A little venting

[GlennPagano]

I just got back from a jam session with my friends and I need to do a little venting. It started out awful with just me (on bass(playing for one year)) and drums. I could not think of anything to play I just froze. This could have been due to the drummer not being very good. The jam was alright. It was really eerie going from E to A#. I played around a lot in these to chords playing many notes in the scale and arpeggio it sounded decent. Then I went swimming for a little and came back to jamming. This jam started out pretty good but ended horrible when I realized that I couldn't could not stay on beat with a 6/8 time signature. When playing at home by myself I play decently. I can make up decent riffs and keep a beat. I just don't know what happened. Sorry about the little rant I just had to say this.

[jmattbassplaya]

Just keep at it and you`ll improve.

[GlennPagano]

Thank you very much jmatt. I just want to get better quickly. I started too late.

[SurferJoe46]

Reminds me of a Peanuts comic once where Lucy is talking to Charlie Brown and she says "I want happiness - and I want it right NOW!"

Everybody gets suck-y one time or another.

I find that the first set goes pretty sloppy and the second set gets tighter and by the third set (if nobody's been hitting the free wet bar) then the third set is almost perfect and you hit your best playing.

After that, it's all downhill for the rest of the gig. Sometimes you eat the bear - and other times it eats you.

Ever listen to someone who is a whiz at karaoke and then can't sing with a live band? It takes skill and knowing the material and a lot of playing with the same guys all the time.

Don't sweat it, you'll laugh about it when the sun comes back tomorrow and then you'll try it again and hone your skills.

[BassMan7530]

Like they've both said, just keep at it. The more you practice playing with other musicians, the more you will improve. After you've played with drummers a lot (or if you're playing with a drummer you're used to playing with, for example), fitting a part to a beat will come a lot more naturally.

No matter how much you develop great chops or improvisational ability, though, you will have days where you're just off and not feeling it 100%. That stuff happens and can be a drag, but you really need to be in the right mood to mesh with those you're jamming with and create something great.

A large factor is chemistry as well; do you and those you're jamming with enjoy the same styles and genres, or even the same bands, perhaps? If everyone's on the same wavelength, each person can perform at their best and "vibe" off each other. It's an incredible feeling; once everyone locks into a particular groove together, the music simply flows.

Just keep on practicing. You'll make exponential leaps and bounds in your playing the first few years, and you'll be better and more well-rounded in no time.
Brian

[Muaguana]

You've been playing for one year? At least you're actually playing with other people; I didn't join a band until two years after I started playing. Screwed myself good, then, because I was used to playing alone. Learning to work off what another musician gives you takes time and practice. Hell, I still have a lot to learn and I'm still working on plenty. Just keep things in perspective and do your thing; don't expect too much from yourself just yet.

[GlennPagano]

Originally Posted by BassMan7530

Like they've both said, just keep at it. The more you practice playing with other musicians, the more you will improve. After you've played with drummers a lot (or if you're playing with a drummer you're used to playing with, for example), fitting a part to a beat will come a lot more naturally.

No matter how much you develop great chops or improvisational ability, though, you will have days where you're just off and not feeling it 100%. That stuff happens and can be a drag, but you really need to be in the right mood to mesh with those you're jamming with and create something great.

A large factor is chemistry as well; do you and those you're jamming with enjoy the same styles and genres, or even the same bands, perhaps? If everyone's on the same wavelength, each person can perform at their best and "vibe" off each other. It's an incredible feeling; once everyone locks into a particular groove together, the music simply flows.

Just keep on practicing. You'll make exponential leaps and bounds in your playing the first few years, and you'll be better and more well-rounded in no time.
Brian

These guys are my best friends and I Jam with them many times. The only problem is that they all have been playing instruments and involved in music for 8+ years, I have not. It seems as though I am holding them back sometimes. All in due time.

[SurferJoe46]

I've got the same problem with a guitarist in the group I was in and then I quit - not for him, but the 'leader' for reasons that I might talk about some day.

Anyway - this guitarist played by himself for a couple of years and he's got some really nice chops. He knows a little of this and some of that, but no consistency and has never played a full song to the end in his life.

BUT.

Playing by himself, when he came to a part that the guitar had to be silent on, he just skips over it and then he's a full bar ahead of everyone else and he can't hear it!

Some times he's a full two pages ahead of the rest of the group - and he still can't hear that he's nowhere anywhere on the sheet!

That's a very bad habit he's learned and almost impossible to break for him. We are trying the rubber band on the wrist aversion therapy - but his wrist can be bleeding and he still doesn't get it!

One guy brought a starter's pistol to fire it when he skipped the dull spots in the music - and he ran out of ammunition trying to get him back in the same groove as the rest of us.

Nope!

I thought a .25 ACP would be better with real bullets. They won't kill unless they hit some vital organ and that's not likely with a .25cal.

I figgered he could be shot repeatedly in the head since there's nothing there to hurt either. Still though --- bullets are expensive.

Why do I attract the psycho guitarists?

Moral of my story: Don't play by yourself unless someone will need a handgun on you. You are very fortunate to have a group of guys with whom to play - and don't take that wrong.

[MalcolmAmos]

I love to jam. Used to have butterflies and then I realized no one is playing from sheet music, everyone is winging it --- 6/8 time forget that --- and flow with what is happening. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kansase...128/139470664/ Walk up with a stand up bass and you are always welcome in a jam circle.

I have never heard anyone in a jam circle criticize another player's efforts. You might not be nodded in the next time, but, no one is going to beat you around the head and face for anything you do. Relax and enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kansase...n/photostream/

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by GlennPagano

Thank you very much jmatt. I just want to get better quickly. I started too late.

Pfft! I started playing bass when I was 54.

[GlennPagano]

I had band practice with the same people last night(stoner/doom metal). It went great. The drummer started and I made an awesome riff right away. We made this new riff into our opening song. Next we continuded to practice the other 2 songs we have and played them flawlessly with a lot of intenstiy.

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Reminds me of a Peanuts comic once where Lucy is talking to Charlie Brown and she says "I want happiness - and I want it right NOW!"

Here is another Charlie Brown cartoon I use at work a lot. It was a Sunday comic with eight panels. Snoopy is standing on a city corner looking at the "Don't Walk" sign. The next panel is the same only the sign says "Walk"....then next panel back to "Don't Walk" and so on. In the last panel, Linus leans in and says to Snoopy, "You gotta move your feet, too!".

Doing this bass thing right just takes a lot of work. Give yourself the time and commitment "to move your fingers, too!"

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by GlennPagano

I just got back from a jam session with my friends and I need to do a little venting. It started out awful with just me (on bass(playing for one year)) and drums. I could not think of anything to play I just froze. This could have been due to the drummer not being very good. The jam was alright. It was really eerie going from E to A#. I played around a lot in these to chords playing many notes in the scale and arpeggio it sounded decent. Then I went swimming for a little and came back to jamming. This jam started out pretty good but ended horrible when I realized that I couldn't could not stay on beat with a 6/8 time signature. When playing at home by myself I play decently. I can make up decent riffs and keep a beat. I just don't know what happened. Sorry about the little rant I just had to say this.

E to A#? That's a tritone! No wonder it was eerie!

[GlennPagano]

Originally Posted by stratovani

E to A#? That's a tritone! No wonder it was eerie!

Yea, it sounded really good though. I was seeing if anyone was going to catch on to this.

[bassybill]

Listen to Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe" and you'll hear what can be done with a good ol' rock 'n' roll tritone.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Listen to Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe" and you'll hear what can be done with a good ol' rock 'n' roll tritone.

Or YYZ as well!

[GlennPagano]

Well thank you very much everyone for the support. I played my first show tonight with my band, Tree. It was awesome! I played flawlessly and got the crowd involved big time. I kinda moshed with them and I had another bass player in the crowd help me play one of my simple riffs.

[Slax]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

I figgered he could be shot repeatedly in the head since there's nothing there to hurt either. Still though --- bullets are expensive.

Why do I attract the psycho guitarists?

...says the guy with the gun.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by Slax

...says the guy with the gun.

But --- it's just a very tiny lil gun!