sarah thomas Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 After three months of playing double bass, I was shoving the beast in the car when a man ran up to me and said 'I'm looking for a cello player.' I said 'Well, this is a double bass' and he said 'I'm looking for a double bass player'. I said 'Well, you don't want me cos I've only been playing three months.' I went round for a go though and found myself in a band. Two weeks later I was paid £30 for playing one song. (Amazing Grace) However, they like to wibble around over two or three chords and can't count. It was good for my ear and my confidence though. After a couple of months I got together with some jazz lovers and now we have a quartet which is currently braving jazz open mic sessions while putting together a set. I've been playing for eight months. I'm grateful to the wibblers and we still get on okay - just travelling on different paths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1341745521' post='1723409'] 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! [/quote] Absolutely mate. No time for pre-show nerves after that week too. We were absolutely terrible at the start, I'd only had the tape of the 8 songs we had to play for a few days so was learning the structure as we went. Looking back I don't know how we did it but it was all down to just having a go and playing the songs over and over, going over any parts any of us were weak on and getting it right. So after one week of practice we went from nothing to being a band with a setlist of 8 songs that we could play confidently. It's very very possible and the threat of a looming gig was pure motivation. I loved those days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1341746151' post='1723425'] It's very possible that the threat of a looming gig was pure motivation...[/quote] [size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][color=#000000]"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."[/color][/font][/size] Edited July 8, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1341742893' post='1723337'] Hey great news, I found an etching of your first gig! [/quote] For anyone that does not read Hebrew that bit at the top right says "Rolling Stones tonight!, doors open at 8, Support will be Cliff Richards playing a medley of his Christmas number 1 hits of the past 200 years". "no glass bottles beyond this point". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 35 years.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 18 months. It's all too new to have any reflections yet, but rest assured I shall be treating BC to news of any developments! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Some naughty people aren't reading the title and first post, are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) I was in a band first, then learned to play. Actually, I was in several bands before I learned to play. Edited July 8, 2012 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 1981 - first gig on 6 string at a local youth club. Changed to bass the following year et voila! 30 years later and still loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Bought my first bass 31 years ago when I was 21, I'd played a bit of guitar before that and used to play tenor horn in my school band. Joined my first band within two months although the first couple of bands I was in never made it as far as doing any gigs. I wish I'd had some proper lessons to begin with and learned some theory, I would have become better at it faster than I actually did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopsdabassist Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 9 years, I called it my midlife crisis, and it seemed safer that a motorbike! having said that I remember humming basslines not melodies since I was about 13. joined a band about 3 months after starting, talk about in at the deepend; no regrets though, and 4 bands later, still loving it bigtime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Eight years or so before there was a real band rather than bands made for specific occasions. My first real band was mainly for accompanying the youth choir in church, but we had a blast and it gave us much needed experience. Ultra cool to put electric and electronic instruments into the church room. Drums even! This was not exactly the norm back then in '71 or thereabouts. Lots of trouble before that got sorted out. It gave me the confidence that I could do it, and I'm happy for the experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulgm1 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Been playing 26 years, since I was 17 - still loving it and looking forward to the next gig next weekend. Always been pubs, clubs and weddings for me in various bands. Never been one for serious practice so on reflection I guess I wish I had worked harder at it when I was younger with more time and less job/family stuff. Had a bloody great time over the years though and met some interesting people on the way. For me, I think I have learnt that playing in bands is just as much about how you interact and deal with the people and characters as it is about the music! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I did an 'upgrade' from being a whistle player to replace the bass player who was about to leave the band. I was about 16 at the time, so that would have been about 32 years ago (holy cr*p! That means I'm nearly 50 FFS!). Bought my first bass (a Yamaha BB something or other that I really hated) about two weeks before I was due to play that first gig and (somehow) managed to fumble my way through. Still fumble my way through but now I look confident and glare at the guitarist every time I make a mistake... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1341775822' post='1723993'] now I look confident and glare at the guitarist every time I make a mistake... [/quote] That's one top tip there Thanks to everyone who has answered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1341776475' post='1724021'] Thanks to everyone who has answered [/quote] What, have you had enough, now? We can ramble on pointlessly like this for days, y'know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Bought my first bass in Dec 1980, was playing in various "bands" shall we say, as in, 4 or 5 guys with various arrays of instruments in garages/school halls etc from about a year after that, but none of it was structured or ever going anywhere, other than just playing for fun - and to impress girls. Well I was 15, it was allowed. Joined my first real band in Jan 87, a band that had gigged extensively over the UK, and had had 2 singles released. Strangely, I think I impressed the girls more with the out of tune racket I made when I was 15, than at any time since. Note to self, stop practicing so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1341776606' post='1724026'] What, have you had enough, now? We can ramble on pointlessly like this for days, y'know! [/quote] Ramble away my BC friends, happy to hear all your stories! Maybe I'll even reveal my ulterior motive behind my question is a few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1341777322' post='1724057'] Maybe I'll even reveal my ulterior motive behind my question in a few days![/quote] Intriguing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1341777322' post='1724057'] Maybe I'll even reveal my ulterior motive behind my question is a few days! [/quote] Well, someone did write that you're just nosey and curious, so ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1341776713' post='1724032'] Joined my first real band in Jan 87, a band that had gigged extensively over the UK, and had had 2 singles released. [/quote] Anything we'd know? I actually got to number 72 in the charts (with a classical group I was with) for one week in 1989 aged 15 following a performance on Blue Peter before I went on my tour of China. (Blimey, seeing that written down actually it actually looks fairly impressive! That tour of China was a fab experience but sadly I was encouraged to get a proper job and gave up music for 20 years when I went to Uni. Only recently started up again) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1341777561' post='1724069'] Well, someone did write that you're just nosey and curious, so ... [/quote] I'm trying to decide if I'm ready to take my bass playing to the next level that's all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1341777623' post='1724070'] Anything we'd know? I actually got to number 72 in the charts (with a classical group I was with) for one week in 1989 aged 15 following a performance on Blue Peter before I went on my tour of China. (Blimey, seeing that written down actually it actually looks fairly impressive! That tour of China was a fab experience but sadly I was encouraged to get a proper job and gave up music for 20 years when I went to Uni. Only recently started up again) [/quote] I very much doubt anyone on here would know the band, or their songs. Was a punk band called The Shout, and, as described by Julie Burchill, were "one of those bands who wear a lot of black, and don`t smile". Congrats on the chart/tour/Blue Peter - must have been great. I did a tour myself, but in all honesty, it put me off music for a while, plus, I think at that time I realised the life of a touring musician wasn`t for me, as I would have probably drunk myself to death - seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1341777973' post='1724077'] I think at that time I realised the life of a touring musician wasn`t for me, as I would have probably drunk myself to death - seriously. [/quote] I hear that even though I was only 15 I discovered a love of Saki on that tour. Although in Shanghai it was rather embarrassing... They'd delayed an opening of a restaurant for the "children of Wales"... I ended up on Chinese news vomiting outside the new restaurant having got sh*t faced!! I do hope I didn't doom the restaurant to failure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I started learning to play the guitar when I was 13, although it would take almost 9 months until I confidently string enough chords together to bluff my way through The Beatles Complete songbook and persuade my parents to buy me a decent acoustic guitar to replace the £10 catalogue monstrosity I'd been "learning" on. From that point it was less than 6 months until I was forming my first band with 3 other musically-minded school mates. We didn't really have much of an idea how to be a band. It never occurred to us that we should maybe get started by learning how to play other people's songs as a band first, all our favourite bands wrote their own songs so that's what we were going to do, and besides apart from a guitar each, a set of bongos and a reel-to-reel tape recorder we didn't have any other instruments. One of us wrote lots of lyrics but he couldn't sing... However from those almost impossible beginnings we sort of worked out how to write songs and record them and make the most of the limited musical resources we had access to. We slowly managed to acquire some more conventional instruments - electric guitars and a small practice amp - as well as some less conventional ones such as a pair of Bontempi organs, and electronics kit that could be wired to produce weird noises and a home-made percussion kit composed of anything that sounded half-way decent when hit. At every opportunity we would get together, write songs and record them. We didn't play gigs but every so often our school would put on entertainment evenings at which we would appear, play a couple of our "songs" to the complete bafflement of the audience and then retreat once again to our bedrooms and tape recorders. We didn't actually play a proper gig until 1981 almost 6 years after we first got together as a band. However all the recording we had made stood us in good stead when I discovered the DIY cassette scene in 1979 as we had enough material already recorded to be able to release a cassette straight away which brought us to the attention of one of the main bands in the "scene" The Instant Automatons who asked us to be on a compilation EP (on proper vinyl) that they were producing, which in turn led to airplay on John Peel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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