How long?

[251]

after you started playing did you join a real band and went out in public for gigs? do you think it was too soon?

I first played for an audience 6-7 months after I started. Compared to the way I play now, my playing was crap. I never wait until I feel like I am prepared so, some might say it was too soon. I make a bunch of mistakes at every gig I play, 10+ years later. Perfection is not my goal. If it were I would only play to a recording set up. I like to perform. I like to interact with other musicians. I like to see an audience react (or not) to what we are playing. I like what is happening right NOW.

 

[derridiandrift]

after you started playing did you join a real band and went out in public for gigs? do you think it was too soon?

The first time I got paid to play a gig I was 15 years old and it was about 8 months after I bought my first bass at a pawn shop (I swear on my mother's eyes that I actually lived that cliche). By the way, that bass was a jazz bass copy made by Raven with weird humbuckers instead of single coil pickups and flat wound strings. The body was made of plywood. I didn't own an amp, but the blues band I played with had an SVT head and cab at the drummer's house that I used for rehearsals and gigs. It's crazy... the first amp I ever used was a 70s SVT. When it came time to buy my own amp, I couldn't figure out why the amps in the store sounded so lame.

So my answer to your question is: 8 months of practicing for a few hours (sometimes many hours) every day. If the opportunity to play a gig had presented itself earlier, I would have taken advantage of it.

Man, I wish I could learn as quickly as I did back then.

 

[kr0n]

thanks for the support. I think I still got a ways to go. I think the hardest part is finding bandmates that like the same kind of music, especially in the wash dc area.

Dude, your DC area is filled with people who enjoy playing music. It really should be no problem. My country has less inhabitants than "DC area" and my town has less people than a medium sized Iron Maiden concert. Oh, and I started later than my peers so I'm behind in studies as well. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about in that perspective.