Beginner

1) Enjoy yourself and have fun

2) Take it seriously (although still doing point 1)

3) Practice in your own time on a consistent basis

4) Rehearse songs as a band on a consistent basis

5) Hang around with the band as friends outside of rehearsals to get to know them better

6) Respect your band members, and expect to be respected

7) Take rehearsals seriously (but enjoy them)

8) Be at rehearsals early

9) Decide as a band where you all want to head - cover band? originals? recording? albums?

10) Remember point 1.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Holy crap do what BG said. Me and the guitarist always did that, not the damn drummer though. He decided really quick thatd itd be funner to make me and the guitarist make prank calls and start stuff on fire than to play.

Remember what was posted above (by Bass Guitar) and ALWAYS have fun.

 

(all of the above)

... and make goals.

I would also suggest you to consider getting lessons. When doing that, learn to read notation. Good luck!!

 

Learning to play a bass guitar and putting together a viable band are actually two separate objectives each with its own challenges.

Bass Guitar above had an excellent answer about learning to play, also the advice to take some lessons is excellent,too.

As for putting together a band, I'd say have an understanding as soon as possible about what your goals are...to play live, paying gigs, to record, to just jam in the garage, to play other's material or write originals. Also you need to decide among you how much time and money you are willing as a group to commit to your band.

For example do you want to rehearse three hours once a week or two hours three times a week or four hours every other week? Or play an hour or two almost daily?

If you want to record, are you all willing to invest money in that project? If you want to play gigs, are you all willing to invest money in decent equipment and instruments?

Also, if all of you are new to music, are you all willing to invest the time to improve and grow together as musicians?

With all that in mind, enjoy what you are doing, but don't give up if the going gets a little rough. Most of all, don't let the others hold you back. If they aren't as serious as you are, move on. Find musicians who share your goals. Good luck.

 

Good advice from all above.

I'll just add that as a band, learn entire songs, all the way through, start to finish.

Was that clear?

It's too easy to play a lot of "pieces" and noodle around and not actually get down to playing music.

Did I say you should learn entire songs?

 

make your intentions clear as to what your expecting from the others and what your willing to devote to the band, right from the start, this will help to avoid misunderstandings and help you to find out who's on the same page as you.

you wont be tight overnight so be patient, it takes time to get tight

one of the most important things is make sure you all have chemistry, if you all dont have chemistry together chances are the band will fall apart, so keep searching untill you find everyone that just naturally clicks with each other. (if you havent already)

keep rehearsals professional but still have fun

and practice, practice, practice, scales, arpeggios, sight reading and theory on your down time on a daily basis. take a few lessons too if ya can.