Ability goes missing

[grumpyguts]

Perhaps it's just me.. When handed an unfamiliar bass in a music shop my somewhat limited ability becomes even more limited.

Trying out a cab today - stuff I know how to play becomes oddly difficult.

I have played the same bass since 1985 - perhaps I can't play anything else.

Anyone else have the same problem?

[RhysP]

No, I buy everything online....

[theyellowcar]

My fingers often get amnesia in music shops.

[KevB]

Related to one of the other threads, I suppose this is why we should all have at least one solo piece up our sleeves so we have something to noodle about with in a shop. No, I don't either just usually mindless fumbling about.

[Cameronj279]

I rarely play anything in music shops but on the odd occasion that I do this always seems to happen. It's not even that my ability goes away but I just seem to forget all the things I know how to play...even my own bands music...music that I wrote!!

[ambient]

It's cos you try too hard.

Edited August 5, 2015 by ambient

[grumpyguts]

Marvellous - so it's not just me.

I guess my inability to play anything other than my tatty old Westone is economically advantageous.

[JTUK]

I can't do a fraction of what I do on unfamiliar basses.. or unsuited to me.

I don't worry about it...it is not my bass.

[inthedoghouse]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1438800413' post='2837539']
No, I buy everything online....
[/quote]+1

[EssentialTension]

When checking out a bass one needs to stop thinking one is being tested.

The bass is being tested not you.

Don't perform.

Play every note on every string,

Play octaves, play fifths.

Use different pickups, play with the tone controls.

Etc.etc.

[jonnythenotes]

Same applies to me when I jump in a car that's not mine....dump the clutch, stall the car, and drive like an old lady for a while.

[spectoremg]

Tried an amp out recently. They were playing The Police greatest hits in the background. I said 'you can leave that on, I know all these'. He thought I was kidding and turned it off. Cue fumbling.

[Twincam]

Happened to me recently when buying an amp was handed a bass to try it with and the bass wasn't that dissimilar from my own, but I just couldn't play, it felt very wrong. I was concentrating on listen at the amp for odd noise, so that was part of it. Adding the was a didgeridoo being blown beside me.

However the time before I bought another bass it was very different to what I normally play and I thought oh no but I played it well.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1438811163' post='2837704']
When checking out a bass one needs to stop thinking one is being tested.

The bass is being tested not you.

Don't perform.

Play every note on every string,

Play octaves, play fifths.

Use different pickups, play with the tone controls.

Etc.etc.
[/quote]
Very sound advice.

[anaxcrosswords]

My experience is similar, but I put it down to imagining - especially if I attempt anything noodly - that I run the risk of looking like a plonker in front of shop guys who are likely to be immeasurably better musicians than me. So I just plod simple notes to get a feel for the bass or amp or effects pedal or strap or whatever.

[mrtcat]

It's what keeps me out of bassdirect and bass gear. Being such high end establishments just makes the pressure worse.

[gapiro]

[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1438885882' post='2838450']
My experience is similar, but I put it down to imagining - especially if I attempt anything noodly - that I run the risk of looking like a plonker in front of shop guys who are likely to be immeasurably better musicians than me. So I just plod simple notes to get a feel for the bass or amp or effects pedal or strap or whatever.
[/quote]
Luckily having seen the guys working in the shop here play, I know this not to be the case (at least on bass)

[KevB]

If I was worried that someone listening might be a better player than me I'd never gig, never mind try out a bass in a shop. Just do your own thing. There's only so much useful info you can get from an instrument in that environment anyway.

Edited August 7, 2015 by KevB

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1438841883' post='2837807']
Happened to me recently when buying an amp was handed a bass to try it with and the bass wasn't that dissimilar from my own, but I just couldn't play, it felt very wrong. I was concentrating on listen at the amp for odd noise, so that was part of it. Adding the was a[b] didgeridoo being blown [/b]beside me.

However the time before I bought another bass it was very different to what I normally play and I thought oh no but I played it well.
[/quote]

Is he "out" already or was that a euphanism?

[Truckstop]

Recently I was trying out some keyboards at my local shop and immediately forgot everything I knew how to play.

I just struggled with Chopsticks for a few minutes and walked off.

[hairychris]

Me too. The minimal talent that I have goes straight out of the window in music stores. I'm pretty sure that it's chronic indecision that does it!

[Bilbo]

It's called The Inner Game of Music. How self talk disables you as a performer. The best playing is done in a zone where external factors are completely ignored. Achieving that state takes discipline. It is fragile and can be broken far more easily than it can be achieved.

[Muzz]

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1438887228' post='2838467']
It's what keeps me out of bassdirect and bass gear. Being such high end establishments just makes the pressure worse.
[/quote]

Naah, just get down there - Mark at BD will have heard a lot worse: me, for a start...

He's always been very subtle when I've been there - he sets the amp and bass up, then retires into the office while I faff. Probably to bite his fist...

[Twincam]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1438937806' post='2838748']


Is he "out" already or was that a euphanism?
[/quote]

I started playing and all of a sudden the guy joins in, playing a didgeridoo. I was a bit surprised.
Then when giving the amp the once over checking the valves in the back, while switched on. His young son blows down the didgeridoo behind me, I didn't half jump!. My girlfriend thought the whole thing was highly amusing.

[Funky Dunky]

I'm having this problem at the moment, and all I did qas change my strings. My bass is all rattley and my left hand seems to have lost most of its dexterity. The gauge is more or less the same, but I"ve gone from Dunlop Super Brights to D"Addario Balanced Tension, and my playing has just.....gone....