Kicked out of band...

[BlueMoon]

This ^^^^

 

In my experience, there is often a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on that you might not be aware of. Suck it up as a song learning experience and look out for other outfits where the "fit" feels more obvious. Good luck!

[mlauritsen]

On 29/10/2021 at 18:35, musicbassman said:

@mlauritsen, sorry to hear about this, but I agree with the other comments here.

Maybe it would be interesting if you could give us BCers a list of songs so we can see what material you had to learn. Was it demanding to play, or maybe the bass lines required a bit of rearranging/ filling out/simplifying to suit the band line up, and you didn't pick up on this ?

But, as others have said, pick yourself up, shake off the bad news and move on !  🙂 👍

 

Green Day - Basket Case (I like this one, fun to play)

Radiohead - Creep (Cool sing, and easy to play)

Seether - save today, driven under, wasteland

Rise Against - Hero of War

Thrice - Stare at the sun

Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

3 doors down - landing in london

cranberries - zombie (easy, so no problem)

 

None of these are very hard, it was more the quantity. Hence, I figured "give me a couple of weeks and i'll be fine", but I got the boot before I really made it.

 

Anyway, time helps, chalked down as an experience and moving on. 🙂

[mlauritsen]

On 30/10/2021 at 01:06, skankdelvar said:

I'd say there's a reasonably good chance these guys will contact you in a few months and say 'Well, Morten, it didn't work out with that other bass player. Any chance you could come back in and audition again?'

 

If they do, come back here and we'll tell you what to say to them. In the meantime you may console yourself that you've learned some new songs and that there's plenty more bands out there.

 

Onward and upward 

 

In the meantime I had a chance to talk alone with the drummer (who got me the "gig"), and he was cool about it - really apologetic (not that I needed him to be).

 

Seems the other bass guy was really good and had stage experience, and so there was no competition from me who was struggling to figure it all out...

 

I have no problem being replaced by a better guy, in the future, I'll prioritize my own initiatives where I can at least be a part of the decision.

 

My takeaway: Learn to run with any song people throw at you with a minimum of information. Learn to listen better and play along on the fly.

 

It was quite a challenge, guitar guy would tell me the chords, and he had tuned down a step, and he had a capo on two. 🙂

 

Is it reasonable for people to expect you to know what that means? As a bassist, do I need to know that much about guitars?

[mlauritsen]

On 30/10/2021 at 01:06, skankdelvar said:

I'd say there's a reasonably good chance these guys will contact you in a few months and say 'Well, Morten, it didn't work out with that other bass player. Any chance you could come back in and audition again?'

 

If they do, come back here and we'll tell you what to say to them. In the meantime you may console yourself that you've learned some new songs and that there's plenty more bands out there.

 

Onward and upward 

 

What would you say? I think I would respectfully decline, since I would not trust them (nobody mentioned a "trial period" the first time around).

 

I'd rather pick the songs and skills I work on myself, rather than learn stuff I don't care about and then not need it.

 

I play with group (same drummer) where I'm more involved, and the material is more motivating (sabbath, hendrix, deep purple...), I think I would be better off nailing that material than spreading out.

 

Thank for everybody's feedback and kind words! 🙂

[acidbass]

Sorry to hear about your experience.  As echoed above, I would use the momentum you have since gained from being back playing and learning, and surround yourself with musicians you respect who have similar goals.  I guarantee you'll be successful in no time and will enjoy it so much more than the other band, where it sounds like you were compromising a bit on the material choices.  Good luck with whatever you do

[uk_lefty]

17 minutes ago, mlauritsen said:

was quite a challenge, guitar guy would tell me the chords, and he had tuned down a step, and he had a capo on two. 🙂

 

Is it reasonable for people to expect you to know what that means? As a bassist, do I need to know that much about guitars?

Its not entirely unreasonable if you're catching up learning with a band. Having said that if the guitarist is always tuned down or songs are played in different keys I'd want to know that in advance so I can either adjust how I play a song or downtime my bass in prep.

 

IMO, and something I've only got my head around recently, it's a good idea to not learn songs rigidly by note or fret number but by shape on the fretboard, or chord progression (I, iv, v... Whatever) if you've got bands who often want to change the key of songs, it's easier to then move around if your reference point isn't fixed to a certain part of the fretboard. Of course, all this depends on how you learn and remember things and different things work for different people.

 

All this stuff comes with experience and gets easier over time.

[BlueMoon]

Transposing on the fly is fun though? 😟

[mlauritsen]

On 30/10/2021 at 07:39, Newfoundfreedom said:

I wouldn't take it too much to heart mate. It's probably a case of a mate of one of the other band members became available, other than any refection on you or your playing. Although I can understand why you'd be frustrated after putting the time into learning their material. 

Thanks 🙂

 

I need to get better, and I'll use this experience as motivation - the better I get, the less I'll get kicked out.

 

 

[mlauritsen]

34 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Its not entirely unreasonable if you're catching up learning with a band. Having said that if the guitarist is always tuned down or songs are played in different keys I'd want to know that in advance so I can either adjust how I play a song or downtime my bass in prep.

 

IMO, and something I've only got my head around recently, it's a good idea to not learn songs rigidly by note or fret number but by shape on the fretboard, or chord progression (I, iv, v... Whatever) if you've got bands who often want to change the key of songs, it's easier to then move around if your reference point isn't fixed to a certain part of the fretboard. Of course, all this depends on how you learn and remember things and different things work for different people.

 

All this stuff comes with experience and gets easier over time.

 

Totally agree about learning progressions and patterns instead of fret positions or notes.

 

I was trying to do this but the capo threw me - it only changes the open strings, so e.g. when the guy plays an E, it's really an F# (or whatever), but when he plays a G, it's a G. Sounds to me like the chord progression is being mangled?

 

Knowing in advance would be good, but I think that requires a level of predictability and organization that many people don't want?

[mlauritsen]

14 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

Transposing on the fly is fun though? 😟

 

One time, they didn't tell me the song, they just started playing. Never mind transposing, just play something and look confident! 🙂

[Supernaut]

23 minutes ago, mlauritsen said:

just play something and look confident! 🙂

 

Been going on that mantra for the last 20 years! 

[Crusoe]

1 hour ago, mlauritsen said:

 

Green Day - Basket Case (I like this one, fun to play)

Radiohead - Creep (Cool sing, and easy to play)

Seether - save today, driven under, wasteland

Rise Against - Hero of War

Thrice - Stare at the sun

Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

3 doors down - landing in london

cranberries - zombie (easy, so no problem)

 

None of these are very hard, it was more the quantity. Hence, I figured "give me a couple of weeks and i'll be fine", but I got the boot before I really made it.

 

Anyway, time helps, chalked down as an experience and moving on. 🙂

You have had a lucky escape in my opinion - I always hated playing Zombie. 😆

[martin8708]

Reasons for being replaced/sacked , in my own experience .

1. Being too old , -never made it past the telephone interview , the phone went dead when I mentioned my age .

2. Being bald , not much I can do about that , unless I wear a wig .

3. The new guy had a bigger amp , and wore a long leather coat , ( think high plains drifter ) . I did get a phone call about a month later apologising for the “misunderstanding “ and would I reconsider joining .it seems Lee Van Cleef could not play very well .

4 The other new guy had a massive PA , and access to numerous vans , his dad owned a builders merchants and was rather wealthy .

5.Having a job that I don’t want to quit , so the new band can’t do the World Tour they have planned , ( when they haven’t even played in the local flea-pit down the road ) 

I’m sure I have a few more , it sucks getting the boot , but it’s just part of life , especially now in the internet age . 

best wishes , Martin 

[chris_b]

In 1971 I joined a band when Phil Chen left. Several months later, when his band folded, they kicked me out so he could rejoin!! Like so much in music, you just have to put it down to experience and move on, or you'd go mad!

Edited November 3, 2021 by chris_b

[pete.young]

54 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

You have had a lucky escape in my opinion - I always hated playing Zombie. 😆

Yeah, it's a complete vibe-killer and dance-floor emptier par excellence.

[Nail Soup]

18 minutes ago, chris_b said:

In 1971 I joined a band when Phil Chen left. Several months later, when his band folded, they kicked me out so he could rejoin!! Like so much in music, you just have to put it down to experience and move on, or you'd go mad!

I think when name bands get a replacement for an established member there should be an understanding that the new guy may need to stand down if the original person wants to return. Recently happened with RHCP if i remember correctly.

[pete.young]

1 hour ago, mlauritsen said:

 

 

 

I was trying to do this but the capo threw me - it only changes the open strings, so e.g. when the guy plays an E, it's really an F# (or whatever), but when he plays a G, it's a G. Sounds to me like the chord progression is being mangled?

 

 

Nope, it works all the way up the neck. If he plays a G shape, and the capo is on the second fret, you get an A .

 

And yes I'd say that being able to read up-side down chords with or without capo has got me through a few tricky moments and is a useful skill, more so for depping than being a band member.

[PaulWarning]

6 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Nope, it works all the way up the neck. If he plays a G shape, and the capo is on the second fret, you get an A .

 

And yes I'd say that being able to read up-side down chords with or without capo has got me through a few tricky moments and is a useful skill, more so for depping than being a band member.

I think what he's saying is if the capo is on the 2nd fret a open string G becomes an A but barre chord G is still G on the 3rd fret regardless of a capo,

[Nail Soup]

33 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Nope, it works all the way up the neck. If he plays a G shape, and the capo is on the second fret, you get an A .

 

And yes I'd say that being able to read up-side down chords with or without capo has got me through a few tricky moments and is a useful skill, more so for depping than being a band member.

Actually I think the OP got it right. an open G shape will become an A. A barred G  will still be a G.

That is what it makes it hard to convert on the fly just by looking - in my experience also.

[peteb]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

In 1971 I joined a band when Phil Chen left. Several months later, when his band folded, they kicked me out so he could rejoin!! Like so much in music, you just have to put it down to experience and move on, or you'd go mad!

 

All that says to me is that you were good enough to be Phil Chen's replacement in a band, albeit temporarily! 

 

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, mlauritsen said:

 

One time, they didn't tell me the song, they just started playing. Never mind transposing, just play something and look confident! 🙂

I hate that with a passion!!! 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Downunderwonder]

4 hours ago, mlauritsen said:

It was quite a challenge, guitar guy would tell me the chords, and he had tuned down a step, and he had a capo on two

No loss then. 

[skankdelvar]

6 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

It is definitely worth getting acquainted with the vagaries of capos.

 

One time this horrible bastard stuck two capos on his acoustic guitar; a full capo to raise the pitch and a partial capo further up the neck to allow DADGAD fingerings.

 

Dear reader, that horrible bastard was me.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin