I wanna give up

[bigdaddybass12]

Don’t give up. I have played for a guy for 8 years. Same songs for 8 years. I hinted several times for new songs. I was at a restaurant and met another guitar player. I am trying to work out playing bass for him. Don’t give up but look for another opportunity.

 

[JeffCullen]

I've lost a lot of time to depression over the years. More and more battles are won as time goes on, but the war is ongoing.

Bass has been part of some of the really bad times, and hasn't been part of other really bad times.

This has been a rough year. Playing more has been a part of coming out of it for me this time, which I'm grateful for. I'm not in any bands these days, do the occasional jam with pals... who knows what the future holds. I just have a blast playing along to stuff I love.

At the end of the day... unless there's a pressing need for the space or money you've got tired up in basses...

 

[smo]

Basketball watching is a great way to noodle out some new techniques on the bass.

I enjoy basketball, but not NBA - for too many breaks in play.
I find anime while I practice scales and general noodling is good.

To our OP. A break is good sometimes. I'd suggest trying different genre as a challenge. Get out the grandpa guitars, learn double bass etc.
Change & challenge is good.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I took about a 3 year break. Didn't touch my bass.
Believe it or not,, its like riding a bike. You won't forget how to do it.
Get yourself centered, then come back and rediscover your bliss.

 

[Topkat13]

I just wanna give up the bass guitar & music in a band form
I had 8 and a half (spare neck) bass guitars and I just sold one because I was about to buy another one but in the end I wonder why
My band mate (a drummer) stopped our project before it was even born
I grab my basses less and less
I feel like I'm just playing all the same crap
Going to the city to meet music people and playing jams tires me

Should I just give up?
Am I depressed? yes

 

[Topkat13]

So take a break. Are you depressed? Can’t answer. If you think you are seek medical attention.

 

[Tony In Philly]

When I have a dry spell with gigs, I just listen to a lot of music of all styles and get inspired again.

 

[JRA]

don't quit. never quit.

it's music. find something to do with it. but don't quit! good luck.

 

[Geepers]

… start practicing, studying, and find the joy …

That’s what I would do. In other words narrow your focus. There’s beauty in the smallest things in music.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

 

[Pocket Dave]

I just wanna give up the bass guitar & music in a band form
I had 8 and a half (spare neck) bass guitars and I just sold one because I was about to buy another one but in the end I wonder why
My band mate (a drummer) stopped our project before it was even born
I grab my basses less and less
I feel like I'm just playing all the same crap
Going to the city to meet music people and playing jams tires me

Should I just give up?
Am I depressed? yes

When someone says they're depressed, even half kidding, it gets my attention.

Do you often feel a lack of interest in things that would've been a source of joy in the past?

Does this general lack of joy sometimes feel like its spiraling?

Depression is real and there are effective treatments that let you see it as temporary symptoms it is rather than your whole world; There is hope. If you're not seeing a professional, please consider it.

 

[BismarckHerring]

What I learned from my many depressions is that it’s important to keep doing the things that you did during the better times, even if they’re don’t enjoy them anymore.

Not enjoying things is a symptom of depression. There’s a temptation to just stop doing things that you don’t enjoy anymore, because what’s the point?

But if you give in to that temptation, it will likely just deepen the depression in the long run. Ask yourself what you will be doing with your time if you quit playing bass. Would you just sit at home on the couch? Would that be better for your mood than playing bass? If you decided to quit bass, try finding something elsewhere to do with your to e before you quit.

Don’t sell all your gear (though if you have 8 1/2 basses, selling a few, or even most of them, is probably fine), you may regret it when the depression ends - and they do end. Making drastic decisions, especially negative ones, during a depression is usually a bad idea. Seek help and make important decisions above your life when your judgment isn’t clouded by depression.

 

[M-Mittlesteadt]

I just wanna give up the bass guitar & music in a band form
I had 8 and a half (spare neck) bass guitars and I just sold one because I was about to buy another one but in the end I wonder why
My band mate (a drummer) stopped our project before it was even born
I grab my basses less and less
I feel like I'm just playing all the same crap
Going to the city to meet music people and playing jams tires me

Should I just give up?
Am I depressed? yes

I spent 45 years playing. First ten were full time, professionally. After that I became the part-time "weekend warrior" (you know wife, kids, family regular job and all that).

Every single time I quit playing in bands I'd sell off all my bass gear and replace it with guitars. The last time I tried to get a band together was about 8 years ago. Really cool new format that was unlike the weekend (boring) cover band junk. That band was my favorite, but lasted only one gig before the singer decided he needed to be a star to bar drunks and wanted to do the same old cover junk I had already played for 20 years.

So I quit playing altogether. For about 5 years I neither played (nor even listened to) any music at all.

After about a 7 year hiatus, I decided to do some recording and set up an entire music studio in my office. Started playing guitar again and taught myself piano. But that didn't really satisfy me. I developed some health issues that made playing out live a no go. After recovering, I decided to get back into playing bass, but I wanted to explore a whole new approach to it.

So I recently bought a six string Ibanez SR206 bass (tuned EADGCF), a Fender Rumble 100 (V3) combo and a new Zoom BX1 FOUR effects pedal. This has opened up a whole new world of bass playing to me as I now am working on new techniques, and playstyle, doing a lot of fingerpicking chordal work. I am so happy to be exploring a new way to play bass and now have many ideas about playing live (doing both, originals and reworked, relatively unknown covers).

All I'm interested in is playing now are light, early, perhaps 2 hour coffee shop/café gigs.

Sometimes an extended break from (even from listening to) music can be a great way to rekindle the desire to play and then if you want to get back into it, YOU decide what you want and go for it. My passion for music hasn't been this great in over 20 years.

 

[groovepump]

No harm in taking an extended break, but don’t make the mistake of selling off all of your gear. About ten years ago I decided to quit music entirely, on a whim. Sold most all of my stuff. Came back to it two years later and had to start from scratch lol. I feel like stepping away for a bit helped make me a better player, in some indelible way, now that I’m back at it. But yeah this is also the season for seasonal depression, you’ll get over this hump- we’re all ears here (ALWAYS)

Good Advice! I got depressed and desperate 10 years ago after a lay-off and promptly sold all of my gear , which included a DB, a G&L L2000 Fretless, and my Ampeg amp, cabs, everything. Got employed 2 weeks later, but didn't get back into music for another 5 years.

 

[Pep]

I just wanna give up the bass guitar & music in a band form
I had 8 and a half (spare neck) bass guitars and I just sold one because I was about to buy another one but in the end I wonder why
My band mate (a drummer) stopped our project before it was even born
I grab my basses less and less
I feel like I'm just playing all the same crap
Going to the city to meet music people and playing jams tires me

Should I just give up?
Am I depressed? yes

I think you need to take a break. Get away from it all together for a while then revisit your basses. I think you'll find it's not your basses or music that is wearing you down, it's the people you've been associating with.
I'm feeling much the same way and am looking to start a new project with two guys I've never worked with.

 

[bmusic]

Should You Just Give Up?

Sisyphus couldn’t stop pushing his boulder—but you can.

www.newyorker.com

 

[M-Mittlesteadt]

Should You Just Give Up?

Sisyphus couldn’t stop pushing his boulder—but you can.

www.newyorker.com

Yes! Great advice.

For all of us, in any endeavor.

 

[dmt]

I just wanna give up the bass guitar & music in a band form
I had 8 and a half (spare neck) bass guitars and I just sold one because I was about to buy another one but in the end I wonder why
My band mate (a drummer) stopped our project before it was even born
I grab my basses less and less
I feel like I'm just playing all the same crap
Going to the city to meet music people and playing jams tires me

Should I just give up?
Am I depressed? yes

Sounds like you need a bit of a break, which is fine, or at least a change in your approach to playing music. As you said, maybe you’re at a stage in life where gigging is too inconvenient/not worth it. The negatives are outweighing the positives. Okay, that’s fine. Lots of people get there. If you want to keep playing but aren’t into the band scene, just play at home. That’s what I do. And keep an eye out for like minded people in your area. Try occassionallly getting together for the odd basement jam. If it works out okay, avoid the temptation to think "We have to form a band" if you don’t actually want to get back into having the responsibilities and relationships of being in a band. Just get together for fun when it would be… fun. Might even avoid the regular scheduled jam (ex. "We have to jam every other Wednesday") if that would be a drag. And otherwise, just make your own music at home. And as others have suggested, maybe try a new style that might suit your home playing better or that you were always interested in exploring. Try recording and/or writing. Try a new instrument, if one interests you. And just letting music sit a while is okay, too. If you’re not in a band with bandmates and maybe a venue/crowd counting on you, no one needs you to play music. Only do it if you want to.

Meanwhile, it sounds like part of your issue is that you got deep into the gear chase (the danger of online forums) and now find yourself swamped in gear. No one needs 7 and a half basses. I know, because I just had 8 basses too, lol. I recently sold two and a bunch of pedals, etc. and it helps. Start clearing out the clutter. And it can be a fun, interesting and even musically reinvigorating process. You have to go through each piece and decide what is a candidate to go, then among those, you have to take each one and clean it up, try out all the controls, assess its condition, maybe make repairs, maybe make a short demo video, etc., and in the process a lot of memories will come up. In some cases you may find yourself re-liking the piece; in other cases, you’ll be so happy to have finally gotten rid of the thing that had just been taking up space. In the end, you’ll have a smaller, more focused set of gear that you have a better handle on, and meanwhile you’ll have been playing all the stuff and maybe getting some new musical energy while doing it.

I also like to do my buying/selling in person and having a brief chat with the person. So far, it’s never turned into a musical relationship I’ve pursued further, but it’s interesting just talking with a variety of other musicians at the various stages of their musical lives (beginners to experts; old, middle-aged and young; tattooed rockers or suits; etc.). Basically, have some fun with the selling process. Selling stuff kinda sucks, but when you get success with a sale, it can re-energize you to move on to the next item or improve your listing for an item that hasn’t been selling (trying putting up a better picture or including a demo video, for example). And like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Work on getting down to a minimalist setup and just playing what you want when and where you want, and then see where you are at that point in your journey. Best of luck and success however you decide to proceed

 

[Elk]

8! I would keep the best 1-2 and sell the rest.

One option is to use the money to buy things that inspire you. It could be pedals, books, recording equipment etc.

Personally, any spare money I had always went to lessons. A good teacher can be really inspiring. You will actually end up wanting to play more because you will be learning and improving, which is fun.

 

[Basta-bass]

Personally, any spare money I had always went to lessons. A good teacher can be really inspiring. You will actually end up wanting to play more because you will be learning and improving, which is fun.

This last post finaly pointed my 2 cents...

Get a teacher! A good one! One that pulls you up. Take a challenge to play a little above your league.

I did this.
Took lessons, improved and started a funky band where as you know bass part makes all the groove.
That was hard! And a real thrill!

Made me wanna play like never before!

Good luck man!
Don't give up!