bassist as a career

[breakn]

i want to be a musician for career,bassist(accoustic) if i can..
but im already 16 and itsnt too late to start a new instrument?
and if i want to go to a college or university(music)
where can i find some info about it?

[steve chase]

Hey,I started two years ago and I will be celebrating my half century next year.

GET PLAYING

p.s. practise makes PERMANENT

[anonymous0726]

I started at 17.

[Monte]

Converted pianist / guitarist (heavy metal ) my freshman year of college to the fender bass. Soon realized I had to play the real thing at the age of 19. I wouldn't consider myself a pro, but 10 years later most weeks I play 3 nights a week. Practice and get a good teacher.

Monte

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I started at 34. It's never too late.

[Joe Taylor]

Playing music is like most endeavors, if you got the wont to's bad enough you can do it.

You can make a lot more money doing other things but I don't think you can have a more rewarding life.

I wish that I had continued playing and not stopped for twenty years -- I lost a lot and missed a lot of things.

Play on -- Joe

[anonymous0726]

Originally posted by breakn
...already 16 and itsnt too late to start a new instrument? ...i want to be a musician for career, bassist...

This question has been haunting me, and I just figured out the answer that puts the haunt to rest for me:

You don't have enough information to actually consider bass as a career. First follow the bass if it is speaking to you. The career will follow if that is what is supposed to happen. Get a teacher and then get a bass (in that order). The next year or two will tell you what to do.

[jaybo]

It's never too late to start man. These guys have the right idea. Don't limit yourself to just one type of music either, if you're a big time jazz head find a teacher that will get you playing classical as well and vice versa. After your chops get going on the double bass it's never a bad idea to know how to play those smaller bass things you plug in either. As bassists we're pretty much a neccessity in any song so the more things you can do the better and the more jobs you can get.

[abaguer]

I started fender at 16, upright at 19, and didn't get deep into upright until 26. I'm 39 now and play more upright than electric mainly because the bands ask me to. Along the way there has been lots of practice, tons of gigs that didn't pay and tons of gigs that did pay. For the past ten years I've only done paying gigs and have made a living at it. It isn't a living that will buy you fancy cars and big houses but if you're in it for the money, you are definitely in the wrong business. Ed has a very valid point of view on it and so does Jason. There are all kinds of choices to be made especially if you see yourself having a family but there are defintely ways to handle it. Plenty of times when I was paying the bills with music I took part time jobs to supplement my income or if I wanted extra cash to buy equipment or save towards a house. It all depends on where you are at. Since you are still young I would say don't worry about that yet
1. get a good teacher
2. have good sounding, reliable equipment.
3. be flexible and try to find out what bandleaders and bandmembers want to hear from you.
4. Keep YOUR EARS OPEN.

numbers 3 and 4 are the keys to working a lot. Good luck.

[anonymous0726]

As I pointed out earlier, I think our young friend (and hence the rest of the discussion) is getting ahead of where it really can be. He's never played bass, so how can he really decide that he wants to do it for a living?

Dig in to the bass. At some point you may have the desire to pursue it (the bass, not the career) with intent. At that point, you will have a plethora of choices. Cross that bridge (to Indiana) when you get to it.

[anonymous0726]

No bridge is the joke and an old one at that.

Bass folks do tend to be a little OCD/AR