When you hit your 40's and 50's...

[Valvehead]

There's more bass. There's better bass.
Better let there be more playing going on!
But the job has become demanding and there's wife and kids...

Where do we find the time?

 

[Funk With Me]

Where do we find the time?

Trade sleep.

 

[MonetBass]

It is difficult sometimes to find time when a wife and kids enter the picture. But it can be done. If you love doing something, you'll make the time!

 

[chris_b]

I have a very understanding wife, but I "retired" twice, when family and job commitments needed to come first.

 

[godofthunder59]

I played all the way through my 40s and 50s, I did have to mod my schedule around family and work. I just entered my 60's and have "retired" I'll only be doing what I want to do and hopefully it's a whole lot of playing bass.

 

[MrLenny1]

I see too many distractions in your picture. lol
Balancing things in life is always a struggle.

 

[alack]

I played all the way through my 40s and 50s, I did have to mod my schedule around family and work. I just entered my 60's and have "retired" I'll only be doing what I want to do and hopefully it's a whole lot of playing bass. View attachment 4039460

Now that’s a plan I could get behind! Turning 60 in January.

 

[Phlipper]

Two years ago at 55yo I had been playing lead guitar and bass off and on around the mid-Atlantic area since I was 14. Started playing when I was old enough to hold a mini guitar around six. I owned five basses and seven guitars, including a pair of Les Pauls that I will never be able to replace. We were in a financial crunch and I was burned out on band drama, and I sold everything except a homemade fretless that my wife liked to hang for decoration. Quit playing completely. Till last month. Lol. Now I'm bitten by the bug again and accumulating equipment. Already back in the band in bass where I'd served on lead guitar and vocals for years.

Point being ... for those of us who just have in our soul ... the music will find a way. No matter what. We will always make time somehow. We can't NOT PLAY. I tried.

It is who we are.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Family, work and hobbies can make for a hectic life at times.

We are finally in the boat of "almost" empty nest people. The two older kids are married and making their own way. And our youngest is a first year Respiratory Therapy student, still lives with us but pretty much on her own schedule for school.

I used to have to make lots of schedules work to maintain all the responsibilities. Now in my mid-50's I have the free time to play more, assuming we get back to real life sometime soon.

 

[2saddleslab]

I played all the way through my 40s and 50s, I did have to mod my schedule around family and work. I just entered my 60's and have "retired" I'll only be doing what I want to do and hopefully it's a whole lot of playing bass.

Similar story here. Been playing thru my 30's [started professionally at 27, played full time from 30 to 34], 40's, & 50's, now in the beginning of my 60's. Plan to retire next summer, take this music thing to another level, and stay at it till I can't or it's no longer fun.

 

[SunByrne]

Heh... I didn't even start until about a year and a half ago... at age 49.

You just have to make the time.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I don't. Too much else going on. Day job, wife, home maintenance, racecar (with my Pops), just too much going on. That's why I don't play in a band any more and why I don't practice like I should. But every now and then I go in my little room, pick up my bass and noodle for a bit thinking about how cool it was "back then".

Good luck to you in your struggle! I wish you the best.

 

[Pings Bass]

There's more bass. There's better bass.
Better let there be more playing going on!
But the job has become demanding and there's wife and kids...

Where do we find the time?

View attachment 4039375

LOL you take 20 years off from gigging out, and focus on playing music with the kids and recording when you have time. Then you emerge into a radically changed landscape and try to find your way back into the scene.

 

[rufus.K]

44. The gig unavailability thing is the only thing slowing me down, even with fulltime situation, and 2 kids under 10.

 

[Old Fart]

I gigged a lot when I was young (under 25), then gave up playing both professionally or even casually at home, for more than 30 years! A friend correctly said "The question is not why you quit, but how?" I returned several years ago and have no plans to quit again. I like to make audiences happy and make then dance. I'm addicted to that.

 

[two fingers]

It makes my life incredibly fruitful rewarding having so many amazing distractions. Bass, a job I actually like, a wife I actually love, and two girls I adore, etc.

My advice specifically regarding bass? Streamline. Get yourself a spot where you can leave a bass on the stand, a set of headphones ready to go, and a bass practice rig of some sort ready to go.

In my case it's my Mesa TT800 head sitting on a desk in the office at my home. It has an aux in and headphones out. I can be tuned and playing in about 30 seconds. I can put it down and walk away when there's a fire to put out (figuratively speaking) and come right back at a moment's notice.

Also, SET ASIDE some time. Negotiate it with your spouse. "Hey how about you go yoga from 8 to 9 and I go bass from 9 to 10 Monday, Wednesday and Friday?"

If you tell each other you're going to do it you will.

 

[Killing Floor]

Kids grow up and move on. Basses are forever.
Explain to your wife you don't have a Ray or a hollow body and your clock is ticking.
Practice on Zoom calls, nobody pays attention to those meetings.
Then make the time to prioritize that pedal board you've always wanted but not really needed.

 

[Ron Berenato]

I just turned 57. My kids are grown & married with kids of their own. I "retired" 25 years ago when I got married but held onto my basses for when the time was right. Now my playing is relegated to a back bedroom and the occasional live sit in with friends bands. I keep my chops up for the day I meet someone I'd love to jam with. Plus my grandkids all want to learn how to play so there's no giving it up now.

My father is 80 and is still an active drummer on his original mid fifties Gretch drums.

 

[ToneMonkey]

When you hit your 40s and 50s, they start hitting back. Just saying.

 

[REV]

I scaled back on my playing when my kids were small but as they grew up I was able to get back into music more and more. I always found a little time to practice on my own but I'm glad that my family is my focus.