I don't feel at ease playing my bass...
 

..Any of you guys experienced "problems" with their instrument of choice?

Lately (last couple months, but I don't play every day) I don't enjoy playing it, I get distracted too easily and can't come up with decent stuff..
I think my "musical side" is a bit caught up in other "genres" I couldn't replicate/emulate with a bass, but it's not like I'm trying to do so while I play, there's no frustration involved...dunno, perhaps I just need some time off, try and play with other instruments for a while, etc...

Just curious about your stories on similar situations.

play the drums with your bass. hit it with a piece of metal and amplify it heavily.

Don't force it. Just take a break... sometimes what you need to do is listen... even if there is just silence around.

to john boy->toAre you suggesting "playing around" a bit with the same instrument rather than focusing on other ones for a while, then?

ah, suggestions are cool, not just your stories, eh!

Playing some other instruments might work. Go ahead and try some different genres, get your mind of things.

yes keep playing but just in a way that your not used too. lay it on the floor and wedge things into the strings and make an awful noise that sounds like the end of the world. seriously another approach is needed when you get tired of the same old same old.

i have almost completely given up electric guitar and moved to acoustic. i just feel more comfortable playing that then the electric. i dont know why but i play the electric and i just hate what i hear when i play. i hope that someday i will go back to playing it more seriously

to jb->I don't mean to sound cocky or "superexperimentalavantgardesocool", but I do actually play my bass with quite a lot of different "approaches" already, I might try going a bit more over the top with that stuff, as you suggest...

The present setup is a digital kinda crappy keyboard + monitors, a drum machine sometimes controlled with a midi keyb, amplified with a SWR redhead bass head + 2x12" eden cabinet, my crappy lovely OLP semi-musicman replica bass + Peavey tnt 130W 15", a bunch of stuff with a bunch of contact mics+ a pc with a bunch of software (fruity loops etc)....I'd love to try working with a cello, but I don't feel like renting one coz I'd love to experiment with it and I'm afraid I'd damage it a bit and make the shop owner angry and stuff...

edit: how fuckin' much goes a decent cello for?

try this then?

hmmm, I don't like that idea much, wouldn't be much of a departure from other stuff I do with the bass..I like the whole idea of basically sitting behind the cello and hugging it hehehe.
BUT, I'd love to try an e-bow.

what about renting an electric upright bass-- it's "more unbreakable"!

or an electric cello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9t1kicp2jE

Problem is I don't know shit about those instruments (I mean, I couldn't tell a good one from a lame one), I need to investigate more...
I think I'll take a pause from playing (in general) for a while and get some infos on the instruments that fascinate me the most lately.
This does not mean I'll end up renting/buying one of those, but sure will help making my ideas more clear in any case.

I find bass to be a difficult instrument - people who are good at being bassists are not necessarily people who are good at the bass.

I find that having other instruments really helps. I'm primarily a guitarist, but I spend most of my time on the violin. Violin is kind of perfect for me, because you can practise for years and years and never truly be happy, while the guitar doesn't provide the same sort of pain.

Not to be funny, but why did you go for bass in the first place? What drew you to it?

try different things out. If it feels like you're limping in your approach, and your doomed with only "experimenting" with it because you feel unable to play in a way that confidently makes you think that you can fall back to "technical'' playing, you might want to consider giving up altogether.

try different things out. If it feels like you're limping in your approach, and your doomed with only "experimenting" with it because you feel unable to play in a way that confidently makes you think that you can fall back to "technical'' playing, you might want to consider giving up altogether.

alot more than im guessing you can possibly afford, beginners ones start around the $1200au mark, and that doesnt mean decent

"genteel death"?

too gloomy!!!

ok, whats your suggestion?

It helps sometimes to play more and more until you're completely sick of the instrument. Once you reach total hatred upon your instrument you can abuse it and get it to scream for its life which will then create themost beautiful sound ever.

yes some people should just stop shouldnt they.

you could write a terrible song about that and post it on the internet to impress girls.

wow! you can win for sure, your the only one playing anyway.

Bass is interesting to me because I can pick it up and come up with a great bass line in about 3 seconds, with no effort put into it. I think it's simultaneously the easiest instrument to learn but one of the most difficult to master. While you can play pretty much anything on it and it'll sound cool, it takes a lot of skill to really "get" the instrument, I think. Because bass is a bit beyond riffs.. look at a band like The Fall, I remember their bass lines a lot but what really sticks out in my mind are the fills (if that's the proper word to use... the bassists will occasionally insert little speedy 2-note parts in the silences connecting the riff together or what have you). Basically, I'm saying that playing bass isn't too hard -- but GROOVING to bass is kinda difficult.

That being said, I think it's also a pretty limited instrument, though it kinda depends on what you're doing with it. Most bands aren't bass-centered, for example, so playing lead bass isn't going to get you anywhere unless you're in Primus or something. Haha. I find that discovering a great bass riff isn't very fulfilling to me versus an electric or acoustic guitar riff. I don't think they are as fun to play either.

I dunno man. I've went through this with my electric a thousand times. I'd master a certain style and then get sick of playing that way. I went 2 years without ever playing a power chord. You know, it's all just... you're going to get sick of yourself. You're going to wish you were playing something else. But eventually you will. Haha.

When I "experiment" with it it doesn't feel like I'm forcing myself to do so in order to get a bit of satisfaction.. I've been playing bass for like 11 years (damn I'm old) and I had no formal training, and I still irrationally love that instrument, the present problem is that I don't enjoy playing, but I still "love it" as my instrument of choice. I can't express much better this thing...hope you'll get what I mean.
Basically I seriously think I'm never gonna give up on it.
Perhaps change model/brand etc but never give up on bass playing altogether.Too much love.


As I said before, i'm not sure I can rationally explain this...I've always been fascinated with the bass, even if it's not much "prominent" in the music I used to listen to back then, so it was not a "let's try to emulate my heros" kind of thing...I saved some money, decided to go in a few shops, pick up and try out some basses, and then bought one. I really feel like it's "my" instrument still today, even considering the "difficult period" I'm in in our relationship :eek:.

That's why I'm also asking suggestions, coz deep inside me I feel I still need it and can't wait to get back to fully enjoying playing it, no matter what.
Damn, sounds like I'm in love hah a.




Yep, that's another thing that I'm considering (I opened a thread a while ago asking for decent low cost-effects, but didn't have much success), basically lately I'm more obsessed with "sounds" rather than music (hope you guys get it) and probably I have too much of a limited array of effects to get totally new sounds out of my bass..keep in mind I've been "experimenting" quite a lot with it in theese years, and I used to prefer very basic setups, so I kinda "exploited" the bare instrument quite a lot.

I think it's time to change that approach and start buying a bunch of effects to "refresh" its sound to my ears. Problem is, I have very little money to invest in this period, thus why I opened that rather unsuccessful "cheap-ish effects worth buying" thread :D :D

Damn, feels like a therapy session guys, it's been really useful up till now.

And yes sway, I'm keeping my mind busy with other stuff, in order not to "poison" my relationship with da bass obsessing over it :D.
long walks, photography, exhibitions, etc.

good man!


ha ha, it's called SPENDING. yes. S-P-E-N-D-I-N-G.

nouh! it's an investment for my future!
see 2. a.
n·vest play_w2("I0215500") (n-vst)v. in·vest·ed, in·vest·ing, in·vests
v.tr.1. To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return
2. a. To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit
b. To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit

I wish more guitarists would do this, and also spend time arpeggiating chords (and not just in the doo-wop/ early Radiohead style). I struggle with power chords now, which is a good thing, I think.

All I can suggest really is to give it time. Sometimes your inspiration to play takes a break, but don't worry about it; That happens to 95% of us I'd imagine. Just wait it out, listen to more music, do something creative, etc and when ideas and inspiration come back to you, your bass will be there, ready to rock the fuck out all over again.

~Jeremy~

I just found out that god is actually a floating rock.

Possible parody thread: "I don't feel at ease fishing for bass" Yay/nay?

Whoops, I missed a bunch of posts, but just wanted to let you all know, because I know you care, that I fell in love again with my bass, in an almost sturmundrangish way.
Feels good.
Reeeeeally good.

the dictionary deceives you-- a sly bastard it is...


but anyway, congrats!

Either take a break from it, or try to learn a new style...I remember when I got into surf I wanted to learn triplets and etc. but thought they were so hard and it was intimidating....now it's basically become part of my style and i've gotten more inspired and better at my instrument...

or try to learn songs that intimidate you...I forced myself to sit down and learn new chords so I could finally learn how to play brian wilson songs and since then I've written so many new songs with what I learned.

Hope that helps!

I've been kicking out the jams, recently.

hells bells

i got nylon flatwound strings and they've been making me want to play 24/7

yes, beginner ones are 1200 to 1500 'merican dollars

to get a decent one, on ethat a good high school student would use for performances, would run $3,000+
to get a quality cello that a university student would perform on would be $8,000-12,000

lotsa lotsa

I want one

I played the cello for 7 years in school, and my junior and senior year school-loaned cello was one of the $6,000 level and I love dit and it sounded amazing to me.