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I feel like I suck...

#21
bodoger said:
I've been playing for 35 years and ("Dude, I've been playing for 35 years. Many people think I'm completely badass.") but I always feel like i'm totally out of control most of the time.
So I mostly just hang on for the ride.
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This pretty much sums me up as well. I'm 60 and have been playing since 1970. I had a few very long breaks (once for 10 years and another for 12), but still.

I still look at it all and think I don't know squat! Give yourself time because as others have said, that is the one huge advantage you've got right now. It's great you want to get better, but don't beat yourself up too bad along the way because it takes time.
 
#22
bodoger said:
I've been playing for 35 years and ("Dude, I've been playing for 35 years. Many people think I'm completely badass.") but I always feel like i'm totally out of control most of the time.
So I mostly just hang on for the ride.
Click to expand...

Yes, a million times yes! That's one of the things I love about playing in a band live, that thrill of almost falling off the roller coaster.

My bandmates tell me I'm good but I always feel like I'm just faking it.
 
#23
Hang in there, you've literally got your whole life ahead of you. I'm almost 34 and have been playing since I was about 14 or 15. I feel like I suck lately and am trying to find the motivation to get better since I am already waaaaaaay over the hill to be doing music for a living/touring etc. On top of it, I have carpal tunnel in both hands. I'm looking at getting surgery soon and then starting from from scratch, relearning technique, etc...
 
#24
I agree. You suck.:ninja:


Now what will happen is you will spend hours upon hours playing and getting better and then you will become the next bass prodigy and you will look back and be like... "HA I showed brenner182!" And i will be sitting in a bar playing mustang sally to 5 people. Think of me of the constantly disappointed dad you will never be good enough for until you are a huge rockstar with moutains of money and cocaine.

Moral of the story, Keep playing. :bassist::bassist:
 
#25
Lulz. I wish Talkbass had existed when I started. :D

brenner182 said:
I agree. You suck.:ninja:


Now what will happen is you will spend hours upon hours playing and getting better and then you will become the next bass prodigy and you will look back and be like... "HA I showed brenner182!" And i will be sitting in a bar playing mustang sally to 5 people. Think of me of the constantly disappointed dad you will never be good enough for until you are a huge rockstar with moutains of money and cocaine.

Moral of the story, Keep playing. :bassist::bassist:
Click to expand...
 
#29
Do yourself a favor and read Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner. Look at how many older players in this thread have commented they still suck after years of experience playing. It's a mindset you want avoid. Once it settles in it can dog you the rest of your life. One of the fundamental keys to sounding good is believing you sound good.
 
#30
Mike M. said:
This pretty much sums me up as well. I'm 60 and have been playing since 1970. I had a few very long breaks (once for 10 years and another for 12), but still.

I still look at it all and think I don't know squat! Give yourself time because as others have said, that is the one huge advantage you've got right now. It's great you want to get better, but don't beat yourself up too bad along the way because it takes time.
Click to expand...

Similar story here to age and experience. I play what I can and what I like. I don't beat myself up over it.
 
#31
marchone said:
Similar story here to age and experience. I play what I can and what I like. I don't beat myself up over it.
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Amen, brother! Not to take away from the OP's concerns, but I've been playing long enough to know by now that I'm going to be of a certain "ilk" and nothing more. And I'm comfortable with that. Yes, I want to and am taking steps to improve and while I feel I'm at least a decent player I know I'll never be a what some refer to as a monster player. Victor Wooten, Henrik Linder....love 'em but I'll never be in thier camp.

If I could do it as well as Macca....just playing the right note at the right time, the right phrase, feel and bounce....I'd be one happy camper.
 
#33
Don't be so hard on yourself. Remember "Rome was not built in a day." Just keep working on it and your playing skills will get better. I think probably another if not the more important thing is just to have fun with it and enjoy playing.
 
#34
If you are sure that you are hitting the notes correctly and they are still "clanking" or "buzzing" - you can always bring it in to your local music store to have the action and intonation checked and set if needed. Usually a very inexpensive procedure (sometime free if you have them change your strings to a set you buy there), and something most players should do to their instruments once a year.

Second on the good teacher also - Even the best players still have more to learn.
 
#36
Thank you all for your help :),I feel like a jackass for not replying to most of you but I read all of them and I will never give up...I want to be the next Roger Glover or the next Steve Harris lol...On my birthday (the only time I really get a lot of money) I'm going to buy flats (strings) and I'm probably going to an independent music store (to get my bass checked out.) I feel so much more confident now thanks :).
 
#37
I wish I was 14 and learning bass. Keep at it..it will come. At 14 when you get decent you will have all the bands in your area wanting you..we bass players are hard to find. Don't worry just keep developing your ear, take lessions if you can or go out to jams and watch experienced players. Ask questions to other players and get on youtube for videos.

Just dont quit like I did ..you will wish you didnt when your old like me.
 
#38
gfdhicool said:
Thank you all for your help :),I feel like a jackass for not replying to most of you but I read all of them and I will never give up...I want to be the next Roger Glover or the next Steve Harris lol...On my birthday (the only time I really get a lot of money) I'm going to buy flats (strings) and I'm probably going to an independent music store (to get my bass checked out.) I feel so much more confident now thanks :).
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That a boy..don't get down get motivated and keep on playing.
 
#39
Wow! I bow my head with humility and shame for thinking I couldn't do it. I'm 62 and my hands hurt all the time; one on my right hand has a slight "trigger finger". I've been practicing for over a year and I'm nowhere as good as you, gfdhicool. I've been discouraged for about two months because my hands seem to be getting worse and I'm not progressing. But if TimBosby can play with carpal tunnel syndrome, I can overcome my difficulties. So I have decided to do what I've been putting off, and go and see my doctor. Thank you all for the encouragement.

Although I started very late in life with the bass I continue to be
The Ancientrocker
 
#40
No worries, ancientrocker, you're younger than my dad so not as ancient as you think :D Get your hands fixed... I'm talking to my work HR department about what my insurance will cover in terms of surgery and hope to schedule something soon. The guitar player in one of my bands got it done and his was way worse than mine. He missed a day or two of work, and a couple weeks of guitar playing. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things. He said it was a few months before he was gigging because he couldn't lift heavy gear. I think all in all, full recovery is nearly a year, but you should be gigging again within a few months.

My bands are slowing down now, right at the beginning of summer gigging season :rollno: ...BUT I offered to cover for another band stating in September when their bassist goes on military leave for about 6 months. And that gig may actually pay a little bit, so I'm gonna try to get my hands fixed this summer so I can be ready to go for that gig which will run Sept 2013 through Mar 2014 or so.


ancientrocker said:
Wow! I bow my head with humility and shame for thinking I couldn't do it. I'm 62 and my hands hurt all the time; one on my right hand has a slight "trigger finger". I've been practicing for over a year and I'm nowhere as good as you, gfdhicool. I've been discouraged for about two months because my hands seem to be getting worse and I'm not progressing. But if TimBosby can play with carpal tunnel syndrome, I can overcome my difficulties. So I have decided to do what I've been putting off, and go and see my doctor. Thank you all for the encouragement.

Although I started very late in life with the bass I continue to be
The Ancientrocker
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