AndyBob09 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 How do you get over the moments where you're sitting in your practice room and you've been trying something for about an hour and you just think, "I can't do it"? Keep trying? Slow it down? Move on to something else and come back to it tomorrow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Slow it down until you can play it, but make sure that you're still tight with the rhythm at the slower speed. Play it for 10 minutes or so until you're comfortable. Then go off and do something else for a couple of hours. Come back and try it a bit faster for another 10 minutes. Take another break. Repeat until your can play it perfectly at the correct speed. Works for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_D Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Generally leave it alone for a day or 2 then when I come back to it I can usually get it fairly easily and have to try and work out why I was having a problem with it in the first place! Might be something to do with clearing yer head but I usually learn 2 or 3 at a time when in flow so it could just be the act of forgetting about the troublesome one and getting something to empty it from yer head! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_lindsay Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Don't end up like this guy! Hahaha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbUPjEbIvA&sns=em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushers Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1343577645' post='1752254'] Slow it down until you can play it, but make sure that you're still tight with the rhythm at the slower speed. Play it for 10 minutes or so until you're comfortable. Then go off and do something else for a couple of hours. Come back and try it a bit faster for another 10 minutes. Take another break. Repeat until your can play it perfectly at the correct speed. Works for me! [/quote] works for me but sometimes i have to have to just walk away from completely for a day or 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musophilr Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Stretch & relax technique can help here too. Take a do-able bpm (call it [i]d[/i]) then play at [i]d[/i]+1, [i]d[/i]+2, etc. Eventually, say at [i]d[/i]+4, you are clearly on the very edge of your ability and run serious risk of error. Now back off to [i]d[/i]+2. Play, and it will seem easy. Make a note of what bpm that was. Knock off. Tomorrow, repeat the procedure starting at the tempo you knocked off at. You have to sneak up on some things gradually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) [quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1343579217' post='1752281'] You have to sneak up on some things gradually.[/quote] How very true this is! But beware, it can get you 200 hours community service. [quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1343577876' post='1752260'] Don't end up like this guy! Hahaha[/quote] So funny. The thing is even if he played it right first time, it would be crap anyway! Edited July 29, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='The_D' timestamp='1343577677' post='1752255'] Generally leave it alone for a day or 2 then when I come back to it I can usually get it fairly easily and have to try and work out why I was having a problem with it in the first place! Might be something to do with clearing yer head but I usually learn 2 or 3 at a time when in flow so it could just be the act of forgetting about the troublesome one and getting something to empty it from yer head! [/quote] Same here, I usually learn the notes quite easily, but then need some "off-time" for the feel of the track to fit in my mind, if it`s not a straightforward track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='AndyBob09' timestamp='1343576875' post='1752239'] How do you get over the moments where you're sitting in your practice room and you've been trying something for about an hour and you just think, "I can't do it"? Keep trying? Slow it down? Move on to something else and come back to it tomorrow? [/quote] I honestly can't remember for certain, but being a stubborn b*st*rd, I probably stuck at it until I'd got it. For years I've tended to be given pieces to learn that I'm either already half familiar with or understand where the tune is going and know the points where the bass doesn't want to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1343577876' post='1752260'] Don't end up like this guy! Hahaha [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbUPjEbIvA&sns=em[/media] [/quote] He was the support act last time we played in Liverpool. Not nearly as angry as he appears in his videos, but he did break a string before his last song and wondered why no-one would lend him a guitar to finish the set... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyBob09 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1343586281' post='1752405'] I honestly can't remember for certain, but being a stubborn b*st*rd, I probably stuck at it until I'd got it. For years I've tended to be given pieces to learn that I'm either already half familiar with or understand where the tune is going and know the points where the bass doesn't want to be. [/quote] For the past few years, I've just been coasting. I used to have great chops but down to sheer laziness, I just lost them. Having now been stuck in a simple function band rut for a few years, I'm desperate to get out so I've started playing bass seriously (again) and studying hard pieces. In this instance, it's Michel Camillo's Not Yet with Anthony Jackson on bass. It's a toughie, but I'll stick at it with plenty tea breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 My OCD takes over in a lot of cases. When I was starting out I couldn't leave it with learning a single song from an album, I had to learn the whole thing. Its the same with scales/modes etc at the moment. Slowing a piece down always helps IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rammstein2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 i struggle to learn some things (songs), so i tend to break the song down into managable sections and slow it down and just concentrate on that little piece of the song. Once i can play that section i just speed it up a little, and then a bit more until im at full speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Slowing it down always works for me. If you slow one section down, listen to it once, stop, then go over it in your head super slowly, making sure that you've got the rhythm and the notes in your head solidly.... You'll then be ready to listen to it, and nod/him along to it at the slower speed, then start playing along to it! Once you've got it down you can start slowly speeding up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1343586520' post='1752412'] He was the support act last time we played in Liverpool. Not nearly as angry as he appears in his videos, but he did break a string before his last song and wondered why no-one would lend him a guitar to finish the set... [/quote] Aargh - that G string is out of tune... ...and remains out of tune on the final recorded version as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have a slightly different approach to the ones already mentioned - if I can't play something after about 10 minutes I just give up & don't bother with it ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343591302' post='1752505']I have a slightly different approach to the ones already mentioned - if I can't play something after about 10 minutes I just give up & don't bother with it ever again. [/quote] We have a winner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I tend to have a toddler-esque temper tantrum... Then slow it down, practice it in batches of 4 bars, then add them together, if I still,can't get it, I have a bigger toddler type tantrum and sulk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I just play root notes until the band drop the song because it sounds rubbish......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_skezz Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Along with a lot of the other comments, slowing it down works for me. There were a couple of pieces back in the day (well, three years ago) I still couldn't get the hang of, in which case I changed the bassline about a bit to something I could play that would work, then reverted to the original afterwards when I'd got to grips with it (I'd only been playing a few months, fingerstyle, and was asked to play Pantera's 'Domination' - managed it eventually, but would definately use a pick for it these days now I'm used to them ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Breaking and slowing it down generally works for me. Although saying that, I've been trying to 'sweep pick' for about 7 months now and still can't do it. I'd never use it, I just like the idea of being able to do it and shut up any over-confident guitarists I may play with in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 [quote name='AndyBob09' timestamp='1343576875' post='1752239'] How do you get over the moments where you're sitting in your practice room and you've been trying something for about an hour and you just think, "I can't do it"? Keep trying? Slow it down? Move on to something else and come back to it tomorrow? [/quote] The thing the remember is that for almost any skill that humans learn "improvement" takes place in the breaks, where your nervous system assimilates the new information and movements, not during the actual activity itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343591302' post='1752505'] I have a slightly different approach to the ones already mentioned - if I can't play something after about 10 minutes I just give up & don't bother with it ever again. [/quote] [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1343593108' post='1752533'] I tend to have a toddler-esque temper tantrum... Then slow it down, practice it in batches of 4 bars, then add them together, if I still,can't get it, I have a bigger toddler type tantrum and sulk [/quote] [quote name='Blademan_98' timestamp='1343593792' post='1752546'] I just play root notes until the band drop the song because it sounds rubbish......... [/quote] These are quality responses which I very much like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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