I wanted to play bass as soon as I became aware that there was a different kind of guitar that made all those cool, booming noises I heard in MxPx songs. My parents were very supportive and let me learn on Mom's old gut-strung acoustic 6-string. Even though her song book had kickass tunes like "Yankee Doodle," it was not enough to hold my attention for very long and I gave up and instead became a music-obsessed non-musician.
Skip ahead a decade and some change, and my Air Force friends and I are having a blast playing Rock Band on the Xbox. Matt, the fake drummer, begins to date a professional musician who asks the obvious question: "Why don't you guys go buy real instruments if you love playing music this much?"
After blowing her off for a few months, I somehow reconnected with that old enthusiasm and broke through the "I'm too old" attitude and bought a MIM Fender Jazz Bass before I even had the ability to pluck a string properly--right before my 25th birthday.
Over the last 3 months, I've used
http://www.studybass.com/ and youtube to teach myself some basic theory and technique. Matt bought his drums and we've been jamming in my basement for about a month, now. Yesterday we figured out how to play "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges without looking up the tabs and it was a fantastic moment! (the lead guitar bit sounds pretty sweet on bass with heavy distortion)
So there we go... I know the power that an internet forum has to reinforce your habits and exacerbate your obsessions, and that is exactly what I'm hoping with happen to me here.
Cheers,
Jon
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