Demotivating bass lessons?

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That’s a real killer of a lesson. It beat me up decent. It’s there, and you can find it. Don’t let one thing you can’t do (yet!) Get in the way of all the things you CAN do.
Remember, some of these lessons are meant to be difficult. Consider it stretching your ability. If something is a challenge that you can’t meet right now, that doesn’t mean forward progress ends. The really nice thing about b2b is that it’s at your pace, no one demanding you get anything. And it’s also shame-free. No one here thinks less of people when they struggle some with something new, that’s not how learning happens.
Would it be nice to Just drill all the lessons in order, at speed, dead perfect? Certainly. And I don’t think anyone here would claim they did.

Go at your speed, focus on fundamentals. Learn what you can where you can. And above all, have fun and feel good about playing!

Don’t stop making noise, keep at it. It’s there.

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164

There is a word for this, it’s called golf.

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Me: I’d like to schedule a private yoga session to work out some routines.

Yoga: what’s your experience?

Me: I’ve been to this beginner yoga class once per year for 10 years.

Yoga: You have a very consistent practice!

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Love this! If I practiced my yoga as much as I’ve a bass in my hands, I could probably touch my toes. Since I don’t, I’ll probably just get toes tattooed on my knees.

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Don’t worry about Billie Jean, @McBob . . . :wink:

Everyone here struggles with that one! @JoshFossgreen put it there specifically to teach us that nothing is simple or automatic. Also, it gives you a target to aim for, and it shows you that you can always go back to it later on.

Some people complete it faster (or slower) than others, because people are all different.

Josh put a LOT of thought into planning the course, so again, don’t worry.

You’re in the right place here! :+1:

Cheers
Joe

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Wow, again, thank you all for the feedback! I was not expecting this much when I posted. It was reassuring to see other people getting stuck at the same point and hearing they eventually got it. I didn’t understand it was like a forced loss boss fight in games, more a lesson about the lessons than a lesson in itself. I dislike those in gaming as well. The learning curve so far has been rather Mario and all of a sudden playing some Dark Souls threw me for a loop. I’ll pick things back up tomorrow.

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i was thinking if anyone ever made a movie like “whiplash” but about bass… they could call it “billie jean.”

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Good deal. Don’t sell your bass and give up. You can do this, you are doing this.

As for support? Brother, you’ve found the best group of people in the world-seriously.

I was quite down on myself about 6-8 weeks after starting. I hadn’t ever had any musical training, and my family wasn’t a good place to even exist, let alone ask for things like an instrument, lessons or even encouragement.

I didn’t think I was doing well, and it looked easy to just drop it. 50 years old, no experience, no talent, no ability, ruined plucking fingers, etc.

So I got in here and talked about what was actually bothering me. It was that in grade school a music teacher humiliated me in front of a classroom full of kids about not being able to sing or play music. It sounds silly today, but that was a deep cut. And it wasn’t healed.

I just wanted it said out loud so I could get past it.
I was floored by the amount of responses. Folks I hadn’t ever met talking about how they had similar experiences.

There is a huge amount of very good people here, they all love doing this. So you’re in great company.

There’s a little trick i picked up doing Billie Jean, because that had me really vexed. I broke it into two 4 note lines. Got to where I could do those independently and then started trying to couple them up.

If I can do this, literally anyone can. You’re in the best possible place to learn and ask questions.

And dig these plucking fingers! Any obstacle can be overcome. Nothing that is worth it Comes free.

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No, golf is a waste of a good walk without a rifle on your back :joy:

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I haven’t seen too many more things where such a large group of people are happy to do something so often, so poorly. I think it’s just a reason to drink and get away from the wife :sweat_smile:

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No, that’s why people go fishing.

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Worm drowning @Barney :joy:

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My ADHD brain tends to not listen sometimes; so if something is bite-sized and on point I won’t get demoralized. But if you noodle on the bass for 10 min straight while I only need is to learn how to find As on the fretboard, makes me feel like an idiot and kinda demotivated

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Been there. Still there. Finished the lessons twice, found the bad, located the ass…

Still trying to couple them up…

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Is this about golf or my bass playing? :crazy_face:

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I think everybody gets demotivated sometimes. For me it’s when I just don’t feel like I’m making any progress. I had some stuff going on that took up much of my time and energy, so that certainly didn’t help.
What gets me back in the saddle is when I go back to a previous lesson where I struggled with something (Billy Jean) and try again. And this time it’s much easier. Then I realise “hey, I suck less!”

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I love that feeling! You know the one where it comes together suddenly? That’s what keeps me plucking.

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I find the sheer amount of things that need to be mastered to ‘get good’ quite intimidating and demotivating.
As well as the basic physical aspects (even after a year I lack the dexterity and coordination to master Billie Jean at full tempo) and techniques (basic finger plucking is all I can really do) there’s all the music theory, fretboard mastery, creativity etc that is needed to do more than just repeat set patterns. It all just seems too much sometimes.

I still enjoy it and I’m not giving up but sometimes watching the intros to B2B lessons where Josh does some noodling get into a negative state of mind: “I’m never going to be good enough to do that so what’s the point?”

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An instrument is a lifelong pursuit. There is no shortcut. Enjoy the steps along the path rather than focused on where you will arrive.

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Take it this way: @JoshFossgreen ain’t better than you, he’s just 20 years ahead…

20 years of damn hard work… And playing like Josh is not the goal for a beginner, a good goal would be to learn as much as possible from him.

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