At a homeowner's association picnic last night we had a 4-piece bluegrass band playing. We've had them play for our annual picnic for the last 4-5 years. The bass player is a friendly lady, and as they were moving around to a different spot I asked her if her bass was an old Kay. She looked at me somewhat surprised, then grinned, and said 'Yes, it is...want to play"?
I couldn't resist...and politely said yes. She asked me if there was something from their list I could play, and I answered - "Just keep it simple - do you have anything that's a basic 1-4-5?" They said yup - go with A, D, E...and took off.
Man, that was fun. I haven't played an upright since 1973....and hadn't even touched one since 1996. But I managed to keep up with them, not hit many notes that were excessively awful, and even managed to get one or two up/down runs in there that fit the music.
(And of course, in playing just one number I got a small blister on the end of my middle finger. That's why I ALWAYS taped my fingers when playing upright...but when you're in an open park setting, you MUST put energy into those strings to project the sound.)
At any rate, if you've ever played an upright, I can testify that playing electric bass does help you keep your chops and your sense of where to find the notes. I was pretty surprised at my ability to find the notes after a 35-year layoff on upright!
Now I have GAS for another upright. Greeeeaaaaat. Just what I need.
