Inspiration? Please help

When you pick your bass up, what do you do with it? Scales? Theory? Learning songs? Writing songs? Fingerpicking exercises?

Are you in a band, or do you have someone to jam with?

Just wondering.

Ok, I've got myself at a dead end. Its been a while now that I've been feeling like this, I just am not finding bass terribly interesting. I pick it up to play and five minutes later I'm bored and put it down.

What inspired you to pick up the bass in the first place? Some particular piece of music? A favorite band?

Try listening to some bassline that just really grabs you -- you know, gets in your head and you just can't get it out again. Challenge yourself to learn to play that bassline.

Good luck getting yourself out of your funk, er, blues, er, wait a minute -- maybe that's the answer! Find some OTHER kind of music with an inspiring bassline. If you usually listen to and/or play rock 'n' roll, pick up some funk (just about anything by The Brothers Johnson) or some blues (Stevie Ray Vaughn had some kick-a** basslines) and see if it catches your fancy.

Once again, good luck.

Looked at some Stevie Ray Vaughan but all I can find are boring (imo) basslines that are just ur standard walking 12 bar blues?

Anything more challenging?

Hmmm...walking basslines 'boring'? It sounds almost like you don't *want* to be a bass player; like it's not your instrument. There's an incredible wealth of stuff for the bass out there, but it seems like you're not willing or interested in seeking it out.

It might be good to find a teacher at this point so you can get a little direction. But one thing - direction is only valuable if one is willing to walk that path.

If at the end of say, 5 lessons, you might want to take another look at why it is you're playing the bass and see if it still bores you or fails to draw your interest. You might be a guitarist at heart, you know?

Looked at some Stevie Ray Vaughan but all I can find are boring (imo) basslines that are just ur standard walking 12 bar blues?

Anything more challenging?

Hmm... seem to have posted that twice? sorry

Maybe your right about wanting to be a guitarist at heart, but what I'm looking for is this incredible wealth of information for bass. Where is it? Where do I start?

I do like the instrument, I just think that its a stage a lot of musicians go through. I went through it with keyboard once (shortly before I quit - ekk!)

I just don't agree with this idea that many people have that a bassists job is to just provide a groove, I wanna do more than that, but, on a bass. And, I don't see why that should be a problem. i don't agree that people enjoy standing behind the lead and thinking they control the band, when come on: they control it as much as the other guy.

This is the reason I like a lot of Chilis bass lines is because the bass is essentially used as a low frequency lead guitar; a lot of the time Fusciante is playing chords and rhythm right next to what is basically a lead bass guitar, and it ties in really well.

Another guy I like is Cliff Burton. Before he died he would put some really interesting bass lines into a lot of Metalllica songs which were related to guitar but added another twist to the songs.

I would just like to know where I could find more of this type of work.

Cheers

P.S. I'll try to answer some questions if you don't understand me.

Your post seems a little confusing in that, on the one hand you say "I just am not finding bass terribly interesting. I pick it up to play and five minutes later I'm bored and put it down.

I just really dont know what to try and learn, if anything."

...and on the other hand you have all these bassists you like.

And then on yet another hand you say you're "looking for is this incredible wealth of information for bass. Where is it? Where do I start?"

It's not clear what you're asking, which makes me wonder about whether or not *you* have a clear idea of what you want. You have bass players that you admire, and yet say there is nothing to learn. That would appear to mean that you've already learned their styles and know all their licks, which means you have quite a catalog of stuff to pull from, but when you say "I just am not finding bass terribly interesting. I pick it up to play and five minutes later I'm bored and put it down..." it seems as though you haven't really spent enough time learning those other guys' licks.

I probably have this wrong, but if you're in a position where you're able to play exactly like those guys, then that means you originally had enough drive and patience and interest to sit down and learn everything they did. Do you play like that? If so, then you should be in a band, getting stage experience. But if you're just sitting there, basically boring yourself and letting yourself get bored with the instrument, then it seems like you haven't decided why you're playing the thing in the first place. It seems to break down to "I want to play like these guys, or create something like them because I don't like the role of the bass, but...I don't have the will to sit down and practice." It's like you're burned out before you even start, and that leads back to the question of 'why' you want to be a musician, and 'why' do you want to play the bass.

I mean, it's not like it's forced upon you. Being a musican is an option in life. Nobody makes you do it because the only person who can make you do it is you, yourself. And if you're not into it, there's no magical way to artificially 'inject' it into a person.

An acquaintance of mine was always in love with the bass from when he first started out. He played electric bass, studied upright bass in college, played jazz and rock and worked in bands his whole life. He plays guitar, but just for fun. When it comes down to what he enjoys more than anything, it's playing the bass -- all types of instruments, all kinds of styles. There's pretty much nothing he can't do or doesn't know about bass and being a bassist in a band situation. I think he was even in a band with two bassists. And this love of music and playing the bass got him through some pretty interesting situations; one of the first being in the Sheila E band back in the 80s, then onto one of Miles Davis' bands and then now in the Santana band.

Benny, the guy's name is. And you know what? He never had to force himself to be in love with the instrument. He just simply loved it and went with it and is still going for it.

It comes down to: If you're going to do something, do it because you absolutely love it and cherish it and can't live without it. That's what music is regardless of what instrument you play.

Of course, not everybody wants to be a professional working musician. Most people just want to have something to do and to have fun at it and to work at it and appreciate the progress they're making, and to talk about music with friends (as here), and just basically hang out and enjoy the richness and depth that music, in general, can offer.

But it seems that you're not having any fun at it at all, and you're trying to force yourself to 'be into' the instrument, to love what you're doing and have fun. I mean, 'forcing yourself to have fun' (my quote, not yours) is like...I dunno...a complete contradiction in terms. The way it works is, you find the thing you love doing, and that love will keep you going and it's not 'work' anymore. And that love, by keeping you going, makes you better at the thing along the way and one day you sit down and realize you've done all these things and it didn't seem like a 'job' at all.

***
All of what I said previously aside, maybe it's something else, something more people can relate to. Maybe it's your instrument or amp or the way things sound. Good tone can sometimes be inspiring, but then again it doesn't sustain interest if there's none to begin with, you know?

Anyhow, hope this helps somewhat. I sorta doubt it unless it makes you sit down and figure out what it is exactly that you want. That would be a good first step. Just reread your posts here and look at the almost diverging trains of thought, see which ones are the most important and then turn in that direction for awhile.

Maybe learn as many licks and lines from the guys you mentioned.
Maybe consider switching to guitar.
Maybe take a few lessons to get a second, unbiased view of things.
Maybe start in on some light music theory to allow you to see how powerful and important the bass is. You don't even seem to believe in that part of it.

Best regards.

That was one long post dude: cheers.

I originally start playing bass in Christmas '02.

I first picked it up because it was that time when my musical (listening to) horizons had started to open up, and also because a friend had recently started playing guitar, as a lot of people start to do in high school and my brother had been playing drums for about 4 years, and I already had a background in music from playing the keyboard for 4 years, and could read music from this. So I decided to get in on the act.

however, I chose bass to be more original because there aren't many bassists around, compared to guitarists. And a bands are looking for bassist more than guitarists.

At first I enjoyed it a lot and rapidly excelled in the instrument, however I had to teach myself from the word "GO" and for that reason I've never had any sort of guidance and have never known where I was going with it. The thing that I can call a teacher is a piece of software called "Guitar Pro".

At first this didnt matter, any direction was good because I was gonna improve and keep an interest. However, because I can't get a teacher or any lessons because 1. I dont know where to look, and 2. Because bassists are few and far between they aren't catered for. there was never anything to keep me facing the right way, and tell me where I was going.

This is evident in the amount of bass magazines. I know of one in the UK, and I only discovered it yesterday! After a year of searching!

I think this is the reason I feel uninterested. Don't get me wrong, I do like the instrument and love listening to the basslines in songs and the solos from people such as Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan etc. but I just don't have the guidance.

However, I am starting to pull a band together and have found that after I managed to to sit down and learn a song I knew (Megolomaniac by Incubus) it was very satisfying and this feeling gives you the drive to carry on learning.

I don't really know how to end this post so I'll stop now.

Cheers

Yup -- it's gotta be fun man.

If you want a solo, unaccompanied bass piece, "Portrait of Tracy" by J. Pastorius is very pleasant to listen to and from what I've heard, interesting to learn.

Take care, and good luck with the band!

Sorry, I just overturned that last post but thanks for reading it. I would still like suggestions for melodic bass songs to play on my own.

Cheers

I just don't agree with this idea that many people have that a bassists job is to just provide a groove, I wanna do more than that, but, on a bass. And, I don't see why that should be a problem. i don't agree that people enjoy standing behind the lead and thinking they control the band, when come on: they control it as much as the other guy.

Just to provide groove! Just! One of the things I love about the bass is that it can provide a groove. And who do you mean by the other guy? The drummer? (Don't bother answering that, it's not important.)

"Portrait of Tracy" is a piece to play on your own. It's a solo. Also, Jaco's version of "Donna Lee" is nearly a solo. Just him and some congas. "Portrait of Tracy" is a real neat song. Sooo many harmonics.

You might look into some Wooten as well, since he has some solo pieces.

You should sit down and figure out what it is you like to do on the bass, and direct yourself in that direction. That's the only way you'll get back into it. Or maybe not. Playing with a group could very well give you a new appreciation for holding down the groove. Also, walking basslines aren't as easy as you might think. Much of the time, they aren't pre-planned. You'll just take a set of changes and walk your bassline through them. There's a method to it, but it's brain intensive, especially at first.

If you want inspration check out some Black Sabbath live with Geezer. Especially the bass solo intro to N.I.B. That should be all the inspiration you need. The guy's insane.

i really don't know much about bass, but i did read that you like cliff from metallica. have you ever tried playing Anathezia(spelling error i know) from the Kill 'em All album? its a good bass solo, with lots of harmonics, slides and all kinds of crap that a lot of bassists don't throw into theri playing