I didn’t find any of your lessons demotivating at all, Josh.
Some other instructors - I wouldn’t say their lessons demotivated me, more that they turned me off of their teaching style and I just stopped with them. Not a big fan of pointless noodling/showboating or rambling during lessons.
One thing I think you did really well was keep the lessons focused, and any example playing you did was of the “this is what I am teaching you, and this is what you will be able to do when you learn it” variety. That is very effective, and you should lean in to that.
I am discouraged by online classes that are chaotic and have no clearly defined goal.
What demotivates me?
When I am unable to complete the task set for myself. As a perfectionist, I am very strict with my performances, I work on something until it is satisfactory for me, and if it is not, I get discouraged, lose my confidence. But these are more of a personal matter.
I feel you
I know… should start doing this, but I am very afraid of harsh judgment. Or that I end up as part of someone’s* YT compilation of “cringe guitar fails”…
The file size would start to get quite big especially when there are often 4 per lesson. You could try something like Reaper which allows you to drop the file in and loop it noting that you would probably have to trim the end so it looped as they usually fade out in the first bar at the end. I hadn’t used Reaper until a little while ago and didn’t take too long to figure out the basics. I’ve even managed to record me playing to the tracks which is a great way to listen to yourself and find improvements or bits you really like
I think the main demotivator for me would be the feeling I’m not progressing. I have had this so much over the past few years learning guitar. I think a big part of that is lack of structure and lack of playing actual songs (either familiar or similar to familiar songs). Whilst I do enjoy improv, it just feels like I should be able to play some actual songs, or at least parts of them.
I might start trying to learn one, get stuck and then sidetracked to doing something else.
B2B has been great as I can go through a lesson and feel like I have learnt something and played something by the end. I can still be demotivated though, but I think that is often tiredness and/or stress meaning that I can’t concentrate. A few times lately, I’ve nearly dropped the bass or fallen off my chair I’ve been that tired. It’s usually too early to go to bed and I get down that I can’t do something I really enjoy.
I’m yet to find a way to bounce back other than maybe just go listen to some music and bop along to it. I’ve started to listen to a bit of funk this past week and even danced whilst I made dinner. That usually helps and sometimes I hear a song I think would be not too difficult to learn. Now I just need to remember to take note of the song and then try to learn it.
One other thing that has occasionally helped is getting out my guitar and fuzz pedal. Cranking that up and playing just about anything feels kinda cool.
Sorry to make an aside here all, but…
For those of you who hit a wall, or feel demotivated from not progressing….come to the monthly live hangs! This is exactly the place to talk about this with others and get encouragement and advice on how to push on. We talk about a lot of things, but this is certainly one of them. Can’t promise we will help, but it can’t hurt. A little push is all you need sometimes, or someone to say “hey, i was there, its normal”.
And Josh does pop by occasionally, so you might even get some tips from him!
Yes - not from the Forum, but from the rest of the Internet. Other places exist besides YT - there’s a thread somewhere that talks about options for uploading videos. Billie Jean is nothing compared to the opinion of the Internet.
(* hug *)
Hmm…I think I will - thanks! (actually meant to come to the last one)
I never got demotivated through B2B, @JoshFossgreen . Your explanations were very helpful and the daily achievements boosted my motivation a lot. To be honest, I did not spend much time at the slap lessons, since I don’t slap anyway and it would have frustrated me by feeling I am wasting too much time. Sorry.
Sooner or later everyone gets frustrated and I tried to develop some strategies to turn the frustration into positive to avoid demotivation. I work on a dozen songs in parallel, when I get stuck or can not increase my speed/playing I lay it aside for some days. When I return to it, I play it better than before.
Success comes from hard work, not from talent. I call this strategy “biting the dust”. I am doing boring formal execises to increase my fingerplay, three lessons of at least 30 minutes a week. I know before the next exercise it’s ain’t gonna be fun. But I need to do it, so I do it with a smile.
I always work on a couple of songs that really challenge me. Some “advanced level” songs may take months to master. These tend to cause frustration but they also boost my play all around. I take the latter home, not the first.
For me, the most dangerous part to get frustrated is the final grinding of a song. To play it on a level I would get away with in a band context on a stage takes, let’s say, two weeks. But the last step to play it 100.001 % perfect in every situation (i. e. before breakfast and after the last whisky ) takes months. That’s the worst part coz it shows, my playing is still too ‘fragile’ to play in a band.
Before I started playing bass at the age of 63 I knew, I gonna face a hard time for two years. One year is over, everthing is fine. Demotivation? Not yet. Not a minute! As long as I can play songs/styles I like, I’ll never get demotivated.
Thanks! The community here is very nice, probably the last place like this on the internet. I will definitely have to overcome my fears. I’m very shy, so even writing here is quite challenging
I have recorded a couple of covers, but pressing the big red button in GarageBand still instantly makes me play 10 times worse and my hands sweat… The struggle is real.
I get demotivated when online teachers imply that you have knowledge when they are talking about something, especially theoretical.
For example when bald man with glove says: “Oh you only gotta do this simple thing, which is the most important for any bass player to practice every day” for each damn thing, then he goes brrrrr over the whole fretboard changing directions, scales and arpeggios 1000 miles an hour, without proper explanation or “how-to” tutorial. Easy, right guys?
I like “bass playing & theory for dummies approach”. Since I’m big into trying to translate theory into practical stuff, I’d like next BassBuzz course to include this topic on how to practice theory, and actually translate it through your fingers.
I can’t say I’ve ever been demotivated by lessons (bass or electric guitar) and usually feel great during and after them. (Although I’m only a few days into B2B and I’m expecting some difficult stuff ahead!)
What does demotivate me is wanting to play a specific piece and attempting to, but it sounds like I’m playing some off-key new age psychadelic avant garde funk rock song instead of U2
I think my own expectations can demotivate me, and I need to learn that I’m not going to be immediately amazing, and will need to put in the practice - somehow years and years of electric guitar lessons never ingrained this in me!
So far I’m really enjoying B2B, and always leave the lessons thinking that one day I will actually be badass (at bass, not in general)
You won’t find harsh judgment here. Only positive encouraging advice to improve you playing.
Set your YouTube video so that commenting is turned off. So you can post the video to this forum in a format that’s easy for us to watch. But the rest of the internet can’t make stupid comments. Win win.
Me too, which I find strange as a beginner. I keep waiting for the shitposting but it hasn’t happened yet. I’ll laugh about it when it eventually does.
A couple of tips for you (and possibly for @kristine too):
If and when you are ready to record and post a cover, upload it to YouTube as “unlisted”. That way, it won’t show up in any YouTube searches or anything. It will only be accessible through a direct link, which you can post here on the forum.
If you’re self-conscious, keep your head/face out of the frame when filming yourself. Plenty of headless bass players did this before you. You can use a pseudonym for your YouTube account as well if you like.
Do not worry about the feedback you will receive here on the forums. Literally everyone here is either in the same boat as you are, or has been in it recently enough to remember what it was like. All you’ll receive is encouragement and constructive criticism.
I myself did pretty much all of this for my covers. I recently changed all my YouTube videos from “unlisted” to “public”, and you know what happened? NOTHING. Nobody watches, comments on, or cares about my videos. It’s reassuring, humbling and slightly annoying all at the same time
) takes months. That’s the worst part coz it shows, my playing is still too ‘fragile’ to play in a band.
