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Please Help Make Bass Fun Again For Me

#21
It sounds like you really need a hobby that lets you mingle with people out of work that allows you to de-stress.

A weekly jam with a few beers works wonders for me. I call it my "bowling night". It doesn't matter if you screw up. It doesn't bother me on the odd occasion that one of the group get a bit messy on red wine. I used to get a bit uptight with the singer/guitarist not being able to count in a song properly or forgetting lyrics but I let all that go and just have a bit of fun. It also allows me to try things that I wouldn't with my gigging band and therefore I learn new licks and lines. The best bit is that for around 3 hours each week i'm not thinking about work or any other life stresses.

RoadRanger said:
Hey anybody ever tried these?
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I've used some of those for practice and fun although it can take some time listening to crap to find good ones.
I've found these below to be really good as they also include recommendations for scales, chord tones etc.

Quistjam Jam Tracks.
 
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#24
Interesting thread. I go through periods of being tired of the bass. Sometimes the break itself is just what I needed. That and finding new folks to play with at my place. I have no interest in being in a band. I play for only fun, not a job. The last time I turned a fun hobby into a job, a lot of the fun when out of it. Your results may very. Best of luck getting your groove back.
 
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#25
I too have been on this road. In fact, I just quit my band a few weeks ago. Granted I'm 40 now, I just don't find the things we do as a band stimulating as before, I feel I need to be challenged. But one thing I realized a few days now is that my depression is getting the best of me too.

@Killed_by_Death... Maybe you're in a bad place perhaps. I too find the things a used to love stale. Tho at the moment, I'm back at cycling again and tinkering with stuff(raining the past few days, no ride, depressing..).
 
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#26
If playing in a band isn't your thing right now, there are some things you can do.

Go to open mic jams. Find a place where guys go to play a few covers or jam for fun. (Warning, this results in networking, which may result in people asking you to join their bands)

As someone above said, work on walking bass lines and reading chord charts, and start going to jazz jams. IF you are new at that you will suck at first, but it will motivate you to get better, and also walking jazz lines are fun because you almost never play them the same way twice. (Don't worry about the above problem; unless you are really good no jazz guys will ask you to join a band)

Get some J. S. Bach music transcribed for bass and set about learning that stuff. It's fun, it's fresh to most rock bassists, and it's a serious challenge. (If you get really good at that, there is a small chance you may get asked to form a prog metal band) A quick search on Amazon turns up some Bach for bass stuff

Do some home recording or writing. Doesn't need to be fancy or expensive.
 
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#27
Junkyard Stalker said:
When I'm not looking forward to playing with a band, I find myself stashing my bass and gravitating towards fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I find it a very satisfying way to play a complete piece of music without getting involved with other humans.
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I'll support this suggestion. I do exactly the same thing (except I use the " nylon guitar" voice on my Tyros 4 Yamaha keys....o.k.-- it's cheating but the end result is pretty good).

It's kind of nice sometimes (actually a lot of times) to put aside the rhythm tracks , drums and repetitive "rock" beats and lose oneself in the simple purity of a guitar.

I happen to love the sound of nylon and classical guitars.

I found that I've changed with time. I've had popular rock songs pounded into my head since decades ago. I keep making the mistake of playing those songs over and over, trying to convince myself I'm getting somewhere. I don't mind playing them...but a little voice in my head says "Had enough of these yet?" and I bitch-slap myself back to reality and realize that what I actually want is to change my musical diet. A change is as good as a rest. So I foray into other styles of music.

Corporate rock, radio stations and YouTube Hot Trax do not dictate my musical life. Nor does living in the musical glory of yesteryear as if somehow I will get to be twenty again.
Memories are memories. To be enjoyed at my discretion.
I play what I want to play,when I want to play and how I want to play. ( But I still practise on keys and bass because for me practise is a useful tool).

But I'm always looking for a way to express myself musically.

I'll leave bassplaying idle for a few days while I work on some other musical material. Then return.
 
#30
I for one am proud to be a member of the TB community, with standup and talented dudes giving the sound advice that I read above.

This too shall pass, and you will jam again man. I am an expert on how work can crush the pleasure out of bass playing. Resist. Use the flats!
 
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#31
There's magic in noodling, I haven't learned a song in years but I keep my basses on the wall and the amp always plugged in so if the mood strikes me I can just play. It requires nearly zero mental effort, it kind of unwinds the mind and even without having all of my modes and scales memorized I just kind of express on the bass.
 
#32
Matthew_84 said:
This will probably be the most useful post in this whole thread.

My work is the source of a lot of stress right now (plus a lot of stuff going on at home that's bringing my wife and I down). Once the home stuff is settled, and maybe I find a new job, then maybe I'll be excited to play bass again. My current job just eliminates any motivation to do anything that requires any mental effort once I get home.

I looked for some new work a few days ago, but I'm going to head off and try the search again. I think this is more important than probably anything else. Thanks.
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Hey... I really don't mean to offend you but I thought about it and figured that the best thing to do would be to just tell you straight what my impression was when I read your OP: This guy is having a depression. All the classic symptoms are there really.

It seems you know what is wrong in your life and are trying to change it. You are already reaching out to people, as you did with this thread. That is the right thing to do. Get rid of the gaming system. Get help (ask for it!). And the bass playing will come back - or not. But you will be better.

All the best to you and take care!
 
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#33
That bass can sit around a little bit while you're doing other things or just not feelin it. There's no pressure to play it every day. Sometimes we get a new interest and the way we spend our time changes. Nothing wrong with drifting in and out of different things.
 
#34
Sounds like you're addressing the underlying issues (work and home) which is the most important.
Question - when you say "don't want to join a band", does that mean "don't want to play with other people"?
Or "not formally"?

For me, much of the fun of playing music, especially bass, is the interplay with other people.
Having people I enjoy jamming with makes for much more fun than playing by myself.
I find that to be true in relationships too :D
 
#35
Lots of excellent advice given. What can I add? My own story? OK. Feel free to turn the page, because I'm going to write a bit...a lot. Yes. I used to gig extensively, playing mainly with singer-songwriter type alt-rock groups. I went to school & to work during the day, but the night was all about performing. Then life caught up. I sold my gear & took up singing. It was fun for a while. Then I bought a cheap fiver, thinking I'd rekindle my interest that way, having played four-strings only prior. It did light a fire & I became (& remain) a 5-string guy. So what do I do with this, I wondered.

I thought I wanted to get back into the rock scene again. I jammed here; I jammed there. It was depressing. My heart wasn't in it all. Dead. Hanging around people who still wanted to be "rock stars" left me cold. So I decided to think outside my musical box. I've always been fond of folk & classical music from a variety of sources. And--hello--I realized that a colleague, at work, was a classically trained vocalist & pianist. That interested me, but I thought that my rock, mainly self-taught chops wouldn't interest her.

I was wrong. We're playing every week, arranging folk songs from around the globe to suit ourselves. I'm growing musically in leaps & bounds & she reassures me that she is too or she'd have dropped it. I mean, we practiced eight hours today. We are a duo now. My role's thus expanding, as I utilize my bass to lay down a groove, percussion, & guitar chords & melodies. I haven't been this happy in years. And I never saw it coming. And, no, we're not talking romantic involvement here. No. It's all about two friends creating music.
 
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#37
SanDiegoHarry said:
Bass without a band is like peanutbutter without bread.

At least to me.
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This is off topic, but for me one of the great things about YouTube is that I can finally listen to some of my favorite songs WITHOUT the rest of the instruments. Just bass and drums. Which is what I always used to listen to anyway, even when I was a guitarist. :laugh::laugh::laugh: So yeah. Some of us are just idio... I mean special.
 
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#38
navijaz said:
This is off topic, but for me one of the great things about YouTube is that I can finally listen to some of my favorite songs WITHOUT the rest of the instruments. Just bass and drums. Which is what I always used to listen to anyway, even when I was a guitarist. :laugh::laugh::laugh: So yeah. Some of us are just idio... I mean special.
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Listening - and enjoying - is one thing. Playing an instrument that was specifically designed to play in support of other instruments is quite another.

If I was told I'd never get to play bass with other musicians, ever again, I'd sell all my gear in a heartbeat.
 
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#39
SanDiegoHarry said:
Listening - and enjoying - is one thing. Playing an instrument that was specifically designed to play in support of other instruments is quite another.

If I was told I'd never get to play bass with other musicians, ever again, I'd sell all my gear in a heartbeat.
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Yeah yeah, you're right, of course. ;)

Another side note, I have a friend who is a classical bassoon player. Now that is an instrument that takes determination to play all by yourself. Plus if you thought bass players get no credit...

Back on topic now :D
 
#40
navijaz said:
Yeah yeah, you're right, of course. ;)

Another side note, I have a friend who is a classical bassoon player. Now that is an instrument that takes determination to play all by yourself. Plus if you thought bass players get no credit...

Back on topic now :D
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I too knew a bassoon player. She practiced diligently so that she was good *when she played with others*.

I frankly do not understand why anyone would avoid playing with others, even if you don't have an audience. Music is for sharing, not hoarding.
 

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