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First try out for a band! And BOMBED ;)

#21
millsbass5 said:
I agree ^^^ with the above posts. Look,smoking just goes hand in hand with gigging. I mean,how many songs in the history of music have a line somewhere about"playing smokey bars"? It's just part of the ride. IMHO,the type of music they're wanting to play is just perfect for a bass player getting into the bar/club scene. Just do it,already. Do it!!!

Oh,did they see your new minivan? Drive it to the next practice. You'll get the gig for sure then.:D
Click to expand...

Lol
 
#22
You should do this.

Don't let the smoking be a downside; do your best to blow them away with those eight songs, and then tell them you don't want to practice in a smoky room. They could smoke less while practicing; open a window; run a fan; there are many ways to get around just standing there breathing in clouds of smoke.

I wouldn't do it, and nobody should expect me to.

But kick some major ass on those eight songs, and get out there and play a bit.

What's the worst thing that could happen?*















*As in anything, including eating a sandwich, YOU COULD BE KILLED. But that's just the nature of life.
 
#24
I haven't read the whole thread, have you defined what your looking for and what you want out of a band?

You might be like other TBers where music us just a fun thing and if you gave s place to go and jam your fine with it. Or maybe your looking for a gigging band or a band where 3-4 gigs a month is their goal.

If you wait around for a band that plays only a specific genre, you could be waiting forever.

How long have you been playing? If the audition was that bad you might want to seek out musicians that play at your level.
 
#26
fuzzy beard said:
My dream set up would to be to latch onto a singer songwriter alla Guy clark, townes van Zant, Ray Wylie Hubbard , Todd Snider, Justin Townes Earle type player. Back them with bass lines and enjoy the show!!LOL
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There's no dream set ups in this business.

You know, and don't take this the wrong way.

If you have never been in a band and you have limited experience and their willing to take you on.

What does that say about them? I doubt thus opportunity will work for either of you.


Blue
 
#27
fuzzy beard said:
Ring of fire
White rabbit
get back by the beatles
Helter skelter
Squeeze box
My kinda lover
Take me to the river
And rollin in the deep by Adele???That one cought me of gaurd!LOL
Click to expand...

I have strict rules for auditions.

4 songs tops and I require the files in the right key.

I audition last

I need to know if their auditioning friends. If they are, I don't audition.

How many guys their auditioning and when they plan on making a decision

Age of the band members?
 
#28
While it seems you have the upper hand in your area. I do not! I am 26 and started playing about 2 years ago. I do not like top 40's music. And dont look to gig 4 times a month.

People my age are either just getting there lives together and done playing after it didnt work out the way they thought it would. Or are still chasing the dream and cant slow down enough for me to catch up.

People who like the music i do seem to be older and have a set group of people they play with. This is a very tight circle and does not seem to be looking for new comers.

People on my level tend to be 16 and want to do punk rock!

So after year and a half two years i tried something new! I knew it would be tough i new i would do bad! But i found people who are desperet for a bassplayer. So they said they would give me a shot. I am at there mercy! They get to make the rules since they are willing to expose me to a band setting. And i am sure if i give this a go i will be replaced by the first compedent bass player to come along.

But i have few other choices. Collecting gear and noodling around in the back room isnt exactly making me any better any more ;)
 
#29
I have played with some excellent "bedroom" guitar players that sundenly sucked when they first started to play with a real band. Their sense of timing with other players was just not in the groove. As a bass player your timing has to be right on. You mentioned that this was your first time playing in a band and you had a hard time keeping up. The best thing you could do for yourself is start praticing daily with a cheap drum machine. This will train your hear to hook up with an external clock and make it much easiler to lock in with a real drummer when playing in a band situation.. The guitar players I mentioned above did this and in a few weeks time it made all the difference.
 
#30
Stumbo said:
They're auditioning process of having bass players audition w/o knowing their tunes is suspect.

The deal killer for me is the smoking. I'm allergic so I couldn't do it. Also, all your clothes will stink along with your gear in addition to hacking up your lungs with second hand smoke.
Click to expand...

First point: I LIKE to have songs tossed at me, unknown and if they are at least from circa: my era, I can get into this for a tryout.

I think this shows a lot of intelligence by them, as a heads-up bass player can pretty much handle everything thrown at them.

The smoking is another thing totally. I won't put up with it, and most venues have laws against smoking in public places anyway - although someone's garage isn't on the tobacco cops agenda - so far. I hope they start to enforce that soon though.

Really - the suggestions about 'open mic nights' is a very good one.

I like to just show up - usually I'm the only bass player there, and I get to meet/greet a lot of people and hook up for later on for BBQs and backyard jams that way.

This is how I found a really great bluegrass band that plays into the early Country lists too - think Lefty Frizzel and very young Willie.

You'll get a lot of experience and a lot of different music at the same time.

Even if they are playing simple '50s Era R&R, it's a get together with people who play music and that's what we all want to do --- play.
 
#31
Stewie mentioned "bedroom" players. That is problem playing music alone. You never learn how to play to someone else's time. You never learn to sync with others, how to pick up cues, to play off of each other, to shift on the fly...

Interaction with other musicians is much more fun than "playing with yourself" and it will FORCE you improve as will playing in front of an audience.

The drum machine idea is good for when you practice alone. A simple metronome is good too. A good exercise is to play the same piece a few times but at speeds that seem wrong. Playing a tune a little bit slower than you feel it in your head can be really hard and weird, but it will help develop that skill of syncing time with others instead of being stuck to your own time.
 
#32
Chainsaw Willie said:
Stewie mentioned "bedroom" players. That is problem playing music alone. You never learn how to play to someone else's time. You never learn to sync with others, how to pick up cues, to play off of each other, to shift on the fly...

Interaction with other musicians is much more fun than "playing with yourself" and it will FORCE you improve as will playing in front of an audience.

The drum machine idea is good for when you practice alone. A simple metronome is good too. A good exercise is to play the same piece a few times but at speeds that seem wrong. Playing a tune a little bit slower than you feel it in your head can be really hard and weird, but it will help develop that skill of syncing time with others instead of being stuck to your own time.
Click to expand...

Good Stuff. Thanks for adding to what I was trying to get across.
 
#33
Keep at it, don't quit now when you have some growth opportunities ahead. Music is a life long thing, don't put it to an expected schedule of accomplishments.

If you can negotiate the smoking issue, give the band a shot to gain experience playing different material with a drummer.

Meanwhile, keep looking for kindred spirits.

If it helps, I'm 46 and have been in scores of bands since starting out at approx. 20 years old. Didn't have a band right away, was totally into learning songs off of albums and taking lessons. Since then, has been periods of being busy and also nothing going on. Seems to come in phases. Ran into "The" band a few times a long the way and had some good experiences.

My latest: answered an ad to do a fill in gig. Ended up with three 1 hour sets of material to learn for the "audition" a few days before the gig. Did it, wasn't really impressed with their musicianship but the people were fun and they really hustle for gigs. Next day got handed three months of fill in dates and a "please join our band" invitation.

Had another band that's a startup from a couple months ago, but singer had an accident so the band is on hold.

Did a fill in for third band at the startup drummer's request. Not really happy with either fill-in but they resulted in gigs and the performance was adequate. Was semi-happy with startup and might be more so when we can resume.

Meanwhile my life is rich with music at home, and jams when they happen. I watch concerts on YouTube (search for "full concert"), or listen to entire albums on YouTube (search for "full album"), or watch Classic Albums/Behind The Music/Rockumentaries on YouTube when I'm not in the mood to listen to my CD collection.

Focus on developing your technique (www.playbassnow.com, or private instruction) and keep learning songs (those you like and those you must know to play with others).

Rock on, my friend!
 
#34
I'm not sure what you aren't into exactly (I think I read that you like roots rock/county music?). I like a variety of music, so, here's my attempt to share several different videos that *might* inspire you to want to keep playing :) it's probably not your current favorite music, but you might find something you like.

Will be a real scatter-shot, so if one doesn't work for you perhaps another will:

(song, audio kicks in at about 20 seconds)
 
#35
fuzzy beard said:
Ring of fire
White rabbit
get back by the beatles
Helter skelter
Squeeze box
My kinda lover
Take me to the river
And rollin in the deep by Adele???That one cought me of gaurd!LOL
Click to expand...

I have strict rules for auditions.

4 songs tops and I require the files in the right key.

I audition last

I need to know if their auditioning friends. If they are, I don't audition.

How many guys their auditioning and when they plan on making a decision

Age of the band members?
 
#36
So the 8 songs they all threw at you to pick up on the fly? I had thought they'd told you ahead of time to have them prepared.

I'd vote go ahead and join them. Ask them if they wouldn't mind easing up on the smoking a bit. Get the experience of playing with others, and in front of audiences. See how it is after 6 months. Worst case scenario, you quit or get fired by then and you've had six months of valuable experience. Meanwhile, no reason not to hang out at open mics and acoustic jams, sit in whenever you can. The community may be tight but if you're a familiar face after a year or so they'll start thinking of you as more of a member yourself.
 
#39
I should have added in my earlier post that so many bands I've played with started out "so-so" and by playing more and more got "pretty good".

Other bands were worth waiting to find and were "darn good" out of the gate.

Always keep going, you never know who's just around the corner.
 

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