How long had you been playing?

[SpaceChick]

When you started in your first band?

What are your reflections on this now?

Just nosey and curious really!

[mushers]

about 3 minutes only picked up the bass to fill a spot in a mates band until they found a real bassist was fun i played the root on the bass drum only for every song because i was told to, they never replaced me my mate wanted the bass like that
16 years later i dont think im good enough to be in a band but may grow some balls to actualy audition one day

[stingrayPete1977]

Started guitar at school 25 years ago, started a band over christmas '89 using a borrowed bass then had an encore electric guitar for christmas 1990 instead, I later went almost exclusively bass in 1993 as I always got drawn back to it even though by then I had saved up all my own money to buy a decent Ibanez guitar (all the rage in the early 90's!).

If I did it all again I would of learnt to read music earlier and maybe gone to a 5 string earlier too but that does not bother me as much as the reading and theory skills I lack

[EdwardHimself]

Bass? I started my first band on bass before I even bought one! I had been playing guitar for about 6 months at the time though.

[Marvin]

I was in a band before I bought my first bass. That was when I was 17. Sold all my gear in my early 20's and didn't play for about 15yrs.
Bought my current gear 3 years ago and it was about 6 months before I got into a band. I've been in some sort of band or project since.

[jezzaboy]

I reckon I have been playing about 12 years now but it took me about 4 years to pluck up the courage and answer an ad on Gumtree looking for a bass guitarist for a charity band. I have now played loads of gigs and am a confident live player but my standard of playing/technique isn`t very good. I now play in an ac/dc covers band and am really enjoying it.

[CPBass]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1341738545' post='1723246']
. I now play in an ac/dc covers band and am really enjoying it.
[/quote]


That sounds like a fab gig

[kevin_lindsay]

I started off around age 15 and played in a church band for a fair few years which was a fantastic start as it taught me to play by ear, to listen to the rest of the musicians, to change songs at a moment's notice.

[paul torch]

Both went hand in hand for me. First time I played bass was with a band that needed a bassist, there where none in the area.

[discreet]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1341737820' post='1723238']
I was in a band before I bought my first bass.[/quote]

Me too, playing a terrible 'Kay' 6-string g**t*r tuned way down beyond ridiculousness - ha, ha! Imagine it.
I was fourteen, so er... that would be around 1874.

Edit: So in answer to the OP's question, and to be quite clear, I was in a band before I had properly learned to play bass guitar. Though I had over the previous six years (and in this order), been playing: 1. Trumpet. 2. Piano. 3. Organ (yes, I know). 4. Ukulele. 5. Classical Guitar 6. Electric Guitar. Everybody happy, now?

Edited July 8, 2012 by discreet

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Voodoosnake' timestamp='1341738817' post='1723248']



That sounds like a fab gig
[/quote]

Hell yeah! +1

[debwilliams]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1341742226' post='1723317']
Me too, playing a terrible 'Kay' 6-string g**t*r tuned way down beyond ridiculousness - ha, ha! Imagine it.
I was fourteen, so er... that would be around 1874.
[/quote]

Hey great news, I found an etching of your first gig!

[IMG]http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h79/debhowell/discreet.jpg[/IMG]

[discreet]

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1341742893' post='1723337']
Hey great news, I found an etching of your first gig! [/quote]

Brilliant, where on Earth did you find this? Can you believe we used to dress like that?! Check out the mullet!!

[bartelby]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1341743209' post='1723342']
Brilliant, where on Earth did you find this? Can you believe we used to dress like that?! Check out the mullet!!
[/quote]

Must have sweated like a pig with that stage light pointed right at your head!

[krysh]

started playing airbass in an airband with friends around 1980/81. then the airdrummer got a real drumset in 1981 and joined a band that needed a bassplayer soon. so I joined in and had my 1st bass in 1982.
after half a year I changed to guitar until I made a musical break from 2000-2003.
then I also picked up the bass again and now most of the times get paid badly to play either.

[debwilliams]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1341743209' post='1723342']
Brilliant, where on Earth did you find this? Can you believe we used to dress like that?! Check out the mullet!!
[/quote]

Have you had a hip replacement as a result of holding your g**t*r on your ankle? Takes a considerable degree of flexibility. Also love your winklepicker peeping out from under your gown .... a professional outfit I must say!

[KingBollock]

I started playing in 1987. I put my first band together after about 3 months. But I joined my first proper band (one that had had a manager!) after about a year. Everyone else in the band were 18+ and I was 13. From then until just before my 18th birthday I was never without a band. Since then I haven't been in a band as a drastic and secretive move meant I lost contact with everyone I knew. There have been a few "Oh yeah! We should certainly do something!"s and a couple of failed get togethers, but nothing proper. I miss it so much it makes my heart ache.

[the_skezz]

About seven or eight months if memory serves. Was terrified about the opening of For Whom the Bell Tolls at the end of the set, for how much easier it'd be for people to notice me cocking up than at any other point in the set. Played it alright, though my dad later commented it was the first time he'd seen a band play War Pigs in four minutes

[discreet]

[quote name='the_skezz' timestamp='1341744232' post='1723379']
my dad later commented it was the first time he'd seen a band play War Pigs in four minutes [/quote]

That's how Punk started.

[Mornats]

I got my first bass when I was 16 and just learned to play the likes of Enter Sandman and what not. A few years later at uni my mate came round to mine and asked if I wanted to play bass in his band. I said sure, why not. He replied, ok we've got a gig next weekend. Eek. Luckily we were at uni and had one of those many weeks off we had so we practiced all week and did the gig. It went ok, we learned a lot in that week. I had to use masking tape and plasters on my fingers as I had blisters under my blisters though.

[lowdown]

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1341743491' post='1723354']
Also love your winklepicker peeping out from under your gown[/quote]


Some say picker - some say pecker.



Garry

[discreet]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1341745272' post='1723398']
...we learned a lot in that week. I had to use masking tape and plasters on my fingers as I had blisters under my blisters though.[/quote]

Anyone reading this yet to join a band: Exposing yourself to a steep learning curve teaches you much and [i]very [/i]quickly, too! Jump in at the deep end! G'waan, you know you want to!

[debwilliams]

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1341745351' post='1723402']


Some say picker - some say pecker.



Garry
[/quote]

- my quote sounds like some kind of admission!

[discreet]

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1341743491' post='1723354']
...love your winklepicker peeping out from under your gown...[/quote]

Yeah, it does that.

[lettsguitars]

The reason for picking up a guitar was not to learn how to play it but start a band. Band came first and i picked the rest up along the way. I was 12 at the time and we wrote all our own material and played school gigs. We were always kinda famous in our schools from then on. That was 25 years ago when tight black jeans, long hair, crash course in brain surgery t-shirt and basketball boots was my school uniform. Good times.