Hello from Tamworth

[T-Bay]

I have only been learning the bass for three months but have found so much useful info on here already I decided to sign up. I am 44 and have never played before but have always wanted to. I decided to bite the bullet after a recent flare up in my inflammatory arthritis. I appreciate this may sound weird but having had the disease for fourteen years I am determined to stick two fingers up to it as often as possible and learning the bass seemed a good way to do it. I will be getting 'lessons' from a couple of guys at work who are very musically talented, one is mostly a guitarist and the other plays all sorts of things to a very high standard but nothing with strings! (Hoping he will cover the theory side with me). We are working together on a few songs for our Christmas works do which is helping a hell of a lot.

Presently using an old Aria and a Marshall bass state B150, also have a (dreaded) stagg that I leave at work for practising if I get a few minutes.

I listen to a wide range of music but 80% falls into alternative/ punk. I doubt I will ever be brilliant but just want to be able to play well enough to join a band and have some fun.

[baldwinbass]

Hi T-Bay - yep, the main thing is to have fun (and stick two fingers up) Great to have you on board

[Luulox]

Welcome mate, quick basschat survival tip, avoid Canadians and bad mouthing Carol Kaye. All will be well if you follow that advice 😀.

[T-Bay]

[quote name='Luulox' timestamp='1479646532' post='3178046']
Welcome mate, quick basschat survival tip, avoid Canadians and bad mouthing Carol Kaye. All will be well if you follow that advice 😀.
[/quote] I spotted that thread, who would have thought it would be such am emotive subject. I will steer well clear. More likely to be asking stupid questions.

[Luulox]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479657687' post='3178177']
I spotted that thread, who would have thought it would be such am emotive subject. I will steer well clear. More likely to be asking stupid questions.
[/quote]

Very wise 😊

[Guest MoJo]

Welcome from another Midlander

[T-Bay]

A couple of pics of the Aria:

[josie]

Beautiful bass! Good for you for fighting back. One good thing about starting playing bass is that the simplest basslines are often the best, it doesn't take long to be able to make a good sound in a band. Best wishes and let us know how it goes.

[woodenshirt]

Hi mate and welcome,

I used to work near Tamuff, in Atherstone......

Yeah, you go for it, stick them fingers up...... it's very true about simple basslines, sometimes they are the best (not always.... I know it depends on the music..... but they can be).

Tell you what, thinking about it, I've been getting away with the simple stuff for years (well sort of....)

And definitely have fun.... if you don't enjoy what you're doing, others probably won't as well.

Nice looking bass, by the way.

Mart

[TheGreek]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479672807' post='3178365']
A couple of pics of the Aria:
[/quote]

Big fan of anything green - lovely looking Bass.

BTW there's no such thing as a silly (musical) question - all part of the learning curve. Love your attitude too.

Welcome

[T-Bay]

Thanks everyone, within a couple of weeks I had taught myself Peaches the stranglers which is my favourite bass line of all time and just kept playing it over and over. Then things like blur song 2 which take about two minutes to learn the basics and half an hour for the whole thing but still amazes me every time I play it. Now I am trying to build on the basics and get used to playing in time with others, always easier to play with yourself or so they say. I am trying to do a wide range of stuff and just get used to what is possible. I think it will be a while before anything like system of a down chop suey will be on my play list though!

[naxos10]

Hi T-Bay, welcome from another South Staffordshire (I only live around 12 miles away) bass player (very loose term for my ability).

Go for it and beat the problem, it will focus your practice and playing no end.

[T-Bay]

This afternoon has been interesting. I have been practising at work with a couple of mates for three or four weeks. This afternoon one of them arranged for us to play a couple of songs to a load of our colleagues. I have never played in public before but as it was dropped on me I just went along with it. I thought I would be nervous as hell but wasnt at all (too busy concentrating on playing I think!). It went really well and we had a lot of positive comments. We are playing a few more on the last day before Christmas so that should be a laugh as well.

[naxos10]

Well done.
Sounds like a great place to work.

[T-Bay]

It's a school for kids with special needs so a great place to work at the best of times, and we have a lot of staff with musical inclination so it's useful for me as a beginner. It also means that if/ when we get to the point of doing a set for a gig we have a great practice space to get stuff sorted. We will do a few songs for the kids at Christmas as well which should be fun.