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Did You Take Lessons Before You Joined A Band???

Did You Take Lessons Before Joining A Band

  • Yes - I Took Lessons Prior To Playing In A Band

    Votes: 135 38.0%

  • Nope- No Lessons For Me Before Getting Into A Band (I’m Self Taught)

    Votes: 220 62.0%
  • Total voters
    355
#81
If you’ve been practicing an hour a day for a year and don’t feel ready to play in a band, go get lessons from a GOOD teacher. With Skype you have access to the entire world. There are plenty of good teachers out there. The problem with books and YouTube “lessons” is that you get no feedback. You could totally misunderstand something and not know. You don’t know what you don’t know.
 
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#82
I need carrots because, while I did not receive lessons on bass guitar before starting a band with the neighbor kid at age 12, I had had lessons on other instruments since age 5, and I got very serious about lessons around age 15 when I got hooked the school's DB, and ultimately got a degree in DB. So, never had a lesson on BG, but I would never go as far as to say I was "self taught."
 
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#84
My mom thought I should get some lessons and I went to a bass teacher for a few months .Did the whole Mel Bay, ect , ect . In decades of playing have only really needed to read charts a dozen times ( still a crappy reader ).
 
#85
I'll still study with teachers on occasion for specific reasons or techniques, after decades of playing.

I don't see learning as something you do until a certain point then stop, like getting into your first band. However, even if taking lessons from the get go, which I highly recommend, a good teacher will encourage you to play with other musicians very early on, while continuing to study.

Live instruction can be incredibly valuable at the very beginning to learn building blocks, like fingering techniques and positioning, that will speed your progress through more advanced things. A good amount of the early stuff will seem uncomfortable, so it can be helpful to have someone push you through it.
 
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#86
I read treble clef and could play bass clarinet; I had a “learn to play bass guitar” book.

bass player in school jazz band got expelled for drug use. Band teacher asked who played bass. No one raises there hand. Band teacher starts swearing at everyone. (in the 90s he could do that, and crack the door outside between classes to smoke).

surely one of you plays bass.

I raise my hand.

he gives me a packet of pep band and jazz band music. He says you start tomorrow.

I spent that night learning how to read bass clef. I played intermittently for about a year prior to that.
 
#87
Sort of. I played Trumpet in grade school, took guitar class in HS, and a few private lessons on guitar and bass, but it’s mostly OJT for me. I wish I would have studied music seriously when I was younger. I’d like to take some lessons in the near future, but it’s hard with a challenging day job, family, and all the other stuff that comes with middle age.
 
#89
El_Charro said:
Hi Everybody,

I feel like my poll question is pretty self explanatory, but I will add a bit of clarification just in case…

For those of you currently in a band (especially if it’s just a band for fun/non-professional band)- Prior to joining a band - Did you take any lessons or are you self taught???

I’m trying to figure out if I will need lessons prior to playing with others in a non-professional/laid back band…

I took two or three lessons last fall to learn the fretboard and some instrument orientation basics, <—- (Bassics??? ;-) ), but otherwise I’ve been using tabs and playing along to song for about 6 hours a week for the last year…I am also consistent with practice so it’s not like some weeks are 3 hours-I usually set a timer to make sure I really play and I have missed only a handful of practice days…

While I definitely don’t feel ready or competent enough to play with other people or start a band I’m wondering how I will feel about that in a year or two if I keep making progress on my own…

Just wondering if I’m going to have to shell out for lessons at some point in the process…

Please note: The question really isn’t to debate the merits of lessons vs no lessons and which is “superior”-I’m more curious if you were able to competently play with others just from learning on your own…

I personally found lessons to suck a lot of the fun and curiosity out the whole process and made playing feel like more of a chore than something that I “wanted” to do…Of course, I might’ve just needed to find a better instructor (or maybe only go once a month to save money???)…

If you didn’t take lessons-About how long did you practice on your own before you played with others???

No right or wrong answers here and I realize that everyone’s journey and musical background are different, but I’d be curious to know how far off I am before being good enough to play with other people for fun on the side as a hobby…

Thanks! \m/
Click to expand...
I've been playing bass for 23 years now. I've still never had lessons. Thought about it quite a few times though.

My advice is, start lessons as soon as possible. Start playing with others as soon as possible.
 
#90
El_Charro said:
Hi Everybody,

I feel like my poll question is pretty self explanatory, but I will add a bit of clarification just in case…

For those of you currently in a band (especially if it’s just a band for fun/non-professional band)- Prior to joining a band - Did you take any lessons or are you self taught???

I’m trying to figure out if I will need lessons prior to playing with others in a non-professional/laid back band…

I took two or three lessons last fall to learn the fretboard and some instrument orientation basics, <—- (Bassics??? ;-) ), but otherwise I’ve been using tabs and playing along to song for about 6 hours a week for the last year…I am also consistent with practice so it’s not like some weeks are 3 hours-I usually set a timer to make sure I really play and I have missed only a handful of practice days…

While I definitely don’t feel ready or competent enough to play with other people or start a band I’m wondering how I will feel about that in a year or two if I keep making progress on my own…

Just wondering if I’m going to have to shell out for lessons at some point in the process…

Please note: The question really isn’t to debate the merits of lessons vs no lessons and which is “superior”-I’m more curious if you were able to competently play with others just from learning on your own…

I personally found lessons to suck a lot of the fun and curiosity out the whole process and made playing feel like more of a chore than something that I “wanted” to do…Of course, I might’ve just needed to find a better instructor (or maybe only go once a month to save money???)…

If you didn’t take lessons-About how long did you practice on your own before you played with others???

No right or wrong answers here and I realize that everyone’s journey and musical background are different, but I’d be curious to know how far off I am before being good enough to play with other people for fun on the side as a hobby…

Thanks! \m/
Click to expand...

No real Lessons, mostly self taught listen to records and jamming. Sometimes a guitar player would show me a line or a riff they wanted. I had a few better bass players show me some things. I learned the material I was going to gig as thoroughly as possible. Many days and nights going over that and related material in the genre. Not only learning the material, but improving timing and very importantly, gaining the stamina required to play several hours at a brisk tempo.
 
#92
bherman said:
Depends on your goals and what type of music. I’m of the opinion that learning to read music (notation vs tab) is a huge help. Tabs are slow, don’t teach you rhythm, and are notoriously inaccurate.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you find that an opinion, because that is just freaking wrong! There are no doubt shoddy tabs, but there are also excellent ones. Additionally, bass and guitar are such expressive instruments that classical notion simply does not adequately convey the what/where and how of most guitar/bass.

Being able to read music is definitely a good skill.

Being able to site read is wasted effort for all but the top studio/sit-in/on call professional high end musicians.
 
#93
Back to the OP....

The only thing that matters is you can play the songs the band wants to play.


If the band wants to write songs, or wants a highly skilled player, that isn't going to be you anyway. But that isn't most bands. No one in U2 had lessons. They wrote their own music. Or played it anyway.

If you can play 10 songs, you can learn 10 more - go out there and find a band, use the tab if you need to. Fast/cheap and easy.

Along the way you'll learn the rest when you need to. This is rock & roll - not a conservatory.
 
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#94
I took lessons SPECIFICALLY so I could join a gigging band, not to become some virtuoso. My main goals included learning proper playing and fretting technique, as well as being able to figure out how to get songs down and hold my own. Once I felt confident this was achieved, I stopped taking lessons and started gigging. Been having a great time.
 
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#95
Yes, but I taught myself how to play after I unlearned or put to aside what I had been taught.
The most important thing a bassist needs to know is how to split time within your head as you are really, as Clapton best put it, singing the notes to yourself.

Once you start splitting or subdividing time you begin to learn how to create your own notes, runs and phrases to inset into a song part. That is where you begin to grown and create your own style of playing that separates you from the last and next bassist.
 
#97
Aceman said:
Along the way you'll learn the rest when you need to. This is rock & roll - not a conservatory.
Click to expand...

A lot of truth to this. Even Lennon once said that the best thing about rock and roll was that anyone could learn a few of chords and have a go. Rock and Roll by definition is the peoples music and it is not owned by the virtuosos nor the conservatory classes. Rock and Roll is basic foundation with improvisation separating the songs and the players.

Eddy Van Halen was classically trained, but he sure didn't learn to play like that by staying with conservatory rules.
 
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#100
In a way, I think everyone is self-taught.

Lessons are 30-45 minutes a week usually. The teacher’s role is basically to check progress, address technique, and give you things to practice so you can improve. And maybe you follow all of their advice, or maybe you just play what you want.

Very little of the hard-work will happen in the lesson room.

The people that pick up a guitar or bass and only play during the lesson each week will not likely become musicians.
 
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