I lost my groove!

[BioDriver]

As I’ve stopped gigging and become more career focused, my bass playing has diminished to basically noodling on my bass and playing nonsense. What actual songs I play are stuff I memorized and used as warmups a decade ago, and even then they’re just snippets. Fast forward and now I’m getting more serious with bass again, especially since one of my friends wants me to help him with some of the bass stuff he’s working on for his side project. After listening to his bass-free tracking I realized I had no idea what to do short of playing the root note.

I figured it was time to start listening to music and really paying attention to what the bassists were doing. I used to be able to shadow finger along, but in my time away I’ve lost that ability too.

Essentially, I’ve lost my chops and ability to come up with grooves and progressions, which is extremely sad and demoralizing. Before COVID I picked up some Latin jazz books but those have wound up being too much of a leap in my current state.

Any recommendations and/or books y’all could point me to?

 

[12BitSlab]

I can relate to your circumstances. I gig’d near full time for 15 years and walked away from all of it for family and career. After I retired from my chosen career, I decided that I wanted to get back to playing.

After a 37 year layoff, my skills had atrophied to the point where I barely a shadow of my former self. Moreover, I retired because of multiple health issues which included arthritis in my hands.

I decided that my best course was to find a private teacher and go about rebuilding my skills.

I did exactly that. I was able to find a fantastic teacher not far from from home. I’ve been taking lessons for a little more than 1 1/2 years and I am learning more than I thought I would and truly enjoying playing bass again.

Will I ever recapture my former speed and abilities? Given my age and health issues, I just don’t see that happening. But, I can and have for the most part, become a better player than I once was.

Trust me - if I can take 37 years off and get back to being a decent player, anyone can. I wish you good fortune on your journey.

 

[JonathanPDX]

The best resource is always a live teacher, either in person or over video chat. It helps so much to get real feedback on where you are at and what you should be working on. But, regardless of whether or not that is an option, a few other thoughts:

1. Start getting your ears tuned back into the bass by giving yourself a good playlist. If you have a specific type of music you want to focus on learning, start there. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with listening to classic soul and R&B with guys like James Jamerson and Chuck Rainey playing bass. There are so many great ideas on those old records, you can learn the whole thing or just pick little bits and pieces to dive into.

2. Work on developing a practice routine. It doesn't have to be a ton of time each day, it's more about how much your focus than how many minutes you play. Study some music, play along to something fresh, find something just a bit challenging (this is where a teacher really helps), and do some technical or theory exercises, like sequencing scales in different keys/positions, or running through arpeggios at whatever level you are comfortable with.

3. Don't worry about chasing after where you were before. Focus on what you have to say with the bass now. To paraphrase Victor Wooten, you have a different, and fuller, story to tell than you did before. You don't need crazy chops or a million notes to express yourself. So, put some work in, find your voice, and play every note with confidence!

Good luck!

 

[Groove Master]

As I’ve stopped gigging and become more career focused, my bass playing has diminished to basically noodling on my bass and playing nonsense. What actual songs I play are stuff I memorized and used as warmups a decade ago, and even then they’re just snippets. Fast forward and now I’m getting more serious with bass again, especially since one of my friends wants me to help him with some of the bass stuff he’s working on for his side project. After listening to his bass-free tracking I realized I had no idea what to do short of playing the root note.

I figured it was time to start listening to music and really paying attention to what the bassists were doing. I used to be able to shadow finger along, but in my time away I’ve lost that ability too.

Essentially, I’ve lost my chops and ability to come up with grooves and progressions, which is extremely sad and demoralizing. Before COVID I picked up some Latin jazz books but those have wound up being too much of a leap in my current state.

Any recommendations and/or books y’all could point me to?

I can recommend my book on Groove. I think it will help you out greatly on focussing on that. The other thing would be to get some drums loops and jam on those.

 

[two fingers]

Welcome back to the low end!

My first piece of advice is to learn some songs you really love. I learn a TON from songs.

Also, get into some music theory. Talkingbass is great for that. Once you know your way around tye fretboard, and even some basic chord structure, your bass lines will come alive.

Have fun with it.

 

[MrLenny1]

Like two fingers said, learn some tunes you like.
I would make up a list of 15-20 tunes and keep playing them.
Every one of them will teach you something different.

 

[basseux]

put your favorite record, play over it from start to finish every day for a few weeks