I dream of being a good bass plyer, not great, just good.

[Kawai-chang]

but I'm too d**n lazy to practice.

No other issue than pure sloth.

[makkE]

Well... practice more? And most importantly, try to enjoy it.

[Bloodhammer]

I never practice by myself. It's just so dang boring for me.

Sometimes I make myself practice bass by writing a complex lick on guitar and challenge myself to create the "right" bass line for it.

I really only practice when I'm in a band and we're rehearsing.

[chadhargis]

At nearly 40yo, having only played for a year and a half, I realized that I'll never be a great player. Just have too many committments that demand my time.

My goal is to become proficient enough to be a functional bass player. Nothing fancy. Just hold down a groove and have fun. If I can acheive that, I'm a happy guy.

[Funky Ghost]

I'm two weeks into my return to bass and I've been practicing to a playlist I created on Grooveshark. They are songs I used to play when I was in bands and ones I've always wanted to play. It's tough to get bored when you like the material so much. At least for me. My problem is I play too long. Always struggled with that.

[ZanaZulu807]

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

I never practice by myself. It's just so dang boring for me.

Sometimes I make myself practice bass by writing a complex lick on guitar and challenge myself to create the "right" bass line for it.

I really only practice when I'm in a band and we're rehearsing.

I'll never understand this... If you're so bored practicing by yourself then why play in the first place? I can probably see if you're plunking root notes lifelessly to a metronome unplugged in your living room, but you can still crank up one of your favorite tunes, learn the anatomy of it, construct a new bassline to the song, and get new ideas to improve your skill. Also, It might be just me, but I get pretty much almost the same excitement when constructing basslines during solo practice as I do when I'm with my bands jamming or playing a gig.

It's tough to get bored when you like the material so much. At least for me. My problem is I play too long. Always struggled with that.

This pretty much sums me up, cept I can never play too long... Sometimes I have these "musical fights" with my guitarist when he writes these killer riffs and I practice to it for hours and eventually wrap some killer basslines that run circles around the riffs. Makes for some awesome songs...

[JonahTheAmazing]

I don't have a band, so all I do is "practice". Since I don't currently have a desire to join or start a working, gigging band, it's barely practice in the first place. I play along to stuff, learn new lines, take lessons, make up some random crap. That said, I'm not good either. But hey. What are ya gonna do.

[Bloodhammer]

Originally Posted by ZanaZulu807

I'll never understand this... If you're so bored practicing by yourself then why play in the first place? I can probably see if you're plunking root notes lifelessly to a metronome unplugged in your living room, but you can still crank up one of your favorite tunes, learn the anatomy of it, construct a new bassline to the song, and get new ideas to improve your skill.

I live in a frame house (an uninsulated wooden box) and my neighbors call the cops if I plug into a bass amp at all. Apparently the frequencies rattle their walls even with the volume on 1 - or they're lying about the rattling and they just hate me, which wouldn't be anything new.

So, yeah, the highlighted part above actually isn't very far off.

[JohnMCA72]

Originally Posted by Kawai-chang

but I'm too d**n lazy to practice.

No other issue than pure sloth.

Well, that's a problem. Unless you're willing to work your butt off, a dream is as close as you'll ever get! Even supremely talented people have to work at it - they just get farther than the rest of us sometimes, if they're lucky, too.

[JohnMCA72]

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

I live in a frame house (an uninsulated wooden box) and my neighbors call the cops if I plug into a bass amp at all. Apparently the frequencies rattle their walls even with the volume on 1 - or they're lying about the rattling and they just hate me, which wouldn't be anything new.

So, yeah, the highlighted part above actually isn't very far off.

I live in a condo. I plug my bass into the computer & monitor via headphones. I can play along with iTunes or any other digital music & nobody hears it but me.

[IncX]

Originally Posted by ZanaZulu807

Sometimes I have these "musical fights" with my guitarist when he writes these killer riffs and I practice to it for hours and eventually wrap some killer basslines that run circles around the riffs. Makes for some awesome songs...

i bet you are in a metal band.

[Art Araya]

well at least you're honest with yourself. i suppose that's the first step. are you lazy and undisciplined in everything in your life or just the bass?

if you are lazy about everything you're likely to have a very unfulfilled life, you'll be mediocre at everything you do, and all of your coworkers will secretly hate working with you...

Why not work on this bro - since you know this about yourself???

[ZanaZulu807]

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

I live in a frame house (an uninsulated wooden box) and my neighbors call the cops if I plug into a bass amp at all. Apparently the frequencies rattle their walls even with the volume on 1 - or they're lying about the rattling and they just hate me, which wouldn't be anything new.

So, yeah, the highlighted part above actually isn't very far off.

I can understand that. I live in a 3 floor apartment on the 2nd floor and its either the ceiling rumbling from my neighbors below or the cable getting fuzzy (I have no clue why...) from the neighbor above. However I go nuts without being able to hear or feel my bass frequencies so I do like what John said and I plug my bass in my computer or doodle with modes and scales with my bass eating Dunlop wah.

However, I often get fed up of living the quiet life so I have 3 bedroom house that I split the rent with a friend who works overseas. I go over to this place in the county with my 2 full gigging rigs and could give a crap what the neighbors have to say, not to mention the very lax noise ordinance that starts around 10:30 P.M.; Jam all day long with absolutely nothing else on my mind...

i bet you are in a metal band.

Darn tootin'! Not your typical idea of Metal though, I play a mix of heavy Experimental/Jazz/Psychedelic/Southern stuff. I can't stand the blood covered, death, downtuned, cookie monster crap...

[Kawai-chang]

Originally Posted by Art Araya

well at least you're honest with yourself. i suppose that's the first step. are you lazy and undisciplined in everything in your life or just the bass?

if you are lazy about everything you're likely to have a very unfulfilled life, you'll be mediocre at everything you do, and all of your coworkers will secretly hate working with you...

Why not work on this bro - since you know this about yourself???

Art,

Actually I'm pretty good at the other aspects of life. It's just for some reason, I just can't seem to get myself up to practice. Not exactly sure why, but there it is.

[ReginaldPLinux]

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

I never practice by myself. It's just so dang boring for me.

I don't get a choice, I just have to play with myself. I do it a lot, though. And I enjoy it, too.

[mpdd]

after a 10 year hiatus i'd settle for playing as good as i used to play when i played in the post math rock pre electro clash underground hardcore era

[Kawai-chang]

mpdd,

That's a total Japanese Robot Dog in your avatar

[mpdd]

think it was a motorola razr shot, all i did was adjust the exposure in photo shop, but the color was not tweaked

[Bloodhammer]

Originally Posted by ReginaldPLinux

I don't get a choice, I just have to play with myself. I do it a lot, though. And I enjoy it, too.

[agreatheight]

I'll tell you what I used to tell my students when I taught. You don't necessarily need to practice more, you need to play more. Add another rehearsal. Play more shows. Join an additional band.