Throw it all away, burn it down. I hate music.

[Ladoo]

I was there for about a couple of years before the pandemic hit. I've actually been enjoying the break from gigging and that feeling of constant urgency to keep up the chops for every weekend. There's a lot of good advise here much of which I have done. I'm not entirely out of the "everything sucks" phase but I'm getting closer.

I've done a lot of what has already been mentioned in this thread but if you're really deep in the everything sucks phase I would start with:
Stop playing and listening to music. Go do something else that completely takes your mind off of it. I would recommend that you do something physical and get inside your body and out of your head. For me, I have found little local hikes out in the beauty of nature is so good for the soul. It's so damn calming and makes me feel more connected to nature. It makes me feel as though nothing else really matters. After a few trips out I inevitably find myself looking at my instruments with a little more interest.

 

[Davbassdude]

The only time that happened to me was when I was 13 years old, after a bad trip on 4-way blotter at an Allman Brothers concert at Roosevelt stadium in 1974! Luckily, I got over it and renewed my love for playing music!

 

[bobdabilder]

I picked up a keyboard and started pulling out melodies from our setlist to play on bass. Helped my ear a ton and that made my playing better and easier.

 

[BOOG]

Back a few years ago I remember thinking I hated every song I had on my iPod.

Now I rediscovered the cure.

Step 1) Really good record player. Really good stylus. Really good speakers
Step 2) Go to the record store. Buy records. If you don't know what to get look at the covers and get them based on the jacket art. Any genre.
Step 3) Listen to the dang music. Don't listen to stupid bass lines, who cares about bass lines. You're in the moment listening to music. Get into it.
Step 4) (optional) use headphones. The isolation of good cans on your head might help you tune out the nonsensical idea that you need to focus on stupid bass lines.

Be a listener instead of a player. Makes a huge difference.
p.s. standing up to flip a record every 15-ish minutes is better for your posture than sitting for too long.

If your local store is still closed I'd recommend https://www.turntablelab.com/
But after the world opens up go to the shop. It's way cooler. Just keep your elbows tucked, 1 bin width only!

IMO/IME #3, makes the biggest difference. We (humans) tend to get burned out. If I’m analyzing all of the time it takes the fun out of my passions. Rest and recovery are key to rejuvenation.

 

[BOOG]

@mongo2
I appreciate what you went/are going through and I hope you’re getting better everyday. Thanks for taking a minute to share perspective.

 

[JW56789]

Early on, I'd get sick of the people, the places, the music I had to play to gig that I really couldn't stand, the drunks, the stoners, the whole thing . . . . and I sold everything and walked away for about a year.

Then like herpes, I couldn't get rid of it and the itch came back. So I bought another axe and a rig, and dove back in. Sure enough, over the next year, same reaction, same supposed cure: Sold everything. Again. Walked away for maybe two years this time.

Then the itch came back, I learned to live with this mental deformity, and I've been playing ever since.

It happens.

 

[TonyP-]

It’s a though time for everyone at this point in history.

Life itself is a big circle and this to will pass.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

How do you feel about other things in you life? Sounds like this might be a little more than just music.

As for giving up, if it doesn’t give you joy, and your not dependent on income from playing, take a long break before selling your gear.

 

[TimBosby]

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

This happens to me just about every other day. But I'm almost 41 and don't have too many other hobbies so.. :shrug:

 

[Goat of Ball St]

Take a break, if you only play one instrument try another. Explore genres with that new instrument you originally might have never approached with the current ones you play or just take a break and do anything else. It really helps.

 

[IamGroot]

I had a bad night tonite. I played crappy.

If I get really down, I will put my bass out of sight and sit down at the piano bench. Bach makes everything ok. No alcohol, no weed, pills or other.

Hopefully, I will only be away from the bass briefly.

 

[Adjectives]

Yep, the whole coming to terms with where you're at in one's musical journey. I had a stroke a decade ago, so my left hand is still relearning itself. It was an immobile claw for the first year or two, but now I'm back to maybe 70% mobility.

I often think of "where I could be" when I see peers, or great players. I've learned to just try and enjoy other's achievements and appreciate my own, though it's tough every day.

Your query was very poignant as I'm watching the last 120 minutes from 1993, and am mentally back in that shoegaze emo mode. Ahh simpler times.

For me it's about the search for new music that inspires me. At the moment it's Khraungbin.

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

 

[Shalto]

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

Pretty much how I feel after any jam or shed when it didn't work out well. Similar to you I will vassilate between loving it and not loving it frequently.

It's one a of the many areas in life that remind.me is important to react to how things objectively *are* rather than how I *feel* they are. Because my feelings are fickle and capricious. I have to ask myself (not when I'm in a bad mood because for me bad moods usually = impaired decision making) whether music is worth it. Last few times I checked, it is.

One practical piece of advice i can offer is that you have to learn to enjoy the process, not just the result. You've got to like being in the shed and be aware that improvement isn't linear, so somedays you won't be as good as yesterday. Others you will scrape forward some brief, bloody and bitter steps and others you will suddenly click and wonder where that came from. If your shed time isn't offering some joy, it may be good to change your routine, try something completely new etc as it's got to offer some joy or you won't keep.coming back.

 

[flatrat]

Music is tough and what makes it uniquely challenging is that there is no point where one can say "I made it, I got there, I've conquered it." Set goals for yourself, measure your progress and in your practice, try to play things that make you happy at that moment. Many of us go through such phases. I went through a 2-month period like that and recently started playing the bass again.

 

[bassobrutto]

You might want to spend a half hour with this video and hear what one of your fellow musicians has to say about listening and hearing.

Dame Evelyn Glennie is an internationally recognized classically trained orchestral percussionist.

She’s also deaf. She started losing her hearing when she was just eight, and has been diagnosed as being profoundly deaf since the age of 12.

That was fantastic. Thank you.

 

[rylie]

started as a guitar player then added bass
bass is what I play best now
my guitar skills are second to bass
guitar offers another music choice
as time passes, if not bass inspired, guitar is available

 

[BassoSaku]

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

Take a week (or two week or however long you feel is right) long pause from playing. There is a saturation point at where you need to just breathe in deep and let your system recharge.

 

[juggahnaught]

Does anyone else ever feel like just giving up? I'm not in it for success or money, I just play for the fun of it and my own enjoyment. Lately though, I've been stuck in one of those ruts where nothing is right, nothing sounds good, I'm continually frustrated and I hate everything. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, so why bother?

And then the next day I'll feel just the opposite.

10 minutes later I'm back to hating everything. I'm at the point now where I don't know whether I want to pack everything away and take a break, quit entirely (which would save money), or get rid of every instrument and piece of gear I own and start over from scratch.

Yes.

 

[IamGroot]

If I wanted to end my music, all I need to do is pull out my brushes and paints.

It's one or the other for me.

 

[Samatza]

I think we had a post like this from someone else recently.

We all get into a mood now and again where nothing seems to sound good, nothing exciting is on the horizon and it makes you want to give up, I know I've been there a few times.

I remind myself of all the positive aspects of what we do, we have fun, we spread joy to others and I like playing live more than anything. That said I often take a break, a week or two where I don't touch an instrument or listen to music other than having it in the background when I drive. When I get back into it the feeling is fresh, I like what I'm doing and hearing.

Perhaps like others have said here, you just need a similar break from it and when you come back it may all look great again. Most recently with the lockdown I started renovating the bathrooms and painting the house, that's all I had time to do so the instruments took a back seat. Today I started writing some charts so I plugged the bass in to read through and make corrections and I said "dang, that StingRay sounds PHAT!" Being away from it for a couple of weeks gave me a fresh perspective and renewed excitement.