Breaking A Bad Habit

[Gar23]

For the record, on double bass, I've seen students of Edgar Meyer do nothing but look at the neck the entire time they play. I wouldn't really call it a bad habit but it certainly can kill your stage presence!

I'd say to just come out of the bass a little bit more and relax when you play. When you talk you don't focus on every vibration coming from your vocal chords right? The people that are that self conscious end up sounding awkward anyway. When I started to navigate much of the neck more from feel it didn't seem like any big deal at all. I still glance from time to time for reference but I am not consciously thinking "look away from the neck, oh man this is awkward for me..." the entire time.

What really gets to me are the people who only look at their right hand when they play! God I hate that!

 

[Kamael83]

I stopped worry about looking at my bass when i realized that i stopped looking at it naturally...Surely i have to glance at it now and then (still too often) when i`m shiftin to a different position or where i have to jump from let`s say 5th to 14th fret....But if song
(or part of it) is written in one position, I don`t have to look at my bass neck after i learn that song....Again practice practice practice i suppose is an answer...when i`m learning a new song I have to look ....more often (depending on how difficult is that song for me) but when i learn it...amount of glances gets smaller...

 

[tomyaubass]

If I am familiar with the song and my approach I look at the fretboard less. When I go up and down the neck to slide or search for tones in the middle of the neck I will tend to look at the fretboard more. If I am comfortably rooted on the hand positioning and know where I am going I can take my eyes off the fretboard and just groove. It's a combination of all in effort of making the bottom line work for the song. Practicing the right way for what you are doing in the context of the song and knowing the chord changes as opposed to getting by usually helps me.

 

[lowfreq33]

Turn off the lights, and stand up when you practice. Most of the time your sitting playing position is a little different than standing, which doesn't help with development of muscle memory.

 

[tonestatone]

This discussion reminded me one of the band I played with used to put on porn while we rehearsed. I dont think any of our eyes left the TV screen but were totally in time, feel and in tune...

I have a habit of looking at the fretboard too but only when I am practicing by myself.. and its a habit cos I know I can play the right notes on the neck without looking when I close my eyes but then they end up looking at the neck vacany again before I even know it.. lol On stage, I tend to look at my fellow band members for visual cues instead. bah.. I dont worry about it anymore.