Boy, this is embarassing!

[brianrost]

I'm in the process of archiving old gig recordings from MiniDisc while the deck still works

Today I copied a gig from 20 years ago. As I listened to a couple of the numbers, I was surprised to hear what I was playing on both BG and DB. It came to a head on a slow blues where I was walking my DB under six choruses of solos. What really caught my attention is that I haven't played like that for a long time.

So I sat down and tried to recall some of my licks but couldn't.

That band was working every weekend and we were so well oiled...I haven't had to play at level for decades. So I'm actually going to transcribe my twenty years younger self's playing to get it in my ears and under my fingers again.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Very interesting.

25 years ago I used to sight reading big band notated charts with ease, and could walk over any chord sheet. Not any more.

10 years ago I tried to get it back and couldn’t.

Man, I was on fire as a Jazz player in my early 20’s. So much free time. Five-hour home practice sessions were normal for me. I had time but no money.

Then life responsibilities came along. Now I’ve got money and no time. But hey… at least I have a very nice collection of bass gear to compensate for it.

 

[FullumMusic]

I'm in the process of archiving old gig recordings from MiniDisc while the deck still works

Today I copied a gig from 20 years ago. As I listened to a couple of the numbers, I was surprised to hear what I was playing on both BG and DB. It came to a head on a slow blues where I was walking my DB under six choruses of solos. What really caught my attention is that I haven't played like that for a long time.

So I sat down and tried to recall some of my licks but couldn't.

That band was working every weekend and we were so well oiled...I haven't had to play at level for decades. So I'm actually going to transcribe my twenty years younger self's playing to get it in my ears and under my fingers again.

I know what you mean. I was definitely a better player when i was younger because bass was my only musical endeavor, and i practiced and played a lot. It wasn't just "chops." It's how i thought musically. I was much quicker with my bass vocabulary and could think music on the fly, real time. But, i spent the last 15 years or so focused on electronic music production. Bass took a back seat. My thinking went from On-the-Fly and Bass, to very slow & methodical, non-real-time, big picture, all the elements in the composition and mix.

Neither is a better way of thinking about music. However, when i started playing bass more again, whew, i remember having better chops and thinking on the fly, and am painfully aware that both of those skills have diminished.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I'm not sure if I were a better player or not, but I was a full-time for about 7 years. The other day I found a cassette tape of a jam session we had in 2000 (23 years a go!) with me, a drummer and a guitar player friend. As I was listening to it, at some point I heard I played something so nice that I had to teach my self

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Some of my own songs give me trouble nowadays.

 

[Five or Six]

I listen on ocassion to one of my old band recordings, but for reason. My best friend and guitar player along with my keyboard player are both deceased, dying young. That's one reason. The other is how I played? I honestly believe I play much better now. I think I'm more focused than I was 35 years ago. But, the music we are playing now is more involved so there is that.

 

[el murdoque]

I've had the same with a material that was a mere decade old.
The band had a reunion gig and I dug out my old notes. I can't really communicate in notation, so this was a mix of tabs and written words. Actually, those were the scribblings of a madman. I could not decipher most of it, and ended up getting the bass I recorded the material on (for muscle memory), sitting in front of the stereo and cover myself note for note.
One would assume that I took proper notes this time around. I didn't. This summer, the guys want to play again. I'll have to do it all over.

 

[biguglyman]

Funny this popped up today. I was playing along with some originals from a band I was in almost 40 years ago. Couldn't play them for sh*t...and I WROTE those bass parts!

 

[Groove Doctor]

In High school choir - my voice dropped an octave in just 4 years. No going back now.

 

[brianrost]

Started transcribing. Noted a few interesting ideas I used in that walk, stuff that I've since avoided as being "too notey" for the blues gigs I've been doing the last few years. Time to rethink that

 

[Geri O]

Great discussion!

Early on, I spent 12 years in a working cover band that wrote and recorded originals, trying like a bazillion other bands to "make it", as it were. Four albums and a bunch of singles (on vinyl!) went nowhere. But it was such an awesome time period and I'm ashamed to say, I didn't appreciate what was going on, personally and professionally. What's that old saying, youth is a wonderful thing, too bad it's wasted on young people?....

That band folded, spent another several years in a pretty popular cover band, but grew weary of that and got in the live music production business. After 15 years or so, I started playing again, but this time, very mostly as a hired gun in cover bands, sub situations, and two original Country music artists (still have those gigs), one new and upcoming, one with a few hits from the early 2000s.

The chops for those situations aren't too demanding, it's more about having a good ear, learning quickly, and being consistent. Oh, and being a good hang, too!....

During Covid, of all times, I went to work at a small studio nearby and in the course of being the chief engineer, naturally, some playing opportunities have come up and it's really turned on my desire to be creative and stretch out more like we did back in The Day of the 80s and 90s. Kind of a full circle thing. Still with my country music artists and they are always coming up with new music. No recording opportunities there yet, but they have Nashville royalty available, so I totally get that.

And I've recently pulled out some of those original songs from way back then and have been pleasantly surprised. I have the crazy idea of possible re-arranging and recutting some of those songs. I was half of the pair of songwriters, but the other half, as well as two of the players from back then have passed on, so I'm not quite sure how that will take shape. Or if I even have time to approach idea.

There's a jazz quartet that plays every Tuesday night around town. They are good friends and kind enough to let me sit in on a few songs when I can attend, old standards and the like . I'm sure they get a good laugh, but they are always gracious about it and make me feel welcome when I'm there.

But at 64, 65 in two months, having the most of my chops, being healthy to handle the lifestyle, and just having fun each and every day, I'm beyond Blessed, if there's such a thing.

Of course, no one gets any younger..... So if you enjoy playing and can, by all means possible, keep at it!

 

[Sean Parsons]

Dont be fooled by the years. I sometimes record something and when I listen back I hear something and think that was cool but cant work out what I did. Haha!

 

[Gregc57]

It happens. Don’t ask me how I know. The interesting thing for me is I can pretty much recall at will the stuff I learned 45 years ago as a teen or in my 20s. It’s the stuff from the last 20 years that “flew the coop”. Funny, how the mind works. I have spoken with some concert pianists who tell me that for them, that’s pretty much the rule. They only work on, and can recall, one major piece at a time after a certain age.