please stick a spark plug up my bum

[christhammer666]

please stick with me this may take a while!!!!!!!

since starting to play bass nearly 17 years ago with periods of months at a time with no practice i really feel my time is running out.
i was diagnosed with severe depression 6 years ago and for years i have found any excuse not to practise.ill be in work thinking ill try to learn some theory or go over some songs for the recording project im part of,soon as im home ill find any excuse not to bother (something i wanna watch on tele or some other piss poor excuse)
it gets to the point i think imay as well just sell my bass and give up
i dont think i play for 2 hours a month.the guy im in the project with has the patience of a saint
i want to play loads, i have the time just my oomp has left me
for the first time in ages i got a tab book out tonight and learned a song and quite enjoyed it
i just know it will be ages before i do it again
any ideas

[gub]

Do you like the bass you are playing ATM ?

[rogerstodge]

How bout upping your anti depressants?

[stu_g]

i thought this was the oooh! champion joke!
maybe you just need to get your mojo back and start listening to some inspiring music or bands?
seeing bands always inspires me theres something to learn or see with evry band if if i dont like there particular music

[ChrisB]

I wasn't really feeling it on the way to rehearsal last night but once we'd set up and started jamming our first track I really got into it.
Maybe arrange to jam/play with other people?

[stu_g]

bye the way the ooh champion joke was
I went to my local garage to get my car repaired.

The mechanic made me an offer

As he was bending over the car, he said to me, "you can place any spanner between my bum cheeks and I'll tell you what size spanner it is. If I get it wrong, I'll repair your car for free."

Fair enough, so I picked up a spanner and placed it between his arse cheeks.

"That's a 19mm ring spanner," he said.

He was right, so I picked up a larger spanner and placed it between his arse cheeks.

"That's a 32mm ring spanner."

Correct again, so I looked around and found a dirty old spark plug laying on the floor.

I said, "okay, smart arse, what's this?" and I shoved it right up his arsehole.

He let out a cry and said, "oooh champion!"

[christhammer666]

ive seen all the bands i wanna see ive sat in front of john myung for whole gigs come home inspired and i just sit with my bass and ..........nothing
as for my bass ive had loadsof basses over the years loved them all.most were bought thinking this bass will make me play ect
im currently playing an ibanez sr300 lovely slim neck nocomplaints there
i watch vids of wooten,harris.burton,
just feellike a zombie was even worse on the pills

[Raymondo]

I can empathise with you here.I have not been diagnosed with depression but I do have Fibromyalgia; a symptom of which can be depression along with all the other stuff I have to live with(not looking for sympathy here its just a fact of life for me).

I too "can't be bothered" to practice etc and sometimes think I should give up but I am lucky,I play in a band ,we do not gig very often ....every six weeks or so...but that gives me the incentive to get off my backside and play!
The other band members were great when I tried to leave due to beeing tired and in pain after gigs ,they all said they wanted me to stay and do not book too many gigs so that I can cope....

Any chance you could join/form a band?
I know it would take a massive effort on your part but if you manage to get the right people it's amazing how focused you can become when there is a gig on the horizon.

Just try to keep going ,music is a fabulous therapy.Good look for the future.

[christhammer666]

im in a project at the moment which is just recording no gigs i gotta learn 7 songs by september. dont know if im just not feeling the music or what
maybe i need a more serious project to focus on like raymondo said

[Big_Stu]

The apathy could just as easily be caused by your meds as your depression. What could ease both is endorphins, a physical feel good factor which can have a knock-on effect. The one usually suggested is rigorous exercise, cycling or swimming being the top two.
It would be worth having a word with your GP about it, if you have a good sympathetic one they should be able to advise.

[RhysP]

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1343854183' post='1756480']
please stick with me this may take a while!!!!!!!

since starting to play bass nearly 17 years ago with periods of months at a time with no practice i really feel my time is running out.
i was diagnosed with severe depression 6 years ago and for years i have found any excuse not to practise.ill be in work thinking ill try to learn some theory or go over some songs for the recording project im part of,soon as im home ill find any excuse not to bother (something i wanna watch on tele or some other piss poor excuse)
it gets to the point i think imay as well just sell my bass and give up
i dont think i play for 2 hours a month.the guy im in the project with has the patience of a saint
i want to play loads, i have the time just my oomp has left me
for the first time in ages i got a tab book out tonight and learned a song and quite enjoyed it
i just know it will be ages before i do it again
any ideas
[/quote]

I feel exactly the same as you - I've been depressive since my mid teens (I'm 47 now).
I used to be really obsessive about playing, I've spent thousands on gear over the years but now I rarely pick up a bass & I just don't enjoy it like I used to. I've tried all the usual stuff to rekindle my interest: new gear, getting involved in different musical projects etc. but nothing makes a difference for very long.

I'm middle aged, I work six days a week, I'm in constant pain from a back injury & I have carer responsibilities for my parents - by the time I've done all that I don't have the energy or the enthusiasm for doing anything other than having a cup of tea & going to bed.

I used to blame my depression for my lack of enthusiasm & drive but I'm honestly starting to believe it's just that I'm not into playing very much anymore - maybe you're the same.

Edited August 1, 2012 by RhysP

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343857526' post='1756566']
I'm middle aged, I work six days a week, I'm in constant pain from a back injury & I have carer responsibilities for my parents - by the time I've done all that I don't have the energy or the enthusiasm for doing anything other than having a cup of tea & going to bed.

I used to blame my depression for my lack of enthusiasm & drive but I'm honestly starting to believe it's just that I'm not into playing very much anymore - maybe you're the same.
[/quote]

Bloody hell mate, you're knackered - pure & simple. You need a bloody good holiday, which I know is no use to you being just told that. But you have my utmost respect for sticking at it as you are. Don't give yourself a hard time over being too tired to do anything else.

[icastle]

If you set yourself too big a goal and don't meet it, you'll be back at square one.

Set yourself lots of [b]little[/b] goals, the culmination being ready to record these tracks in September.

One thing I can tell you for certain, if you do nothing you'll look back at this time one day and kick yourself.

[icastle]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343857526' post='1756566']
I'm middle aged, I work six days a week, I'm in constant pain from a back injury & I have carer responsibilities for my parents - by the time I've done all that I don't have the energy or the enthusiasm for doing anything other than having a cup of tea & going to bed.

I used to blame my depression for my lack of enthusiasm & drive but I'm honestly starting to believe it's just that I'm not into playing very much anymore - maybe you're the same.
[/quote]

That's not a lack of enthusiasm, that's borderline exhaustion.
You need to realise you're just a soft Englishman living in Wales, not a tough Welshman living in England like me.

[RhysP]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1343858745' post='1756600']
You need to realise you're just a soft Englishman living in Wales, not a tough Welshman living in England like me.
[/quote]

[ThomBassmonkey]

One thing that's helped me is being in a band. How involved in the recording can you be? If you have a night a week where you get together and mess about with the tracks, jam along to them etc, you get into a routine and it becomes easier to set aside that time each week to concentrate on bass and because you're meeting someone else, it's harder to back out of it.

Also try jamming along to tracks, find some acoustic stuff (for example) that doesn't have a bass recorded on it and play along, figuring out how to play the songs is fun, learning to play by ear is a useful skill and there's no frustration at finding crappy tabs online, only the frustration at taking a while to get started (assuming you can't already play by ear).

Set yourself goals you can easily achieve. Aim to learn a section of a song a day for example, that way in the time before recording, you should easily have the songs learned but because you're only learning one section a day, it's only likely to be 15 minutes a day or so.

My band's doing a cover set at the moment for a birthday and wedding, the birthday is on Friday and I've not even heard most of the songs in at least 5 years so I can completely empathise! Luckily as useless as I am at putting aside time to practice, I'm a very fast learner and have picked up the songs in the few band practices we've had.

Edited August 1, 2012 by ThomBassmonkey

[seashell]

When I first started a friend of mine advised me to pick up the bass once a day and play it for at least 15 mins. So if you dont think you've got the time or energy to do any more you can tell tyourself 'well its only 15 mins, then I'll have a rest/do something else'. I find that 15 mins nearly always turns into an hour before I realise it.

[AntLockyer]

totally left field but see if you can go and see an NLP practitioner rather who can really help you help yourself and then you can get off the meds. Failing that buy Anthony Robbins book Ultimate Power and help yourself.

[Fat Rich]

I'm a lazy, unmotivated old git but I try really hard to keep my promises and meet my deadlines. If I'm left to my on devices I achieve little, I really need some outside motivation to make me work.

So maybe getting some lessons would help purely from a motivational point of view? And getting involved in another band in addition to what you're doing now as has been said already.

Also I find making lists can help, write down what you want to achieve and when you need to achieve it. Crossing completed tasks off a list will probably make you feel better, even if you're only making small steps towards a bigger goal.


Good luck!

[xgsjx]

Some good advice posted there.
If you're sitting at home, load up a daw or go to a site like Wikiloops.com on your computer, get some drums going through some decent speakers & jam away.
You'll soon be taking basslines to the band to write songs around. I did.

[Skol303]

You could try my own Patented approach to self-motivation. It worked for me to give up smoking - a very different issue, granted - but I'm sure it's transferable.

I call it the "Don't be so f*cking weak and just do it" method.

Seriously. Get angry with yourself. Switch off the telly, pick up your bass (or put down your cigarettes in my case) and just do it. You'll feel good for making a positive change in your life and it'll get easier the more you do it, especially when you start to see improvements to your playing (or health as it was for me).

If that doesn't help then a good ol' fashioned morbid meditation on death might do the trick. After all, you're going to wake up dying one day and don't imagine that's going to be a good moment to look back on all those wasted nights watching telly, when you could have been gaining some pride playing bass. Life's too short for "mañana, mañana....".

So that's a spark plug for you right there: get angry, think dark thoughts and come out swinging.

I'll let you handle the insertion bit...

And seriously, good luck with it.

[charic]

I'm happy to bug you every couple of days asking how you're progressing if that'll help?

I've had a friend do it for me and it helped no end

[Gust0o]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1343899452' post='1756903']
I call it the "Don't be so f*cking weak and just do it" method.
[/quote]

I do recall Billy Boy Thornton waxing lyrical on his similar approach to dealing with his issues.

[pst62]

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1343855006' post='1756506']
I can empathise with you here.I have not been diagnosed with depression but I do have Fibromyalgia; a symptom of which can be depression along with all the other stuff I have to live with(not looking for sympathy here its just a fact of life for me).[/quote]

Sorry to read that mate, my wife was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year, it's a horrible illness, she's in constant pain.

[Raymondo]

[quote name='pst62' timestamp='1343900797' post='1756935']
Sorry to read that mate, my wife was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year, it's a horrible illness, she's in constant pain.
[/quote]

Thanks mate all the best to you and your poor wife.
As for the OP.....the majority of replies seem to be saying set goals and keep playing....easy if you are not stuck inside your own head with depression.....lets keep up the encouragement,depression is a horrible stae and he needs all the help we can give to keep making music.