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Bored with bass.

M

MuinXing

Aug 24, 2012
21
0
#1
Alright here goes I'm a little frustrated, I grew up playing bass in high school had the time of my life. Now as an adult (25) I struggle with getting back into it.

My problems goes as follows, I have no one to play with. This is a big issue, because I'm very much a social player, and find it hard to be interested in something when there's nobody to share in it with. I had made friends with the bar scene this winter but they've turned into a bunch of drug addicts, which makes me never wanna set foot in a bar ever again.

I had wrist problems which have caused me to stop playing regularly for 7 years. This isn't a problem no more but it is making getting back in the swing of things a real choir.



finally my biggest issue is I'm uninspired. I'm very much interested in playing again, but I can't ignore how hard it is for me to find inspiration. I enjoy playing but I can never decide what to play why to play, what I'll do next.
 
#7
Do you have open jams in your area? IMO that is a great way to jump right in and start playing. Also a good way to find others looking to form a band. Get out of your comfort zone too! Don't just go to one kind of jam but try music styles you might not normally play.
 
#9
One's tastes and priorities change throughout life, fact of the matter is plenty of people "outgrow" bass.

I have seen plenty of great teenaged players stop playing once they get into adulthood for various reasons, it always comes down to one thing, they are just more interested in something else right now.

I stopped playing bass (regularly) for a few years myself, when I did find my passion to play it again I got back into it much harder than I did the first time.
 
#10
I'm in a similar predicament, I have a cover band that I play with usually for a few summer church carnival gigs and then also in the winter for a few holiday party gigs, but other than that, I have no one to play with right now. That doesn't really make me unmotivated to play/practice though, I always want to play music, but nothing beats playing with other people. Wish we lived in the same area, I'd definitely play with you! I'm primarily a guitar player but recently decided to learn to play the bass properly.
 
#14
Do whatever you can to re-motivate yourself. Get a new book, new bass, new amp, new something, learn a different style, set a goal. I've been in a predicament like this before and just getting thru that "wall" is something you'll have to figure out.

I started playing at 16 and fell away a few years, and i'll never let that happen again, I set a goal in my head the 2nd time around that not one day will go by without me picking up the axe and playing something.
 
#15
Alright thinks for listening but I think I need to rearticulate what I mean. I`m not truly bored with the instrument, I love it, and realized it`s a part of my life that is pretty great. My problem is the search for relevance with the instrument.

In high school my social life, my future career, getting a girlfriend, the whole world revolved around music(as well as my home town).

But the second I left home I went to the big city and went to school it became unimportant.

I just can`t get into that mind set any more, when there`s no one that shares my strange hobby. Granted I`ve started posting here again which has helped. But it just feels totally unimportant even relative to my other interests like sports or history. I can`t tell if it`s just the era I live in where playing an instrument is unimportant or something else I can`t tell. Even when hanging out with supposed musicians they were more interested in drinking and getting on hard drugs.
 
#16
Going to school in a "big city"... I 100% guarantee you there's a music scene *somewhere* there with people you'd get along with, you just have to look for them. And by looking, I don't mean "peeking into the local dive bar", I mean looking!

Others have already mentioned Craigslist, which I've found to be a great resource recently. My old school (Michigan State) had its own version of Craigslist through which I found a number of other musicians going to my school--perhaps your school has something similar? Also try posting a flier (or just hang around) the music department.

Seek, and ye shall find ;)

--
 
#17
Dash Rantic said:
Going to school in a "big city"... I 100% guarantee you there's a music scene *somewhere* there with people you'd get along with, you just have to look for them. And by looking, I don't mean "peeking into the local dive bar", I mean looking!

Others have already mentioned Craigslist, which I've found to be a great resource recently. My old school (Michigan State) had its own version of Craigslist through which I found a number of other musicians going to my school--perhaps your school has something similar? Also try posting a flier (or just hang around) the music department.

Seek, and ye shall find ;)

--
Click to expand...
Big is relative, big city to me means like 100k people.

I`ve met lots of people I know the scene decently well to wanna avoid it. At least avoid certain members of it.
 
#19
Man, I don't know how old you are, or where you come from, but semi-understand what you are feeling.

As big as CA is, and as much that goes on here, you'd think there would be all kinds of things going on. Which there is, but among people my age (26-30) people are stuck on metal, garbage garage rock etc... and at the same time stuck on drugs. (only a a couple of my friend are JUST NOW starting to get away from heavy drugs, which is a shame).

My whole deal was to be different. In my area of same old tired rock that i've heard on the radio or perculate up from LA for the last 7 or 8 years, I decided i'm gonna play jazz or lounge or blues or something with a REAL GROOVE. Just be different and be myself.

Another thing about being a bass player in my area. Is that alot of bassists around here are former guitar players who became bassists, and once again keep pushing the same old tired thing, because they themselves became the same old tired thing. Drugees, fitting in with bands, playing the same old music.

Be yourself, be proud of bass, SEARCH, if you are in a city of 100k + you should be able to find something.

I could have solved all of my problems years ago if I took the steps and just went out to San Francisco on weekends and got in some sort of different scene out there. Unfortunately, I didn't do that, but it's not like I couldn't still do it. I'm just happy to be in the groove that I am in and happy doing what I do, and want all bass players to feel the same. It's about the backbone of the groove, it's about the soul and spirit of a group or a band. Bass lives, and it's up to you to keep it that way. Don't ever get down on yourself or let other get you down, keep doing what you like to do and it'll work in your favor, and you feel differently, take the steps to take you away from a comfort zone and challenge yourself. It's the only way, really.
 
#20
DiabolusInMusic said:
One's tastes and priorities change throughout life, fact of the matter is plenty of people "outgrow" bass.

I have seen plenty of great teenaged players stop playing once they get into adulthood for various reasons, it always comes down to one thing, they are just more interested in something else right now.

I stopped playing bass (regularly) for a few years myself, when I did find my passion to play it again I got back into it much harder than I did the first time.
Click to expand...

This exactly.

After putting the bass down to pursue a professional career for the better part of a decade, I have re-found my love for it and find it hard not to have a bass in my hands all the time.
 

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