Double Bass have anyone went through this with their practicing?

[bass4art]

for the last few days I have not been practcing my bass, it has been since friday since I had picked up my bass and played.

I usually play 2-3 hours day, but I just felt like not doing it for the last few day, in fact have not even taken it out of its case until last night.

I plan on practicing today and tomorrow for my lesson on friday.

Sometime I loose interest or just need a break from it, and someday my emotional state can interfer with my playing as well.

I want to be a good player, I just want to be able to focus on it without loosing my concentration with it.

can would handle these period with your music? just wondering.

 

[Cannabass]

well honestly i've never felt this way about bass. I already played guitar for years before and when i finally picked up a bass i could hardly get enough of it.

But i definitely know the feeling you're talking about. It happens... but i think once you get to a point of comfort ( or...confidence?) with bass - at least if you're anything like me - you'll have a harder time keeping yourself sane when you don't have a bass in your hands than you will making yourself practice.

what kind of stuff are you learning in your lessons right now?

 

[bass4art]

just the right way to bow, I had switched from German to French Bow. Most of what I am doing with the left hand is review.

well, so you I am clinically diagnoses with manic depression, these feeling really happen only once in blue moon for me, because I am on medication. Just that I had missed a couple of times I should of taken my meds.

I was told both by my therapist and phsycholgist that I can still have my moments where even being on medication, that my mental state can effect me even with my practicing my music instrument. I guess when I have though down times that I should not be so hard on myself, plus even when I do not feel like playing I should still pick up the instrument because it is not only myopinion my my medical and pshological professionals say it is good medicine for me to cope with my mental state.

 

[Rob Thompson]

How about listening to a recording that inspires you. I do this especially if I'm working on something difficult and getting discouraged.

It might refresh your interest (and help to ease bouts of depression).

 

[bass4art]

excellent advice, I shall work on it also

 

[bejoyous]

As the saying goes, sometimes a change is as good as a break.

I go through periods when I don't play my bass, but I don't stop being a learning musician.

Attending concerts, listening to recordings, watching videos, visiting art galleries, playing other instruments, reading scores or literature all help me grow. When I get back to the instrument, I have a newer perspective on life, music, etc.

Right now, I'm in a hiking in the woods while listening to classical music on the radio (CBC 2).

However, don't let the other stuff take over.

 

[Rockmusician]

I have been playing for 32 years. I only practice about 3 to 4 hours per week. Usually on Friday or Saturday. Sometimes I even skip a week or two. Sometimes, it's good to take a break. Lately, I have been very bored with playing bass. I can play everything I ever wanted to play. I am thinking of going back too playing guitar for a while or perhaps learning a different instrument.

 

[Andrew Grandahl]

Breaks happen. Practicing bass every day, all the time, frankly isn't even healthy. But sometimes the longer breaks do happen.. it's fine. Bass is what you love to do, and you will miss it like hell soon enough. As Bejoyous mentioned, sometimes these breaks are good for us as musicians. Getting a new perspective on the different aspects of music we love can have us approach bass entirely differently when we go back to it. I had something very similar to that happen to me last summer.

I also think having a piece of repertoire you're dying to learn helps a lot as well. Go on Youtube, watch some great performances of great pieces. Get inspired. Best of luck!

 

[Jack Clark]

I remember an interview of Bill Evans in which he stated that he never practiced when he didn't feel like it. He said that Scotty was the same way, too, as I recall. I got the impression that he was suggesting that if he didn't feel like practicing the practice session was not likely to be worthwhile anyway.

I think crowsmengegus's suggestion of listening to some inspiring jazz is a good one. Another thing that works for me is to just get started with a practice session anyway, and see what happens. Sometimes I'll get all my play-along accessories set up and get my bass all tuned up and the negative feeling dissolves. If it doesn't, then I don't force myself to practice, either.

Another thing that I like to do at the start of each practice session is to paraphrase a line from the movie Absence of Malice and decide on something specific that is going to be true at the end of the session that is not true now. E.g., I'm going to have a certain chord progression down cold in a certain key. Or perhaps have a new way of playing that chord progression. Etc.

Of course, I'm just an amateur, so I don't need to practice to pay the rent, either.

 

[bejoyous]

Then again, I did go through period where I was practicing 6-8 hours per day plus busking in the subways and doing various gigs around Toronto.

 

[Saxn]

I haven't been playing bass long enough to go through it with this instrument yet, but having played sax for nearly 20 years this has happened several times - normally shortly after hitting a plateau in my playing development. I would play for some time and make no progress, get frustrated, take a break.

Now, surprisingly enough, when I would come back to playing after one of these extended times away, I would find that the first practice session would shake off the 'rust' from not playing for a while, then I would (like MAGIC) be much better than I was before! I have come to accept this about myself, and fully expect it will be the same with bass.

I don't think it's a problem at all, OP.

 

[ILIA]

"Sometime I loose interest or just need a break from it, and someday my emotional state can interfer with my playing as well.

I want to be a good player, I just want to be able to focus on it without loosing my concentration with it."

Some advice:

1) As you have noticed yourself, your 'emotional state' (as you call it) is getting in the way of your development. You will have to somehow remove that barrier. There is no other way around it. Remove barriers to your musical development. Only then can you work on your musical development and realize full potential. What are you waiting for? Drop the baggage, go for it, and don't look back.

2) It is very true that in order to be a good player, your mind has to be focused during practice time. I don't recommend practicing when your mind, body, and soul are no committed 100% in the moment. You just go through the motions, otherwise. Concentration, like bass playing, is a skill that must be developed. And make sure you are truly concentrating when you practice. There are a lot of walking space cadets who think they are concentrating when they are actually in la-la land.

3) It is perfectly normal to take a long break from practicing and then sound better than you ever could have when you were practicing regularly. The mind has to rest just like the body, and that is sometimes all you need to get to the next level. But unless you were taping yourself before the layoff, there is no way to no for sure if you indeed got better during the long break.

 

[Fletcher Lanning]

Instead of trying to overcome a lack of motivation that can occur for many reasons, I find that I get more practice if I pick up the instrument every single time I DO feel at all motivated.

Any time the thought of playing something crosses your mind, do it. Even if it's only for one minute. If you feel like playing more, do it; but be alright if you only want to play for five minutes. I found that I got a lot more useful practice in if I just resisted to urge to sit still when I was even maginally motivated to practice. I didn't find that practicing when I wasn't in the mood was very helpful for the most part (marathon sessions for a particular piece aside lol).

 

[Saxn]

Instead of trying to overcome a lack of motivation that can occur for many reasons, I find that I get more practice if I pick up the instrument every single time I DO feel at all motivated.

Any time the thought of playing something crosses your mind, do it. Even if it's only for one minute. If you feel like playing more, do it; but be alright if you only want to play for five minutes. I found that I got a lot more useful practice in if I just resisted to urge to sit still when I was even maginally motivated to practice. I didn't find that practicing when I wasn't in the mood was very helpful for the most part (marathon sessions for a particular piece aside lol).

And a big +1 there. It helps to get a stand (if you haven't) and keep your instrument handy when you take this approach.