Why don't I feel like a musician?

[Ray James]

I want to feel like a musician who is in full command of their instrument

To quote the old joke "If I were you, I wouldn't start from here"

I think you should accept that this is unrealistic. Even if you do manage a vast improvement, Impostor Syndrome may intervene to rob you of any sense of achievement. Eddie Van Halen suffers from extreme stage fright. Whatever your views of his music, he would certainly tick the box regarding your main statement

Lots of useless people believe they are great, lots of experts are plagued by self-doubt

If you can find a way of operating musically where you experience enjoyment while you're doing it, and are pleased about having done it, then that is a realistic target which is the key to satisfaction, in my view

 

[WrapRough]

Best quote form those articles posted earlier... to paraphrase... "Turn your instrument around so you are playing left-handed (or right handed). That's what it's like to be a beginner. Now you know how far you've come"

So true.

 

[pie_man_25]

"Why don't I FEEL like a musician?"

Imposter syndrome? Anxiety?

If GG Allin called himself a musician - and this is no insult to the guy - you can certainly call yourself one if you want to. Honestly, I've heard people say that "competence breeds confidence." Gotta say, makes sense to me - it's hard to feel confident if you don't think you can do the task at hand.

 

[Roger M]

Check out online Scotts' Bass Lessons (scottsbasslessons.com) - some good stuff there to get started

 

[WrapRough]

Check out online Scotts' Bass Lessons (scottsbasslessons.com) - some good stuff there to get started

Na I personally find Scott really irritating, and much prefer Mark from Talkingbass... But cheers

 

[bertthebassist]

I recently started with Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar to help with reading music, learning the notes on the fingerboard, and to get even better than I was before I stopped playing.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[WrapRough]

I recently started with Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar to help with reading music, learning the notes on the fingerboard, and to get even better than I was before I stopped playing.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

How long did you have off?

 

[bertthebassist]

Off for 20 years, then 5 years of dabbling (playing here and there, spending more time reading TalkBass and buying lighter gear then practicing)
After working 7 days a week for the past 5 years, I have decided to replace my part-time job with practicing and playing out.
I may even reimburse myself for my accumulation of gear, and take my wife out to dinner someplace nicer than Chick Fil A once in while.

 

[Frank Vozak]

I have a similar experience to yours. In many ways I was so fab as a bass player 45 yr ago. Then I quit. Started up 2 yr ago. I have lost some skills but I really understand so much more about playing bass now. And I can do things I could never do in the past. I suspect that I speak for your experience. Yes you should try to learn and practice as much as you can. But yah, you're a ,musician

 

[murph7489]

the Military band programs

this is interesting as was the path of playing upright bass in the military..When I came out of college, which I went to for music, I was kicking around in my hometown in between crappy jobs and thought maybe I will join the army band..I don't know why but my recruiter said I had to go to west point to audition for the band..So I did ( I'm wondering if anyone else had to do that) anyway I was a good sight reader and the audition was easy for me but they didn't tell me how I did..I got back and a couple days later my recruiter calls me down to the office and I went down and these guys were super excited, they said i killed the audition and they wanted me in the band...offered me E4 rank upon graduating boot camp and blah blah blah..so I was pretty happy and then went to the meps to get the physical and get sworn in etc, and I was in line with a bunch of guys bout to get sworn in, and a guy comes in the room and tells me to come outside with him..I had failed the hearing test. So they wouldn't let me in...I sometimes think about that and wonder what my life would of been like had I gotten in and been in the army band...

 

[WrapRough]

this is interesting as was the path of playing upright bass in the military..When I came out of college, which I went to for music, I was kicking around in my hometown in between crappy jobs and thought maybe I will join the army band..I don't know why but my recruiter said I had to go to west point to audition for the band..So I did ( I'm wondering if anyone else had to do that) anyway I was a good sight reader and the audition was easy for me but they didn't tell me how I did..I got back and a couple days later my recruiter calls me down to the office and I went down and these guys were super excited, they said i killed the audition and they wanted me in the band...offered me E4 rank upon graduating boot camp and blah blah blah..so I was pretty happy and then went to the meps to get the physical and get sworn in etc, and I was in line with a bunch of guys bout to get sworn in, and a guy comes in the room and tells me to come outside with him..I had failed the hearing test. So they wouldn't let me in...I sometimes think about that and wonder what my life would of been like had I gotten in and been in the army band...

What was the hearing test? Crazy how one small thing can change the entire course of your life like that...

 

[BlueTalon]

What was the hearing test? Crazy how one small thing can change the entire course of your life like that...

It's a series of beeps at different frequencies and volumes.

Any tinnitus at all can play havok on your ability to accurately take it.

 

[murph7489]

Yep, when my mom was pregnant with me she had german measles which caused me to have bad hearing in my right ear..lots of people my age have the same issue..interestingly, I have no problem learning songs by ear..lol.

 

[Eilif]

this is interesting as was the path of playing upright bass in the military..When I came out of college, which I went to for music, I was kicking around in my hometown in between crappy jobs and thought maybe I will join the army band..I don't know why but my recruiter said I had to go to west point to audition for the band..So I did ( I'm wondering if anyone else had to do that) anyway I was a good sight reader and the audition was easy for me but they didn't tell me how I did..I got back and a couple days later my recruiter calls me down to the office and I went down and these guys were super excited, they said i killed the audition and they wanted me in the band...offered me E4 rank upon graduating boot camp and blah blah blah..so I was pretty happy and then went to the meps to get the physical and get sworn in etc, and I was in line with a bunch of guys bout to get sworn in, and a guy comes in the room and tells me to come outside with him..I had failed the hearing test. So they wouldn't let me in...I sometimes think about that and wonder what my life would of been like had I gotten in and been in the army band...

Wow,
Somehow you nailed the audition -which presumably involves hearing- but didn't pass the hearing test...

My stepdad had a similar what-if story. He was an E something working on generators. After his tour in Vietnam they asked him to join the Army Corp of Engineers. Like so many guys he just wanted to get out but he reflected (in the late 90's) that he wishes he'd stayed in as by then he'd have already have had his education for free and been retired with a pension!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

this is interesting as was the path of playing upright bass in the military..When I came out of college, which I went to for music, I was kicking around in my hometown in between crappy jobs and thought maybe I will join the army band..I don't know why but my recruiter said I had to go to west point to audition for the band..So I did ( I'm wondering if anyone else had to do that) anyway I was a good sight reader and the audition was easy for me but they didn't tell me how I did..I got back and a couple days later my recruiter calls me down to the office and I went down and these guys were super excited, they said i killed the audition and they wanted me in the band...offered me E4 rank upon graduating boot camp and blah blah blah..so I was pretty happy and then went to the meps to get the physical and get sworn in etc, and I was in line with a bunch of guys bout to get sworn in, and a guy comes in the room and tells me to come outside with him..I had failed the hearing test. So they wouldn't let me in...I sometimes think about that and wonder what my life would of been like had I gotten in and been in the army band...

Both of my son's did recruiting duty for 3 years as a B Billet here in Richmond. Their comments about dealing with all the meps rejections are nor suitable for public consumption.

I thought about becoming a military musician back in the early 70s, and with a some brushing up with my sight reading skills, I sure I would have done quite well. Unfortunately back then, there were no guaranteed MOS contracts that I was aware of. The thoughts on signing up on a 4 year contract as a musician then finding out I was on the next boat to Da Nang was not very appealing.

 

[Frank Vozak]

this is interesting as was the path of playing upright bass in the military..When I came out of college, which I went to for music, I was kicking around in my hometown in between crappy jobs and thought maybe I will join the army band..I don't know why but my recruiter said I had to go to west point to audition for the band..So I did ( I'm wondering if anyone else had to do that) anyway I was a good sight reader and the audition was easy for me but they didn't tell me how I did..I got back and a couple days later my recruiter calls me down to the office and I went down and these guys were super excited, they said i killed the audition and they wanted me in the band...offered me E4 rank upon graduating boot camp and blah blah blah..so I was pretty happy and then went to the meps to get the physical and get sworn in etc, and I was in line with a bunch of guys bout to get sworn in, and a guy comes in the room and tells me to come outside with him..I had failed the hearing test. So they wouldn't let me in...I sometimes think about that and wonder what my life would of been like had I gotten in and been in the army band...

I am lucky that I passed the MEP hearing test for my pre commissioning physical. My first assignment was in Alaska and my bass and amp went w/ me but I could never find musicians to play with so that was the end of my first life as a bassist (44 yr career as a social worker w/ the VA and 20 yr active /reserve career with the Army. When I retired at 67 I decided to go back to my last 67 and play again. And the rest is a big part of my retirement

 

[Frank Vozak]

Both of my son's did recruiting duty for 3 years as a B Billet here in Richmond. Their comments about dealing with all the meps rejections are nor suitable for public consumption.

I thought about becoming a military musician back in the early 70s, and with a some brushing up with my sight reading skills, I sure I would have done quite well. Unfortunately back then, there were no guaranteed MOS contracts that I was aware of. The thoughts on signing up on a 4 year contract as a musician then finding out I was on the next boat to Da Nang was not very appealing.

Things changed with the all volunteer Army in 1973. Every volunteer got either station of choice or choice of MOS option by legally binding contract. I was at Ft Campbell 76-77 as a mental health officer and I saw the effect of station of choice option in the degrading of the quality of airborne trooper the 101st ABN Div got because of some many marginal soldiers choosing Ft Campbell to be close to home crowding out the many fine candidates who were much more suitable for such a storied and proud division

 

[Jefenator]

IME IMHO the way to really feel like a musician is to really devote yourself to it and do it for a living.
Sometimes formal study can help one go down that path, but not always. (I know some fellow music school grads who wound up working for oil companies and barely ever playing and I know some self-taught cats who are musicians down to the marrow.)
Of course right now by that metric, almost nobody is a musician. (But I am planning a comeback. Good as I might be at rotating stock and managing food donations, that is not really what I was put on earth to do...)

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Things changed with the all volunteer Army in 1973. Every volunteer got either station of choice or choice of MOS option by legally binding contract. I was at Ft Campbell 76-77 as a mental health officer and I saw the effect of station of choice option in the degrading of the quality of airborne trooper the 101st ABN Div got because of some many marginal soldiers choosing Ft Campbell to be close to home crowding out the many fine candidates who were much more suitable for such a storied and proud division

Thanks for posting. I was at the point, a likely 4A in 1971 but hit the lottery a #260. Our district only had to go up to #160 that year to fill it's requirements.

Also, thanks much for your service.

 

[markymac]

Haven't read all comments but, if he hasn't been mentioned already, then you've got to check out Scott Levine. Scots Bass Lessons will be perfect. Check him out.