A break from bass

[lowdowner]

I had a bass lesson yesterday. Nothing unusual in that I guess, but it's after two weeks of just not being 'into' playing my bass. For well over a year now i've played my bass every day, and loved every moment of it - couldn't get enough of it to be honest; but two weeks ago I suddenly couldn't really care less. Apart from pre-booked gigs, I didn't bother and went out and bought myself a drum kit and booked my first two drum lessons.

Talk about mid life crisis!

I'm loving the drums - i've always wanted to try them - and I'm going to continue playing them, but yesterday's bass lesson came and went and I realised that all I needed was a break and a bit of 'bass-down-time'

Just wondering if anyone else had been through the same kind of feelings during their bass playing history? How long did it last? Has it happened more than once?

[RhysP]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1350674129' post='1842262']
Just wondering if anyone else had been through the same kind of feelings during their bass playing history? How long did it last? Has it happened more than once?
[/quote]

I've been playing for over 33 years & this has happened to me several times.

What I've usually done is gone off & played another instrument for a few years & have always come back to bass, though I haven't been "passionate" about the instrument for a good 15 years.

One of the reasons I originally joined Basschat was I once again found myself at a point where I didn't know what to do: I felt like knocking it all on the head but due to the amount of time I'd invested in playing over the years I felt pretty weird about stopping.

I now find myself once again turning my back on bass - I've sold pretty much all my gear (the last of my Zons goes on Sunday) & the idea was to use this money to get some other instruments.

Now I've got that money in my hand however I find myself thinking there's just no point in wasting any more money or time on music: the music I try & write is bloody awful clichéd & formulaic stuff, I have no desire to play covers & I find the whole "being in a band" thing unbelievably stressful due to the fact that I'm a bit of a loner & hate having to interact with people any more than necessary.

I find that I don't even enjoy listening to music anymore, which I honestly never thought would happen.

I guess everything has a finite timespan & quite simply my time as a "musician" has run it's course.

[rogerstodge]

I played with a very hard working band from '92 til 2002 constant gigs/tours world wide, i quit and thought " right that's it im having 5 yrs off," 6 months later i'm out gigging again, yep i missed it.

[Pinball]

Does iyt matter as long as your enjoying yourself? I travelled in the other direction. I play guitar and picked up a bass to record stuff at home and love it!

[lowdowner]

Well, two weeks doesn't seem so bad then - I'm well back into bass so it's probably just a wimpy couple of weeks.

[xgsjx]

I've had a few of them. Put the bass down many times & usually for a few months at a time.

As I'm currently bandless & struggling to find any local musicians, I've had that feeling since @ March.
Considering going back to keys.

[Machines]

I have 2 guitars and a keyboard for a change of scenery every few weeks. When I come back to bass its like home again.

[Fat Rich]

Pretty much the same thing.

I fished out my drum machine to have something to play bass along to, but programming a drum machine is a pain. So when I saw a rubber electric kit I decided that was the way forward and got so into learning to play the drums.... I didn't pick up a bass for ages.

Then I eventually got the urge to play bass again and the drums have taken a back seat for now.

[SoVeryTired]

I've not been playing bass long enough to have taken an extended break. I suppose I'm fortunate that I do other thngs within the churchband, so although I mainly play bass I could be playing lead or rhythm guitar or singing from one week to the next. That way I never get stale.

[TheGreek]

I stopped playing bass for about 15 years when I got my dog. I took up playing saxophone for a few years later. When he died I felt a huge hole in my life which playing the Sax wasn't filling - my true love has always been bass so I traded the Sax in and bought a bass - that's when the GAS began..

[grahamd]

Gave up for few years after moving towns. Couldn't stay away for long though, and appreciate it now more than ever. The break did me good