LOCAL BAND PRACTICE SESSIONS

[Boogiebass]

Hi guys, is there any band practice sessions I may join you to get into the hang of giging around Mansfield, Retford, Worksop, Newark areas ?? I'm keen to learn the bass also the gigging side of playing, if just a helping hand or coffee/tea makers job will keep me happy, I do have my own set up if needed. Could help setting up at gigs and transport which I'm keen to learn,. Would pay for tuition at band practice, no problem.

looking forward to any replies,  Ray 👍🏻😊🎸

[Nicko]

Why don't you just take some bass lessons and join a band - its the best way to improve your playing and you can learn the rest as you go along. 

[hooky_lowdown]

Hi Ray, welcome to basschat. It may be beneficial to start a thread on a guitar or band forum, instead of a bass one. It's also a good idea to let people know what kind of music you like or want to play, someone here might be able to point you in the right direction.

Enjoy playing bass, it's great fun! 😁

[dave moffat]

Welcome from a fellow newb trying to find his feet. So far I've chickened out of a jam (I got there and found I'd left my wallet in the house) and am working towards an open mic with another musician who DOES know what he's doing.

I'm at the stage where I switch from being excited and panic. I know that if I want to progress I need to get out and stop playing with myself in the dark but getting my act together and doing it ......anyway the pub with the open mic & jams has had a fire so I've got an excuse for now.

[Coilte]

4 hours ago, Nicko said:

Why don't you just take some bass lessons and join a band - its the best way to improve your playing and you can learn the rest as you go along. 

Plus 1.

OP... try to find some other like minded musicians to jam with. Later, when you feel that you are ready, then maybe form a gigging band with your jamming friends, or seek out "bassist wanted" advertisements. 

In the mean time get some lessons and/or play along to songs in the genre of your choice. IMO playing along to songs is a great way to develop your ear...plus your groove and sense of timing.

 

Best of luck on your journey. 🙂

[Nicko]

On a lighter note, theres some what say hanging around with musicians is what drummers do, not bass players.

[Happy Jack]

A couple of suggestions:

Firstly, playing along with your favourite records is one thing, playing in real time with another musician (even just a single guitarist) is a very different thing and a very different experience. If you monitor things like https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/ (other websites are available) then pretty soon you'll find an advert placed by a guitarist or a drummer who is looking for a bass player to jam along with at home.

Secondly, once you're up to speed with playing in real time with another single musician, don't be too quick to start applying to join bands. You're very likely to get knocked back for your inexperience both as a player and in band situations, and that can get very depressing. The natural halfway house between quietly jamming at home with a guitarist and joining your first proper band is to spend some time frequenting the local jam sessions and open mics. Your best bet is to find a blues jam, where most of the songs to be played are, essentially, 12-bar blues. 

How long does all this take? Well I picked up a a bass for the first time on my 49th birthday at the end of December 2005. By the summer of 2006 I was routinely jamming with a local guitarist. Autumn of 2006 I started attending a well-known & well-attended blues jam. Summer of 2007 I joined my first band but by Xmas we still hadn't played a gig. Spring of 2008 I joined another band and I played my first-ever 'proper' gig on 29th May 2008.

Best bass-related thing I ever did was to discover Basschat (or, more accurately, one of its predecessors). I would never have been able to make the progress I made as fast as I did without a huge amount of advice and encouragement from this community.

These days I play 60 - 80 gigs a year, all for decent money, with a couple of decent bands (see my sig). It's never too late ...

 

[Boogiebass]

Hi Guys, wow, thank you so much for the great advise, I'm very keen to achieve this mission so late in life, I have started out with high hopes to soon !!! Upon starting to learn thru various ways it's got now completely confusing as I never truly realised the complexity of Base playing or any musical instrument.

there are so many avenues to choose, I have started to learn the 12 bar blues but I've got to the point am flicking from one lesson to another and today it's got to the point WHERE DO I START AND WHAT DO I FOCUS ON !!!!!

All your advise makes sense 👍🏻😊👏👏👏👏 best thing I've done is join this chat group. I am looking for a locally person to get lessons, I thought I'd best practice my fretting style and get the fingers train a little before starting lessons, I'd love to hang out with a band to get to know how they bond to create there music genre.

i will check out the sites mentioned, thank you, some great advise, I'm wanting to get involved with 70s/80s music revival playing, but saying that I love music from the early 50s up to them dates.

I do know with age and experience our goals in life can be achieved through determination as from being a miner out of work mid life in the 90s I worked on properties and from there built a factory employing up 30 staff, it was awesome until I had health issues that's now been resolved. 

Thats good encouragement from Happy Jack to hear his story from learning at a late age and now gigging. That's my goal,

SO, if I continue to learn 12 Bar Blues & get the fingers trained to the fretboard I will in the meantime look for a bass tutor. As well as look for mixing with a band also joining a band forum, phew lots to do again to reach this goal.

BIG THANKS TO NICKO, HOOKY_LOWDOWN, DAVE MOFFAT, COILTE, & HAPPY JACK for they time and patience in replying to my query 👍🏻😊👏👏👏👏

[Boogiebass]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

A couple of suggestions:

Firstly, playing along with your favourite records is one thing, playing in real time with another musician (even just a single guitarist) is a very different thing and a very different experience. If you monitor things like https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/ (other websites are available) then pretty soon you'll find an advert placed by a guitarist or a drummer who is looking for a bass player to jam along with at home.

Secondly, once you're up to speed with playing in real time with another single musician, don't be too quick to start applying to join bands. You're very likely to get knocked back for your inexperience both as a player and in band situations, and that can get very depressing. The natural halfway house between quietly jamming at home with a guitarist and joining your first proper band is to spend some time frequenting the local jam sessions and open mics. Your best bet is to find a blues jam, where most of the songs to be played are, essentially, 12-bar blues. 

How long does all this take? Well I picked up a a bass for the first time on my 49th birthday at the end of December 2005. By the summer of 2006 I was routinely jamming with a local guitarist. Autumn of 2006 I started attending a well-known & well-attended blues jam. Summer of 2007 I joined my first band but by Xmas we still hadn't played a gig. Spring of 2008 I joined another band and I played my first-ever 'proper' gig on 29th May 2008.

Best bass-related thing I ever did was to discover Basschat (or, more accurately, one of its predecessors). I would never have been able to make the progress I made as fast as I did without a huge amount of advice and encouragement from this community.

These days I play 60 - 80 gigs a year, all for decent money, with a couple of decent bands (see my sig). It's never too late ...

 

So great to read how and when you started and where you are now, well done sir 👍🏻 Very inspiring. Just what a newbie needs to be told, I'm not about the money more about achieving, thank you 😊 

[Happy Jack]

Ray, if you PM your address to me I'll send you a couple of books that I found immensely helpful 13 years ago: Crash Course Bass by Stuart Clayton (a Basschat regular) and Blues Bass by Ed Friedland.

It's been a while since I needed them. 

Jack

 

[Coilte]

4 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

 I picked up a a bass for the first time on my 49th birthday at the end of December 2005. 

Well done. I always assumed you were playing longer than that. 👍 I myself, am a late starter too...around the same age as you did.

 

@ OP (Ray) : Just one more thing that is often over looked by new bass players...safe.. (note I did not say "good" or "correct").. technique. I know that "Happy Jack" will agree that it is well worth being aware of. It will help you to experience many years of injury free playing.

Learning safe technique at the start is great because unsafe habits dont have a chance to become established. The links below should be of some help. In a nutshell...try to keep both wrists as straight as possible as often as possible.  Try also to have the hands relaxed and not put a death grip on the neck. Pressing down on the strings only requires a minimal force.

 

 

Quote

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Coilte

[Boogiebass]

Hi Coilte,

Defiantly agree with you on that, I'm trying to stick to the correct method as I have noticed my hand twisting as you say the death grip !!!Ill take a look these vids and have an hour or so practicing the 12 Bar, I have joined JoinmyBand Forum as Happy Jack mentioned, I'm sure I will get some good contacts in my area to advance may bass playing, really impressed with this site for the feedback, great help for new old geezers like me lol. I did play a bass 40yrs ago but lost interest and the learning was harder as the hormones kicked in !!!! Could I lower the strings on the bridge to make the string lower on the frets so there not so far to press, pretty easy to press down near the Nut end as usual.

Thanks for all your help sir, its much appreciated regards Ray

[Coilte]

1 hour ago, Boogiebass said:

Could I lower the strings on the bridge to make the string lower on the frets so there not so far to press, pretty easy to press down near the Nut end as usual.

Absolutely...having the action (that's the official name 😉) low will stop you wasting unnecessary energy when fretting. 

 

BTW...here is another clip on fretting lightly.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Coilte

[Twigman]

Just jump in, join a band and learn as you go.

 

[dave moffat]

I've found learning the major scale and the Nashville number system underpin all my learning. Lets me learn and understand shapes that I can easily move all over the fretboard for as long as my fingers do what they're told (head banging on wall emoje). Everything else is mostly just slight variations given fancy names to make it sound difficult by a bunch of 16/17th century, Viennese, cnts to protect their little musical mafia.....Allegro, Pianissimo, Pizzicato. I mean come on, no Brit would call things stuff like that

I think there're 6 main Blues shape variations varying only in how and what order the notes are played, change them again with a shuffle or straight rock beat throw in a passing note,  bend another, throw in a slide, its limitless fun. 12 bar blues root notes are in an 'L' shape just choose the pattern you want to play, where you want to start and that's it, anywhere on the fretboard.

Simple two note root and fourth or fifth anyone?

[Happy Jack]

1 hour ago, Twigman said:

Just jump in, join a band and learn as you go.

 

So long as that band is a bunch of 15-year-olds trying to replicate the punk spirit of 1977. Otherwise, some ability and experience might come in handy. 

[Boogiebass]

Great advise guys, as Twigman says JUMP IN lol, Ive done that most of my life, its been fun, but I do need to be careful who I jump in with, I never did like Punk Jack, but for sure I would mix with a band to get feedback basically and hope there not too cruel lol, 

My plan is to learn what I can in a period of 6mths to which I should be making sense on the bass, then hunt a band down that fits my era, I'm a pretty confident go get person & pretty up front, very much excited to get involved in any aspect of a band, even just to be a driver as I don't drink anymore, now that was a mad turnaround !!!!!

I never got into the punk scene in 77, I got into my wife !!! still am today, 40th Wed Ann this Sunday the 1st OMG !!!!

[hooky_lowdown]

Congrats for Sunday. 🎂

[Coilte]

10 hours ago, Boogiebass said:

 

10 hours ago, Boogiebass said:

My plan is to learn what I can in a period of 6mths 

As previously mentioned, a good teacher will get you off to a good start. In the mean time, on the theory side of things... (knowing some basic theory is always going to be beneficial)... dont fall into the trap of concentrating exclusively on scales. No doubt they are extremely important...but so too are CHORD TONES. These are what the bassist plays most of the time...not scales. The site linked below emphasises the importance of chord tones. You could do a lot worse than to go to the study guide on the site and starting where you deem appropriate, work through the lessons. The first thing to learn IMO is where all the notes are on the fretboard. Start with the first five frets. 

Happy Anniversary !!💘

 

https://www.studybass.com/lessons/bass-chord-patterns/chord-tones-are-primary/

[KevB]

Personally I'd suggest the basic lessons -> jam/open mic nights at local pubs to get into playing with other musicians -> join a band route but there are no firm rules.

[uk_lefty]

I received my first bass aged 15 with a crappy learner book. Didn't have a tuner so goodness knows what I was doing for the first few months!! You can now get the Boss Tuner as a phone app, problem solved, so always make sure you play in tune... Took me ages to get going with no lessons or Internet resources but slowly and surely I learned some of my favourite songs from tabs to the point I could play along to one and a half sides of a cassette. Not long later I tried playing with friends who were guitarists but they were at a similar stage to me. I applied for a bassist wanted position less than two years after starting, keep in mind that first few months was wasted, and at my first session just gave them a list of songs I could play. The guitarist was a massive egotist but amazing at guitar so he could play most of the songs and loved having someone who would just do as they were told. The drummer was hands down the best I have ever heard and I learned loads from jamming with him to the structure of the skgns as the guitarist widdled away. Playing with better musicians, who are not going to be Richards about you being a beginner, is the best learning experience I find. 

[Happy Jack]

2 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Didn't have a tuner so goodness knows what I was doing for the first few months!! 

Just starting out in 2006, I found a bizarre thing in a Denmark Street music shop ... it was a tiny electronic tuner with a spring-loaded clip which you could attach to the headstock of your guitar or bass! Amazing! Who knew such things existed?

So I bought one and it was on my bass when I first played at a jam session. All evening, the more experienced musicians were coming up to me to look at it, go 'tut' and tell me it looked dreadful, then walk away shaking their heads.

The following week, pretty much all of them had one on their headstock. 

[Bassfinger]

I'm lucky, I guess.  I can read music, which is just as well as tab is gobbledygook to me!

If you can get your head around tab, choose a song with a not too difficult bassline (Sunshine of Your Love is a good one) and use the power of Google to find the tab.  Practice until you've got the basics, and then start playing along with the song.  Not necessarily a method on it's own for learning bass, but being able to play along to a few songs in short order is a real boost and will keep you interested and spur you on to more structured learning.  It'll also get you used to playing, fingering (snigger) and you'll start to subliminally learn where the notes are on the fingerboard.

Uk_lefty's tip for using an app is a tuner is a good one. Personally I recommend Guitar Tuna, but there are loads out there.

But whatever method you use, best of luck!

[Nicko]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

Playing with better musicians, who are not going to be Richards about you being a beginner, is the best learning experience I find. 

I agree.  Having payed guitar badly for 20 odd years I became a bass player by accident and dropped into a situation with some fantastically talented people.  I played my first gig about a week later using some very simplified bass lines on a borrowed bass. Most of my guitar playing previously had been learning little bits of a song, but thats not an option in a band.

Obviously my guitar background helped, but part of being in a band is that you are taken out of your comfort practicing and you are put under some form of pressure to get a new song right. 

Also, part of being a musician is being able to communicate with other musicians verbally and musically.  If someone says that doesn't sound right, and you ask what they are playing you then have to work out what notes you can play and what you cant play. 

Although I still haven't played guitar in a band my ability has improved massively as I'm better at practicing it and more determined to play things that seem too difficult when I try.

[Boogiebass]

On 26/11/2019 at 23:53, hooky_lowdown said:

Congrats for Sunday. 🎂

 

On 26/11/2019 at 23:53, hooky_lowdown said:

Congrats for Sunday. 🎂

Thanks Hooky, she's been a good woman, I'm very lucky, regards.