When practice goes wrong...

[Bodeanly]

Fire the drummer.

I had to wait until page two for this? Honestly?! You guys call yourself bassists? A bad practice is the guitarist's fault. Cuss him out and fire the drummer. /thread

 

[juancaminos]

I just stop. Sometimes for a very long time.

 

[lermgalieu]

Fire the drummer and buy more gear.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hi all,

This is something with which every musician ever can relate (I would hope). When practice goes wrong! I've had a few days in a row now where I finish up a practice session feeling less than satisfied, shall we say (that's putting it lightly). Lots of simple mistakes made over and over, struggling with bass lines I've known backwards and forwards for awhile, missing the string when I go to pop, etc.

I'm curious how other bassists handle this. What do you do when you are in a slump?

Are you talking about the bands miscues, or yours? I find recording a very useful tool. Yep, you probably tossed out some clams that will bug the snot out of you for days. But you probably also played a lot more things really well.

 

[jpmcbride]

... I'm curious how other bassists handle this. What do you do when you are in a slump?

Take a break from the instrument. A few days, maybe a week or two. You'll come back feeling better and playing better. Works for me anyway!

 

[bumperbass]

most of my slumps happen when i switch to basses with different strings spacings, ugh!!

Yeah, I hear ya! I switched to a 5'er and I just can't go back, because I'm trying to get a feel of the decrease in spacing (19mm to 17.5mm).
It will be quite some time before I go back, if ever.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

Hi all,

This is something with which every musician ever can relate (I would hope). When practice goes wrong! I've had a few days in a row now where I finish up a practice session feeling less than satisfied, shall we say (that's putting it lightly). Lots of simple mistakes made over and over, struggling with bass lines I've known backwards and forwards for awhile, missing the string when I go to pop, etc.

I'm curious how other bassists handle this. What do you do when you are in a slump?

This may sound whackadoodle, but it works for me: Put it away for 24 hours, stay off of social media, re-center your Chi/energy/soul or whatever you want to call it...do something different...chill out on stimulants, alcohol, or other processed stuff, stretch out, eat a good meal, and try NOT to think about it. (Last part is the hardest.)
Works for me when those times come. Good luck!

 

[MCF]

Hi all,

This is something with which every musician ever can relate (I would hope). When practice goes wrong! I've had a few days in a row now where I finish up a practice session feeling less than satisfied, shall we say (that's putting it lightly). Lots of simple mistakes made over and over, struggling with bass lines I've known backwards and forwards for awhile, missing the string when I go to pop, etc.

I'm curious how other bassists handle this. What do you do when you are in a slump?

I take a break for a few days. Then reboot by going into the shed and begin with some basic warmup exercises and play a couple of simple no brainer songs.

 

[IamGroot]

Learning under pressure burns me out. So i try to practice steadily and effectively and learn stuff well ahead of any deadlines.

With bass, i can almost always figure out what i need to learn and have a path to get there. In some extreme cases, i have spent a month working daily to learn a piece.
Burn out? Switch instruments.

 

[viper4000]

Happens to me most when I'm distracted. Something in life is taking up too much of my brain thinkin'. Work, family, life. I try to put that stuff in a silo when I'm playing. If it's a creative block, I'll switch to guitar for a few days.

 

[IamGroot]

If you get frustrated trying to learn something, maybe you going about it the wrong way.

I spent a week trying to learn 2 handed piano scales using the brute force method (aka Russian Regimen) and got little progress. Then I adopted a "baby step" method and everything fell into place quickly.

Muscle memory can only be acquired slowly and in small portions.

 

[IamGroot]

If you can't get what you are practicing, you may get frustrated which will make you tense up and interfere with your practice focus.

When you practice, focus and dont let your mind wander.