How's your handwriting? How does it compare to your bass playing?

[Bassaga]

My handwriting is often fine and very legible, if a little casual. Occasionally it's way out there with random lines being way too long, circles unclosed, everything at the wrong angle. Usually it's somewhere in between. Basically, I can be good, but when I set pen to paper I never actually know what's going to come out, or how my hands will play along this time.

My bass playing is the same. Often fine, occasionally lousy, usually decent with some "what was that?" mistake moments where my hands just do something wacky. Still working on motor skills and such, I dunno.

Started wondering whether you folks have similar patterns? Like flawless elegance in your handwriting and your playing, or aggressively sloppy playing and writing, or whatever?

 

[JimK]

Catholic school for 13 years...handwriting is intact.
Hours of practicing. Muscle memory kicks in.
Wish my bass playing was as OK.

My mom (@89) has flawless writing. Took a letter to the PO over the Holidays...the worker there could not read it. So, now we're illiterate? Nice, good job.

 

[bholder]

Handwriting is the only grade school subject I did not excel at It's gotten worse over the years. The first house I bought, the seller watched me sign, then looked me in the eye and asked if I was a Doctor. Yup, it's that bad. And worse now since the only thing I use it for is signing receipts.

I like to think my poor handwriting is not reflected in my playing.

 

[el jeffe bass]

In a word it SUCKS. Not even close to legible.

 

[joelns]

My handwriting is so bad, I am often mistaken for a doctor with bad handwriting. My bass playing on the other hand, not so bad.

I don't think there's a correlation.

 

[Oddly]

Handwriting is barely legible.
It was never that great to begin with, but due to lack of use over the years has deterioriated a lot.
The same could be said of my playing.

 

[Dincrest]

My handwriting is sloppy.

My bass playing is clean.

My typing is awesome.

 

[5StringBlues]

Terrible handwriting.

I was tested for eye/hand co-ordination as a child. Seems I was right hand dominant and left eye dominate. I've never caught a baseball in a glove in my life , and it took until I was a senior in high school before I could catch a football.

It's not been an issue with playing music at all and my co-ordination got better as I grew out of young childhood.


But don't ask me to go play catch or write a sentence you can read.

 

[mongo2]

Seems I was right hand dominant and left eye dominate.

I'm the same way, strongly right handed and left eye dominant. Oddly enough I recently found I have a "macular pucker" in my left eye which makes me legally blind in that eye and a minor stroke messed with my right side three years ago. So now I use my left hand and right eye more.

Regardless, my bass playing has always been better than my handwriting.

 

[fdeck]

How to put it? I never write without an eraser handy. My bass doesn't need an eraser.

 

[Element Zero]

What a bizarre yet interesting comparison. My hand writing is average and a bit stylized. My cursive is not great. It’s all legible as long as I’m not trying to write too fast.

I do not feel there is a correlation for me personally. I’m rather confident in my abilities as a bass player and can hold my own in many genres. Prog metal, black metal, classic rock, blues, modern country, modern worship, funk, reggae, folk... I’m not afraid of music.

That being said, if I were to be required to sight read or rely on written music to play, I’d be an absolute train wreck.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

My handwriting is an illegible scrawl as I am left-handed but was made to try and write right-handed for years, result is I can hardly write with either hand. My bass playing though is intensely spiritual musical fluidity the like of which has rarely been experienced by mere mortals, on account of I am a lefty who plays righty.

 

[nonohmic]

Both are pretty bad. But I like writing and playing.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

They are similar: My handwriting always looks like it was done in a great hurry. And I have a tendency (which I'm well aware of) to rush the beat.

 

[BadSanta1281]

My handwriting is spectacular.

My bass playing is anything but spectacular.

 

[Dave Leighton]

Man you went right for the throat...

 

[ELG60]

Handwriting: Very legible

Bass Playing: Barely listenable

 

[Iristone]

Handwriting in my native script - rather ugly, fairly legible but not very consistent.
Handwriting in Latin script - similar to what the OP mentions, but I probably have a lot more error rate.
Bass - I guess I will be playing in front of no one for quite some time

 

[PWRL]

I like to think my bass playing is better than my handwriting, but my handwriting has improved recently. It used to be great, but that was when my bass playing was really bad. I think I must have traded one for another.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I have only ever failed two classes in my entire educational history: Trigonometry in 11th grade ...and Penmanship in 1st grade.

My cursive handwriting has not improved in the ensuing 55 years.

otoh, my printed/block script handwriting -- which frankly is pretty much the only handwriting I've done since that disastrous experience in elementary school -- has a unique quality that several people over the course of my adult life have commented on: It is neither textbook "correct" nor even typical...but it is extremely legible.