Quitting a Band (Because the other members totally smoke you)

Bassman7PM · #1 07-23-2010, 01:30 PM

Just finished reading threads about getting fired from bands but how about quitting a band because the other members were 10 times better than you? Happened to me once, I answered a CL ad for a bass player for a fusion band. I love to play fusion and am in no regards a beginner or amateur. They were nice enough to send me MP3's of their original material and my jaw just dropped to the floor after the intial listen. OMG, Talk about manipulating odd time signatures. They were like Alllan Holdworth meets Spastic Ink and the drummer was absolutely awesome. Well I sweated for a week trying to learn their stuff and came as close as I could with it. Okay, time to meet the band. I showed up at the drummers house and they were totally cool people, set up my rig and we jump into the first song and I'm blown away by both of them and try to hang as much as possible and was kindly corrected on a few things, no problem. We jump into the next songs and I mean time sigs were all over the place and the guitarist and drummer were locked tight as I tried to hold down the bottom. After the reheasal I felt like I was just taken to school. Even though they gave me the best compliment in saying that I was the only bassist out of many who auditioned that could actually hang with them I felt out classed. I got the call back to join the band but i chickened out and regret it to this day. Don't know what those guys are doing now but what I could have learned from them would have definitely made me a better bass player.

Relic · #2 07-23-2010, 01:33 PM

You should have stayed with them - you'd be surprised how much better you can quickly get as a player if you're forced to push your limits.
You seem like you kind of realize that already though.

Bassman7PM · #3 07-23-2010, 03:08 PM

I've been kicking myself for two years now. On the bright side I'm playing with some great musicians now but its not fusion. Only thing is, I miss the pressure of trying to go beyond my normal playing capacity. The stuff we play is pretty safe i.e. Gospel/Contemporary Christian/Funk/Jazz, etc.

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #4 07-23-2010, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

You should have stayed with them - you'd be surprised how much better you can quickly get as a player if you're forced to push your limits.

I played with a guy on a fairly regular basis for four or five years who was so much better than me on both guitar and bass that it wasn't even funny. I had to get a lot better pretty quickly just so I wouldn't sound like complete garbage in comparison. Best thing I ever did for my playing.

jelpo · #5 07-23-2010, 04:57 PM

Look them up, see what they doing now.

Matt Dean · #6 07-23-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

You should have stayed with them - you'd be surprised how much better you can quickly get as a player if you're forced to push your limits.
You seem like you kind of realize that already though.

+1... I love getting in over my head.

JohnMCA72 · #7 07-23-2010, 05:15 PM

+1 - You can only really learn to swim well when the water's deep!

Philbiker · #8 07-23-2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jelpo

Look them up, see what they doing now.

Seriously. Only two years ago this happened? Call 'em up!

gm2_in_co · #9 07-23-2010, 05:57 PM

I do agree with the overall sentiment. The other side of the coin is... that line from some movie about, "Man's got to know his limitations." I one time was asked to hold down the bass for a Patsy Cline show called appropriately enough "Always Patsy Cline." I glibly said "yes" thinking, "Its country, how hard can it be?" Well, I'm sure for many of YOU it wouldn't have been hard. But while I've read music in the context of trombone, that was years ago. And this was a tad more complicated than country... "countrypolitan" as I later was told. Anyway, after a week with the score and one rehearsal with the pianist/conductor, I bowed out even though he was totally encouraging. Could I have "faked" my way through it? Sure. Could I have really played it and done the music justice? Not in my estimation. Man's got to know his own limitations.

champbassist · #10 07-23-2010, 11:44 PM

On the topic of playing with guys better than you, I agree with everyone else here: if you get a chance, do it! The only possible downside is that in the initial stages, your ego could take a bit of a hit, but I feel that is a small price to pay for progress at a faster pace then usual, which is the likely outcome of playing with better people.

NB: Won't sermonize about not having an ego, because that is pretty much impossible for any sane human

bound'n'blocked · #11 07-24-2010, 08:10 AM

I was asked to play on a CD project about 8 years ago when I was a guitard (now reformed, thank you Lord). The drummer had won a Dove award when he was in the Christian rock band Bleach. The keyboard player was getting ready to go to some famous music school in Martha's Vineyard. The bass player had toured professionally for years, and was just really really good anyway. The other guitar player didnt have any really outstanding credentials, he just smoked me. I think I was asked because the guy producing was a good friend and felt he needed to ask me. After the first couple of rehersals I was ready to quit because I was embarrased but stuck with it and the CD came out great. Even the stuff I played sounded good! LOL

Heck, I not even great now on bass, but I've found playing with really good musicians makes you better..

BnB