I've been playing bass for two years now. The first 18 months of playing, my practice sessions were really productive and I've learnt a lot in those months. The last six months have been awful. I have learnt about five new songs and whenever I wanted to learn new songs, I put away my books after about two minutes. My practice sessions have consisted only of playing the same songs I have been playing for over six months. I am now tired of those songs, and I can't stay concentrated when I'm trying to learn something new. This has led to days on which I don't take up my bass at all and on the days that I do take up my bass, the practice sessions keep getting shorter. What can I do to be able to concentrate on learning new things and enjoy practice again?
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Getting demotivated
- Thread starter lennaerttol
- Start date
Several things! Try listening to some of your favorite bass players, or going to live music and checking out some good players. Also, consider writing out a practice schedule and breaking everything up into 30 minute chunks where you work on accomplishing one thing only for the 30 minutes as hard as you can. Find people to play with who are better than you, that will make you want to improve and work. I know that practicing can sometimes be really easy and sometimes really hard, so don't worry that right now its hard. But anyways, check out the music you love. Maybe try some songwriting or composing, that might inspire you. Good luck dude, and keep your head up.
Thanks for your reply, Craig! I'm already listening to as much music as possible, but whenever I want to learn to play a song I like, I can't concentrate long enough to learn it, which only demotivates me more, as it's yet another failure. I've also been trying to get in a band for the past few months, but it seems to be impossible to find a drummer where I live. Writing out a practice schedule is a good idea though. I'll certainly try that!
Even if you cant find a drummer for example, play with others as much as possible. Find a guitarist to jam with. Are you in school? If so, is there a jazz band you could play with? Its totally different playing with others.
Nobody can force motivation into you, bro. Either you do it because you enjoy it, or you force yourself to do it even if you don't want to, or you don't do it.
Is all your practice time spent learning songs?
Maybe challenge yourself with learning an impossible-to-learn lick. Even if you can't get it up to speed, can you capture the feel of it?
What about modes?
Odd time signatures? Push the beat, be on top of it, drag it. Practice long phrases that run over two or three bars.
For developing your internal time-keeping, one of my mentors suggested setting the metronome at 120 bpm, and play a repeating phrase. Sync up your "one". Half the metronome time to 60 bpm, but continue playing the same phrase at the same speed. Now your "one" should come around every other measure. Half the metronome bpm again while still playing the same phrase at the same tempo. Is your "one" still coming around every third measure with the click of the metronome? (I hope I explained that scenario correctly).
How's your ear? Recognise odd chords like a Bb minor add 9?
Can you sight read? Try some online games that test your sight-reading skills.
Maybe try soloing over backing tracks.
What's your biggest weakness? That's what I like to tackle when I'm overwhelmed or unmotivated, I work on my biggest weakness which is... everything. *sigh*
I hope you find your motivation again.
Maybe challenge yourself with learning an impossible-to-learn lick. Even if you can't get it up to speed, can you capture the feel of it?
What about modes?
Odd time signatures? Push the beat, be on top of it, drag it. Practice long phrases that run over two or three bars.
For developing your internal time-keeping, one of my mentors suggested setting the metronome at 120 bpm, and play a repeating phrase. Sync up your "one". Half the metronome time to 60 bpm, but continue playing the same phrase at the same speed. Now your "one" should come around every other measure. Half the metronome bpm again while still playing the same phrase at the same tempo. Is your "one" still coming around every third measure with the click of the metronome? (I hope I explained that scenario correctly).
How's your ear? Recognise odd chords like a Bb minor add 9?
Can you sight read? Try some online games that test your sight-reading skills.
Maybe try soloing over backing tracks.
What's your biggest weakness? That's what I like to tackle when I'm overwhelmed or unmotivated, I work on my biggest weakness which is... everything. *sigh*
I hope you find your motivation again.
While all the other suggestions given have been very helpful, in the end it boils down to what Jimmy says above.
If the interest is there, so will the motivation.
OP, do you have any problems with your concentration with regard to other things ?
Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get known as a bass player, so I can get more opportunities to play with other people. I think writing out a practice schedule looks like it might work, because there are too many different things I can improve on. When everything is written out, I know what I'm going to do next. When doing other things, I always have music playing on the backgroind. Without that, I can't stay focused for more than a minute. Maybe I should have a video playing on the background when I'm practicing bass, to keep me from getting distracted...
I second. Music is a social activity without an audience or another person to play with it boils to just exercise. Besides the singer/songwriter type guitarist there are also the folks who take piano lessons as part of their childhood education. Tradition minded parents may not like their child exploring pop music but the kid who has lessons forced upon him may enjoy a pop music break. Then there are churches which like b schools are among the institutions holding out for live music played by musicians and depending upon a DJ or Mix tape
Thanks for posting this. I hadn't thought about this before, but it could be a good idea to set goals that I try to reach within a week, so I know what I have to do every practice. I'll try that as well.
I mean no disrespect, but if concentration is difficult for you maybe talk to your doctor......you could have ADD or ADHD and the doctor could certainly help with that.
Back in the day, my parents cured ADHD with an occasional swat to the butt 
Can't say I'm a fan of putting kids on medication for it. I know it apparently works with some of them, but it seems so "Clockwork Orange" to me, you know?
Another thing you might consider is that you have simply run out of things to teach yourself. The reason we have teachers is to show us things we didn't know about. If you're teaching yourself, you have a very limited knowledge base to draw from. Find a good teacher with a background in jazz who will teach you reading, chord theory, and all that, and you will never run out of new things to learn.
Can't say I'm a fan of putting kids on medication for it. I know it apparently works with some of them, but it seems so "Clockwork Orange" to me, you know?Another thing you might consider is that you have simply run out of things to teach yourself. The reason we have teachers is to show us things we didn't know about. If you're teaching yourself, you have a very limited knowledge base to draw from. Find a good teacher with a background in jazz who will teach you reading, chord theory, and all that, and you will never run out of new things to learn.
