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What do you think about when you play bass?

What goes through your head when you play bass.

  • Im feelin the music and my fingers know what to do.

  • Im watching my fingers

  • Im feelin the music and watchin my fingers

  • Im feelin the music and using some music theory

  • A mix of feeling, fingers and theory

  • Boredom

  • Terror

  • Cheeseburgers

  • Carrots

  • Need mo beer

Results are only viewable after voting.
#63
I'm trying to do what I do while driving: focus on the primary task to the exclusion of other things.

That means I'm trying to anticipate by a measure or so, thinking about what I should play and how far I can go to add one more note or one passing note to the next phrase. If I'm playing an F-G-Bb-C 4-note phrase, I'm thinking about whether I should play the next measure F-C-Bb-G to change it up.

I work from chordpro charts, so I'm constantly thinking about what I need to add to the basic root chord note to make it sound good.
 
#65
I'm usually just feeling the music, and I sometimes look at my left hand. Also at times my mind wanders, so I would have chosen carrots too if I could pick 3... mind wandering / overthinking the next change is something i've worked at improving and have actually accomplished that.
 
#67
in my current band and previous bands, I generally don't use setlists...on stage, Im constantly reading the vibe of the audience and determining what songs to call ( we have a ton of dance music both nu and classic which helps). if a dancefloor is full, I may opt to segueway from one to another on the fly by BPM and feel (I may roll from "Heavy" by Collective Soul into Hard To Handle by Black Crows as an example)...This is what I think about when singing/playing

so, I have this mindset when I sub for others, except its not my band...…..so all I can do is shake my head when there is a pack full of hot rambunctious drunk girls ready to wiggle their butts and they just go down the set-in-stone setlist and wind up on something like Red House or Cant You See ….
 
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#68
LBS-bass said:
The one thing I have to be careful about while I play is letting my mind wander. If I start thinking about what I'm having for dinner later, mistakes are made. I have to stay focused on the music always.
Click to expand...
Same my mind is always wandering/racing. Not every really in the moment no matter what I do. The one exception is when I rode motocross/street bikes. You either pay attention or get hurt.
 
#77
When I play muscle memory kicks in and my mind wanders a little bit. Its only when I realize that I'm thinking about something totally different and focus back on to playing is when I slip up. I guess when my mind is somewhere else, I'm "In the Zone".
 
#78
Sarah McLachlan once was asked what she thinks about when she's singing, and she said words to the effect of, "Sometimes, it's what do I need to pick up at the grocery store." That happens to me sometimes and it's not a good thing.
Mostly, I try to do a few things simultaneously: Feel the groove (and BE the groove), listen to my fellow musicians, put on a bit of a show and be aware of where my left hand is going.
 

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