Pandemic Practice Problems
I love playing bass. I have loved it from the moment I made sounds like sounded like music instead of noise (I like some pretty noisy black metal, so that bar ain’t exactly that high). I love hearing songs and keying into the bass part and trying to figure out what is happening, then googling it and realizing way more is happening than I first thought. Or way less- Hi, Michael Anthony. And then trying to combine YouTube playthroughs, tabs, and my amatuer ear into a Voltron of bass playing, hacking my way to actually playing the song.
When I first started playing my goals were simple- make music happen. They quickly grew into join a band. I did that. We practiced and wrote originals. We played a few shows and recorded a four song demo.
And then the world stopped.
Band practice stopped. Gigs stopped. Writing stopped. Tensions that were bubbling below the band’s surface came to a boil and now I am no longer in a band. That’s ok, though. I’ll find another one. And we’ll exchange song files and write parts from our own homes.
Yeah, no. Maybe if we were playing together for a while, but not with completely new people. That fell apart.
That was ok, though. Being in a band meant I was spending the majority of my practice time focused on band songs, and covers I wanted to learn had fallen by the wayside. I picked those up and started making videos. I could feel myself getting better. My fingers were getting stronger and more accurate, my instincts sharper.
And the world kept right on ending.
I have friends in other bands who are managing to weather this as best as they can. Tall Dark Whimsy, a local Portland group, played socially distanced, digitally presented shows, and they’ve been releasing new music. Other small bands are doing similar things. Keeping busy, making music happen, doing the work.
I’m up in my office, trying to practice.
I love playing bass. I don’t play for other people. Much like Ivan Drago, I play for me. For me!
But…man, I miss moving air with loud amps with other people. It’s getting harder and harder to practice new things. Maybe I’m just in a slump right now. I’m a teacher trying to figure out distance teaching and a parent trying to keep three kids under eight alive, happy, and sane. Maybe bass playing shouldn’t be that high a priority. Except it’s one of the things I do to unwind. I kind of need it.
I write this because I’m guessing I’m not the only one in this Pandemic Practice Pickle. Learning new songs is fun. Making videos is fun. But at some point it’s not satisfying anymore. I could try to write music. I should. But I don’t really have the bandwidth to puzzle out drum programming and whatever else needs to be done.
This has been a long year, my friends. For all of us. We’re fighting through it because we have to.
What are you doing to keep the strings under your fingers and the thump thumping?
Doug Robertson is the editor of The Bass Blog, the blog component of The Bass Channel, your one stop YouTube channel for all things bass. His number one is a Mexican Geddy Lee Signature Jazz and his boomer is a BEAD tuned T-Bird. Find books by Doug here. If you’re interested in contributing to The Bass Blog please reach out to Doug at doug@thebasschannel.net. We would love to hear from you.
