ADD and Playing Bass

[Wfrance3]

Not sure if this helps, but I have caught myself not being "in" the tune I'm playing hurts me and will upset my apple cart. I have had to really discipline myself to stay "with it", especially on tunes with a repetitive bass line.
Would catch myself "zoning out" on stuff like a crooked pedal, or some other (said kiddingly) OCD kind of thing. Music stands are ok if it's a rehearsal. If I have my cell phone is on my stand facing out so if someone in my family sends me a text and I see it, count on a flub...
I've done my best to just eliminate distractions. If the bass part is just a repetitive groove, I double down on watching the BL and reminding myself to focus not zone. Not sure if this is comparable or helpful, but wanted to throw it out there...

 

[Pings Bass]

A very dear friend of mine was recently diagnosed with ADD (not ADHD) and got on a low dose of meds for it. A world of difference! Lots of folks are resistant to this diagnosis and the associated prescriptions. I prefer natural living myself, but I've had a couple friends (that i know of) experience dramatic improvements in their lives with appropriate diagnoses and treatment.

 

[ElMon]

When I write on these forums I expect more than a literal interpretation, although I probably shouldn't.

How about this: It's very difficult for humans to be objective enough about themselves to diagnose their own brains.

A preponderance of evidence over the course of your own life IS valid in this case, IMHO.

Same thing happened to me reading/processing/adapting to the literature surrounding my son’s autism, made me realize that I too am on that spectrum.

I think Doc is intellectually honest enough and self aware enough to make that connection.

In my case it put together SO MANY things about my life/friendships gone/2 marriages.

Diagnosis by a credentialed professional whose gone through the academic system IS useful but is NOT the arbiter of what’s true and what is not. I’m grateful towards their research/work however. Better than being called ‘wacky’ all the time.

@Doc: is it possible (presumptive based on my own experience playing black churches and all manner gospel) that the ‘play by ear/feel and emotion are more important’ approach in that ‘school’ is more appealing than running modal exercises and scales with a metronome?

I learned more playing modern Gospel about harmonic movement than I have ANYWHERE else, musically speaking.

 

[GeeBass]

You seem to be able to focus very well on trying out all sorts of new gear, and making numerous postings on this forum. Use that focus instead on what is most important - your music. This is likely not an ADD problem.

 

[makaspar]

My attitude is that if I have ADD, I could get treatment and be much more efficient in my work and everyday life. That would be a great thing.

My college roommate floundered in undergrad for 6-7 years before being diagnosed. Upon starting medication, he promptly finished his pre-med, and is a very successful physician now.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Although I have not been formally diagnosed, I believe I have suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder my entire life. I came to this conclusion from taking bass lessons. I have always had a hard time maintaining concentration on one thing for an extended period of time. This has really impacted me when it has to fretboard mastery and theory. I have the hardest time concentrating on one thing for an extended period of time. Even reading books can be a huge chore for me. I think ADD has negatively impacted my career because finishing long projects has been impossible for me.

For years, I was down on myself for “laziness,” but I really suspect I just have brain wired to absorb quick, bite size chunks of data, not extended study.

It's easier to lean when you're young despite the bumps in the road you mentioned. We are older Doc, just take your time. It's a marathon not a race

 

[Raw N Low]

I was formally diagnosed with ADHD about 2 years ago. I found out through study and research that it's best to find ways to take advantage and view it as a "gift" or "skillset" rather than a setback.

Life is structured around expected social norms. To ask every living person to conform to those norms is less than ideal. One of the fundamental rules in the game of life is survival. The measurement of success outside of basic survival is trivial and subjective. A dead person can't enjoy shelter, eating, and other pleasures of life if their basic needs aren't met.

Addressing mental health can fall into therapy, behavioral regimens, diet, physical assistance, or medication. Some of these things can contribute to healthy outlets that can balance and help make appropriate emotional responses.

As for bass playing and music -- it's become far too business-like. Music is an art form of expression. Most artists have different views or approaches to their craft. While I'm not against taking lessons, I think it's more important to be able to understand enough of what you're doing to express or convey what you want the instrument to do. Therefore, it's not always necessary to let someone dictate how you come to the correct conclusion.

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = 10
9+1 = 10
5+5 = 10
6+4 = 10
8+2 = 10
7+3 = 10

There are different ways to do the right thing. If the individual in question can execute what's being asked on time and within the required expectation...it's not for anyone else to judge. The European way of recording music may be the standard for (charting, notation, rhythm, time measurement, etc), but the rest of the world and people of all backgrounds have been enjoying music since man walked the earth.

 

[herrsmith]

You seem to be able to focus very well on trying out all sorts of new gear, and making numerous postings on this forum. Use that focus instead on what is most important - your music. This is likely not an ADD problem.

This may surprise you, but this is exactly what ADD looks like. It's not that it isn't possible to focus. It's that one lacks as much control of that focus as people without ADD have.

 

[chadds]

I was teaching when this first became a diagnosis. I was in close contact with numerous psychologists and MDs. I was there when they added the H and we saw that everyone didn't meet that criteria. In the last 35 years there have been some amazing discoveries.

The eyes not working appropriately in tandem can use up so much ram that the person will mimic the symptoms of ADD or ADHD. Food sensitivities can as well. Not food allergies. The 30-60 day elimination either shows it or it doesn't. Often within the first two weeks the patient or parents see a difference. Being low in zinc is a possible culprit. There is a quick in office test for that one.

If you go that route look for a specialist who is knowledgeable in this area. An allergist may not be. PM me if you wish. I saw a lot of kids get results. I've seen a lot of relieved kids, parents and teachers.

The blessing is that you are an adult. We actually can't wait for folks to get past school so they can tailor their life around their learning style. With coaching you may organize your life to practice at certain times perhaps after some aerobic action and supplemented by foods that help you specifically. You might chop your times up to focus on this then on that. You might find that having something else going on like quiet talking TV at the same time may help. It may be too quiet.

Good Luck.

 

[Raw N Low]

The eyes not working appropriately in tandem can use up so much ram that the person will mimic the symptoms of ADD or ADHD. Food sensitivities can as well. Not food allergies. The 30-60 day elimination either shows it or it doesn't. Often within the first two weeks the patient or parents see a difference. Being low in zinc is a possible culprit. There is a quick in office test for that one.

Although I'm not a doctor (I work in a medical research IRB), I do think that dyslexia and ADHD are somewhat in the same arena. I've recently switched to using tinted or gradient lenses in my eyeglasses. The problem is that the proper research isn't conducted for...well reasons I can't openly comment on.

So far I've seen success with gradient lenses for their calming effect that helps offset the hyperactivity and anxiety.

 

[J-Mags]

I have ADHD. It's both helped me and harmed me in terms of music. Some basic skills were really hard for me to pick up, but looking at the whole picture in terms of songwriting and arranging has always been fairly easy for me. I may be a stuttering mess, but if you put me in front of an audience, with a microphone, and I can focus much better. ADHD has held my career back, but it's also given my the most brilliant moments of my career (I'm a public defender).

All we have in the best moments of our lives, or our smartest or most talented moments, is flashes of brilliance. This is true for all of is, but more so for some than for others. We strive for consistency, but it's a goal, not usually an impeccable result. I'm actually of the opinion that ADHD isn't so much a disorder as a brain chemistry that is maladaptive to our absolutely insane modern world. We're canaries in the coal mine of WHO COULD POSSIBLY DEAL WITH ALL THIS NONSENSE!!!????

At any rate. I've been diagnosed. I'm medicated. I don't know if it helps. But it's important to remember that if you do have ADHD, it's as closely tied to your gifts as it is to your deficiencies. If you've got a doctorate, you undoubtedly have had struggles that some of your peers haven't, but I bet there have been plenty of times when you've been much, much quicker on the uptake, or more confident in drawing together disparate threads, or more perceptive in seeing things than your neurotypical peers. That's because some of the noise that non-ADHD brains filter out in the interest of expediency is actually useful (I don't have to tell you that a lot of it isn't).

You've got to take the good with the bad. If you do have AHDH, I hope you find a way of dealing with it that works for you. I'm not sure I have, but I also feel blessed as well as cursed.

 

[_Some Dude]

I have ADHD. Diagnosed both as a kid and again as an adult.

Personally, I see ADHD as a competitive advantage and not a disadvantage, but I choose not to focus on things where people with superior concentration have the advantage, unless it’s my thinking outside the box that compliments them as part of a team effort.

I’ve done the drugs and they work as advertised, but the build up of side effects gets to me over time. They also tend to remove the filter off my mouth, and I loose the ability to manage multiple cognitive threads while simultaneously executing many different things… or, to put I another way, I focus too much one one thing and accomplish less as a result. Additionally, if you find yourself bored and unable to concentrate the drugs don’t necessarily fix that, you may find yourself focused on the same stuff you already like even more than you were before.

For me, I think it’s the ability to think about several things all at once that allows me to kind of get into the zone and feel the music.

But, I do agree that it would be nice if I had better knowledge of theory to apply.

And, if you do try the drugs, you can always stop them. It’s not a lifetime commitment and there’s really no downside to experimenting and seeing if they work for you.

 

[chadds]

Notice I called it "learning style." One of our issues is that we have an educational system that works for the compliant quiet child. In the tribe or on the farm your skills were a strength not a hindrance.

Take a group of people say 20. One can make a detailed list of every provision we would need to walk to far western Alaska. Another could map the way. Another is the person who could keep us motivated to get there. Those are three very different skill sets. When our skills are recognized as strengths we don't grow up feeling like failures because we didn't score well on this test as well as our peers.

There are causes and effects from our environment. When they test this fabric softner it may cause no issues. Yet in conjunction with other chemicals we get disruptive behaviors in kids. Red dye #4.

One researcher when discussing kids said don't test food's effects for the people in lab coats. If your child's behavior changes when they stop eating artificial food dyes then you have your answer. (Side bar. Mars candy uses only vegetable dyes in their Skittles etc. in Europe because the Europeans won't allow artificial color. So it's not that the companies can't afford to give us the good stuff.)

 

[stuntbass77]

My attitude is that if I have ADD, I could get treatment and be much more efficient in my work and everyday life. That would be a great thing.

As someone who was treated for ADD at a young age I have some insight. I can only speak for me but I find it to be a blessing and a curse. I am full of useless knowledge for starters. I am incredibly good at remembering numbers and faces. I have to force myself to pay attention however at times and find outside stimulus annoying. I felt to some extent and it helped me concentrate more when I was being treated but I also felt it took away part of me and it’s hard to explain. It’s only treated for about a year and after that I learned how to deal with it and work with it. People with ADD are definitely wired differently. I sometimes like to think it is the reason I am good at art and not bad at music I’m good with me and think that some people need treatment and other not so much. Getting help is something nobody should be ashamed of. That definitely comes with age.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

As someone who was treated for ADD at a young age I have some insight. I can only speak for me but I find it to be a blessing and a curse. I am full of useless knowledge for starters. I am incredibly good at remembering numbers and faces. I have to force myself to pay attention however at times and find outside stimulus annoying. I felt to some extent and it helped me concentrate more when I was being treated but I also felt it took away part of me and it’s hard to explain. It’s only treated for about a year and after that I learned how to deal with it and work with it. People with ADD are definitely wired differently. I sometimes like to think it is the reason I am good at art and not bad at music I’m good with me and think that some people need treatment and other not so much. Getting help is something nobody should be ashamed of. That definitely comes with age.

I want to see how I respond to treatment if the doctors think I need it. I too feel I have a lot of useless knowledge. I want to achieve some meaningful things in the time I have.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

A preponderance of evidence over the course of your own life IS valid in this case, IMHO.

Same thing happened to me reading/processing/adapting to the literature surrounding my son’s autism, made me realize that I too am on that spectrum.

I think Doc is intellectually honest enough and self aware enough to make that connection.

In my case it put together SO MANY things about my life/friendships gone/2 marriages.

Diagnosis by a credentialed professional whose gone through the academic system IS useful but is NOT the arbiter of what’s true and what is not. I’m grateful towards their research/work however. Better than being called ‘wacky’ all the time.

@Doc: is it possible (presumptive based on my own experience playing black churches and all manner gospel) that the ‘play by ear/feel and emotion are more important’ approach in that ‘school’ is more appealing than running modal exercises and scales with a metronome?

I learned more playing modern Gospel about harmonic movement than I have ANYWHERE else, musically speaking.

Great players may play by ear, but they don’t play out of ignorance. Knowledge has never hurt me when it comes to playing.

ElMon, I appreciate what you have to say. I know you are in an eternal search for the groove, and that is truly a worthy quest.

 

[groovepump]

My attitude is that if I have ADD, I could get treatment and be much more efficient in my work and everyday life. That would be a great thing.

There's no treatment for ADD unless you are talking about meds.
I used to teach science and math at a high school for kid who had
"learning differences", meaning, ADD, ADHD, OCD, Turret's, Asperger's,
and usually, various combinations of these. These were real, diagnosed
cases. I can tell you , most were BRILLIANT. These are not low-performing
kids (some were, but most not). They just had to be taught in ways that
punched-through their particular challenge. The real victory with them
was getting them to the point that THEY could manage (mostly) to learn
around their own learning difficulty. It was teaching them that I discovered
that I had ADD, and probably some level of Asperger's syndrome, but no one
looked for this back in the day that I was in school. I remember how much
trouble I had getting through University ( I was a chem major, double-majoring
in Environmental Science) and then went on to a Master's in Education.
I thought I was insane or ******** or something, because under the stress of
final tests, I would sometimes zone-out and start marking wrong answers even when
knowing the material 100%. I think it was the ADD. It was a bugger my entire life.
Teaching the kids at the "special" high school helped ME to identify my own
issue, and now, when I feel that stress coming on, I can say "Oh, it's your ADD. Take
control". So I have a way to tame the beast now before it bites me. Thank God for
that underpaid teaching stint a few years back. It actually helped me greatly.
Sometimes at gigs though, when we play something unrehearsed, or unknown, I will
feel that ADD anxiety kicking-in, and I have to consciously get control before
I start focusing on what I "don't know", rather than winning with what I "do Know".
Sorry to be so lengthy in this reply. I just know that there are others of us, maybe not
so brave to talk about it who have ADD / Asperger's, etc, who struggle with
processing and learning issues and don't know why. You're not weird. You're not
stupid. Some of us just have inner processing that is different. It has been
suggested that Isaac Newton may have had severe Asperger's.
Just play your bass and enjoy. . .

 

[Dr. Cheese]

There's no treatment for ADD unless you are talking about meds.
I used to teach science and math at a high school for kid who had
"learning differences", meaning, ADD, ADHD, OCD, Turret's, Asperger's,
and usually, various combinations of these. These were real, diagnosed
cases. I can tell you , most were BRILLIANT. These are not low-performing
kids (some were, but most not). They just had to be taught in ways that
punched-through their particular challenge. The real victory with them
was getting them to the point that THEY could manage (mostly) to learn
around their own learning difficulty. It was teaching them that I discovered
that I had ADD, and probably some level of Asperger's syndrome, but no one
looked for this back in the day that I was in school. I remember how much
trouble I had getting through University ( I was a chem major, double-majoring
in Environmental Science) and then went on to a Master's in Education.
I thought I was insane or ******** or something, because under the stress of
final tests, I would sometimes zone-out and start marking wrong answers even when
knowing the material 100%. I think it was the ADD. It was a bugger my entire life.
Teaching the kids at the "special" high school helped ME to identify my own
issue, and now, when I feel that stress coming on, I can say "Oh, it's your ADD. Take
control". So I have a way to tame the beast now before it bites me. Thank God for
that underpaid teaching stint a few years back. It actually helped me greatly.
Sometimes at gigs though, when we play something unrehearsed, or unknown, I will
feel that ADD anxiety kicking-in, and I have to consciously get control before
I start focusing on what I "don't know", rather than winning with what I "do Know".
Sorry to be so lengthy in this reply. I just know that there are others of us, maybe not
so brave to talk about it who have ADD / Asperger's, etc, who struggle with
processing and learning issues and don't know why. You're not weird. You're not
stupid. Some of us just have inner processing that is different. It has been
suggested that Isaac Newton may have had severe Asperger's.
Just play your bass and enjoy. . .

I have never felt dumb or weird, I always felt I underperformed relative to my ability.

 

[groovepump]

There's no treatment for ADD unless you are talking about meds.
I used to teach science and math at a high school for kid who had
"learning differences", meaning, ADD, ADHD, OCD, Turret's, Asperger's,
and usually, various combinations of these. These were real, diagnosed
cases. I can tell you , most were BRILLIANT. These are not low-performing
kids (some were, but most not). They just had to be taught in ways that
punched-through their particular challenge. The real victory with them
was getting them to the point that THEY could manage (mostly) to learn
around their own learning difficulty. It was teaching them that I discovered
that I had ADD, and probably some level of Asperger's syndrome, but no one
looked for this back in the day that I was in school. I remember how much
trouble I had getting through University ( I was a chem major, double-majoring
in Environmental Science) and then went on to a Master's in Education.
I thought I was insane or ******** or something, because under the stress of
final tests, I would sometimes zone-out and start marking wrong answers even when
knowing the material 100%. I think it was the ADD. It was a bugger my entire life.
Teaching the kids at the "special" high school helped ME to identify my own
issue, and now, when I feel that stress coming on, I can say "Oh, it's your ADD. Take
control". So I have a way to tame the beast now before it bites me. Thank God for
that underpaid teaching stint a few years back. It actually helped me greatly.
Sometimes at gigs though, when we play something unrehearsed, or unknown, I will
feel that ADD anxiety kicking-in, and I have to consciously get control before
I start focusing on what I "don't know", rather than winning with what I "do Know".
Sorry to be so lengthy in this reply. I just know that there are others of us, maybe not
so brave to talk about it who have ADD / Asperger's, etc, who struggle with
processing and learning issues and don't know why. You're not weird. You're not
stupid. Some of us just have inner processing that is different. It has been
suggested that Isaac Newton may have had severe Asperger's.
Just play your bass and enjoy. . .

I wish I had read more of the thread before replying... many of you have commented perfectly
regarding this topic and with your own personal situation! Thanks!

 

[herrsmith]

I think it's much more common for ADD people to feel lazy rather than stupid. But that's only from reading things intended for ADD people or by ADD people, so I'm not sure how scientific that conclusion is.