Listen, I don’t say any of that to bring you down.
I can personally relate to every bit of it.
I tried more than once in my teens and 20s to learn bass.
I had some guitar chops already, so I could transfer some rudimentary left-hand technique and get up and running quickly.
But then…
Every time...
After a few weeks…
My enthusiasm fizzled out.
Why?
Because the kind of bass I wanted to play...
It was free, and exciting, and creative.
I would hear incredible lines or solos on tracks and my enthusiasm would spark into life.
I could see clearly in my mind how I would play these tight rhythmic grooves on bass, the music just flowing out of me.
And I’d scurry off to pick up my bass again...
But before long I was back to the same old spot: painstakingly learning pre-written basslines, note by note.
And while there was some fun to be had with that…
It never really felt like I was being “me” on bass.
I even went as far as joining a band.
But again, something just was not hitting the spot.
If the epitome of bass playing was just accurately reproducing basslines like a robot, it wasn’t for me.
I still loved the bass.
But I just couldn’t seem to (forgive the pun) find my groove.
So I stuck to just playing what was written down for me, or I had memorised in advance. Mostly just for myself, in private.
That kept me “safe”—but left me always feeling weak. Limited. Less than.
Like I wasn’t a “real” musician, I was just pretending.
All the while I saw the “bass gods” out there, apparently having an instinct for it that I just did not have.
What they did seemed like magic.