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

#62
The past few weeks while everything is all so crazy, I've decided I'm not going to force anything. instead of rigorously practicing scales, modes, arpeggios, etc I play what I feel like. Sometimes I do indeed feel like doing some "actual" practice, sometimes it's just 15 minutes of noodling. Like many, I expect, I don't have the mindset or emotional fortitude at this exact moment to drill down and become objectively better.

Music is welcome distraction for me at the moment.
 
#65
I don't think it's a first world problem.
Gear concerns are first-world problems. If you love music, it's in you whatever your conditions are.
Maybe especially when they are dire.
That's why you can feel disabilitated when you get out of touch with it.
 
#66
One of the advantages of doing music as a hobby instead of professionally, is that you can never really hate it as a committed amateur. You know why? Because hobbies by design are supposed to make you happy. If it's not making you happy, then stop doing it and go back when it does make you happy. Maybe it won't be for another month or several months. The important part is walk away when it doesn't make you happy. If you don't come back because you found a new hobby to make you happy or you found that music makes you miserable, then sell your gear and move on. The only people that can truly have the right to be miserable as musicians are the ones who do it for a living, because they can't walk away from it because that's how they make their money to support themselves.
 
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#69
I quit playing for like 15 or so years..sold everything cept an acoustic guitar ( thats called a reservation) I sold my P bass for pennies, sold an all tube traynor amp for like 50 bucks and my drum set was also liquidated...I got rid of everything in case anybody tried to talk me back into playing again, I could always just, I sold all my gear sorry..

So all that time went by and then a friend of mine was hosting an open mic thing..he kept bugging me relentlessly to come down and play..he was like just do 2 or 3 songs..no big deal we all wanna hear you play again and after about a couple of months of this I said okay I'll come down and play, thinking that will pacify him and then I will be done..So I went down with my acoustic played "friend of the devil" by the grateful dead, "Mrs Robinson" by simon and garfunkel, and "disturbance at the heron house" by REM..all right in a row and everyone was clapping and I thanked everyone and was getting up to pack up and go...and my friend comes up and says to everyone on the mic my name and asks me how about one more...well by this time I was high on the buzz of playing and the clapping and poopie and I ended up playing like 12 songs lol which is a lot for an open mic but my friend music was back.. and a couple weeks later I bought a korg keyboard, carted that down to open mic and played some stuff on guitar and then piano..and that was all she wrote I was back...break was officially over.

I went to open mic every week and played sets of 10-12 songs...and soon someone asked me if I wanted to join and band..so then I had to go out and buy a bass and an amp..because they needed a bass player, so that led to where I am today...playing in the best band I have ever been in, with the best bass I've ever owned ( sorry P bass fans) and the biggest amp rig too..ha ha, life is a river sometimes you just ride the current and see where it takes you...

Now there are times when I don't feel like playing or practicing..but I just smoke some latin lettuce and that feeling goes right away..
 
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#71
I sometimes experience the same feelings. What helps me through is taking a break and listening to different styles of music. Taking lessons face to face has also helped. But the best advice I got was from a good friend. He said if you want to up your game you need to join up with some musicians and do a few open mics. It really helped my playing and my passion for the Bass. Thanks Forrest! RIP my friend
 
#72
Papazita said:
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.
Click to expand...

I have literally never felt like this since taking up the bass. I suspect it's something deeper than just music, and I would discuss what you just told us with your physician ASAP.
 
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#73
I'd had a pretty busy 3 years of bass playing up until lockdown. Between my main band (60's), a couple of side projects (acoustic band playing upright, and a duo), and #1 sub in a busy cover band it seemed that I'd had a never ending list of new songs to learn so when lockdown hit I was sort of glad of the rest.

I've only picked up a bass a few times since to practice a few songs for the duo side project as I suspect that is the one that will come back first. We do a weekly live stream to the internet so as soon as we are allowed in the same room we will be back to it.

My main band and the acoustic side project will be a long time before they are functional again because the guitarist in them is in the "at risk" category having had his immune system battered twice by chemotherapy. I suspect that before it is safe for him to mix with people there will need to be a vaccine developed.

What I need is a kick in the pants to get me started again. This will happen when I get an email from my duo buddy asking "are you ok for Monday night Fred", then I will hit the woodshed big time.
 
#74
Papazita(a nod to Benny Benjamin eh? :D)
Just take a break and/or concentrate on other hobbies.

If I need to mix things up, I'll go take a walk at a park and just enjoy the sounds of nature. Or sit in the back yard and read a book(currently reading Machiavelli's The Prince). Cook a very nice meal for you or the household(that can be a next level challenge depending how elaborate you want to go). You get the general idea.

Seems like everyone here has gotten into a rut at some point. Things will get better.
 
#76
There's a lot to be said for just picking up, and playing through an old classic you've played 1000 times. Just enjoy it. Lots of anxiety all over for a whole bunch of reasons.

Don't force yourself to do it. Give it a break if need be.
 
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#77
Papazita said:
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.
Click to expand...

do something different. Play a different instrument for awhile. Do something you don’t normally do (sit down and learn a long solo, if you don’t typically do that).
Learn to mod your bass. ETC

otherwise, feel free to quit! It isn’t binding, you’ll come back as soon as it’s time, no ones going to say ‘no no no you quit, you can’t come back’
 
#80
Papazita said:
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.
Click to expand...
Gear won't help you be a better musician. Focus on the music and not on the gear, and you might rediscover something you think you've lost.

Do you own a looper? A good way to practice is to lay down a line or chord progression, and then improv over top of it for one minute every morning. It'll be painful at first, but you'll get better and better, and it'll matter less and less which bass you picked up to do it.
 
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