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Lost the motivation


Lazurus
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:shok:I have been having lessons since last Autumn, stopped them recently due to getting married, honeymoon etc. now I have lost my motivation to get back at it....... my teacher is really good and I was making good progress albeit he is orchestral and I want to slap!!!

There are no slap teachers that I can find in darkest Norfolk, so any suggestions how to get going again, I have not touched the bass for couple of months........

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I suspect that however good your teacher is, if he's not teaching you what you want it's a recipe for losing your motivation. Lots of people on this forum can have extensive time-outs, including me. The bass isn't going anywhere, don't worry and good luck with finding the right teacher.
Can you find any you tube lessons to keep your interest up?

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Be prepared to travel - it's often necessary with DB. Travel can be eased if you have lessons once a fortnight or even once a month, just concentrate on finding a really good teacher and accept you may have to drive for up to 2 hours - it's not that uncommon.

Good Luck!

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As has already been said - we all lose a bit of motivation from time to time.... it's just natural
I had a painful condition with my foot, a short while back - that really did for me. I just couldn't stand while playing and my "mojo" just seemed to ebb away very quickly. However, it did come back... then the band I was playing slap DB in folded - well, we got a new "lead" member, but the new style doesn't involve so much slapping... however, the bass is still there, still being played, and I do a bit of slap from time to time

If I were you, just play some rockabilly or Rock & Roll tracks on CD / MP3 or whatever - listen to the music when in your car, or out & about... that should make you want to get home & play your DB

Good luck with it :)

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If you are not playing your DB with other people, you should make it a priority to find others to play with - don't worry that you haven't been playing a long time, DBs are in short supply, so most people will be quite forgiving (moreso if you let them have a go at playing your bass).

I always find it helpful to listen to music that inspires me when the motivation is low.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cAe2LDfrs

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[quote name='Lazurus' timestamp='1499610949' post='3332482']


There are no slap teachers that I can find in darkest Norfolk, so any suggestions how to get going again, I have not touched the bass for couple of months........
[/quote]

I am not a teacher, but if you are passing by sunny Ipswich I am more than happy to show you what I know, which will probably take all of 10 minutes, ha ha. I'm on holiday for a few days, drop me a PM if you're interested and I'll get in touch when I get back.

SubsonicSimpleton, that is an outstanding clip. Got any more like it?

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Well worth checking out Nicholas Dubochet - loads of performance and tutorial vids on his channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEcQnF_pIAA

I found these guys randomly surfing youtube a while back - really tasteful and musical use of slapping IMHO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seKAfbWFWCM

There is so much music now on youtube, just get listening and discover things that excite you.

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Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I came to the reality between my ambitions and my abilities and lost a little drive. I will climb back on the horse and see if I can find a local rockabilly / blue grass player who wants to earn a few quid, learning later in life is definitely harder.................

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There is a slap guy in or around Ipswich - plays with JS and the Lockerbililes. I am sorry but I don't know his name. May be worth you getting in touch with him if you want to try slapping.

PM if you can't find him and I will put you in touch with the bandleader whose details I do have.

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Here's my suggestion to learn slap:
1.buy/borrow The Ungentle Art and Slapology
2.practice lots. Practice the techniques first, then practice them along to stuff
3.when youre 90% happy but there's something you've seen/heard that you can't do, find a slap player who can do stuff the way you want to and cajole them into giving you an hour of their time to get some pointers
4.practice that stuff

Done. Then when you realise there's nothing left to learn, convince yourself you don't sound good enough and spend ££££s trying to find the perfect set of strings :)

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[quote name='AndyBass' timestamp='1500134988' post='3335856']
.......Then when you realise there's nothing left to learn, convince yourself you don't sound good enough and spend ££££s trying to find the perfect set of strings :)
[/quote]

Feeling (partly) the same as the OP, as since my last reply, The band I was playing DB in has folded - that's the 3rd one in a year :(
I'm in several bands I play bass guitar in, but I know my DB playing and my slapping will wane if I'm not doing it in a band....

Then I saw AndyBass's reply above and it cheered me up :)

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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1500032783' post='3335245']
There is a slap guy in or around Ipswich - plays with JS and the Lockerbililes. I am sorry but I don't know his name. May be worth you getting in touch with him if you want to try slapping.

PM if you can't find him and I will put you in touch with the bandleader whose details I do have.
[/quote]

That would be Murray Collins. Josh himself is not bad either.

The other thing to think about is your setup. If you've been taught and set up by a classical player, it might not be helping you play slap.

Edited by pete.young
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I think the setup is ok, 7 - 10mm under the strings G to A, Innovation silver slaps. I had a couple of hours with Ian from the Houndogs [url="http://www.thehoundogs.co.uk/"]http://www.thehoundogs.co.uk/[/url]
as we had them at our recent wedding, he sure made my bass sound pretty fine so the setup works for slap. I think it is more an attitude set up required.

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[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1500484695' post='3338196']


That would be Murray Collins. Josh himself is not bad either.

[/quote]

I did a support gig with them and we talked up ⬆ didn't get his name. Josh introduced himself to me as a.bass player when we first met so I knew he played but I have never heard him. They are working all the time.

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Ok picked the bass up again at the weekend, I have decided to learn songs from genres that i like and play them in the style I want to. I am determined to keep learning sheet music..........So what I need now is some simple sheet music for well known country or rockabilly / rock& roll songs that I can play. I have scoured the www. and none of my books have anything suitable. Can anyone help out with some simple scores?

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[quote name='Lazurus' timestamp='1500978533' post='3341401']...Can anyone help out with some simple scores?
[/quote]

Would Guitar Pro be of any help there..? It's not expensive (75€...), and there's a huge catalogue of pretty well all styles and periods to choose from. I've a collection of 23,000 files, for instance, weighing 900Mb; most of these files have an excellent bass part (plus the other instruments...) in both tab and dots, correctly annotated and easy to read. I'd send it to you, but you'd need GP to be able to read 'em. I've attached a couple, taken at random, in Pdf format as 'teasers'. Any use to you..?

[attachment=249811:Cats, Stray - Rock This Town - Bass.pdf]

[attachment=249812:Harper, Ben - Diamonds On The Inside (Intro) - Bass.pdf]

[attachment=249813:Presley, Elvis - Fever - Bass.pdf]

(Save to disk, then rename to ...

Cats, Stray - Rock This Town - Bass.pdf
Harper, Ben - Diamonds On The Inside (Intro) - Bass.pdf
Presley, Elvis - Fever - Bass.pdf

...respectively.

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[quote name='Lazurus' timestamp='1500983485' post='3341448']
That's the sort of stuff, never considered searching guitar type progs and sites, my thanks.
[/quote]



Let me know if you want more (titles..?); if you can get to read native GP files I could send you the lot..! ;)

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