Boredom, burnout, depression, disillusionment… Am I the only one who’s hit the wall and put down their instrument for some length of time, wondering why they still play? I doubt it. The love of music, like any relationship, is cyclical; highs and lows are part of the natural order of things. Maybe you’ve quit developing as a player and your skills aren’t growing the way they did in the past. You’re just playing the same tired licks over and over. Or, perhaps you’re sick of the internal and external pressures and politics involved with being in a band. Enough said.
At times like these, sometimes it’s good to take a little break from your instrument. Often, the time away from each other will remind you why you fell in love in the first place.
Hmmph? Oh! Sorry… but like I said, the love of music is just like any other relationship. Consider Billy Sheehan: he has an old. beat up chunk of firewood and electronics that he affectionately calls “the wife”. She’s as ugly as sin, but I guess they’ve got a lot of history together. ANYWAY… these little vacations and trial seperations sometimes reunion in a happy reunion… other times in a divorce. You’ve read the classified ads in the wake of the latter. “MUST SELL EVERYTHING. NO REASONABLE OFFERS REFUSED. CALL STEVE, 555-0123.” And, like the vulture you are, you probabaly made a lowball offer and scooped up a lot of great equipment for a song (if you’ll pardon the pun). In another six months, that same guy might regret having sold you his wife. Meanwhile, you’re off at some club, banging away on her in front of a huge audience.
Remember, we’re still talking about a bass here.
Rather than revel at having been the benefactor of someone else’s marital… ahem, musical discord (or is it dischord?), maybe we should consider what could have been done to save the relationship before the breakup. What we learn today may prevent you from selling your own beloved to some other opportunistic vermin.
Challenge Yourself: Sometimes it’s as simple as throwing down the gauntlet, and deciding that you’re going to try to develop an aspect of your playing that you’re weak at. If you play pick, go fingers. If you play fingers, go pick. Beg or borrow a fretless electric and learn it. Get one with lines, then get one without. Try playing an acoustic bass guitar, a 5 string, a 6 string, an 8 string, or even a stand up double bass. Pledge that you will learn a song that you thought was too difficult. Even if you can’t master it all, you’ll probably learn licks you didn’t think you’d ever be able to play. Learn more scales. You what? Learn a scale, for God’s sake. Work on your sight reading. Improve your ear and improvisation. Choose any obstacle and overcome it.
Change Styles: If you play metal, learn reggae. If you play reggae, learn jazz. If you play jazz, learn country. If you play country, learn funk. If you play funk… Do you see where I’m going with this? Opening yourself to new frontiers places you back into the role of learner. Everything is new and fun again. You can experience the joy of improving in a style you once knew nothing about. Your overall playing ability will improve, and you might even be able to step into a completely new band someday soon.
Window Shop: It’s fun to go into a store and play 1,037 instruments you have no intention of buying… especially the ones you can’t afford. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a place where the salespeople are too bored to care. Sometimes having something new and different to play is all it takes to get you to pick up an instrument again. Once you’ve spent the day playing music, you’ll probably reach for your own gear once you’re back home again.
Learn Another Instrument: It may seem like you’re endangering yourself by doing this, and occassionally people do switch teams and decide they like it better on the other side. However, it’s also true that learning a new instrument will improve your abilities of your primary instrument. Drumming can help a guitarist’s timing and co-ordination. Practicing guitar can increase a bassist’s dexterity. Playing bass can boost a guitarist’s endurance.
Jam: Playing with new musicians is almost a guaranteed way of getting the spark back in your performance. You’ll be so wrapped up in doing your best and leaving a good impression, you’ll forget why you ever considered giving up the craft.
Be Someone Else’s Fan (or Critic): Nothing makes me more eager to play, than being in an audience and watching someone else in the limelight. Whether my counterpart on stage is better or worse than I am, I find myself mesmerised by everthing he (or especially she) does. In the end, either I wish I was the one on stage playing the line, or I want to go home and try to learn ity from memory.
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