Quitting or taking a break from playing

[Russell L]

No.

See, for me, playing is compulsive. Has been all my life. It's a hunger, something I can't live without. I'm not talking about gigging here, but just playing. The urge comes on and I need to play right then. Might be bass, or guitar, or piano, whatever flavor the hunger craves. Been that way since I was three-years-old sitting in my mother's lap banging on the piano for the first time. I love it. Can't help it.

 

[TOOL460002]

If I take a short break (week or two or more if on vacation), I feel like I come back more creative. My stamina might suffer but my mind comes up with new stuff.

 

[oZZma]

Now Christmas is coming and I feel really bad about taking a break... Unfortunately me and my drummer will go to vacancy in different periods and so we will not play for a month or so... Too much. I really needed to play, especially now... I'm having a bad depression and that was the only thing I could cling to.

 

[cosmicevan]

Now Christmas is coming and I feel really bad about taking a break... Unfortunately me and my drummer will go to vacancy in different periods and so we will not play for a month or so... Too much. I really needed to play, especially now... I'm having a bad depression and that was the only thing I could cling to.

so pull out that bass and set a goal to do something with it this month that you wouldn't normally do. You normally play metal, then learn a funk song or some mo-town...or learn a bach piece. I have found that the best way to get myself out of a life rut is to do something I wouldn't normally do. As Einstein says, doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is the true definition of insanity. You got this! Flip the script...if nothing else, it's worth a try for a few days.

 

[oZZma]

so pull out that bass and set a goal to do something with it this month that you wouldn't normally do. You normally play metal, then learn a funk song or some mo-town...or learn a bach piece. I have found that the best way to get myself out of a life rut is to do something I wouldn't normally do. As Einstein says, doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is the true definition of insanity. You got this! Flip the script...if nothing else, it's worth a try for a few days.

you're right, there's a lot I can do alone too.
Maybe it's time I start learning seriously to play drums. That would be useful for the band too (instead of explaining what I have in mind, I can play it, much easier). For the short time I tried to play drums I felt much better, it was so liberating...
Thanks for the support, I'll definitely follow your advice

 

[motoman]

I,m in the same rut right now have not touched my bass in over a month. I have been very disappointed at myself. The motivation is hard when all your doing is playing by yourself.

 

[oZZma]

I,m in the same rut right now have not touched my bass in over a month. I have been very disappointed at myself. The motivation is hard when all your doing is playing by yourself.

I can relate.
Unfortunately my drummer's job does not match with mine as for days/hours etc and placing reharsals is really hard, we play once a week, two when we are lucky. I suffer a lot for this thing because I'm damn serious about the band, It's not just a hobby for me... but I feel my drummer is not commited as me and he's not willing to sacrifice some private life to play more than we do. And I'm aware that with this amount of work we'll never go anywhere. I have been through periods when I felt so descouraged I only played at reharsals and didn't touch my bass at all for the rest of the week. Now I fell in the opposite kind of discomfort, I only feel relief if I go and play, even alone, everyday after work, maybe because I'm facing a severe depression for personal reasons and I have to keep my mind busy so I don't have to think about how much life f*cked me.

 

[Mr_Moo]

I write articles and do other stuff that satisfies that creative urge. Writing music isn't my thing, and I find that other peoples' original music usually doesn't appeal to me at all.

So.... What music does appeal to you?

 

[Pilgrim]

So.... What music does appeal to you?

12-bar blues, surf, classic rock.

And mainstream jazz, plus some popular classical music like Beethoven, Handel and Mussorgsky.

If it's rap or the cut uses auto-tune for singers who can't sing, I turn it off. I listen to terrestrial radio most of the time.

Here's a version of Pipeline that our band recorded.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I finally gave up on being serious about guitar or bass, so I just got one of each & mess around on them at will.
No goals, no expectations. Since getting a guitar on Black Friday I've played more in a short period than I ever have before.

I'm not trying to learn songs or anything, just making up nonsense riffs that I like. It's a lot more fun than I expected, but it took years to get to this point.

 

[jeffb28451]

Just took an 8 week break. Gettin' itchy, though. I wasted too much time in my misspent youth and can't afford too many more breaks from something I love so much. But I do have to pace
myself and not play to physical exhaustion or work with idiots, as they exhaust me psychologically!

 

[Al T.]

I had a 3 year break from playing in church but I always had my bass nearby and played it unplugged now and then. I have been reading standard notation and charts lately and it's coming back quickly. Even playing for my own amusement in my living room is a blast- low notes on my 5 are still a thrill.

 

[Nedmundo]

If I take a short break (week or two or more if on vacation), I feel like I come back more creative. My stamina might suffer but my mind comes up with new stuff.

Same here. In my last original band, we sometimes had long breaks without rehearsals, and occasionally I'd come up with new parts after those breaks. This happens with guitar as well.

To update my previous post, it looks like I've found a potentially great opportunity with an original country/roots rock band. They're holding auditions in January. After speaking to the (extremely cool) band leader, I was totally stoked about the opportunity, but the next day my ambivalence about joining a band returned. It's really weird.

 

[fingerguy]

I actually stopped listening to music awhile back for reasons too numerous to detail here. Crazy, I know. But it just doesn't excite or entertain me like it used to. Maybe it'll come back one day.

Don't think I will ever truly stop listening to music but I have been playing my Amazon Prime Shows in the car while I am driving as background noise. Don't worry I am not staring at the screen I just need some noise and found I enjoy music most when I am going on my after dinner walks and the shows while driving. You can get the just of a show just by listening to it.

 

[cosmicevan]

Don't think I will ever truly stop listening to music but I have been playing my Amazon Prime Shows in the car while I am driving as background noise. Don't worry I am not staring at the screen I just need some noise and found I enjoy music most when I am going on my after dinner walks and the shows while driving. You can get the just of a show just by listening to it.

if ya gonna go that far...why not read? I mean books on tape are actually created for what you describe...and think of all the heads you'll turn at parties for being so "well read" - although these days, what shows you watch is more of an engaging conversation than what books.

 

[fingerguy]

if ya gonna go that far...why not read? I mean books on tape are actually created for what you describe...and think of all the heads you'll turn at parties for being so "well read" - although these days, what shows you watch is more of an engaging conversation than what books.

Actually before binge watching shows and playing shows in the car and way before this whole taking a break I was doing that for awhile. From books to learning Spanish and so on. Just got boring and needed a change. I am sure I will go back; I have in the past.

 

[friskinator]

if ya gonna go that far...why not read? I mean books on tape are actually created for what you describe...and think of all the heads you'll turn at parties for being so "well read" - although these days, what shows you watch is more of an engaging conversation than what books.

For me, it's podcasts. They don't provide the "water cooler" conversation that TV provides, but I've found several podcasts over the last few years that are extremely entertaining. I get a thrill every time I get a notification that a new episode of something I enjoy has been released. Maybe podcasts are my new music?

 

[fingerguy]

Well things took a slight turn. On Saturday and don't recall exactly why I decided to Youtube piano songs for beginners and putz'd on the Roland Keyboard I bought for the woman a couple of Christmas's ago. Note I NEVER learned the piano in any fashion. So this was a completely new territory for me. I first started with the Rocky Theme and the theme for Halloween. Then came Sunday and saw a video about playing "Imagine" by John Lennon; prior to that I did a lot of research on the top two music teaching programs and started to putz with the free options on "SimplyPiano" which was fun and made it really easy.

But then I really started to get into learning "Imagine" and primarily focusing on that. So in short not going to pay the yearly subscription for SimplyPiano for now, and focusing on Imagine which is challenging and I am sure not the first choice for a complete noob but the small progress I have achieved I have to say it's doable; this conflicts with some of the comments on the video about how this isn't the best song to start as a noob but I don't care, it's fun and that is the whole point.

So in short clearly not taking a break from music but rather taking a break from my string instruments.

 

[Nedmundo]

To update my previous post, it looks like I've found a potentially great opportunity with an original country/roots rock band. They're holding auditions in January. After speaking to the (extremely cool) band leader, I was totally stoked about the opportunity, but the next day my ambivalence about joining a band returned. It's really weird.

Well, to update the update, I ended up bailing on the original country/roots band. This is partly because of continuing wrist problems, which are a real hassle and might require surgery, but also because of my general ambivalence about joining another band. For whatever reason, I'm just not up for it.

But, like @fingerguy I'm going in a new musical direction. Some of my neighbors play and sing in a regular open mic here in Philly, and have been encouraging me to join. So, when my wrist finally heals, I'm going to create a short set of my original material on guitar, and add a song or two from my last band. These would be my first guitar and lead vocal performances since 1992. I've started looking at looper pedals for layering guitar parts. It won't be the same as playing bass in a high-volume rock band, but I'm looking forward to trying something different, bringing some of my material out of the basement, and carrying on the legacy of my last band to some degree.

 

[fingerguy]

Started back up with my teacher for the piano and using a kids book; humbling experience but I am enjoying it. Imagine is taking a back-door; focusing on reading and working on my skill plus timing all at once. Not easy!