100 Hours of Practice & Underwhelming

[Billybladez66]

Hey ESP....I don't know if I've missed it but what are your short term goals? I ask this only because when I first laid hands on my first bass it was for one goal only...to learn FREE WILL note for note and I was driven and obsessed to the tune of about 6+ hours a night until I got it...after that I had picked up enough to establish a new goal yadda yadda..that was 33 years and a few thousand gigs ago.... My point being, "for me" my goal was an obsession in the literal definition. Is there a playing goal you have that is driving you to stratospheric levels of self motivation in your practice regimen? Or is it a more casual thing? I wouldn't knock either one, I'm just curious. My experience has been with all musicians it is always the obsessed ones that have shined because of their dedication to their craft that helped them always push their limits...even from the very beginning they all tell a very similar story as my own, but at the end of the day whether they can read, had teacher... Whatever....when it came time to throwdown they could do it with ease.

 

[DeltaTango]

Hi. To answer your question, YES you should read books, play with your wife and friends, and continue lessons with a qualified instructor.

I started playing in 2009. I was 47 at the time. So, I am so glad to see that there are many others that started later in life too.

Some of the things I have done to learn are:

- Taught myself to read bass clef before I took my first lesson
- Learned some theory by reading and working through the exercises in "Contemporary Music Theory" by Mark Harrison (vol. I and II)
- Private lessons from the start but did take off for one year between instructors (I am on my 3rd and he is excellent).
- Jazz combo class at a local community college starting about 2011 (have done this every semester ever since then). I have learned a ton!
- Attending the Aebersold Jazz Workshop. This summer will be my 5th time. The workshop is great because you are with so many other like-minded
people in various stages of their development in music. Many, many of the attendees are between the ages of 40 something to 60 something too.
Attending the workshop is cool because it re-energizes my drive to learn more.
- Took a sight reading class, 2 aural perception classes and an improvisation class at the community college
- I keep a very detailed notebook with everything I learn weekly with my instructor. It has been a year and a half and I have filled two notebooks. I
often go back and review lessons from the past that I want to improve upon.
- Actively listen to music, especially live as much as possible

I have had my ups and downs with the learning process too. I often feel that I should be farther along in my abilities as well. A few months ago I felt really depressed about it. I had to really look back at where I was a few years ago (never even held a bass, could not read bass clef, did not know intervals or how to follow a chart, etc) to what I can do now. I am trying to focus on enjoying the process. It is easy to be impatient. We all have been there I am sure. Keep up the hard work and enjoy the journey.