• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Age vs. learning

A

anton_b

Jun 29, 2011
12
0
#1
Hello.

I'm 21 years and mostly plays the elctric bass. I play a lot and practice lot, play in a lot of bands and is attending a very serious music course. I have been playing upright for 3 years, but have never practiced i steadily, have had very few lesson and consider myself a very mediocre upright-player. I overheard some guys talking about how it is important to start out at an early age in order to learn a musical instrument properly. My frustration is that know i am really hooked on also becoming a good upright player, but is it too late for me? Is possible for me to become really good, starting in my age? Do you have any experince/ advice regarding this? I just need to know if there is any reason for my concern.
 
#2
Take Lessons.

I was fortunate to start on upright bass when I entered middle school and stayed with it through my 2nd year of college. Along the way I acquired an electric bass as well and added the school jazz band and a local rock band to my weekly routine. Looking back on that time of my life I am so glad I was given the opportunity to learn music in the school system. 11 years of music classes covered all the essentials and made playing music
an ongoing part of my life.
 
#3
anton_b said:
Hello.

I'm 21 years and mostly plays the elctric bass. I play a lot and practice lot, play in a lot of bands and is attending a very serious music course. I have been playing upright for 3 years, but have never practiced i steadily, have had very few lesson and consider myself a very mediocre upright-player. I overheard some guys talking about how it is important to start out at an early age in order to learn a musical instrument properly. My frustration is that know i am really hooked on also becoming a good upright player, but is it too late for me? Is possible for me to become really good, starting in my age? Do you have any experince/ advice regarding this? I just need to know if there is any reason for my concern.
Click to expand...

It's never too late to learn new things. Put your nose to the grindstone and keep at it. I'm 39 and have been playing electric bass for almost two years, and never learned an instrument prior to that.
 
#6
Ridiculous notion. If you have the talent, and put your nose to the grindstone, you can learn almost anything at any age. You can become an expert at anything and almost any age. I didn't become a dad until I was 40 and I am really good at it. Just saying.
 
#7
My name is Joe Porter. I say that so you can look me up on youtube and decide wether or not to take my words as useful or not. I started double bass at twenty three and at forty feel as though it was not a mistake. Twenty one is not to old to continue learning at all. I had absolutely zero experience with the instrument, but was lucky to have been in an area with a huge deficit of DB players, so a lot of my learning was on the job, as well as at the university.
The difficulty comes in starting so late that you have to work and not have good amount of time to practice like you think you need to. Fear not, because your in your first year or so your endurance might not let you practice like a piano player can or for as many hours as you may be able to on BG. Plot out a long term course(like maybe a year long) to begin to increase the amount of time you can put in daily. Find a good classical teacher that can show you the more efficient techniques for playing. WORK ON YOUR EARS, by listening and transcribing.
The important thing is to set some goals. Do you want to be an Orchestral Player, not impossible, however very difficult at that age and would require a solid plan that could take you years to execute. Listen, Listen, Listen, and listen some more to great players. What you need most now is to develop a concept of what a DB can sound like and its function in an ensemble. Do not just rely on Real books for tunes, I made that mistake and am paying for it now. Not that they are not useful, but should not be looked at as the final word on jazz tunes; only the recordings can be said to be that. If you are not already familiar with a piano keyboard,become familiar. Any way, the short answer is no, it is not too late. If you want to become a professional DB player then you goals must be solid and focused. Most of all have fun, it can be frustrating at times, but if you all in love with it, it can be greatly rewarding.
 
#8
Something I heard Steve Vai say (guitarist reference here, sorry guys haha) was this: "The only thing holding you back is the way you're thinking." If you really think about this, it's everything-- whether you succeed or fail is all determined by the positive thoughts that either motivate you to succeed or the negative ones that destine you to fail. It's kind of a more philosophical approach but I think it's useful to just remind yourself of this, kind of reset your mindset and keep you on track. Just take it a day at a time...
 
#10
Hi. I'm convinced that the myth of the older you get, the harder it gets to learn things is bs and basically exists because of things like joining the work force and keeping people in a sort of curb, cycle of birth, youth, work, death and to make sure we fit into the neatly defined pension schemes that exist in some developed countries.
I think maybe there are some exceptions, like playing the violin, for example. Also language. While I learnt 2 languages, French, and Spanish, while living in those countries (spain, france), I may never lose my accent. But, I speak fluently. My theory as that
as you get older, learning improves. The body may decay, but the mind, I believe, starts to function better in many ways.
I started playing when I was 18, btw. And, I'm currently a professional bassist in a F.T. orchestra. Furthermore, in many ways, I play much better than before. I may have less balls! But my chops have sure improved. What I mean is, I don't have the resistance of an 18yo anymore, but I can play a lot better, and continue getting better with time. You can never stop learning, and learning from people who play better than you do. I still take lessons!
Anyway, my 2 cents. Just do what you love. You may not get into the Berlin Phil, or you may....but just keep on with it!

Good luck
 
#11
anton_b said:
Hello.

I'm 21 years and mostly plays the elctric bass. I play a lot and practice lot, play in a lot of bands and is attending a very serious music course. I have been playing upright for 3 years, but have never practiced i steadily, have had very few lesson and consider myself a very mediocre upright-player. I overheard some guys talking about how it is important to start out at an early age in order to learn a musical instrument properly. My frustration is that know i am really hooked on also becoming a good upright player, but is it too late for me? Is possible for me to become really good, starting in my age? Do you have any experince/ advice regarding this? I just need to know if there is any reason for my concern.
Click to expand...

It's possible for you do to what you say is possible. If you make playing the bass an impossibility, it will be one. Don't listen to logic, reason or dream-crushing realities on this one, just take the bull by the horns and do it. I don't think anyone in the New York Philharmonic just shrugged one day and said: "Well, I guess it's impossible for me to go very far with this instrument."

ekspain said:
Hi. I'm convinced that the myth of the older you get, the harder it gets to learn things is bs and basically exists because of things like joining the work force and keeping people in a sort of curb, cycle of birth, youth, work, death and to make sure we fit into the neatly defined pension schemes that exist in some developed countries.
I think maybe there are some exceptions, like playing the violin, for example. Also language. While I learnt 2 languages, French, and Spanish, while living in those countries (spain, france), I may never lose my accent. But, I speak fluently. My theory as that
as you get older, learning improves. The body may decay, but the mind, I believe, starts to function better in many ways.
I started playing when I was 18, btw. And, I'm currently a professional bassist in a F.T. orchestra. Furthermore, in many ways, I play much better than before. I may have less balls! But my chops have sure improved. What I mean is, I don't have the resistance of an 18yo anymore, but I can play a lot better, and continue getting better with time. You can never stop learning, and learning from people who play better than you do. I still take lessons!
Anyway, my 2 cents. Just do what you love. You may not get into the Berlin Phil, or you may....but just keep on with it!

Good luck
Click to expand...

Well yeah, but as an adult it's harder for you to make neural pathways in the brain. These things facilitate habits and familiarity--so it's naturally going to be a little harder for you to reroute your neural pathways through practice, but you will do it if you want it bad enough. This is exactly why language is such a hard thing to pick up after you're an adult. Languages are so complex and have so many rules and little quirks that it's incredibly difficult to pick up a new one as easily as we learned the first. Again, with enough practice you can do it--practice in this case being dropped off in a foreign country and being forced to speak the languages. The good thing about humans is that we're really, really adaptable so we were made to function in this way. Learning is what we do.
 
#14
This is an interesting article....

I would say, the number 1 reason, again my theory, why more mature folk, 30 and above, are considered slower, or not as fast, to learn things, is not about neural pathways, etc. but about ego. Our ego's become fortified by our experiences, and we tend to think that we have most of the answers. We then, stop looking for improvement. Getting better at anything, needs constant attention, and being able to
face whats wrong. This gets harder to do as you get older. Unless you remain mentally flexible and open to the idea of discovering your faults and changing-improving on what you do. Most older folk, after having kids, or a professional job for several years, start moving on to other things in life.
 
#15
I started playing drums at around 27. Now I have taught myself acoustic guitar, piano, and over the last year I've become pretty solid on the electric bass. You want to do it, then get to it. Put the time in, love it. Simple.
 
#16
ekspain said:
This is an interesting article....

I would say, the number 1 reason, again my theory, why more mature folk, 30 and above, are considered slower, or not as fast, to learn things, is not about neural pathways, etc. but about ego. Our ego's become fortified by our experiences, and we tend to think that we have most of the answers. We then, stop looking for improvement. Getting better at anything, needs constant attention, and being able to
face whats wrong. This gets harder to do as you get older. Unless you remain mentally flexible and open to the idea of discovering your faults and changing-improving on what you do. Most older folk, after having kids, or a professional job for several years, start moving on to other things in life.
Click to expand...

This is very true. My grandparents refuse to store names and phone numbers digitally--even on their home phone they won't put in the names and numbers of their friends. They see it as a technology they don't need to get through life, so in consequence they go rummaging through their rollerdex for half an hour on a regular basis.

On the other hand, my teacher, who's almost the same age as them, has an iPhone and an iPad and is more capable with smartphones and tablets than I am.

The difference is that my grandparents are stubborn, Pennsylvania-Dutch mules and my teacher knows that he doesn't know it all and constantly looks for better ways to do things.

I think you're right here; age doesn't seem to be as much of a factor as willingness to try new things and realize that you don't know it all. Ironically, it seems to me that you have do away with your ego the same way a child does to really learn new things.
 
#18
Maybe if you wanted to become a solo violin player or something, professionally. The competition is crazy and those kids really do start young.

The only problem with starting an instrument as an adult is that you have other adult responsibilities that get in the way of practicing. It's very difficult to make time in the "real world".

The best thing college-age kids have going for them is if they are in school for music, everyone in their lives totally dives out of their way so they can practice for hours. Everyone understands. Fast forward ten years from now, and things will change a lot.
 
#19
Chris Symer said:
Very nicely done!
Click to expand...

It would be immature and naive of someone not to recognize the obstacles they face but in no way should they let them defeat them. Your age, natural ability and experience only mean as much as you let them. That's what I meant to say.

I honestly think a more realistic version of this problem is much more encouraging than a sugar-coated version. I brought up a similar issue with one of my teachers--we were talking about my prospects of making a career in music--and I got a good tongue-lashing for being defeatist and digging my own grave.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back