Hey folks, for those new to the diary, I am a middle aged musician enjoying somewhat of a musical renaissance, including finally picking up the bass as a secondary instrument. I have been learning mostly on the fly gigging with 2-3 others, & documenting my gigs with brief writeups. See the links to past entries below!
Another short one tonight! Tonight was an odd gig. Same crew as usual, Matt used soft sticks on the cajon tonight, which gave a nicer attack IMHO, at the cost of raising the volume sometimes. The venue had a new board on stage, which I *totally* preferred to the normal one at the back. Not sure why they made the change, but it helped us a ton!
Frank called a few newish songs tonight, as we were playing to an emptyish bar at suppertime. As is typical, people start to fill in just as we are finishing up, which tonight led to us playing a little late as a favor to the venue, as we had a decent crowd. We had a bit of a "tough love" session as a group tonight, working on our timing, collectively and individually, and it was very positive and beneficial. I *really* focused on locking in with Matt, and felt we gained ground there. I also found our endings and come-ins as a group were the absolute tightest ever. My practice this week was nil, I am embarrassed to admit. I am going to start playing at least a little every other day at least.
I kept things a little conservative, though I am getting much more comfortable at fills at the end of every 4th measure or so, and found my note choices were more consistently good ones than ever before. I played with a pick well over half of the time, and focused on locking in, and on note accents on the appropriate beats. I really liked my tone tonight, and I think my increased focus played a big part here. We worked on "I Shot the Sheriff", and despite the trouble on the reggae timing overall, I *loved* it. I absolutely love getting to play reggae, and want to focus on that once my fundamentals are more up to speed.
At the same time, despite these positives, I felt less comfortable and less proficient than ever, at times even feeling like I didn't have it in me to do this. While this may sound negative, I don't take it that way. I think we have all gained enough skill and chemistry with each other to see what we're lacking in. I hate to admit, but I have a *lot* more work to do than I thought. I am going to work on locking in with the kick drum and my overall timing and attack as my main practice regiment starting tomorrow. I have a great practice setup now, with all kinds of ways to load backing tracks to groove over, so there is no excuse!
I feel like my continued studies into theory (with guitar in mind mainly) are paying hue dividends for my bass playing, and the more I play bass, the better a guitarist I am becoming. I am just in a strange place where I feel competent enough to play just about any song on the fly, but I realize there is a gulf between what my playing will be on that song, and the playing a tight bassist will do on the same song.
So all in all, a bit of "band school" tonight. Oddly enough, this was one of the most laid back and positive sessions yet, go figure!
Until next time!
Past entries:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
#6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#11 #12 #13 #14 #15
#16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25
#26
Another short one tonight! Tonight was an odd gig. Same crew as usual, Matt used soft sticks on the cajon tonight, which gave a nicer attack IMHO, at the cost of raising the volume sometimes. The venue had a new board on stage, which I *totally* preferred to the normal one at the back. Not sure why they made the change, but it helped us a ton!
Frank called a few newish songs tonight, as we were playing to an emptyish bar at suppertime. As is typical, people start to fill in just as we are finishing up, which tonight led to us playing a little late as a favor to the venue, as we had a decent crowd. We had a bit of a "tough love" session as a group tonight, working on our timing, collectively and individually, and it was very positive and beneficial. I *really* focused on locking in with Matt, and felt we gained ground there. I also found our endings and come-ins as a group were the absolute tightest ever. My practice this week was nil, I am embarrassed to admit. I am going to start playing at least a little every other day at least.
I kept things a little conservative, though I am getting much more comfortable at fills at the end of every 4th measure or so, and found my note choices were more consistently good ones than ever before. I played with a pick well over half of the time, and focused on locking in, and on note accents on the appropriate beats. I really liked my tone tonight, and I think my increased focus played a big part here. We worked on "I Shot the Sheriff", and despite the trouble on the reggae timing overall, I *loved* it. I absolutely love getting to play reggae, and want to focus on that once my fundamentals are more up to speed.
At the same time, despite these positives, I felt less comfortable and less proficient than ever, at times even feeling like I didn't have it in me to do this. While this may sound negative, I don't take it that way. I think we have all gained enough skill and chemistry with each other to see what we're lacking in. I hate to admit, but I have a *lot* more work to do than I thought. I am going to work on locking in with the kick drum and my overall timing and attack as my main practice regiment starting tomorrow. I have a great practice setup now, with all kinds of ways to load backing tracks to groove over, so there is no excuse!
I feel like my continued studies into theory (with guitar in mind mainly) are paying hue dividends for my bass playing, and the more I play bass, the better a guitarist I am becoming. I am just in a strange place where I feel competent enough to play just about any song on the fly, but I realize there is a gulf between what my playing will be on that song, and the playing a tight bassist will do on the same song.
So all in all, a bit of "band school" tonight. Oddly enough, this was one of the most laid back and positive sessions yet, go figure!
Until next time!
Past entries:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
#6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#11 #12 #13 #14 #15
#16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25
#26
