I'm Struggling To Learn Bass With A Learning Disability

[spencer096]

a lot of great suggestions here...

in terms of practical ways to improve, one gist i got was that you're feeling overwhelmed by the amount of data youre being asked to process. this is natural and nothing to be ashamed of. one of the ways ive found success in is by breaking down my practice sessions into 10 minute chunks. i only practice one thing for that 10 minutes...that could be anything from a 4-bar section to sight reading a few pages of bach violin or cello sonatas. the important thing is practicing only what you intend to for that 10 minutes.

if you don't have it done after that 10 minutes...it doesnt matter...stop and move on to something else.

you might not be able to absorb and process tons of data right now, but you can focus on ONE thing for 10 minutes, and you'll be shocked at how much progress you make. maybe the whole song won't be there yet, but youll have main sections down and youll be able to play them on your own. maybe you don't hit 100% of the teacher's goals from last week, but youll have 75% of it down.

the most important thing is to make progress at your own pace, not compare yourself to someone else (or worse, an imaginary foe). rome wasn't built in a day...be patient, enjoy the process, and enjoy your successes rather than wallow in your failures. good luck.

 

[16notes]

MrNoob,

As others have noted, you are a gifted writer! Your post demonstrates that you have the ability to clearly and creatively communicate your thoughts and ideas. In many ways, music taps into these same skills.

Anxiety can block our ability to be in the moment, learn, enjoy ourselves and even breath. I can hear some of that in your description of the stress you feel going into lessons and your progress. Learning some good breathing and grounding exercises can help manage anxiety and free us up to be more present and engaged in all we do. All of us can benefit from that!
If you are interested, send me a PM and I can share some resources.

As you likely know, we all learn differently. Some of us are visual learners (arpeggio shapes, patterns), some analytical (theory), others learn by doing (listening, singing, playing), etc. Are there methods or approaches that you have developed to help you learn in school? If so, perhaps sharing these with your teacher would help better tailor the bass lessons to your style of learning?

Give yourself freedom to explore and make mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down - music is no different.

Be well my friend!

 

[johnson79]

I've been playing some sort of instrument for 30 years and I never learned a lot of theory. I just like to play. Talk to your teacher. Just like school, not everyone learns the same way. Talk to your teacher, or find one that can teach you differently. Having passion and curiosity about playing bass is a big part of it.

 

[Allan Allan]

Okay, absolutely tell your teacher you aren't getting arppeggios, but also tell them it's stressing you out and making the bass not fun. Bring a song you want to learn and ask if you can put theory on the back burner for a few weeks.

 

[dalkowski]

Work with your teacher to set goals you can achieve, which will keep you satisfied and motivated to go farther.

It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to make you feel joy. It should challenge you, but not more than you want it to.

Good luck, you got this. The journey never ends, and we're happy to have you traveling with us.

 

[bfields]

No experience with your particular learning disabilities, but would it help to record your lessons? Just a smartphone would do the job fine, or you could use a dedicated recorder like a Zoom H4n. Then you could listen back at your own pace.

I do that and often get things on a second listen that went over my head at the time.

 

[cosmicevan]

The only person in life that can hold you back is yourself. We all have challenges, some more than others and some more challenging than others. Never give up. The most valuable thing you can learn in life is to be resilient.

Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" - so far you've found one way that doesn't work. If seeing your teacher play helps, then video him playing the exercise, if hearing then audio record. I read this post and I see "Ive tried nothing and Im all out of ideas."

You can let your challenge define you as owning you...or you can own it. That is a choice that only you can make.

 

[NL_Bsss65]

Don’t give up your doing great

You have no reason to be ashamed and should be proud of yourself for even attempting to learn an instrument most peopl with your disability wound never attempt it

You should let your teacher know so he can better acomadate you and help you progress more easier .

My older brother has similar disabilities and I try to let him know that he is no worst than any one else and I am proud of him just like I am proud of you it takes a lot to do what your doing.
Don’t give up and keep going also every one on here is really nice and can help you in many ways to progress don’t be afraid to ask .

Keep rocking bass brother we’re all rooting for you

 

[StatesideRambler]

YES! Talk with your teacher about this. You want to learn to play bass and your teacher wants you to learn. Never be embarrassed about having to work hard to learn.

Everyone learns differently and good teachers understand that. He may not know how to work with you yet so you can teach him how to help you. The two of you doing this together is how you’ll learn so do talk about it. If it takes a long time, that’s OK. It really is!

Welcome to the bass world, MrNoob.

 

[dheafey]

Hey man, I'm a high school English teacher and I work with students like you describe yourself every day. Most of the time, it's about finding a way to help you learn things. Use the strategies you use at school that work. Those strategies are often less about the content and more about how you learn best.

Most of my students have extended time on their IEPs. So, give yourself some extended time to learn a concept. They also have their material chunked out in manageable pieces, so try that too. What are some learning strategies that work best for you? Let's see if we can't apply it to learning bass.

If ADD is a thing set a timer. Give yourself manageable times to practice, say, arpeggios. Then give yourself some time to just noodle around and learn where the different sounds live on the fretboard and the different places you can make the same sound. Unstructured exploring is still learning.

You'll get it bit by bit. Keep at it.

+1,000,000

As the father of a daughter with ADHD and Aspergers, what Fielding says is true: your learning style is YOUR learning style. In my daughter's case, she has severe anxiety at the beginning of learning a new task, then the anxiety tapers off with repetition. Most times, she just needs to take a break from the task. I concur with others that breaking away and just noodling on something may be more appropriate. Heck, I do it all the time.

Playing arpeggios on bass is super boring. I like to bring up an online keyboard site and program a few simple chord changes, 1 chord per measure, and play arpeggios along with it. I learn better when I HEAR the arpeggio with chord accompaniment. Also, try to make it musical if you can by inventing a song with a standard I, IV, V (ex: Gmaj, Cmaj, Dmaj) or a I, V, iii, ii (Gmaj, Dmaj, Bmin, Amin) and practice moving through your arpeggios and pentatonics.

Keep at it. You're already way ahead by self evaluating your strengths and weaknesses and coming up with a plan to address them. We're rooting for you!!!

 

[Lava]

Yeah, you can do this! The most important factor is that you want to learn, you have the desire, that's awesome! There so much great advice posted already, but I'll just echo what others have said, tell your teacher.
There are so many bass players who don't read music so don't beat yourself up about that. Rock on brother!

 

[rtslinger]

Let your teacher know. He may be able to find different ways to teach you; otherwise he may just think you're not trying.

Don't give up, instead try to find fun in the journey. Enjoy what you have accomplished and worry less about what you're still working on.

Great advise I could not had said it better

 

[bherman]

Can you come up with an easy song or two that you love and want to learn? When I was first starting out, all I did was to learn to play them by ear, listening over and over again until I got comfortable with playing the songs. I think that at your stage of learning, and with the challenges that you've described, the most important first step is to get comfortable with the instrument. Technique and theory can follow, when you are ready.

The other important thing is to play every day, even if only for 10-15 minutes. You'll make more progress by playing consistently.

 

[robd]

Get your teacher to teach you a couple of simple songs to work on. It gets boring just playing scales and sh*t. More fun if you can play something

 

[City]

So I'm a high school student who's in special education and takes bass lessons (outside of school). I feel like being learning disabled is really affecting me being able to learn bass.

I've been taking bass lessons for probably almost a year and all I've really been able to do is memorize the frets and play songs along with my teacher but fail to be able to do them without him.

He's been trying to push arpeggios for weeks now but I don't understand them at all. If you asked me ANYTHING related to arpeggios I'd have no idea what to say even though we've been going over them for over a month.

I don't know what to do. It makes the lessons so stressful because I'm simply not learning anything. I know it's not my teacher's fault, we get along well and he's works quite nicely with me despite not knowing I have a disability.

I've been thinking of telling him but I don't know what difference it would make and I'm honestly embarrassed cause I just don't have the mental capacity of most his other students.

If you're wondering what the disability is, I have ADD, am suspected of autism, and have a very low processing speed of 70 (one point away from the mentally handicapped mark). The low processing speed is basically what it sounds like, in short it means I am extremely slow.

I have all of that along with a couple other weaknesses. It's so exhausting. It shows in my lessons. Like for example I'm always messing up because I can't read the music and play at the same time. I usually mess up when it comes to repeating lines or moving onto a different one because I find step by step processes to be extremely confusing but that's really what music is all based on.

I don't want to give up on music because it's my biggest passion but my conditions are really holding me back. Any advice? I know this isn't something usually discussed here but I'm at such a loss.

I will tell you something sir. You write very well and much better than many posters on this board. Keep working on the bass, it only took me 30 years to become proficient, and that is my opinion of my playing, may not be other's opinion. Keep thumping!! (I see many beat me to the punch, but your writing skills struck me positively and I had to let you know. Another thing....I use a pick, which some here will never accept....when I retire in a couple years I am going to teach myself to finger pick well. So It is always a continued learning experience. Chill, enjoy music, and never give up!!!)

 

[lizardking837]

Get your teacher to teach you a couple of simple songs to work on. It gets boring just playing scales and sh*t. More fun if you can play something

+1 for this. Theory will make more sense when you can see it used practically.

I struggled mightily my first year playing bass. It was for other reasons, but they're still difficult hurdles to clear. When you're playing on your own, do a few very simple 'technique exercises' until they feel 'natural.' Just pick up your bass, play a few notes with really good technique, take a breather and then build a little more, like playing one simple scale a few times. I'll bet that once you don't have to think about the little things, the rest will start to 'fall into place.'

 

[oldcatfish]

So I'm a high school student who's in special education and takes bass lessons (outside of school). I feel like being learning disabled is really affecting me being able to learn bass.

I've been taking bass lessons for probably almost a year and all I've really been able to do is memorize the frets and play songs along with my teacher but fail to be able to do them without him.

He's been trying to push arpeggios for weeks now but I don't understand them at all. If you asked me ANYTHING related to arpeggios I'd have no idea what to say even though we've been going over them for over a month.

I don't know what to do. It makes the lessons so stressful because I'm simply not learning anything. I know it's not my teacher's fault, we get along well and he's works quite nicely with me despite not knowing I have a disability.

I've been thinking of telling him but I don't know what difference it would make and I'm honestly embarrassed cause I just don't have the mental capacity of most his other students.

If you're wondering what the disability is, I have ADD, am suspected of autism, and have a very low processing speed of 70 (one point away from the mentally handicapped mark). The low processing speed is basically what it sounds like, in short it means I am extremely slow.

I have all of that along with a couple other weaknesses. It's so exhausting. It shows in my lessons. Like for example I'm always messing up because I can't read the music and play at the same time. I usually mess up when it comes to repeating lines or moving onto a different one because I find step by step processes to be extremely confusing but that's really what music is all based on.

I don't want to give up on music because it's my biggest passion but my conditions are really holding me back. Any advice? I know this isn't something usually discussed here but I'm at such a loss.

--Definitely tell your teacher right away! I also teach bass and guitar and if he knows that you have a learning disability he WILL
change how he teaches you. I would personally approach your lessons like I do with very young students--very slowly progress the difficult things, a lot of repetition with important concepts, and a lot of practical application. You CAN learn how to play bass, it will just take you longer. Right now, your teacher probably thinks that you just are not practicing what he is teaching you.

Please update us after you tell him and he adjusts your lessons--say in a couple of months. If you still don't feel like you are progressing any, I will try to help you out...but I am sure that you won't need my help, once your teacher understands what's going on.

 

[Bullitt5135]

There are a lot of different approaches to teaching/learning. You can either try to (A) work through it with your current teacher, or (B) seek out another teacher who may connect with you better. Maybe approaching things from a different angle would be beneficial? Nobody says you have to stick with a teacher for life.

 

[Magthegrate]

When I was taking questions, at my request, we would spend half of the lesson going over technical things and music theory, and we'd spend the second half just learning whatever song I felt might be fun to learn. It made things a lot less tedious and more fun.

When learning a song that I'm having difficulty with, I typically put a very short section of it on repeat, and play it over, and over, and over, and over again. It drives my wife insane, so I generally do it while she's not home. Then, once I have that section down, I add in the next section. I repeat this until the song is learned. YMMV

 

[leonard]

Tell your teacher! No reason to be embarrassed!

Practicing music is good for anyones brain. Yours and mine.

After all the years of gigging I still practice my arpeggios and find them extremely useful at any musical setting. Don't give up!