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Has the pandemic changed your musicianship?

Has C19 changed your musicianship?

  • Yes

    Votes: 33 75.0%

  • No

    Votes: 8 18.2%

  • String beans

    Votes: 3 6.8%
  • Total voters
    44
#4
Yes. Towards the beginning of the pandemic I did a lot of recording, then later on had a month long depressive episode where I didn’t play at all. Then I worked intermittently on some solo stuff and have been working back up to a regular routine now that gigs are trickling back. I assume it’ll be short lived, though, so I’m focusing on establishing a good practice schedule that’ll keep me motivated and “healthy” when the weather gets cold and gigs inevitably shut down again.
 
#6
Yes, I’m focusing more on learning to improvise bass lines and compose full songs in hopes of creating solo works. Pre Covid I was focusing on learning songs I liked and was thinking about trying to find a band. I have few musician friends so the idea of finding someone with the same artistic vision as me was already daunting without thinking about social bubbles so I see this as one of the positives along with working from home.
 
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#7
me too, I have managed to take the oliver nelson Improvisation bass book out of my library and it now sits on my music stand... I put an effort in on that challenge each day...Good for musicianship..
 
#15
Since gigs disappeared we decided to do some recording. That forced me to focus on listening to my playing more often and more critically, and I think this helped to drive some improvement.

Also, pants aren't as important when playing now. Very important for gigs.
 
#17
yes both ways _ I have more time to woodshed and revive skills I once had, work on reading, and listen to more music. And write and record. OTOH I'm getting woodshed - itis. Losing music stamina and long term focus - that's what not gigging live will do for you - you lose the ability to play one hour's worth of songs, back to back, without making a mistake. I make a list of about 15 songs and play through them non stop. It helps but it's not at all like playing with other musicians.
 
#19
Yes - kind of. I was always one to dabble in a bunch of different instruments. Right now, I'm obsessed with vintage monophonic synths. I'm playing around with a couple of virtual options, but I'm really close to pulling the trigger on something. Probably won't be vintage and probably won't be strictly monophonic. Something like the Korg Monologue XD. I REALLY want the Roland Jupiter X-m but I think that's beyond my skill level at the moment.

What does that mean for my musicianship? Well, I've started dabbling in soundscapes/music-for-picture composition type stuff. Electronic with a smattering of analog guitars and bass.
 
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#20
I still try to play an hour or two every day, although some days it is tougher to be motivated. Learning new songs and refreshing and fine tuning old ones that haven't been played for a while (in some cases decades) help. It also helps me to rotate sessions through a variety of instruments....4 and 5 string, fretted and fretless, as well as different scale lengths. I guess I feel this will help me assimilate to about any musical challenge when the Covid mess is over.

All this said, I sure need some stage time with an audience and the fellowship with other musicians. I intend to be ready when we can safely do that again.

Koog
 
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