I haven’t really been following a schedule. I just try to do a lesson or two every night. Honestly, the lessons have been pretty easy. I would go back to ensure they were sticking and never had an issue going back, as I wanted to ensure that I was retaining the lessons.
However, I feel like since module 4, specially “Billie Jean,” I have been struggling. I’m currently on Module 5, Lesson 2, medium speed and I’m getting my butt kicked.
Should I just grab the three month schedule and work with that? Or is this a normal sticking point and just power through it?
Billie Jean is meant to be a struggle, there are many discussions about it here. As Josh points out don’t worry and keep moving. I didn’t nail it til a year after I finished the course. It’s all good.
Billie Jean destroyed me first time I tried it. Struggled to keep up with slow exercise. I was already tired from practicing other stuff before beginning the lesson, and I’m sure that played a part. Learned a good lesson, no doodling before the lesson.
Tomorrow plan on taking a fresh look at it, but I don’t intend to sweat it. As far as course progression, I’m opting for a more custom approach, follow lessons on a semi-regular basis, supplemented with a little private practice that I can tie to where I’m at currently. So far so good.
I hear you. I just take a few days off when I get really frustrated! Frustration completely blocks my ability to learn. If my brain needs a break, it needs a break. I’ve been at it for 8 months now… and I have a fair amount of previous experience with bass-- but that’s where much of the frustration is coming from. Like, “Why can’t you do this in your sleep already, you absolute wad of peat moss?” It’s 99% mental (for me!).
Oh nose! To ‘get in the mood’ and fired up I frequently stomp on the crunch pedal, throw on something loud and wail away till the blisters or neck pain slow me down. Then I calm down, bring up a B2B lesson and sit down to alleviate some of the back and neck pain, while practicing being a real bass player.
Now I’m wondering if I should try swapping that pattern around and get in more ‘good lesson time’ first, before grabbing and sliding all over the thrashing strings getting blisters and the finger tips burning.
Don’t have a meaningful reply but had to mention my irl out loud lols at this. Mind if I ask where you are from? I’m picturing somewhere with bogs which add that horrifying taste to a scotch liquor.
Try it out and see how it works for you. I know for me I am better focused to handle new things/concepts/techniques at the beginning of a session then at the end.
Oh, that’s delightful! I literally just made it up on the spot: “Wad of… wad of…? Peat moss! That’ll do.” I grew up in rural Nova Scotia. My only connection to peat would be that my parents used it as a garden fertilizer when I was a kid. But Nova Scotia certainly does have a lot of wetlands and liquor.
Totally normal
It’s supposed to get harder, the first few lessons are very simple
Don’t worry if not getting the “hard” exercises right… the medium is plenty… you can always go back plus with time some of those hard ones will be easier, you’ll wonder what was so hard about them
Keep moving on, and have fun
When frustrated, go back and play a lesson that was fun to you, or some riffs that you like… return to the course the next day
So i get this, i think. I had something similar. After failing miserably at the Billie Jean lesson i decided to Just move past it and keep going. But i felt like i was hamstrung by not having completed it?
It was almost a feeling of not deserving to successfully continue the program without ticking that box… If thats what’s you are getting? Let that sh1t go!
Some of the lessons (in particular the dreaded bj)
Are meant to be stretch lessons. Meaning this is where growth as a player happens
I kinda think he put that lesson right there as a deliberate learning experience. Probably Most everyone here would say they breezed the lessons up to that one. I can’t say this for sure, but i think it’s there to let us realize that it isn’t always easy, and that our skill level has to grow organically.
It took me months ( 6 of them, to be clear ) to be able to play that. And I’m grateful for the experience for a couple reasons.
Ego- I’ve got enough. I was in need of something a little humbling.
Level of commitment- it made me mad enough that i couldn’t do it that i decided i WOULD do it.
Don’t get upset with her, she can be a little hard-headed. Take the time to get to know her, you’ll probably be surprised by how much you’ll like her in the end.
But don’t let it affect your continued progress in the program. Keep going! Not mastering one thing isn’t any sort of stoppage. It means You’ve got a challenge in one area. That doesn’t have to be resolved today or by a specific date. This is one that you can come back to again and again until you get it. And if you’re feeling blue about not getting it immediately, play some blues and think about how far you’ve already come! Chances are, it’s farther than you ever thought you would!
Individual results may vary. Sometimes I do a previous workout to warm up, but not exhaust myself. On days I don’t do a lesson, I mess around with other songs or exercises to supplement B2B.
This seems like sound advice. I’m going to see how it feels separating jam days from lesson days. I’m finding out with how busted up and broken the body has been in the past, I don’t have nearly as long as I thought I would in a given play session, (especially standing up with a bass around my neck) before the body says nope you’re done.
Don’t guilt yourselves in to landing each and every lesson perfected at the full speed. They will come with time and practice. It’s years later and I probably would still get Pinky Mutiny doing the Disco Octaves lesson at the full speed workout without significant time in practice.
Pretty normal-some lessons easier than others etc. I thought I was a hot shot octaves player until that lesson hahahaha. Good to be humbled once in a while-makes you a better player IMO
