How long did you play before you were in a band?

[sixx788]

I started playing bass late in life. 34 to be exact. Not that it's old, but kinda old to start an instrument. Anyway, been taking lessons the whole time (1 1/2 years so far) Which I think is coming along pretty good....however, not good enough to be in a band yet. I can read music and I can remember what my teacher shows me for the songs that I want to learn. But ear training is extremely hard for me. I just feel I am never going to get it. Just curious when you guys started playing in a band and how long it took you to be able to hear a song and learn it in a few days.

Thanks!

[kenlacam]

I was playing for about 6 months before I was asked to play for different bands/groups

[Revmizery]

2 months lol. Friend of mine had borrowed a bass and brought it on the bus bus. I asked if i could play it, then he asked me to join. I sucked and didn't even have an amp then but it made learning move much faster.

[Deacon_Blues]

I had been playing guitar a little by myself for a couple of years before me and my twinbrother started a band with some friends when I was 17. I played guitar and sang lead in that band until I was 23, and at that point I picked up the bass after some struggling with the earlier bassists. I'm glad I did. It was a struggle in the beginning though as I also was the lead vocalist. I noticed it was 1000 times harder to play bass and sing than to play guitar and sing! We disbanded about a year later because I went to Sweden as an exchange student and other people moved away too. Since then I've been playing in various bands and projects, but never with the same gigging frequency as with my old first band. At that time we did 25 gigs a year, now I've done between 2 and 15 per year...

[sevenyearsdown]

About 4 or 5 months.....and I was terrible. I got a lot of on the job training though.

[skeptikal]

2 months and I was asked to be the bassist of a buddies southern rock band. Mostly 3 chord songs with very few changes, so the root notes/octaves were 99% of what I played (maybe throw in a chromatic approach every once in a blue moon).

This didn't so much help with my ear training but my timing and groove is excellent for only playing for 8 months because I play with a drummer and full band. Metronomes are great but even if you aren't the best bass player ever, if you can play the root notes and have good time you can play bass with anyone!

[mambo4]

I fiddled around for a several of years before my first public performance at an open mike. Even before then, I was playing on college projects and such.

If you've been taking lessons for over a year and can read (esp follow a chord chart) you are probably ready to find someone to play with.

There is simply no faster way to learn what bass really does than joining a band. Look for the most skilled players (whose music you dig) that will have you and go for it!

[Depth_Charge]

I have been playing roughly ten years and been in bands on and off for 3 years.

I've had one real lesson in that time, I can't read sheet music and my ear and feel for the bass only improved after I was playing live for a while.

[huckingfuskie]

Been playing 1 year here, still not in a band. I do have jam sessions though. sometimes we're just 2 or 3 people but i highly recommend you find other musicians to play with. it doesnt matter what instrument they play, playing with others highly accelerates learning. Its never too early to start playing with others.

[CPplaysBASS]

I played guitar sparingly for over 25 years, but it seems when I was growing there was never any other musicians to connect with. It wasn't until I was 38 that I found myself in my first band, doing exclusively originals (meaning I could keep things as simple as I wanted/needed to begin with), and my previous guitar experience helped ... but as we all know, playing bass is a totally different mindset.

So I could play notes, but I actually found myself in a band before I was a bass player and the "on the job training" as sevenyearsdown mentioned was invaluable ... as was having some patient bandmates that I got along well with personally. A year later I was confident enough to audition for a much more advanced band (after band #1 broke up), and was selected for that.

With 18 months of lessons behind you, you're already miles ahead of where I was. I'm currently in a pop/funk band and get great compliments on my bass playing now (3 years later) but I still suck at picking things up by ear and could never participate in an open-jam environment. But the 22 original songs I play live ... I play 'em perfectly and have a blast, while continuing to work on more advanced stuff on my own.

I think you're ready for a band or at least connecting with other musicians looking for basic accompaniment ... there's a lot of 30+ guys in every town posting for bass players at any level for informal jams that are generally relaxed. Playing with others will keep you motivated and speed the process up dramatically I think.

[chizn]

1 week lol.

Started playing bass because someone else had already called keys for our school bands easter concert. I said, no worries, gimme something else to play, and picked up the bass. a week later, I'm on stage witht he band groovin away (sort of!!) Think from memory we did an early coldplay number and lionel ritchies 'easy.' Never looked back since, 10 years later!

[ganga]

I started playing bass so I could join a band. But I was 12-13 back then. 10 years later, still going strong.

[tavi]

about 2 days. but i learn more in my time away than i do in my time with people. but it is fun and i learned what i didnt know by playing with others.

[Mr. Lovejoy]

I used to play guitar for my first band, but I came to my senses () not long after.

So no time at all.

[DocBop]

I started on guitar and was playing in a couple groups in about a year. When I switched to bass I was in a group a couple months after switching and stayed on bass for years after that in many groups and some recording.

[Joel S.]

Bunch of years, maybe 4-5? I didn't feel I was good enough to join a band, first band I joined I was instantly the best musician, lol.

You should be able to find people in your age group who are just jamming to have fun to get away from the grind of "real life." In those situations they won't expect you to play 145bpm 32nd note fills, just follow the changes and keep the groove.

[Jonyak]

I was 12 when I started playing. I was then in the senior school band like 3 weeks later.

for some reason I picked it up VERY quickly. I always found it very intuitive.

[scottbass]

Originally Posted by sixx788

...been taking lessons the whole time (1 1/2 years so far) Which I think is coming along pretty good....however, not good enough to be in a band yet.

Yes, you are good enough to be in a band. Being in a band will make you improve faster than just taking lessons and practicing alone. Keep taking the lessons, but at least find some other musicians to jam with, even if it's not a formal "band" yet. $0.02

[GearHeadBassMan]

i played guitar for two years before i got enough money to buy a bass and start taking lessons in that (we had an old guitar hanging around that I had to use) but I joined a band about 3 months after formal lessons began and I learned more from just playing in the band that I did from lessons (which my bass teacher encouraged me to do, really good teacher as well)

from drumming and bass, there's no better lesson than just sitting in and playing with people for the first time.

[JeffC]

2nd day. I wanted to play but was lazy about getting into it. A couple of friends were wanting to get something together, one was a new guitarist (6 months) the drummer was well established but hadn't played in a few years. We learned together, started a year and a half ago and our progression has been great!

Playing/learning with others really brings you together as a band and has helped us progress as individuals. We have played a couple parties and even a wedding to date.