I had six months of acoustic guitar lessons when I was 12. The guy was as old as my grandfather and had no clue as to what modern music was. I lost interest. Fast forward three years when the sounds of the mid-60s kept calling me back. I bought a bass, learned a 12-bar blues progression, and never looked back.
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Did You Take Lessons Before You Joined A Band???
- Thread starter El_Charro
- Start date
My favorite piece of advice is: if it doesn't sound "exactly like the record" (...I'm gonna puke...), keep in mind you are NOT the band on the record...it's going to come out like you guys...
I've been to concerts where they don't put in all the nuances...they play right over them. They put key licks in, but skip the "cute-see" stuff.
Have...fun...with...it...
Yeah, go on the inexpensive right now, but buy good.
As Aceman said...get confidence...learn first.
I've been to concerts where they don't put in all the nuances...they play right over them. They put key licks in, but skip the "cute-see" stuff.
Have...fun...with...it...
Yeah, go on the inexpensive right now, but buy good.
As Aceman said...get confidence...learn first.
Last edited:
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,942
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I didn't take lessons. I started out with others (friends) who were also just starting out, so I dove right into a band situation. We were playing anything and everything we could, wrongly, from about a week into having bought our first instruments. And we all got better VERY quickly.
Some do better with lessons, some do better on their own. Sounds like you might be one of the latter.
My suggestions - forget waiting. Find people who are willing to play with you, where you're at now. If you can play along with recordings, you can start playing along with live musicians. All you have to know is a handful of songs to get started. Playing with others once is worth 5 practice sessions on your own, and a live gig is worth 5 band rehearsals. Roughly, IME
. Some people wait to "get good enough," for years and never do. Others fall on their face a thousand times and move ahead quickly.
My $.50. I value it more than $.02 these days .
Some do better with lessons, some do better on their own. Sounds like you might be one of the latter.
My suggestions - forget waiting. Find people who are willing to play with you, where you're at now. If you can play along with recordings, you can start playing along with live musicians. All you have to know is a handful of songs to get started. Playing with others once is worth 5 practice sessions on your own, and a live gig is worth 5 band rehearsals. Roughly, IME
. Some people wait to "get good enough," for years and never do. Others fall on their face a thousand times and move ahead quickly.My $.50. I value it more than $.02 these days
.
LOL - just because you are "old" doesn't mean you are a "codger"
But you have to agree - there are a ton of responses here that are, metaphorically, pointing the guy at the Conservatory, when he just wants to get in a room with some guys and maybe play Rock & Roll, Start Me Up, Shook Me All Night Long, and American Girl.
When someone gets hyper-critical I always say "Have you seen that band play this live?" usually turns out they aren't doing anything nearly as close to the recording as we are, yet we are being hyper critical. YouTube is your friend here! ("See what he plays there? notice what all he left out?!?!?!?). That said - as owners of the song and being famous they can get away with more of that than we can...
Again - the play it EXACTLY like the recording is a thing. Some people are like that/into it. Good for them.
Also, completely making your own music from scratch and never playing cover one is a thing. Some people are into and have done that.
In between somewhere is everyone else. Do what you want.
The only thing you HAVE to do as a band is agree on HOW you are gonna do it. I have solos I play note for note. Others I play partially, and some I play something I made up/in the style of. In my band - that is ok....we've been around for what appears to be 7 years now, and gig regularly enough for us (monthly or so). It isn't OK to sub something easier for some parts, but for others...go for it. It's a song by song deal. And if no one is up to a certain tune, we pick another, or work harder on the one we want.
Agreed on all bases (no pun...)...
I played in many bands where we played over certain (emphasis on "certain") parts passing over the fluorish riff. We were still the darlings of the cellar...of course those 3 piece bands HAD to cut corners...still went over well...
Play like the record, don't play like the record, as long as it sounds full and continuous...that's where it comes.
Not one lesson, every thing that I've learned is because of listening to what's going on via lp, cassette cd etc, the net has been a useful tool, but things like technique, sound and texture are things better as a learned behaviour.
My first band was when I was 17 and I was the vocalist/front man in a Black Sabbath cover band. I actually had about 6 years of vocal training and experience in vocal groups with good vocal habits and I could sight read and was musically literate. Plus, I sounded just like Ozzy when mimicking his style.
But our band had an impossible time finding and keeping a bassist. I think we went through about 6 bassists in our 1st year. Made it really hard to book gigs and we sounded terrible with sucky Geezers.
So, one day the guitarist and drummer came up to me and presented me an electric bass, saying that since I wasn't doing anything with my hands while on stage, I might as well make myself useful and learn how to play bass. They had found a beat up JB Player from somewhere and told me to get a bass amp to go with it and get busy learning how to be Geezer Butler.
I responded that I had never touched a music instrument in my life and also I was left handed, and this was a right handed bass. The guitarist said "**** you and your ******* left handedness. Learn how to play the bass or you're out of the band."
He was smiling as he said it, but he wasn't kidding.
So, I started learning on my own, but this was at a time when I was just signing up for a semester at community college. I discovered there was a course called "Rock group ensemble", where the idea was to teach students how to perform in a rock cover group.
I took the class and it was a huge help, considering I wouldn't have known what to work on or how to practice just on my own. There were about 18 students in the class. Two drummers, three keys, a couple of horns, and probably 10 guitarists and as many vocalists. I was the only chump with a bass.
I made good progress, but after the semester, I was hoping for more instruction. Fortunately, the teacher of the class informed me that there was another class just newly formed for the new semester called "Small jazz combo" and they would need a bass player or they would have to cancel the class. I signed up for that and learned how to play jazz, including reading charts and improvising different kinds of basslines.
I was extremely lucky to be a part of it, because the other guys in the group (it was a 6 piece, including the teacher) were all very experienced and very talented. They knew that I was a total noob but were all willing to go out of their way to teach me how to play, because without me, they had no band.
Fron the first day we had an agreement. They would accomodate my beginner status and work with me to help me improve, but I had to promise to put in 10 solid hours per week of practice on my own and do all the homework they assigned to me.
I jumped at the chance. I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn jazz from some talented players, plus the teacher of the course actually donated 2 or 3 hours of his time every week to giving me private lessons.
It went extremely well and the band members told me it was obvious that I was putting in the work and holding up my end of the bargain and were pleased with my performance at the public concert we put on for our final grade.
I repeated the course the following semester and that experience got me into the habit of playing bass and practicing 10 to 12 hours every week without fail. Thirty five years later, and I still have the same work ethic.
Looking back on that one year I can't help but think if I hadn't been coerced into learning the bass as a rank amateur and then given the opportunity to learn from some excellent teachers on a strict timetable, I might have gotten bored and given up, not having discovered a passion for bass playing.
But our band had an impossible time finding and keeping a bassist. I think we went through about 6 bassists in our 1st year. Made it really hard to book gigs and we sounded terrible with sucky Geezers.
So, one day the guitarist and drummer came up to me and presented me an electric bass, saying that since I wasn't doing anything with my hands while on stage, I might as well make myself useful and learn how to play bass. They had found a beat up JB Player from somewhere and told me to get a bass amp to go with it and get busy learning how to be Geezer Butler.
I responded that I had never touched a music instrument in my life and also I was left handed, and this was a right handed bass. The guitarist said "**** you and your ******* left handedness. Learn how to play the bass or you're out of the band."
He was smiling as he said it, but he wasn't kidding.
So, I started learning on my own, but this was at a time when I was just signing up for a semester at community college. I discovered there was a course called "Rock group ensemble", where the idea was to teach students how to perform in a rock cover group.
I took the class and it was a huge help, considering I wouldn't have known what to work on or how to practice just on my own. There were about 18 students in the class. Two drummers, three keys, a couple of horns, and probably 10 guitarists and as many vocalists. I was the only chump with a bass.
I made good progress, but after the semester, I was hoping for more instruction. Fortunately, the teacher of the class informed me that there was another class just newly formed for the new semester called "Small jazz combo" and they would need a bass player or they would have to cancel the class. I signed up for that and learned how to play jazz, including reading charts and improvising different kinds of basslines.
I was extremely lucky to be a part of it, because the other guys in the group (it was a 6 piece, including the teacher) were all very experienced and very talented. They knew that I was a total noob but were all willing to go out of their way to teach me how to play, because without me, they had no band.
Fron the first day we had an agreement. They would accomodate my beginner status and work with me to help me improve, but I had to promise to put in 10 solid hours per week of practice on my own and do all the homework they assigned to me.
I jumped at the chance. I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn jazz from some talented players, plus the teacher of the course actually donated 2 or 3 hours of his time every week to giving me private lessons.
It went extremely well and the band members told me it was obvious that I was putting in the work and holding up my end of the bargain and were pleased with my performance at the public concert we put on for our final grade.
I repeated the course the following semester and that experience got me into the habit of playing bass and practicing 10 to 12 hours every week without fail. Thirty five years later, and I still have the same work ethic.
Looking back on that one year I can't help but think if I hadn't been coerced into learning the bass as a rank amateur and then given the opportunity to learn from some excellent teachers on a strict timetable, I might have gotten bored and given up, not having discovered a passion for bass playing.
Last edited:
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,942
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
No.
I got into a band before I could even play .
My classrooms have been my bedroom, basements, rehearsal/recording studios, and the stage. And I've spent most of my life in those 3 settings.
I got into a band before I could even play
.My classrooms have been my bedroom, basements, rehearsal/recording studios, and the stage. And I've spent most of my life in those 3 settings.
My first band was when I was 17 and I was the vocalist/front man in a Black Sabbath cover band. I actually had about 6 years of vocal training and experience in vocal groups with good vocal habits and I could sight read and was musically literate. Plus, I sounded just like Ozzy when mimicking his style.
But our band had an impossible time finding and keeping a bassist. I think we went through about 6 bassists in our 1st year. Made it really hard to book gigs and we sounded terrible with sucky Geezers.
So, one day the guitarist and drummer came up to me and presented me an electric bass, saying that since I wasn't doing anything with my hands while on stage, I might as well make myself useful and learn how to play bass. They had found a beat up JB Player from somewhere and told me to get a bass amp to go with it and get busy learning how to be Geezer Butler.
I responded that I had never touched a music instrument in my life and also I was left handed, and this was a right handed bass. The guitarist said "**** you and your ******* left handedness. Learn how to play the bass or you're out of the band."
He was smiling as he said it, but he wasn't kidding.
So, I started learning on my own, but this was at a time when I was just signing up for a semester at community college. I discovered there was a course called "Rock group ensemble", where the idea was to teach students how to perform in a rock cover group.
I took the class and it was a huge help, considering I wouldn't have known what to work on or how to practice just on my own. There were about 18 students in the class. Two drummers, three keys, a couple of horns, and probably 10 guitarists and as many vocalists. I was the only chump with a bass.
I made good progress, but after the semester, I was hoping for more instruction. Fortunately, the teacher of the class informed me that there was another class just newly formed for the new semester called "Small jazz combo" and they would need a bass player or they would have to cancel the class. I signed up for that and learned how to play jazz, including reading charts and improvising different kinds of basslines.
I was extremely lucky to be a part of it, because the other guys in the group (it was a 6 piece, including the teacher) were all very experienced and very talented. They knew that I was a total noob but were all willing to go out of their way to teach me how to play, because without me, they had no band.
If the first half of the third paragraph didn't sell me, the end of the one above does...
To tell you "since yer not doing anything with your hands" was (to me) an insult...the above statement that without you "they're nothing"...puh-leeze...they're desperate and you don't need that kinda BS...
BUT...if ya like playing bass (you're here), good at ya! The bass player, drummer and I walked out on a couple of guitar players who said they wanted to practice 12 hours on Saturdays and Sundays "to get good". It wasn't their playing...it was their writing...the covers (the saving grace) were ony a quarter to a third of the list...
You don't need to be insulted with "as long as you ain't doin' nuthin'" BS...
Happy Saturday!
It was a complicated situation. They were both my friends since 8th grade and we started the band together as high school seniors.
I wasn't aware at the time because I was young and arrogant and selfish, but those two bozos weren't real friends, we just partied together and hung out with the stoner, metal head crowd.
Still, I benefitted from the experience, because we evolved as a band from covers to writing originals and we even recorded an EP and also a full length album. I learned how to perform in front of crowds, and also how to multitrack record, mix and master on analog and digital gear.
But, without going details, my irresponsible partying lifestyle had some real consequences, and I was forced to reconsider my choice in friends and to start taking responsibility for my actions and start thinking of others and not just myself.
It's a good thing I did. That drummer is long dead and the guitarist was sentenced to prison for 20 years.
As I alluded to in my first post, we can only imagine today what paths our lives would have taken if only the circumstances of our youth had been a little different.
I started Orchestra playing double bass in 4th grade, in 6th grade I wanted to learn electric guitar. So, I started at our local mom-and-pop guitar shop, my teacher was a middle-aged man that was really in to Jazz and Blues. I came hoping to learn Green Day songs, he said there was no way hewould teach that poopie. When he found out I played bass in Orchestra he took my little Strat copy and proceeded to trade it on the shop floor upstairs for a cheap Palmer P Bass. From there on out I was now taking bass guitar lessons and also playing in a blues band with 40 something year olds as a 12 old kid.
If you're wondering if you should take lessons before you play with people, it really depends on how much more technically proficient they are than you. If you're All In the same boat skill-wise don't worry about it. The one thing I will say you should learn is the fretboard and the name of the notes associated with each string and fret. It's so much easier to explain a new song to someone if, you can just tell them how to play it with simple note names
If you're wondering if you should take lessons before you play with people, it really depends on how much more technically proficient they are than you. If you're All In the same boat skill-wise don't worry about it. The one thing I will say you should learn is the fretboard and the name of the notes associated with each string and fret. It's so much easier to explain a new song to someone if, you can just tell them how to play it with simple note names
I do get that...longtime (or casual) friends...I hadn't read the whole bit (hadn't had my coffee yet...sorry)...
I had a bass player in another band kinda "let's do it like this" attitude (shakin' my head, eyes closed)...can't we all just get along, Man?
Sorry about jumpin' earlier...
No, I just went to a friends place under the assumption of beer and sauna and was handed a five-stringer and told to play The Trooper and Master of Puppets. And thus I became a bassist.
Was lucky, we had a music lesson where the teacher asked us to bring in stuff from home, and some kids had albums. From there, we formed a jam band and pretty soon I was out playing function dates with other guys who were better than me, but I could keep up.
I joined more function bands as they were the ones working.
I never got the bedroom thing, I was out playing.
I joined more function bands as they were the ones working.
I never got the bedroom thing, I was out playing.
I've never had a single lesson when it comes to bass education. I have, however, undergone formal training in music theory and composing (especially counterpoint). Of course, no one would ever want to listen to the bass player nerd out, so it hasn't seen much practical application.
