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It’s a question for others to answer.
My opinion about my playing is that i can improve, but ultimately it’s up to others.
The 1st weeks of that horrible show American Idol is filled with examples of ppl who think they’re quite good at singing but are deluded tone deaf nightmares.
My opinion of my playing may be completely off mark, so i allow others to decide.
If you are so inclined I’ve got a Youtube channel with my bass covers; the link is https://youtube.com/channel/UCwBbUttZZqxlL53vfuWB9hw and I’ll leave the answer to others... as usual.
My opinion about my playing is that i can improve, but ultimately it’s up to others.
The 1st weeks of that horrible show American Idol is filled with examples of ppl who think they’re quite good at singing but are deluded tone deaf nightmares.
My opinion of my playing may be completely off mark, so i allow others to decide.
If you are so inclined I’ve got a Youtube channel with my bass covers; the link is https://youtube.com/channel/UCwBbUttZZqxlL53vfuWB9hw and I’ll leave the answer to others... as usual.
On a scale of Sid Vicious to Mark King, I'm a solid Gene Simmons.
It hit me how rude we’ve been to not ask.
How good are you?
How good are you?
This is me to tee. OK maybe I'd have to take the week off my day job to learn 40 tunes that quick
I need to self judge? If I spread my accomplishments over my 5 decades of performance, it tells of basic competance and versatility and I can conduct myself in a room full of pros. If you look at just one gig, you would think I'm just OK. I am no technical monster at all. I'm sure lots of younger flashy guys could mop the floor with me in contrast. Hey that's OK.
I've worked for decades to rise to this level of mediocrity 
"The legendary cellest Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. "Because I think I'm making progress," he replied."
"The legendary cellest Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. "Because I think I'm making progress," he replied."
It's all in the eye of the beholder...I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass!
I want to know how good you are, and how it relates to the amount of time you've been playing.
For the purposes of this thread, "good" means technical ability, or chops so to speak. Playing fast, playing clean, playing with good taste, being versatile, knowing different techniques, being able to play in different styles, can you learn difficult pieces? etc.
(Yes I know playing root fifth third is also good, but we're looking at chops today).
I know for a lot of people the natural reflex is to say "Ahh I'm not that good" and minimize their actual skill level. Don't be humble! Be objective as to how you compare to other musicians around you, and pros. No one is judging you here! (But don't exaggerate your skill either
I'll answer the question first. Good enough to play in a band and asked to play with a few other people as jam host and a gig. I do have people telling me how much I have improved since I started playing.
I started playing two years ago at 59 yrs old. Musical background was a little bit of piano lessons, little bit of clarinet and oboe in the band, and a little bit of DCG on a guitar. I've worked pretty hard to get to where I am now. I'm getting my chops down and starting to work on a lot of things mentioned in replys to this post. This post has me writing down my goals and figuring out to achieve them. Some great information for a newbie.
I started playing two years ago at 59 yrs old. Musical background was a little bit of piano lessons, little bit of clarinet and oboe in the band, and a little bit of DCG on a guitar. I've worked pretty hard to get to where I am now. I'm getting my chops down and starting to work on a lot of things mentioned in replys to this post. This post has me writing down my goals and figuring out to achieve them. Some great information for a newbie.
In the past I've depped for Andy McKinney a few times, bassist Dave Marks a couple of times, had an endorsement with Warwick, other bits and bobs.
Andrew McKinney | Course Leader, Performance | BIMM Institute
Dave Marks – The online home of Northern Irish multi-instrumentalist musician Dave Marks.
Andrew McKinney | Course Leader, Performance | BIMM Institute
Dave Marks – The online home of Northern Irish multi-instrumentalist musician Dave Marks.
well it depends who you ask. non-musicians or hobbyist think i am awesome. real players know the truth.
but seriously i started waaay late in the game. a little after my 21st birthday. but i really hit it hard and haven't let up except for 2 years sidelined by an injury. im 42 now.
I can read charts and such but struggle with notation. my ear is decent but wish it was better. i only took a year of lessons but wished i kept with it more than the occasional lesson every other year. my teacher is a monster and it may have messed me up a bit. he was comping chords while walking over crazy jazz tunes and i thought thats what i should do. but in a different context. so i took a different approach when i started. i knew i was way late so i thought i could make up for it by having a weird approach to the instrument. it has worked pretty well so far. i went waaaaay beyond my goal of just playing on stage.
but seriously i started waaay late in the game. a little after my 21st birthday. but i really hit it hard and haven't let up except for 2 years sidelined by an injury. im 42 now.
I can read charts and such but struggle with notation. my ear is decent but wish it was better. i only took a year of lessons but wished i kept with it more than the occasional lesson every other year. my teacher is a monster and it may have messed me up a bit. he was comping chords while walking over crazy jazz tunes and i thought thats what i should do. but in a different context. so i took a different approach when i started. i knew i was way late so i thought i could make up for it by having a weird approach to the instrument. it has worked pretty well so far. i went waaaaay beyond my goal of just playing on stage.
Why?I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass!
I want to know how good you are, and how it relates to the amount of time you've been playing.
For the purposes of this thread, "good" means technical ability, or chops so to speak. Playing fast, playing clean, playing with good taste, being versatile, knowing different techniques, being able to play in different styles, can you learn difficult pieces? etc.
(Yes I know playing root fifth third is also good, but we're looking at chops today).
I know for a lot of people the natural reflex is to say "Ahh I'm not that good" and minimize their actual skill level. Don't be humble! Be objective as to how you compare to other musicians around you, and pros. No one is judging you here! (But don't exaggerate your skill either
I know music theory pretty well. I’ve not been practicing bass for decades, as it’s been that long since I played the instrument in a band context. (I play many other instruments, and have been doing those in bands.)I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass!
I want to know how good you are, and how it relates to the amount of time you've been playing.
For the purposes of this thread, "good" means technical ability, or chops so to speak. Playing fast, playing clean, playing with good taste, being versatile, knowing different techniques, being able to play in different styles, can you learn difficult pieces? etc.
(Yes I know playing root fifth third is also good, but we're looking at chops today).
I know for a lot of people the natural reflex is to say "Ahh I'm not that good" and minimize their actual skill level. Don't be humble! Be objective as to how you compare to other musicians around you, and pros. No one is judging you here! (But don't exaggerate your skill either
That changed last year. I became the bassist in my current trio. So I started practicing. Took a few months, but I recently started sounding less-than-sucky on 6 string fretless. Now I got a TB10, and am hoping to get to less-than-sucky on that instrument in the next couple months.
I’ve been asked to do gigs with players I greatly respect. I’ve also not been asked to do gigs with players I greatly respect. Thankfully I have yet to be asked to not do gigs with players I greatly respect.
The older I get the more holes I see in my playing. I’m a better player now than I used to be, but I used to rate my playing higher than I do now. Regardless, unless sight reading is required you can throw me on stage and I’ll make it work.
The older I get the more holes I see in my playing. I’m a better player now than I used to be, but I used to rate my playing higher than I do now. Regardless, unless sight reading is required you can throw me on stage and I’ll make it work.
