Are you forgetting your keys and other common, day-to-day things?
Can you picture in your mind playing the tunes correctly?
Have you been getting good sleep.
IME, take a nap, drink some water. Step away for a day or two.
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When practice goes wrong...
- Thread starter Accurmi
- Start date
Are you forgetting your keys and other common, day-to-day things?
Can you picture in your mind playing the tunes correctly?
Have you been getting good sleep.
IME, take a nap, drink some water. Step away for a day or two.
When that happens, I walk away. Even things I've known how to play forever sometimes go wrong. when you walk away and come back again later you have a fresher outlook. I've found that when I screw up and keep trying to get it right, it just gets worse and I get more frustrated.
My Mom was really creative and she referred to needing a "fallow phase" once in a while. Basically you can't keep planting/working the same soil without occasionally giving it time to replenish. Another possibility is you could be growing. What used to get you off isn't cutting it anymore meaning you may have risen to another level. Maybe shift your focus from feeling good about what's happening to the precision or the tone. Or messing with your gear. For me, I've been concentrating on not overplaying and it's introduced a whole new set of challenges and reignited my interest.
Find a jam session.
Learn a new-style song.
Play a different instrument, or just a different bass.
Watch an inspiring concert DVD or go see a good live band.
Write a song.
Fageddaboutit for a cuppla daze.
All of the above have worked for me, sometimes in combination, often after a few pops.
Learn a new-style song.
Play a different instrument, or just a different bass.
Watch an inspiring concert DVD or go see a good live band.
Write a song.
Fageddaboutit for a cuppla daze.
All of the above have worked for me, sometimes in combination, often after a few pops.
For sure! My struggles come from staying up too late while trying to learn/play songs. I also must attribute this to "tippin' a few" while I'm practicing... not a good combination! The next day I'll try learning the line I was struggling with and it comes to me way easier!
The science backs up your idea - It's called memory consolidation. Your brain takes time while you sleep to clean things up, and the stuff you learned before going to sleep is what gets consolidated the best. I do most of my practicing in the evening for this very reason - it works. The effect has been know for a couple millenia.
Maybe up your Vitamin Intake! Stop thinking about what's bugging you while you are playing!
This isn't anything that can't be fixed by buying a new bass and/or amp.
Another vote for taking a break. I'm pretty amazed when I'm struggling to learn a song, hit the same mistakes again and again, and just... put down the bass and do something else. Walk the dog, mow the yard, read, watch TV, something. And all the while I guess my subconscious is working on the problem, because I play much better when I play again.
Your thinkmeat may handle this differently, so try a few different suggestions. There's no right or wrong way.
Your thinkmeat may handle this differently, so try a few different suggestions. There's no right or wrong way.
Walk away and do something healthy for a bit. Exercise, drink water, get some air outside, whatever your healthy thing is.
If you are too stubborn and just want to play through it, like I get sometimes, slow things down, practice something simpler or some other groove and see if your mojo comes back that way.
If you are too stubborn and just want to play through it, like I get sometimes, slow things down, practice something simpler or some other groove and see if your mojo comes back that way.
Forget the vitamins and go straight for real fruit. That way you get the vitamin C and other nutrients, possibly along with some antioxidants.
Good days and bad days but I average out and remain consistently mediocre.
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
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- I suck, but nobody really notices
It's a mental stumble you're encountering. I think it's your brain telling you that it needs to get off this subject for awhile. It's normal and it's common and it's best to yield to it with whatever change is called for: time off, different instrument, different place, different style, ... what works for some doesn't work for others. I've noticed in myself and others that persisting with just pushing through it is counterproductive.
Honestly it happens with me from time to time. When I sit down and start playing, and I notice everything is just crap, I stop playing....for the rest of the night. If not I just get frustrated.
I have days when nothing is working, and some days where I'm nailing bass lines that would normally be really hard for me to play. I practice almost every day too, but some days the fingers just aren't working, and it doesn't hurt to take the day off.
I have days when nothing is working, and some days where I'm nailing bass lines that would normally be really hard for me to play. I practice almost every day too, but some days the fingers just aren't working, and it doesn't hurt to take the day off.
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Yes! I'll start shopping right away!
Honestly, though, I live in an apartment in Bangkok and can't play through an amp, which bums me out. So, I go headphones through a digital interface via my computer.
With regards to the advice, thanks everyone! I took yesterday off and will pick it back up this afternoon. I have been playing every day for about 1.5-2 hours at a time. Perhaps my mind was overworked. Well, that and an immense amount of stress and lack of sleep due to my job lately.
