Hobbies? What is hobbies?

[NicholasF]

Hey guys,

As many of you know and all of you will know, music is my life. Double Bass is what revolves around my head constantly, i have my staff paper ready at a moments notice, and i always am listening to something. Lately ive been feeling one sided, and i want to start something new the thing is...i dont know what. So i want to know what you do, what else you enjoy, its not that i dont love music or that im second guessing myself in any way, i just want to do more. Maybe a sport? Maybe an activity? Maybe a new art form?

[bassistjoe93]

Me and my friends typically get together once a week and play pad-less tackle football and we all love it. The weather is perfect for doing an outdoor activity like football, biking (offroad or street), ultimate frisbee, etc.

[bejoyous]

I try to do stuff that expands my musical/artistic thinking.

Since you are in NYNY, there are lots of art galleries, museums and other musical concerts to attend.

Start reading - musicians' biographies would be a good start. Or historical fictions set in an era of pieces you are working on.

Get active - walking is a good start. The physical exercise will improve your bass playing endurance and give you another goal to achieve. It's a great time to do some intense music listening, too.

Some of my musical friend like hobbies where they use their hands a lot so they can focus on something else and take a complete mental break from music. They find they come back to music with fresh insight. These hobbies include building instruments, painting, repairing things, writing, extreme exercise routines, cooking, sewing, gaming, building dinosaurs from chicken bones and so on.

(Psst, for your youtube videos, you might want to clean your lens. Nice playing though.)

[Inverse Kinetix]

Dude, learn another language! Lot's of opportunity where you live.


Being bilingual is so cool, for so many reasons!

[NicholasF]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

I try to do stuff that expands my musical/artistic thinking.

Since you are in NYNY, there are lots of art galleries, museums and other musical concerts to attend.

Start reading - musicians' biographies would be a good start. Or historical fictions set in an era of pieces you are working on.

Get active - walking is a good start. The physical exercise will improve your bass playing endurance and give you another goal to achieve. It's a great time to do some intense music listening, too.

Some of my musical friend like hobbies where they use their hands a lot so they can focus on something else and take a complete mental break from music. They find they come back to music with fresh insight. These hobbies include building instruments, painting, repairing things, writing, extreme exercise routines, cooking, sewing, gaming, building dinosaurs from chicken bones and so on.

(Psst, for your youtube videos, you might want to clean your lens. Nice playing though.)

Good ideas, and i didnt take the video, i did have a friend unblur it, imagine what it looked like before. That trumpet player doesnt play with us anymore and i think you can figure out why

[NicholasF]

Originally Posted by Inverse Kinetix

Dude, learn another language! Lot's of opportunity where you live.

Being bilingual is so cool, for so many reasons!

Not a bad idea, i do understand yiddish so i would become trilingual

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Reading and two martial arts here. Both martial arts have musical parallels: Brazilian jiu jitsu has a lot in common with jazz improvisation, and Shaolin kempo has a lot in common playing "classical" music. Or you can just forget about all that and have a nice exercise/social scene and use it to purge your mind and body of built up stress by sweating it out.

[NicholasF]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

Reading and two martial arts here. Both martial arts have musical parallels: Brazilian jiu jitsu has a lot in common with jazz improvisation, and Shaolin kempo has a lot in common playing "classical" music. Or you can just forget about all that and have a nice exercise/social scene and use it to purge your mind and body of built up stress by sweating it out.

Didnt think of martial arts, i know people who do BJJ and love it. Ill have to read up on Shaolin Kempo

[brianerwin]

Have you considered archery? It is relaxing. You don't have to hunt, you can target shoot instead. It is kind of a cool feeling when you can hit exactly what you are aiming at from a good distance. Just a thought.

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by NicholasF

What else you enjoy?

My kids. Not necessarily at every moment, of course.

Maybe an activity?

Like many folks here I read a lot. Always have.

Maybe a new art form?

For the past couple of years I've actually worked at playing jazz guitar. I've risen to the level where I totally suck.

That's the point. It's fun to strip away whatever delusions of competence I bring to the bass and enjoy the sheer terror of starting anew. Shift three feet to the right and I'm in VERY unfamiliar territory.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Sam Sherry

For the past couple of years I've actually worked at playing jazz guitar. I've risen to the level where I totally suck.

[bejoyous]

Also, try learning another instrument to get a different point of view of your same art. Hey, it's nice to play a nice, simple melody sometimes and have it sound pretty with out a lot of effort.

[Smokin' Toaster]

Get a Harley or other nice road bike. Riding is one activity I have found that is both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time.

I also enjoy fixing and restoring things. The house, cars, old Hi-Fi gear, and Old postwar Lionel trains are a current interest. I've been restoring and selling them on ebay. I also did a Dynakit ST-70 recently that is a sweet, sweet tube Hi-Fi amplifier. It's a keeper.

[Hankenstein]

I can't have hobbies - just different obsessions - I'm all in or not interested.

[hdiddy]

Rock climbing, skiing, sea kayaking, cooking, woodworking, piano, yoga

In the past i"ve done: MA, Fencing, tennis, golf, dance (salsa & ballroom), brazilian percussion, guitar, cordeen

Def +1 on the obsession thing. Skiing is def my ongoing obsession next to bass.

[jeffbonny]

Originally Posted by Hankenstein

I can't have hobbies - just different obsessions - I'm all in or not interested.

It's hard to give yourself permission to suck at something and still enjoy it. I'm trying right now to do that with the low D penny whistle. Chances are though I'll either become obsessed or drop it. There's never been much middle ground for me either.

[Hroda]

Martial Arts or Dancing is great..I took up Muay Thai and I feel like after I've worked up a sweat and pushed my body to the limits I become sort of born again (refreshed) and approach other things in life (including bass) a greater energy. I also tried cooking but I think I'll leave that for my girlfriend haha

[ThumpPlunkJunk]

Originally Posted by Hankenstein

I can't have hobbies - just different obsessions - I'm all in or not interested.

I think this is the response we'll see from most people in this thread. The type of people who are attracted to putting their lives into a box of wood with strings aren't the type of people who have a stamp-collecting hobby.

This said, cycling is another thing I'm really enamored with. You get that exercise high and you can go for tens of miles without feeling a thing. The feeling afterwards is the "cleanest" feeling I've ever felt. You're dirty and sweaty but bathed by it at the same time.

Also, writing is another one of my little things. Considering the generation I've grown up in, I've spent an inordinate amount of time writing as compared to anything else, really, so it's something I've acquired a love for.

[Marc Piane]

Yoga and cooking.

I read a ton but I think everyone should. I don't think of it as a hobby. To quote Zappa "If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library."

[JohnDavisNYC]

I'm way into cooking. And riding my Vespa. And, as a result of building a new studio from the slab up last year, carpentry.

John