Falling asleep while playing?

LanOsb133 · #1 08-25-2011, 07:31 AM

SO im not sure if this would go here but i really cant find another place to post this... So the other morning i was playing bass and i didnt sleep all night. I remeber starting to play "reassurance rests in the sea" by The Fall Of Troy.and i closed my eyes. Next thing i know i hear my dad snapping his fingers in my face and im still playing through my bass playlist o.o Yes that means i belive i was playing my bass while sleeping xD I am known to sleep walk and talk. But playing my bass? :P Im not sure if i was playing or not, nor do i have any video proof, but my fingers did feel like thhey usually do after Reassurance rests in the sea... Anyways i thought it was sorta funny that i was able to fall asleep while playing. Has this happened to anyone else out there?

bolophonic · #2 08-25-2011, 07:36 AM

I think you were dreaming when you posted that....

snyderz · #3 08-25-2011, 07:39 AM

Was there any felt marker on your face?

iiipopes · #4 08-25-2011, 07:44 AM

Yes! It can happen! One time in high school it happened to me. Because of tight school scheduling, jazz band had to practice before school started. Which, of course, meant getting up two hours earlier to get ready, and get stuff to have Mom drive me to school since I couldn't carry everything -- books, bass, backpack, lunch, etc., on the bus. I had a late night before, and I showed up groggy. We had an arrangement (remember, this is 1978) of Steely Dan's Deacon Blues with a very simple 1 - &3 -- 1 - &3-- type bass line. I remember playing the intro. I remember startling and missing a note at the end as it slowed down to the final chord. I do not remember playing a single note in between. BUT -- the jazz band director said it was the best we had ever played it, and after that, instead of being groggy, I was awake and refreshed, ready to go to class.

Papa Dangerous · #5 08-25-2011, 07:46 AM

Interesting. Usually when people sleep they experience sleep paralysis. However, since you say you have slept (?) Walk... Sleep paralysis does not always seem to accompany in your night time adventures of the unconscious realm. Perhaps by you falling asleep and waking up with bass in hand, your subconscious was obviously aware that you were in bass playing mood. As you came out of sleep, maybe you subconsciously started to noodle on the bass, thus you woke up playing... Just a guess, I would ask around the house to see if you were playing at the time you were supposedly asleep. If you did, was it coherent playing? And try and recall how long you slept for... Hey, this could make for a great story one day when Spin magazine wants an interview

LanOsb133 · #6 08-25-2011, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa Dangerous

Interesting. Usually when people sleep they experience sleep paralysis. However, since you say you have slept (?) Walk... Sleep paralysis does not always seem to accompany in your night time adventures of the unconscious realm. Perhaps by you falling asleep and waking up with bass in hand, your subconscious was obviously aware that you were in bass playing mood. As you came out of sleep, maybe you subconsciously started to noodle on the bass, thus you woke up playing... Just a guess, I would ask around the house to see if you were playing at the time you were supposedly asleep. If you did, was it coherent playing? And try and recall how long you slept for... Hey, this could make for a great story one day when Spin magazine wants an interview

I played through a song and a half (about 5-6 minutes of playing or so) I asked my dad and he said when he came in i was playing, and that he snaped his fingers in my face about 5 times (so about 10 seconds or so to walk from the door to were i was sitting.) All he wanted was for me to close my window v.v But i had my headphones on scince it was 5:30 in the morning and im sure my neighbors wouldnt appriciate it. and my dad was pissed cuz he could here me plucking away on the bass

But i did fall asleep PLAYING the bass. But thought this was a little bit interesting and thought i would share it with you guys. Next time i play bass and am tired and play with my eyes closed ill defnitly record it to see if i do infact play.

And no i didnt "dream" this up. and No i was not high when i posted it or high when i fell asleep.

iiipopes · #7 08-25-2011, 08:17 AM

Likewise. Mine was at a full rehearsal with full complement jazz band: 5 saxes, 5 bones, 5 trumpets, rhythm section and director. I was playing, and I was asleep.

It's not the paralysis of deep REM sleep that is occurring in these situations, it's in the lighter stages of sleep, which (unfortunately, and is soooo dangerous) also is the same thing that happens when someone is "asleep at the wheel." It's only the deep REM sleep that triggers the brain chemical that produces the sleep paralysis so a person doesn't physically act out the dream (in normal sleep cycling through all stages).

Waffles and Scotch · #8 08-25-2011, 08:18 AM

I haven't fallen asleep holding an instrument, but my last 2 girlfriends have told me I play bass on their thigh(s) when I'm sleeping. Apparently I do it very regularly. Actually bruised my last GF's thigh playing an imaginary slap bass line in my sleep...

iiipopes · #9 08-25-2011, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TF Ghost

I haven't fallen asleep holding an instrument, but my last 2 girlfriends have told me I play bass on their thigh(s) when I'm sleeping. Apparently I do it very regularly. Actually bruised my last GF's thigh playing an imaginary slap bass line in my sleep...

My wife has told me I do the same thing. Fortunately for her, slap bass is not part of my usual style of bass playing!

One more thing I used to do in school with time short: I would read my algebra homework before going to sleep, cognitively dream and work the problems, and upon awakening write down the answers, including the intermediate steps to solving the problems, on the way to class.

Remember, according to the Buddha, cognitive dreaming is an essential element in the path to enlightenment.

deepdown · #10 08-25-2011, 08:49 AM

Every one knows that life "in the pit", during a musical or theatrical show, there are sometimes long periods between the music being played, so, seasoned players read books in between bars, to prevent tension (alert) fatigue; you have to, for talking to other musicians during performance is strictly forbidden, so make sure your music stand light bulb is good to go before "dropping into the old orchestra pit"

Phot: Sir Paul's set list, Frisco 2011

TolerancEJ · #11 08-25-2011, 09:50 AM

While not directly sleep-performance-related, frequent singers in Las Vegas often sort of drift off in different trains of thought while they're singing a song. Mind you, they probably put on at least 3 shows a day, so the songs must be like auto-pilot for them. I can't remember which singer was being interviewed on TV but he said while singing a tune, they're usually thinking about what they're gonna eat for dinner later, or something else.

Stilettoprefer · #12 08-25-2011, 10:52 AM

Nah, I just move furniture when I'm asleep. On a missions trip to LA this involved moving the center section of the 3 piece couch I was sleeping on to the other side of the room, repacking my bag, and moving one of my shoes. I woke up inside my very twisted-up sleeping bag with only 2 sections of couch under me, a very confused youth group and one shoe next to my couch bed.

mikezimmerman · #13 08-25-2011, 11:01 AM

It's been many years, but back when I started playing with them and wasn't really used to a late-night gigging schedule yet, I'd occasionally nod off while playing during the extended guitar solos on some of the more, uh, "repetitive" blues numbers when my country/blues band was playing. As far as I know, I kept playing the whole time, since no one seemed to notice.

MatticusMania · #14 08-25-2011, 11:12 AM

Ive never fallen asleep playing bass. I have zoned out under the influence of mushrooms and jammed an 8 minute epic song for 30 minutes once, though. Not at a gig of course.

HolmeBass · #15 08-25-2011, 11:57 AM

I can fall asleep playing bass, but I stop playing when it happens. I don't do this at gigs! Only at home if I practice on the sofa or bed.

Sneakypete · #16 08-25-2011, 12:08 PM

Usually it's the audience who fall asleep when I'm playing. Next time set up a recorder so you know what your subconscious sounds like when it plays bass without any direction from your frontal lobes!

TolerancEJ · #17 08-25-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sneakypete

Usually it's the audience who fall asleep when I'm playing...

LOL!

ShredderMaximus · #18 08-25-2011, 01:52 PM

I wake up lying on my bed with my bass resting on my stomach all the time, but never playing it. Usually happens most after a very smokey night, since smoking makes me crave playing, but simultaneously knocks me the frick out.

pasta4lnch · #19 08-25-2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snyderz

Was there any felt marker on your face?

Remind me NOT to get drunk around you!!

I have a mild form of sleep apnea. It got bad at one point where I actually fell asleep at a gig - in the middle of a tune

(Me and Mrs. Jones) I woke up to the singer poking me in the chest like "Hey dude! w t f are you doing?"

Russell L · #20 08-25-2011, 02:05 PM

When I played six-nights-a-week I would daydream about something else while playing. Never went to sleep, though.

But, late one rainy night driving home from a gig in Hilton Head I was watching a nice scene up ahead on the interstate. There was a house with a very green tree beside it about half a mile away. Then, I woke up! Holy crap, I had been dreaming, but with my eyes open, and driving right along! Sheesh, that was scary.