What was the age you started to play?

[Nami]

I'm realy depresed now..
I started playin' the bass at age fourteen and a half.
I was serious from the first day and i work realy hard and love it so much.
I'm realy good for the time i'm playing and i hadn't played any instrument before.
But i noticed that all the pros i know started very young...
And although I know i can play good i don't know if i could ever be a pro (even with all the hard work in the world).
So what was the age you started to play (just to know where i'm standing)
TNX and sorry about all the crying baby thing... i'm just alittle worried.

[lilboo77]

Started way before I did. I started somewhere @ 21 or 22

[matrok]

I was 16.

work hard, don't worry.

[rontalsaurus]

I started around 21 or 22, playing off and on when I had a chance at school.

It makes no difference when you start. Don't sweat it. Just keep playing and be diligent about your practicing. I know players that didn't start until they were my age or older and are killer players.

[Fathand]

I was 21 or 22 (about 3 years ago). But it's never too late!

[kobass]

I started when I was fourteen. Of course, that was thirty-three years ago! I'm actually starting to sound pretty good!

[nad]

Started at 13, currently 27. Still learning, always will be.

[morf]

20

[bassist 4 life]

12, I'm 14 now.

[pocket_groover]

Started at 13, I'm 55 now. Still learning. Many players have far surpassed my skills, but I'm ok with it....I can still hold a solid groove and that's what makes me happy...

[Atoz]

First picked up a bass at 22, but didn't take it seriously, and quit a couple of months later.

Didn't really start playing until 40.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Nami

But i noticed that all the pros i know started very young...

It's quality of time...not quantity of time.
Every clinic I've been to, someone always asks "How long have you been playing"?
Sorry, IMO, that is totally irrelevant & a waste of the clinician's + everyone else's time.

Steve Khan didn't begin playing the guitar until he was about 19...by his early 20s, he was gigging with The Brecker Brothers.

Stop worrying about everyone else & wasting all that energy!

[Woodchuck]

Started at 31, and started recording 11 months later, and touring 4 years after that. JimK hit the nail on the head!

[j-raj]

Started at 14 (year after Jaco's passing... ), 33 now... this December it will have been 20 years.

... I just went back to taking lessons last month. My theory is that we will be students for the rest of our lives, get used to that sentiment and learn something every day that you exist.

[BuffaloBass]

10 yrs old, sold all my stuff at 21 yrs, then bought it back at 42yrs and I've been messing around for 3 yrs now, the last one much more dilligently. The 10-19 age range was fun. I could do nothing but bass, school and sports. And I lived and breathed bass. Ah, the freedom of youth.

While it is natural for us to comare ourselves to others, I HIGHLY discourage it. Make yoruself better, small successes at a time. Do your spider drills daily! Those really help me with my live performances actually. Speed/clarity go way up.

[Nami]

Thanks guys you realy cheered me up
I am working hard and doing everything i can for making more progress.
Now i just have to get in to some military band or orchestra for not losing the good work while i'll serve.

BTW

Originally Posted by JimK

It's quality of time...not quantity of time.

that's smart =]

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Tony Grey, bassist for Hiromi, is pretty high up there in the ranks of jazz/fusion bassists, and he started at 19. He's only been playing for 10 or 11 years, and he's toured the world several times.

And for the original question, I got my first bass exactly one week after I turned 17.

[agreatheight]

Started at 15, am 35 now. Happy 20th anniversary to me!

[DWBass]

@12 (35 years ago)

[soloman61]

I started this past Feb. at age 44. Already on my second Bass.