Hey guys, hope everyone is doing well. Pretty bummed out this week as I haven’t had the ability to play - back is not great which in turn kills my hands. I tried to play through the pain and do the next lesson, but my body wasn’t having it.
I’ll try tomorrow and see if I can gain some lost ground on the lessons since I’m doing the monthly plan.
Just needed to vent.
Sorry 
Also, apologies if this is in the wrong spot.
No problem! Don’t worry, taking breaks is fine. You’ll be surprised, skills will still be there. The rust comes off quickly.
If you are really jonesing for some bass, one thing you could do while recovering is related music training - things like learning to read music and learning the bass clef if you don’t know those already, ear training listening to intervals, trying to figure out songs, etc.
@howard those are great ideas. I’ve been watching a ton of videos from the folks here, (sorry to say it) Davie, Charles and a few other popular You Tubers to keep my mind in the zone.
Also been listening to some very Bass-centric songs and was introduced to Jaco Pastorius via the song Portrait of Tracy. Very heavy stuff.
Overall, waiting until I can pull the Bass out and get some more lessons in.
No need to apologize for Davie, I think he’s great - very good bassist with an online persona that’s working for him.
He cheers me up sometimes. I like the fun videos, but really dig when he dos the videos where he actually plays.
Ugh, that sounds awful! Is that the same no matter whether you sit or stand? In my experience with back pain, it is fairly dependent on whether you sit, lie or stand… so, perhaps you could try changes in your posture etc to alleviate some of the pain.
Hope you get better soon!
@architecht13 That sucks man. I hope it gets better soon for you.
For the record, I count listening to cool bass music as studying.
@joergkutter The back pain is there regardless of my positioning, unfortunately. The couch in the game/movie/Bass room is very supportive and has a nice chaise (did I even spell that correctly?) which I use when the sectioned cushions don’t line up the right way.
I’m a stone’s throw from minor procedures, just have to get some doctors and see what options are out there.
Thank you for the kind words.
My friend was at the point of debilitation and finally gave in and got the surgery, and it was life-changing for him. Probably best to wait until you’re at a similar point but once there, there is hope. He’s a sports coach and is back to 100% on his job after getting it done.
Was pretty much exactly my experience!!
@joergkutter oergutter Did you have blocks? Or shunts? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.
Well, maybe what I had is not exactly “minor surgery”… even though the actual procedure only takes about 15 minutes. They opened me up in the lumbar region and removed some of the excess protruding disk material, which had been pressing onto the nerves and caused most of the pain. So, yeah, a bit “scary”, but worth it in the end.
Still, talk to as many MDs and people with similar experiences as possible to get a good idea of what is involved and what the chances for improvements are.
I had a block earlier on (local targeted injection of pain killers, anti-inflammatory agents and steroid hormones), which is essential in that it allows some of the muscles involved to stop cramping and allows the built up inflammation to be healed. That is often sufficient to get you back on the right track; however, if nerve pain is involved, a block is probably (unfortunately) not enough IMO.
That’s what my friend had done, plus the vertebral fusion.
Thank you @joergkutter and @howard for this information.
Came here for Bass, staying for the cool folks with info for everything in life!
I had the same procedure 10 years ago. It was life changing. 
To everyone that has responded - thank you! I would like to report that for the last two nights, I have been playing solely on the E, since that is the beginner level. Did not play anything from the lessons, sorry @JoshFossgreen, my body has been bad and need to groove back into things, but played what ‘I’ think is Glycerin. I did a lot of different things for what felt like 5 seconds, but was much more.
Standing helped.
I had fun.
Thank you everyone for the support.
Hi @architecht13 hey man, my sympathies brother. if you are now mobile and out of acute pain i have a couple you tube sites i can recommend (for daily warmup, strengthening). and you have the $ i took a Gokhale weekend seminar that seemed to help correct posture.
