Are you in a rut with your bass playing? It’s ok. This happens to us all. Maybe you’re not motivated. Maybe you don’t know what to practice or don’t feel creative. It could be many things. At these times you have, you have a few choices to get yourself out and over that rut!

I’d like to hear what you do to get out of a rut, so please comment below with your ideas.

Here are some ways I use:

• Listen to a radio station you never listen to.

I do this quite often, as it’s a great way of getting into new musics and new bands.  Finding new stuff that inspires me, always kicks me out of a rut, as it often makes me more motivated to write.  It also gets my head into other creative possibilities.  Sometimes it’s easy just to stick with one genre because you love it so much.  As a fan, this is ok, but as a musician, it’s good to explore!

• Go see some live bands you’ve never seen.

This will most-likely give you the urge to play live.  I find it hard as a musician to watch people play live, as I’m the one that wants to be up there, playing, not sitting and watching!  You may learn something from the bass player this way as well.

• Investigate an unfamiliar style of music.

I did this with electric drum and bass. I hated it for many years, as my head was in a creative box, but once I started thinking about the drums and bass as real instruments, it became more exciting for me.  Try anything, listen to everything.  Try and pick out the bass, and how it relates to the percussion/drums.  Tap your fingers to the beat. Try amd imagine how you would make it better.

• Listen to famous bassists you’ve never heard. (same again)

Investigate.  Look around.  See what all the fuss is about.  What do you like about the new bass player and how they play?  What do you not like?  Do you aspire to them?  Is that what you want to become?

• Tune your bass in an unfamiliar way.

I did this the other day, and wrote loads of lines that day.  I tuned to E-A-D-E, changing the G to an E, gave everything chord-wise a darker edge.  It’s a very interesting sound when playing chords. Try your own alternate tunings, and experiment!

• Close your eyes, and randomly place your fingers onto the strings. Mess around with chords.

Have fun with the instrument.  Experiment with it.  Hunt the ‘happy accidents’.

• Travel somewhere.

I like to wander and explore, as it opens up my creativity as mentioned in this post here.  I think that being outside, in nature and being on the move opens up the mind to creative opportunity.  I get my best ideas when I’m out and about. It doesn’t have to be anywhere in particular., or far.  Maybe your local park.

• Don’t listen to any music or play any bass at all for a week. Completely avoid music.

Then pick up your bass and see what happens. Just make sure you don’t stop playing bass altogether! This is the one that works best for me, I think. I cant stop writing once i’ve picked it back up.  I see this as a mental cleaning process, where you can be creative again as you’ve had a chance to recharge.

• Play music written for other instruments or voice on your bass.

Find the melody or main riff.  The part of the song that really sticks out, and catches you and try to play it on your bass.

• Play something on another instrument and then try to play it on your bass.

This is how I really started getting into chordwork on my bass.  I’d play guitar, write a song, and then go and try and play the exact same thing on my bass.  It took a while, but after a while, I got the strength I needed.  It doesn’t have to be guitar, it can be any instrument.  Piano is also great to experiment with!

• Play in an unusual place.

Playing in the same place over and over can become stale.  Some people prefer it this way, but I like to move around, picking up different ideas from different enviroments.  Sometimes I’ll take my bass to the beach, sometimes the woods.  I try to keep moving, to avoid the stale.

• Play notes on your bass using strange objects instead of your fingers or a pick.

I do this in the second ‘Something met@l’ video, with a bit of metal.  This gave me a whole new feel, and a whole new sound to experiment with.

• Find some new musicians to play with.

This is quite an important one.  Play with as many musicians as you can, because this is where you will learn the most about music.  Try all different styles, and try to learn and understand about that type of music and how you can use it in the future.  Also, I believe that playing with other musicians makes you subconciously ‘raise your game’, and try harder.  If you play with the same people for too long, you can become apathetic, and apathy is the killer of everything creative!

• Try and play along to T.V adverts.

Again, try and find the melody/harmony/catchiest part of the tune.  Try and catch notes.  Try and match the timing of the song.  If you can’t find the notes, just tap along to the rythym of the tune. 

Good luck! And dont forget, guys, a rut will always pass. Trust me!

Don’t forget to mention how you get out of those annoying ruts!

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