I am only 40+, but the old saying that you are as old as you feel must be true because the facts prove that I am much older (but without the wisdom!) than those 50, 60 and 70+ bass players 
I will try to “embrace the suck” (if I weren’t afraid of needles, that motto could be the basis for a good tattoo 
) but sometimes I am … demotivated (hence my post in this thread!)
Thanks for the encouragement!
So I get this. I’m a traveling worker. I live in hotels. I don’t have a printer, multiple computers or space for any and every thing I could write down. Most times I don’t even know where my pen is.
I recall posting a question once to Josh as to what I had missed because I didn’t understand how to define a key, and I felt really dumb.
Everyone learns at their own pace, and in their own way. Nobody had all the answers.
For me. This is the answer. Lessons at a pace I set, without shame or the two 14 year olds at guitar center who came in with a friggin set list.
Someone once told me here, " if you can’t play it fast, play it slow"
Lot of value in that. Don’t get discouraged. This can be done. Nothing worth it Comes easy.
That’s exactly what I’m thinking about at the moment… 
I was thinking about this topic more last night….
I have been playing/learning some sort of instrument now for about 20 years.
First piano, then trumpet very seriously, then sax insanely, now bass (with the first two falling by the wayside mainly).
Although I like very much ‘learning what moves me’, it has its limitations due to what others have ID’ed - time. BUT - if you come to grips with time and are honest with yourself about your hobby and skill level, you can enjoy it vs. be upset by it.
This week and last have been particularly bad about demotivating around playing bass. Sometimes, after finishing a cover, as I am looking for the next one, I feel like I can’t play anything and my hands are giant globs of stone incapable of plucking. So I look for other things to do, small exercises, online lessons, etc to build back confidence and skill.
@JerryP mentioned in a live hang a while ago about starting to learn a new song and feeling like it is impossible, each and every time. I was thinking about why this is and feeling this very much of late. When you master a song (or a lesson) you feel great but are immediately humbled again by the next song/lesson/technique etc that you don’t know yet. This is the process, not the exception, and if you put your mindset in a place of ‘always a student’ then this starts to matter less and less.
So, why does all this jibber-jabber matter? (Sorry this is so wordy)
If I go to dive into an online course/lesson/whatever it WILL be hard, it SHOULD be hard. If it is not hard then you already know how to do whatever that is. But very often we are just looking for results vs. the act of actually learning. And in between those two points is the balance needed in online lessons to get results in folks in ‘our crowd’ of mostly older folks (those damn kids can pick up anything quickly!).
Rereading this thread I think it all comes down to nuggets that can strike that balance of ability/unknown that can be easily digested and mastered. BUT, the other component is setting our own expectations. The old adage is so fitting for any instrument - the more you learn the more you learn how much you don’t know. And if you don’t embrace this concept and accept it as part of the journey/path, then you will spend more time frustrated and less time enjoying.
For the folks that say ‘I can’t learn this (or that)’ or ‘I am slow to learn’ - first take that instead as a ‘maybe this is not the best way for me to learn’ - or ‘what else is out there’.
I have seen very very few comment on B2B as something that is not achievable, but most here can comment on just about anyone else online as being harder/confusing/annoying/etc at some point. @JoshFossgreen its that nugget/balance act that you do so well that others miss. Even with your bass teacher trustiness / personality / humor - if you presented the material differently, it wouldn’t work as well. I think this is the key.
Rich Brown talks slower, and his lessons are a bit longer, but they are nuggets. True he’s a super nice guy, and his style is different, but the nuggets are there, right smack in the middle of ability/unknown, and they fit the ‘nugget’ definition. You do this in all your free videos too. I don’t think there is a better way to teach us older ‘ain’t got no time’ knuckleheads.
Please don’t give up!
I am completely without any musical talent, but enjoy playing with music. I have small musical goals and I am slowly moving towards them. I will NEVER be a pro (or even able to call myself “musician” 
), I’ve been aware of that from day 0 (was playing guitar as a teenager/young adult so had lot time for deeper thoughts). I am aware of ALL my weaknesses.
But why not have some fun just because there are people out there that are better and more talented than me?? We only have one life. And 40+ is still a very young age!!
I thought I’d try this Thor Von Clemsen’s guitar lessons before I found B2B last year and I felt his teaching left a lot to be desired. But maybe that’s just me being a noob. What do you guys think?
I was never demotivated when I was doing the B2B course. I couldn’t wait for the next day to start a new lesson or just practice the previous (slow, medium, fast) lesson along with @JoshFossgreen video. On the other hand, with that other guy over at TB, I find I have to force myself to start up the computer to continue the course. I still have not finished the course I started with him.
This happened to me just this weekend. I’m starting on a new song something more challenging that the last one, and I got to a point where I wanted to throw all the gear out the window. I walked away from the bass for about an hour and then picked it up again and I found myself getting better at it. I said to myself “This is new and you just have to work at it”. To everyone who feels like this some time, “Don’t give up!”
And even then it’s not really a contest but a series of additions to what’s already there.
Being fairly new , what demotivates me is not a bad lesson , but a bad me . Seems like some days ill practice and nothing is working , fretting horrible , crossing strings a mess, cant Learn a simple line . I think all stems from rushing , so now i have slowed it all down and only focus on my technique and sound quality and now never demotivated. I find these lessons to be the most grounding and laid back with a good foundation and not overly complicated with BS. Having taken the attitude of slower until learned precisely , i find i can learn and play quicker. Demotivating days have been few and far between lately if at all.
The main thing that I used to find demotivating was the lack of structure by trying to learn from free YouTube lessons. ‘Drinking from the firehose’ is the best way I’ve heard it described.
What B2B gave me was a well thought out step by step process to improve.
I’m now working my way through Mark Smith’s Talking Bass courses and they are similarly well thought out.
I tried SBL and it was not a great experience. It was a hot mess.
In conclusion, you get what you pay for.
If I do get demotivated I put in an easy jam track and noodle over the top of it to remind myself I don’t completely suck!
Some days I play well, some days moderately bad. The only person who has to hear it is the cat.
I’m over sixty, have arthritis, a trigger finger, had a brush with cancer last year and lost part of my stomach and intestines, have an auto immune disorder, am disabled and have two knees that need replacement but they’re not scheduling elective surgeries right now.
So what?
Bootsy says to hit the root on one. If that’s all I can do, I’m still playing.
This isn’t a contest. If you measure yourself against others you’ll always find someone better. That goes for you and me and Geddy Lee.
Just play. Don’t worry about the rest. Get out of your head.
And for the record I have finished the course yet either. Hit a wall with music notation because I’m dyslexic and it’s gibberish to me.
They haven’t thrown me out yet. Still here
You and I have a lot more in common than I realized, @Wombat-metal 
Good for you in maintaining a positive attitude! Wish you good luck with all your medical issues, too! Hopefully elective surgery will be available again soon.
Cheers
Joe
FWIW it’s not required for the course at all; Josh introduces it but you don’t have to learn it, and all the lessons have tabs. In terms of the course there is no real need or advantage to learning it.
Josh even says you don’t need to learn notation for the course, too. He just puts it out there for people that do.
Found this relating to dyslexia and learning musical notation:
Another big thing I’ve found has helped me especially recently is an ability to have a good chuckle to myself or even out loud at how I manage to butcher some songs.
I occasionally attempt some more difficult stuff ( iron maidens fear of the dark atm) and I’m pretty sure Steve Harris would bludgeon me to death if he heard it but instead of taking it to heart I actually have a giggle about it, very slowly get bits near enough right and then move on to something a lot easier that I do play okay before I finish my practice.
This is a recent occurrence and I did go through a stage of stagnation where I really did think things would never improve but setting my sights on tunes I could master even if they weren’t my style of music really helped.
I still struggle playing scales in time, still fluff the simplest bass lines and still can’t play Living on a Prayer but one day I will
I’d be pretty screwed if I couldn’t laugh at myself.
Communication requires a sender and a receiver; how you perceive what one says has as much to do with your expectations as it does what they’re actually saying. I love Scott and many of the other SBL presenters, I don’t get the vibe at all from him that you (and some others) do and I wouldn’t care either. It’s nothing compared to what you get in a lot of the rest of the performance/art work. There isn’t a single presenter in any video I’ve seen that I thought was talking down to me… people make instructional videos to help people learn, they’re not talking down to them. Almost everyone who is proficient at something thinks it’s easy, that does’t mean they’re talking down to you; I don’t think anyone believe and infant is an idiot because they can’t use a spoon properly.
I wrote a fairly long explanation of something technical for a sales manager at work. He thanked me in a reply to the email for going into such great detail to explain it for him. I had other people tell me they thought he was being a jerk to me by saying that…I said that all I got out of the email was him genuinely thanking me for my effort. They didn’t like him so they had a different perception of what he was saying.
There’s not really anyone else left now that you’re allowed to laugh at
I dig your attitude! I did this because I had always secretly wanted to. I know I’m never going to jam with a band. I don’t have a face, body or Instagram following that people seek.
Again, sometimes making it thump a little is what’s up. It’s that feeling I had when I realized i had gone from clunk, twang, plunk to bump,bump,badump.
For me, there’s no better time than when something finally clicks, when my ridiculous sausage fingers actually do what I want them to. The only thing close is when I realize how far I’ve gone in something I never thought I could do at all.
That’s enough for me. There are stars out there. I’m not one. I’m ok with that.