Losing interest...

[Bobtowngirlface]

I think I am losing interest in playing bass.

I've been 'playing' for about two and a bit months. And I don't really know how much I've improved. I can play songs, I mean I'm not useless. But...nothing that makes me go 'hell yeah I love bass!'.

I find myself wanting to play 6 string...or singing.

Do I just need lessons or...no hope?

[ehque]

lessons may help. playing with people you like will help. or you could play six string bass and sing, i suppose.

ha. did that a few days back and it really challenges what i can do.

up to you really, not everyone starts off and ends a bass player.

[CS]

Originally Posted by Bobtowngirlface

I think I am losing interest in playing bass.

I've been 'playing' for about two and a bit months. And I don't really know how much I've improved. I can play songs, I mean I'm not useless. But...nothing that makes me go 'hell yeah I love bass!'.

I find myself wanting to play 6 string...or singing.

Do I just need lessons or...no hope?

IMHO you need to question why you took up bass in the first place.

I have never felt that bass is an instrument you can play in isolation. Some people have a bass lying around so they can have bass on their home recordings. Some people play bass cos someone had to do it in the band. Some people play bass cos being a bass player defines them.

I played bass in various bands from 1980-2004 and loved it. However the reason I answered your post is that I currently do not play out or even own a bass. I'm looking at an EUB or a fretless for home recording use. I felt that I had gone as far as I could, but I had given it 24 years.

Finally your problem might be that you have not been playing long enough. It takes time and effort to get good as it were. Some people have high standards for themselves. Whilst it's good to want to improve it can be a two edge sword.

[Bobtowngirlface]

I've got people I play with too. I was on holidays with friends for a week and they both play guitar so we 'jammed' a bit, although I couldn't really keep up.

[mlowe]

I said that for 13 years before I found why I liked the bass and it all turned around. Now I love the bass and understand why.

Much of the music I like to listen to wasn't what I like to play on bass. Greatfully this has steered my listening taste into many other genres of music. I never in a million thought I'd like Jazz, funk & Motown. Now it's what I respect and admire the most.

No offense to the artists at all, but some music is boring to play on bass period. U2 would be a good example for me. I'd hate to have to play bass for U2. Duga Duga Duga.

But I love U2 as a band. What gives?

The music that utlized the bass in a more detailed or interesting way became my focus. It started with Petite Blonde, then Marcus Miller and then the artists that Marcus associated with.

Luther Vandross, Earth Wind & Fire, then Motown artists utilizing James Jamerson. (Please forgive spelling)

This lead on to far more interesting bass playing. Funk is my favorite. I'm not religious at all but there something about Gospel music that just kicks. Those guys have "feel" in the music.

What you say is so common, it's possibly just the same old rut that everyone gets in at the start of near the start.

If you like singing that cool, add it to bass. If you like guitar, why not? No law says you can only play or do one.

Many great bass players are good guitarists or piano or sax players too.

I like listening to metal but love playing funk.

Just some thoughts that may help.

[Bobtowngirlface]

Thanks for the awesome (and quick :P) responses guys.
I think maybe it's just that I'm not good enough yet to...impress myself with my playing I guess.
I just like the idea of being able to pick up a guitar and be able to play a tune that you can recognize you know? And I do enjoy some old Motown grooves , my friends don't but :P so I'm limited there.
Maybe I'll just get a ****** muck around guitar to see about that...
I do still like playing my bass though. I enjoy it...just unsure.

[Mo' Bass 00]

As my Instructor explained to me, it's common for people to go through what you are talking about! Practice can be boring, really boring, at first! However after a while when all that practice starts to come together and you can play and understand scales forwards and backwards up and down, playing starts to become fun and addicting!
I recommend going and taking lessons from a experienced instructor, at least a few months before you set the Bass down!

[GlennW]

In the big picture "two and a bit months" is like a couple of seconds.

And months don't really mean anything - it's hours spent playing, and how you use those hours. If you work at it you can get pretty good in two or three years - good enough to be able to play a lot of stuff.

Edit: Two pieces of free advice: 1) no picks, 2) use your little finger.

[Busker]

I'm not great either, yet. But my playing really started to improve by playing along with songs played on the stereo system. I started with an instruction book. That was OK, I learned some stuff out of it too, but playing along with actual music makes it come together, IMO. You can listen to the bass lines in each song and try to reproduce them as close as possible, or alter them to your tastes.

[Nightsblood]

If practicing by yourself is getting boring, buy a drum machine. I picked up an Alesis SR16 to play around with at home and it made practice far more interesting. It will improve your playing by, never being off time. And, will increase your confidence when you start writing bass lines...at your own speed. Give it a shot.

[SGT. Pepper]

This happens to all musicians at one time or another. I have sold all my equipment twice because of getting in a rut. First thing, don't sell anything! Keep your equipment you will want to play again.
Second try to play with other people every chance you get. This will make it fun and less boring and you will be learning at the same time. I hope this helps.

[ProfGumby]

I second the comment that some bass lines are just plain boring to do at home. Sorry U2, and the Cranberries and many others but some bass lines are just deadly, boring, dull to play by ones self.....

But other bass lines are a lot of fun and very challenging...

Keep at it if you like playing as you say, and you will go through ruts. Keep at the lessons and try to find others to play with. No matter if you sound like metal garbage cans falling down a flight of concrete steps at first..keep at it.

Once you can hear a bass line in your head, then play it straight away, you may reach a whole new level.

I got bored too, on two different occasions ands sold my gear. Never gonna happen again.

It also helps if you start playing along with recorded music on cd's and do the bass line....a bgud has some mixing equipment and he basically removes the bass and plays along with just him.

Most importantly, remind yourself why you picked up a bass in the first place...if you did so for a good reason, or what is trruly the right reason, you will keep playing.

Sadly I know a few people who really want to play an instrument, get set up and start to learn but give up rather quickly because they find out that it is hard to truly learn how to play and they didn't expect the discipline involved in truly learning how to play music....

And for the record, one can sing when holding the groove together for the whole band....as a bass player you have a wealth of choices. You can stand out front as a soloist like Victor Wooten. You can be up front on par with the guitar player like Geddy Lee or stand back in the pocket and hold it all together like Adam Clayton(U2)

Maybe check out the thread here titlked "Youtube Finds" and look at all the fantastic bass playing and all the different styles there. And maybe, just maybe you are not content to play others bass lines and would thrive on creating your own, finding your own "voice" as it were. By seeking out others who are about as far along as you are and getting together to jam, as it were, your interest and creativity will be peaked and you may start to create your own sound...

[Bobtowngirlface]

Thanks a lot guys. I shall just keep plugging away, most definitely get lessons and just aspire to get better quicker.

I think I'll dabble in some other stuff too just to keep my mind sharp if you know what I mean.
Thanks for the advice.

[Baryonyx]

Get a 6 string!

[Deacon_Blues]

Some guys replied that you should go back and think about why you started playing bass in the first place. +1 for that.

I also think you really should think about which kinds of music you want to be able to play, i.e. you should have a vision for your future bass playing, and start practicing to get there. When I switched from guitar to bass about 6 years ago, I wanted to sound different than most of the bass players I knew at that time. I wanted to lift up the bass from being just a background instrument, think "necessary evil" that just has to be there to make the music sound good... I started listening to guys like Jaco, Rocco Prestia and take influences from them. In addition to pop and rock, I also started listening to funk, jazz, acid jazz, latin, and lots of soul. That has really helped me being more versatile. And I started to feel what a groove is. THAT is VERY important as a bassist. Didn't really know that before as a guitarist...

[jomahu]

as all have stated, somethings to try:

- jamming with people
-recording some stuff - nothing professional, but if you have the means to (computer, minidisc, multi-track rec.), it's fun and really helps the creative process, especially if you play other instruments.
- check out some shows
- listen to some awesome music

it may lead you back to bass, or it may not. but at least you got some good music out of it.

[Silversorcerer]

1. How important is music to you?
2. Does playing bass fit into a bigger picture?
3. Is bass your first instrument?

If you answer the first question, then the rest gets clearer. Two months is just not enough time to decide anything really. I'd recommend that you get an acoustic 6 string guitar and learn to sing and strum some of your favorite tunes. You might still decide to keep with the bass, but this will give you a broader musical experience than just trying to play nothing but bass. It will also give you some exposure to chord structure and harmony and that is very important in deriving bass lines.

If bass is your first instrument, ask yourself some tough questions. Did you pick up the bass because it seemed easier than the other instruments? Do you think it will be less demanding as far as understanding musical theory? Is the social component, being able to play some familiar pop tunes with friends, stronger than the pure interest in music? It's a complex issue. When you hear a song do you automatically tune in to the bass line? Good luck and I hope you find your musical niche. It can be vexing. I played piano and cornet before bass and I took up guitar simultaneously, but I never really intended on playing guitar in an ensemble. It was something I could do solo when I didn't have other musicians to play with.

The advice to play with others as often as possible is very good advice. Also try to play as many different styles of music as you can. Bass is a very powerful instrument in an ensemble and very important to the rest of the music. It's like the foundation of a house. It doesn't stick out at you, but without it the structure wouldn't stand.

[Shoewreck]

Get a gig and then imagine: it is YOU who makes all these people move! (yep, with a little help of a drummie) Go on, go on, can't stop it, man!...

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Bobtowngirlface

I've got people I play with too. I was on holidays with friends for a week and they both play guitar so we 'jammed' a bit, although I couldn't really keep up.

Don't be afraid of being bad; you have to be bad before you can be good. There's a certain amount of being bad that you and everyone within earshot simply have to endure, and the only way past it is through it. Play a whole lot so that you can get past this point as quickly as possible. It does get better, and if you stick with it, it gets a *lot* better.

[Sorax]

Originally Posted by Bobtowngirlface

I've got people I play with too. I was on holidays with friends for a week and they both play guitar so we 'jammed' a bit, although I couldn't really keep up.

If that's the case the last thing you should be thinking about is more strings.