How can I juggle playing bass, going to school, friends, and exams?

[misslynn909]

For me, it's tough. I don't know how I can schedule bass into my life. I know, If I REALLY wanted to play bass I'd play regardless of school, friends, personal life, or exams. Trust me, I hear it a lot. And the thing is, I do wanna keep playing. Hopefully, even make a High school band. Who knows? How do others do it?
I've formed three bands. One was the 'megalomaniacs'. That was 6th grade. Everyone was pretty crappy, but it was expected since we were like 12 and 13. 7th, we didn't have a name. No one took it seriously. We couldn't find a singer.
A few months ago we started one with a French name. I didn't choose it.
We were like a cover band sorta deal. I didn't make the idea. A friend/ the leader did.

Anyways, advice anyone?

Edit: Thank you all that have helped me out. I really appreciate it. Certainly made my day better!

 

[Bob_Ross]

Captain Pedantic is going to point out that "going to school" and "exams" aren't two separate things.

Or at least they shouldn't be.

How do people do it? Dedication. Perseverance. Discipline. And an almost fanatical devotion to the pope. Wait, no, scratch that last one.

There are a lot of hours in the day. You honestly do need to sleep for a bunch of them, don't scrimp on that. Otherwise, you can divide the waking hours between Going To School/Exams and Playing Bass and still have some decent time left for Friends. Make a schedule, and stick to it.

 

[kesslari]

Wait until you get older and get to juggle Work, Family, Friends, Music, Hobbies, and Other Responsibilities... It doesn't get easier.
You just do it. Or you don't.
It helps to manage your time well. If you haven't, read up on time management.

 

[Skeezix]

Hmm... High School.
Band, Jazz Band, orchestra, drama, stage crew, all classes and exams.
Plenty of friends, plus a part time job and a girlfriend.
Don't forget family commitments. Grandma's every Sunday.
It was a blast. It wasn't easy, but it sure was fun.

 

[P. Aaron]

As an older guy who was smart and had ‘potential’ but didn’t utilize it effectively, let me recommend; prioritize education first and friends & pleasure second.
Time management is important and staying out in front of what you need to learn for school demos, tests, or assignments actually reduces stress more than blowing it off and hangin’ with friends.

 

[hrodbert696]

I would suggest that you look for ways to make modest but consistent commitments to practicing bass. Fifteen minutes every day is way better than a three-hour marathon with your bass and then not touching it for two weeks. Find the time slot - when you get home from school, after dinner, whatever - when you can just grab it for fifteen minutes, run through some scales and a song or two at least, and then go do homework or whatever else you need to do.

There are a lot of pressures for high school kids to take on a lot of stuff - sports, clubs, extracurricular things, a part-time job, etc. You do have to prioritize and decide what you're going to say "no" to. I do think that academics need to be the first priority because other opportunities will open for you - or not - based on your school performance. It's hard to discover, belatedly, that you really would have wanted to be a computer programmer (for example), but you can't get into a program for it because you don't have the grades. Besides that, decide what matters most to you, and focus your time on that.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Schedule and prioritize. Make sure you get done what has to be done, so you can do what you want.

 

[SteveCS]

For me, it's tough. I don't know how I can schedule bass into my life. I know, If I REALLY wanted to play bass I'd play regardless of school, friends, personal life, or exams. Trust me, I hear it alot. And the thing is, I do wanna keep playing. Hopefully, even make a poopy High school band. Who knows? How do others do it?

My daughter is doing exams right now. She is also a county orchestra cellist who is starting a well-earned music scolarship in September. I will say what we said to her...
Music is a lifelong pursuit but may not be your life. School and exams are a one-shot deal and the outcome affects the rest of your life, even if, as in our case, that will likely revolve around music. Put the bass on hold for a few months to get the important stuff done to the best of your ability. Second chances are rare...

 

[seilerbird]

You can't juggle them all. That is why so many famous musicians are such jerks. Never learned social skills.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I'm pretty firmly in agreement with @hrodbert696 that "practice a little bit daily is far better than once in a while for a long time." If you have things set so you can (without taking 10 minutes to set up and tear down) practice for even 5 minutes, daily, that's good. 10 or 15 is better, and the benefit of more practice time drops sharply somewhere after 20 or 30 minutes (IMHO.) 5 minutes a day 6 days a week will do a LOT more good than 30 minutes once a week, IMHO. I also get some stress relief from the rest of life through playing...

Schoolwork and friends can be a thing that works together, rather than in opposition, as can music and friends. Your other recent post indicates some issues with finding musically compatible folks at present - (try to) be open to playing whatever is being played by folks that DO play in your school - you can learn a great deal (and sometimes even enjoy) playing music you might not ordinarily listen to, just to listen to it. You may also be able to introduce "people who at least play something" to the music you like, and you could make a convert or two, at which point you have a potential garage band, even if the instrumentation is a bit weird.

 

[Wanker_Joe]

Start by prioritizing what needs to be done and by when, and then work backwards from there. Humans are the most amazing creatures. Once we get into a habit, we can sustain it incredibly easy. If you get used to maximizing your time, you'll find that eventually it becomes a part of who you are.

Don't think of yourself as being "busy". Busy is defeatist. Think instead that you are living your life to the fullest; taking advantage of every moment. You don't know how much time you have left. At the end, you'll realize that it was never enough anyhow, so why not try to take hold of every precious second.

So how do you balance everything and still find time to play bass? You just do. It's actually that simple.

 

[mark107]

Yes. Spend less time in front of a backlit screen and you'll be amazed at how much you can get done.

 

[lat]

Schoolwork and friends can be a thing that works together, rather than in opposition, as can music and friends. Your other recent post indicates some issues with finding musically compatible folks at present - (try to) be open to playing whatever is being played by folks that DO play in your school - you can learn a great deal (and sometimes even enjoy) playing music you might not ordinarily listen to, just to listen to it. You may also be able to introduce "people who at least play something" to the music you like, and you could make a convert or two, at which point you have a potential garage band, even if the instrumentation is a bit weird.

This.

 

[InhumanResource]

Wait until you get older and get to juggle Work, Family, Friends, Music, Hobbies, and Other Responsibilities... It doesn't get easier.
You just do it. Or you don't.
It helps to manage your time well. If you haven't, read up on time management.

Don't you mean work, work, work, family, work, work, poor sleep, work, family, work, work, family, oh and work.

 

[Kro]

Hmm, I do remember High School being one of the busiest times of my life prior to having kids.

Not to brag, but I was balancing the typical school work (thank god orchestra and jazz band were classes) with hockey, tennis, pit band, community band, worship band, and marching band as extracurriculars. Thankfully most social interactions were covered via the activities above - and exposing yourself to as many school sanctioned musical opportunities as possible will absolutely help you meet other musicians to jam with outside of school.

Yes, I remember frequently falling asleep in class (sleep paralysis is real), but I guess the point is that you make time for what is important for you - thankfully you have the energy of a teenager on your side.

Trust me, you can do it!

 

[moogieotter]

This is why God gave us Coffee.

 

[Kro]

This is why God gave us Coffee.

I personally wouldn't recommend relying on stimulants at this point in your (OP's) life. Save that for emergency use only... or until college.

 

[Bodeanly]

I think you’re experiencing the stress of the semester’s end. School isn’t only about exams and, besides, you’re about to have three months off. Surely you can squeeze in an hour of bass every day.

 

[micguy]

You can't juggle them all. That is why so many famous musicians are such jerks. Never learned social skills.

Having met a few, I agree that a few are jerks. But I don't think they're any more prevalent percentage wise than the population at large - a lot of famous musicians are actually rather nice. And it doesn't have to do with genre, either. It's just down to the person as to how they choose to treat others. Networking, which is how many folks make progress career wise (the business is in large part about who you know), requires that you treat other folks nicely to get places. that is a VERY valuable skill to a musician, and why a lot of them are actually nice.

Anyway, to the OP's question - you just have to make choices. What's important, you put on your schedule. What isn't you schedule around that, as it fits. If you prioritize, and stick to it, you'll get somewhere. If you don't, well.....

 

[dalkowski]

School first.
Then, as has been said, carve out 30 minutes / day for practice. Think of it as "your time." People will think it's pretty cool that you make that commitment.