pin_head_47]

Some of my favorite advice, that I've heard anyways, is to take some time off to listen to something different, some type of music that you've never really payed attention to before. Don't try to play it at first, but just chill out and really absorb it for awhile. Then go back to your normal practice routine; it's amazing how different it can make you feel.

[Barcode31]

You can't figure out anything new to do? Get on your number pad on your computer close your eyes and just bang out a bunch of numbers. Then when you open your eyes you have a tablature. Make up rules like if you hit enter and change lines you move up a string. Get it all worked out then figure out how it sounds better. Pick, slap, tap, pluck, try to record it and ad some effects. Hell David Bowie has gone more random ways to write a song.

Writing is the whole point anyway. Anyone can learn covers, it's applying the techniques you learn playing those covers in your own stuff that is valuable.

[PBass101]

Anytime I feel I've hit a rut, I adjust my bass's setup and spend alot of time adjusting my technique to get the same sounds I had beforehand. It ends up making me a better player and gives me alot to work towards.

[Rudreax]

I'm in the exact same position as you; I started playing last August. Basically what I did is get a couple of books on bass (The Jazz Bass Book by John Goldsby, Counterpoint by Walter Pistion), go through them, and see what I can use.

[lavmonga]

Originally Posted by Barcode31

You can't figure out anything new to do? Get on your number pad on your computer close your eyes and just bang out a bunch of numbers. Then when you open your eyes you have a tablature. Make up rules like if you hit enter and change lines you move up a string. Get it all worked out then figure out how it sounds better. Pick, slap, tap, pluck, try to record it and ad some effects. Hell David Bowie has gone more random ways to write a song.

The sounds like an enormously fun challenge

[NKBassman]

Start listening to bands you've never listened to before, try out different techniques, and play play play.

Whenever I hit a roadblock in my playing, I usually just dive in even further and smash right through it. Either that, or maybe try getting a small piece of gear to revive your enthusiasm for playing.

Recently I was feeling kinda down about my playing, really stagnant and just kinda bored in general, PLUS my band was dissolving after like 9 years of playing together, which didn't help matters. Then, for no real reason at all, I picked up a pair of used MIM Fender jazz pickups here in the classifieds for $30 to put into my $250 Peavey Millenium BXP bass that I never even used.... and wow! It was hard to imagine such a small (and cheap!) change would make such a huge difference...

Long story short, the gnarlyness of the new pickups brought out something that totally fired me up for playing bass again. When I combined that with a heavy dose of Rush 2-3 times daily, BAM! problem solved. Not only did I feel amazing about playing bass again, but I was actually playing better than before! I actually used that bass over my $2000 Yamaha for my band's final show ever this last weekend, and wow again! Not only did it sound great, but I think it brought out some of the best playing of my life. I had people I've never even met before beg me to not quit playing after our set.

So, my advice if you're feeling down would be to pick up a new toy... doesn't need to be expensive or fancy, but as long as it makes you feel better about your playing, that could be all you need.

[Staccato]

Jump into Blues/Jazz or listen to current masters that emulate those sounds, and bring more of it into your playin'...

[lowregister]

I just hit my two year mark and I was in the same place you were at my 1 year.

You can confide in the fact that it will liven up again, there is much to look forward to. Like others have said, check out some music theory stuff but don't let it consume you. I find just learning theory can make you rather rigid.

At that point in my life I went on Craigslist.com and looked for a band. The bass becomes an entirely new creature when a drum line is beneath you.

All the best.

[xzzy]

I had it told to me once that when you're in a rut, bored, or don't know what to do with your instrument.. that's when you're right on the verge of learning something new.

So with that in mind, being in a 'ditch' is a good thing.