It helps to have a goal. I've been writing a song lately and learning some covers so our band can do "quarantine jam" videos. Despite what's going on in the world, it helps me deal with everything a little better when I can just focus on one task to the exclusion of everything else for a little while every day.
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Throw it all away, burn it down. I hate music.
- Thread starter Papazita
- Start date
Yeah....been there my friend.
What you've got is the blues. The real thing. I've had em...I've had em bad.
Band troubles, home troubles, job troubles, money troubles....etc.
When my last band went kablooey I suffered from what I guess was " musical exhaustion ". My bass sat in it's case for a good long while.
One thing I did was some years back I got a wild hair and bought myself a ukelele. I found a chord chart online and started learning old songs on it.
I couldn't believe how much fun I was having! Just switching gears brought back some of the joy I remembered music brought me.
I recently bought a Squier Telecaster to hone my old guitar chops that I had let slip away and I'll be damned if it didn't happen again.
Who knows? Maybe I'll get me one of them cheap little keyboards and revisit my piano teachings....
After this, when I did pick my bass back up, it was like....
" Oh yeah" ..." I'm actually GOOD at this!".....lol . And just like that, the "joy" returned.
You'll find your smile again
... and when you do, sit down and write a really,really, really good blues song. 
What you've got is the blues. The real thing. I've had em...I've had em bad.
Band troubles, home troubles, job troubles, money troubles....etc.
When my last band went kablooey I suffered from what I guess was " musical exhaustion ". My bass sat in it's case for a good long while.
One thing I did was some years back I got a wild hair and bought myself a ukelele. I found a chord chart online and started learning old songs on it.
I couldn't believe how much fun I was having! Just switching gears brought back some of the joy I remembered music brought me.
I recently bought a Squier Telecaster to hone my old guitar chops that I had let slip away and I'll be damned if it didn't happen again.
Who knows? Maybe I'll get me one of them cheap little keyboards and revisit my piano teachings....
After this, when I did pick my bass back up, it was like....
" Oh yeah" ..." I'm actually GOOD at this!".....lol . And just like that, the "joy" returned.
You'll find your smile again
... and when you do, sit down and write a really,really, really good blues song. 
Pick up another instrument. Burn out on one, focus on the other. For me the magic number is three. I keep three I rotate through to combat exactly this.
It doesn't need to be anything dramatically different. Sometimes I find that switching from fretted to fretless is sufficient.
It doesn't need to be anything dramatically different. Sometimes I find that switching from fretted to fretless is sufficient.
John Lennon walked away for several years. It's pretty common.
Hmmm, does that make Lennon is the Gronk of music?
Hmmm, does that make Lennon is the Gronk of music?
I'll be honest. I haven't played bass for a few years now. But finally, I dusted off my bass once again.
I'm a black man in Minneapolis, as you can imagine I am an emotional wreck right now. But I realized that playing bass is so therapeutic for me.
The truss rod is stripped, I'd like to go to ACE Hardware to get some parts and fix it, but the store is boarded up and shuttered right now. So I'll do the best I can with what I've got. But it feels so great to play again.
I'd say that if you're in a bass rut though, go get a nice electric guitar. There's so much to learn
I'm a black man in Minneapolis, as you can imagine I am an emotional wreck right now. But I realized that playing bass is so therapeutic for me.
The truss rod is stripped, I'd like to go to ACE Hardware to get some parts and fix it, but the store is boarded up and shuttered right now. So I'll do the best I can with what I've got. But it feels so great to play again.
I'd say that if you're in a bass rut though, go get a nice electric guitar. There's so much to learn
I've tried everything, & I have given up, there has never been any improvement.
When I've taken Music Theory classes, I have to drop out at the point where they start identifying simple intervals & then chords, & yes I have tried on my own lots of times & spent time practicing with zero development.
Some of us simply do not have it in us!
I know how you feel.
I'm really dreading the prospect of playing the same old tired covers with the same old tired band members to the same old tired audiences when this COVID thing is over. There must be more to music than this... or maybe there isn't for me. Perhaps it's time to take up a new hobby!
I'm really dreading the prospect of playing the same old tired covers with the same old tired band members to the same old tired audiences when this COVID thing is over. There must be more to music than this... or maybe there isn't for me. Perhaps it's time to take up a new hobby!
grab a pair of decent over the ear headphones, put on some early Deep Purple records, sit back with a cup of tea and just listen for a while.
usually does the trick for me.
usually does the trick for me.
You mean like pre- "Machine Head"?
As you can see you're not alone. With so many ideas brought forth, what are your thoughts now?
Meh, I pretty much love everything up to House of Blue Light.
decent over the ear headphones, I listen to the whole album, and then think about how I much I would love to write a song that might fit on one of their records. Then I pick up a bass, guitar, or sit at the hammond, and start to noodle...
I've read in the past that truly tone-deaf people don't enjoy Music, so I canceled the thought that I might be tone-deaf, because I enjoy Music a lot.
However, when folks are on about early Deep Purple I don't get it, can't stand all the Jon Lord in the mix. Their live shows are dominated by the keyboards, IME.
It doesn't stop there, I picked up Rush's Exit Stage Left & TBH I hate most of it, those long jams, Yuck!
So maybe I just can't appreciate Music like others.
Almost forgot, I appreciated ONE track on the new TOOL album & folks were actually calling me a liar, that I MUST love it & just being contrary for the sake of it.
All-In, I like the original TOOL bassist better.
However, when folks are on about early Deep Purple I don't get it, can't stand all the Jon Lord in the mix. Their live shows are dominated by the keyboards, IME.
It doesn't stop there, I picked up Rush's Exit Stage Left & TBH I hate most of it, those long jams, Yuck!
So maybe I just can't appreciate Music like others.
Almost forgot, I appreciated ONE track on the new TOOL album & folks were actually calling me a liar, that I MUST love it & just being contrary for the sake of it.
All-In, I like the original TOOL bassist better.
When I walked away from playing bass more than two decades ago I didn't believe that I'd ever come back. Burned out on way too many levels I was back then.
Years kept on passing and I would pull out my acoustic guitar once in a blue but nothing else. No desire to play bass or own one. Whatsoever.
When the stars aligned after more than a decade, I was back with a completely different idea of what my playing should sound like, and of the music I was interested in creating.
For me, it was well worth it. Obviously, YMMV and then some.
Years kept on passing and I would pull out my acoustic guitar once in a blue but nothing else. No desire to play bass or own one. Whatsoever.
When the stars aligned after more than a decade, I was back with a completely different idea of what my playing should sound like, and of the music I was interested in creating.
For me, it was well worth it. Obviously, YMMV and then some.
My wife is a keyboard player & I, of course am a bass player. We do individual practice and joke about practicing until we get disgusted with ourselves. It's part of the journey. To push through being stuck, we both turn to external input. I have found SBL (Scotts bass lessons) to be useful every time I feel that way. So much available there. My wife finds other things online. If you don't want to spend money, YouTube a genre you are struggling with to work your technique. Keep frustrating yourself, but temper it with some fun playing as well. Enjoy the ride it will end someday.
I am there now. When my friends or family ask about my bands or music, my usual response is, "I haven't played an inspired note since September 2016."
My band broke up, my health took a downturn and I am really not much into music right now. I have taken up photography. I dont photograph people... just nature. I am tired of the popularity contests. I am tired of the back stabbing and working so hard to have other people in my bands give up or not try. My motto is, dont do it if you are not going to do it well.
While others are playing the part of the rockstar with no work ethic... just the look and the "party" habits. I would rather not right now. When I do something, I do it all the way... not half assed.
There are some great musicians out there that are not what I am talking about, but it seems, all the ones i meet just want the fun part, the wont do the work part. So until I am ready to deal with that attitude again, I think I am done for now.
My band broke up, my health took a downturn and I am really not much into music right now. I have taken up photography. I dont photograph people... just nature. I am tired of the popularity contests. I am tired of the back stabbing and working so hard to have other people in my bands give up or not try. My motto is, dont do it if you are not going to do it well.
While others are playing the part of the rockstar with no work ethic... just the look and the "party" habits. I would rather not right now. When I do something, I do it all the way... not half assed.
There are some great musicians out there that are not what I am talking about, but it seems, all the ones i meet just want the fun part, the wont do the work part. So until I am ready to deal with that attitude again, I think I am done for now.
