how long did it take you to say "I get it!"..

IAmTheDood · #1 07-26-2007, 11:34 AM

so I've been playing now since December .. almost 9 months ..
I practice a few hours a night .. don't play in a band but sit in quite often with bar groups during the weekends ..

I am 31 now, I grew up in Music (6 - 12 piano .. then 12 - 18 various horn instruments: trombone, bass trombone, baritone, tuba) ..

Within 3 or 4 months of playing i could improv my way through quite a few bar tunes .. but still found myself usually stuck in one octave (one position on strings) of improving. Although I knew where the notes were on the octave above and octave below of what i was playing .. i generally stuck with one octave ..

over the last month or two I've been working on improvising .. going up and down the neck and not limiting myself to the 4 string octave positions.

and all of a sudden it's like .. "I get it now!" ... I can create very cool interesting licks all over the place, knowing what keys to change to to still make it sound good .. droping octaves, adding octaves .. it's cool not limiting myself to learning tunes already written but coming up with your own stuff!

kevinmoore73 · #2 07-26-2007, 11:41 AM

I am a similar age and have a similar musical background as you, and I am just entering the "I get it" stage after three months of bass playing.

Matthew Bryson · #3 07-26-2007, 12:00 PM

I have been playing for nearly seven years and I'm still waiting to "get it".

Chipsonfire · #4 07-26-2007, 12:36 PM

I think it has a lot to do with you musical background and your ear for music. I've only recently started playing bass (like... yesterday lol) and I played a bit of sax when I was 11 and just the fact that people can do this is kind of mind boggling. My friend plays piano better than anyone I've ever heard (professional or otherwise) and dosing amazing improvisation. I hope to one day be worthy of even playing with him, let alone as well as him lol.

Phalex · #5 07-26-2007, 12:37 PM

I got it once. There was an evening a long long time ago when I could do no wrong. Hasn't happened again.......

TheBassBetween · #6 07-26-2007, 01:17 PM

I had it.

But I lost it.

DocBop · #7 07-26-2007, 01:21 PM

Everytime I think I got it I find three more things to get. My hearing expands, I read about how someone else hears things, I hear myself play and know everything could be better in someway. But that is why we do this it never ends. I think those that think they got it and those that know its a lifelong journey is differece between players and musicians. Players get to a certain point and are content and happy. Musicians are always exploring.

peterpalmieri · #8 07-26-2007, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IAmTheDood

.. "I get it now!" ...

I totally agree with Doc Bop, as musicians we all go through phases where "we get it" and those ruts where we feel the next level of learning is not attainable.

DayoftheGreek · #9 07-27-2007, 08:58 PM

I really hit the "I get it!" stage about 4 or 5 months into my bass playing.

Learning bass was also my first time learning music, so I'm still not very good at music, I just know what I need to practice, why I want to practice it, and how everything kinda fits together.

the_fonz · #10 07-28-2007, 12:17 AM

i got it after 4 hours
of course, that was 6 dimensional time, so we've got another 3 planes of existance to go through before i catch up with it

iplaybassguitar · #11 07-28-2007, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBop

Everytime I think I got it I find three more things to get. My hearing expands, I read about how someone else hears things, I hear myself play and know everything could be better in someway. But that is why we do this it never ends. I think those that think they got it and those that know its a lifelong journey is differece between players and musicians. Players get to a certain point and are content and happy. Musicians are always exploring.

i agree, but what a burn to the OP who 'got it'

DocBop · #12 07-28-2007, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iplaybassguitar

i agree, but what a burn to the OP who 'got it'

I don't see it that way. We all hit stages we think we got it. As I said some are happy at that point and enjoy playing what they like. Others after they hit "I've got it", discover whoa there some stuff I didn't see or hear before and back to work.

Music isn't the only thing like that everthing we do is like that. I'm not that into sports watch some b-ball and football and just know the basics of the games. That enough for me, where other get into it and can quote stat's and highlights of games now and in history. We have a lot of interests and get involved to differing degree in each one. Man I respect that you like to knit your own socks.

bad_andy · #13 08-01-2007, 02:32 PM

One of my favorite quotes was Melvin Gibbs saying that when he first started playing, he would say to himself, "In two years I'll be a really good player" and after almost two decades he was still telling himself, "In two years I'll be a really good player."

lomo · #14 08-03-2007, 06:06 AM

Am 44, been playing for 5 years (had no prev. musical experience/training). I get about 5 or 6 "things", and am working on my list of the next 180 things to "get" :-)

dvh · #15 08-03-2007, 06:38 AM

And, "getting it" is a very personal thing that will mean different things to different people.

But I truly understand the cycle: You reach a point where you think you're great ("I get it") then maybe even a week later you realize how much further there is to go.

For me, right now, I'm happy and in the "I get it" stage when I'm nailing the notes and rhythm with my blues band. My other project is a jazz trio (guitar, piano, bass) and developing with them at times seems daunting. Some of those practices leave me feeling "i don't get it".

But you know what? Eventually you do. Then it's on to the next challenge.

dlloyd · #16 08-03-2007, 08:36 AM

I saw Muddy Waters playing Mannish Boy with The Band on the Last Waltz a few days after getting my first guitar.

At that point I knew that was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen and I can remember thinking my life would be complete if I could play that riff.

18 years later, I have slightly higher goals.

pointbass · #17 08-03-2007, 09:24 AM

I understand what you're saying Dood, but I also completely understand what DocBop is saying, as well ....

It's nice to finally get to a point where a good amount of your playing becomes "comfortable" and you get the I-Get-It feelings. But really, they don't last too long before the next challange crops up .......

I've been playing for a long time and I've had countless I-Get-It moments, but I have had countless W-T-F moments, too. Just last week we were playing to a pretty large, very attentive, music appreciating crowd and things were going great

Then we started playing Cissy Strut and I completely blew the opening riff

... such a simple phrase that I've played a billion times and yet I just missed it

My advice is to not let the I-Get-It thoughts become too firmly planted, there is always a humbling and embarrassing moment right around the corner ....

spindizzy · #18 08-03-2007, 10:15 AM

I thought I got it until recently when I definitely think I got it which leads me to the conclusion I may never get it!

Oh well...such is life.

Chipsonfire · #19 08-03-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_fonz

i got it after 4 hours
of course, that was 6 dimensional time, so we've got another 3 planes of existance to go through before i catch up with it

So... since it was 4 hours in 6-dimensional time, and we only perceive one of those dimensions, it took you... about 75 minutes, 36.7 seconds to "get it" in one dimensional time. That's pretty impressive!
Sorry, former physics major of 2 years

iplaybassguitar · #20 08-03-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBop

I don't see it that way. We all hit stages we think we got it. As I said some are happy at that point and enjoy playing what they like. Others after they hit "I've got it", discover whoa there some stuff I didn't see or hear before and back to work.

Music isn't the only thing like that everthing we do is like that. I'm not that into sports watch some b-ball and football and just know the basics of the games. That enough for me, where other get into it and can quote stat's and highlights of games now and in history. We have a lot of interests and get involved to differing degree in each one. Man I respect that you like to knit your own socks.

howd u kno about my socks?
i do agree with you, that there are stages of getting it, usually followed by periods of discovery and another stage of not getting it.

i was just commenting on your comment about how players seem contented at a certain level, while musicians are never content, and never quite "get it".