Double Bass Getting Discouraged

[Huy Nguyen]

The tricky part is finding the balance between being hard enough on myself to improve and being happy with the things I've accomplished.

Yeah i think that's the hardest part. Being compassionate toward yourself is not easy. Certainly one of the things I've figured out is that if I managed to like a tiny bit of something that I produced, I use it as a way to find focus. As it is important to improve our weaknesses, it's also in some ways more important to like what we do and focus on our strengths. If you like what you play, to me, that is a clear indicator in the direction you should head. It's quite rewarding to be inspired by what you create, even if it's less than perfect. Then you know what to hone, perfect, and clarify.

I can't think of a better way to find ones own artistic voice.

 

[statsc]

Please note I didn't say that.
Just play the best you can.
It's worked out great for me.

OK; so I posted it, and it was said about 3/4 in jest! Believe me, I get the point of following your dreams, reaching for the stars, and going all out for what excites you. I tell this everyday to the college students I advise in my academic day gig, and have followed this advice successfully myself. I think it's important, however, especially for aspiring musicians, to have a Plan B (or C and D if necessary). With any luck, this can be related to music, and can connect to and inform a performance career. Most of the musicians I know, and I'm guessing a majority of the TBers I see posting here, have other gigs that pay much of the bills and provide the kind of support and stability that music careers, except at the highest levels, lack. In fact, I could make the argument that my day gig (gigs, actually!) have actually enhanced my experience of the beauty of music by freeing me from a lot of the anxiety created by the kind of existence a full-time musical career demands. It also helps me to not get caught up in the competitive spiral. I don't know about the classical world, but in the jazz world we're hired more for the stories we tell and the groove and support we provide than for monster chops. Stick with those and you'll always be on the right path.

 

[Groove Doctor]

A little bit of advice from someone older.....

How you think, how you feel, and how you act - they all radically change between 20 and 30 yrs of age.

Your priorities change, your outlook changes. You learn to conquer one 'fear'.... then often have to learn to conquer another. It can seem overwhelming. But it won't always be that way.

Take each day as it comes, and be ready to jump at opportunities when they present themselves.

 

[sean_on_bass]

I'm no orchestral player...but i still see plenty of players that are way better than me on a fairly normal basis I use it as fodder to motivate me to practice more, harder, or in different ways. After all, if THEY can get to that level, there is no reason that I cannot. We are all of the same species after all.

With that said, orchestral bass playing scares the hell out of me!

 

[emilio g]

David,

You're already ahead of where I was in college. I was one of the worst people in my university, especially in the beginning. Imagine bombing at a concert and Stanley Cowell asking,"what the heck happened up there?" afterward. That was my first combo concert experience at Rutgers.

I'm doing just fine now because I stuck it out. That's really a lot of what you need to do, just commit to stay in it whenever some external garbage is telling you to quit.

You're going to have some ups and downs. If you're in a slump, don't beat yourself up over it. It happens. The best way I know to get out of a slump is to try to inspire myself. Change it up. That passion project you've been meaning to work on on? Go for it. Explore some music that is way out of your wheelhouse. Slumps are a great time to hit the reset button. Sometimes it's best to take some time off to go do something to refresh. Go hiking, fish, basketweave, enter a sandbox building competition, whatever you're into. You want to use some outside input to halt the circular thinking that gets you feeling stuck and discouraged. There's almost always a way to turn things around for yourself.

And definitely do not use auditions as a measuring stick for your worth as a musician. One of the hands down best bass players I've ever met subs with top tier orchestras who won't hire him permanently because they don't want to lose such a solid sub. Imagine being able to make it to finals consistently, but never win because of politics. The classical music world likes to act like it is an air tight meritocracy, but it certainly is not. Don't buy into it too much.

Make your own measuring stick. I take a lot of inspiration from the electronic music world. Lots of those people make their own definitions of success because there is no Bass Synthesizer Philharmonic section opening at a salary of $41,000 a year with benefits. There's this wonderful, almost childlike spirit in that community where people follow their inspiration more (excluding the uber commercial EDM DJ types who don't actually make music).

Rather than focusing on competition and winning auditions, explore the many. many ways you can make it work as a career and keep pushing yourself artistically.

Focus on process, not events. Process will lead to events. Working on music everyday, taking lessons, playing with different groups, and picking people's brains are all examples of process that lead to events like winning an audition or being called for a great gig.

Hang in there, keep fighting the good fight, and don't ever be shy about saying hello on here or elsewhere. Email anytime: [email protected]

 

[Stdjazz4]

Even banks and Insurance companies are full of performance arts majors that are probably more talented.

But don't let that discourage you!!

 

[Remyd]

I used to love dissecting techniques I saw on youtube, until the performers got younger than my children and better than my teacher. ;-(