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How to become a pro bassist?

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#205
Jay boogs said:
I actually decided to just keep my music as a hobby since the music business is kinda suckish these plus with all this technology being used in the music business and all these do it yourself guys I wouldn't always be assured a job so I might have to just go to college and work in a field I might not like
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There's no guarantee in any field these days. Technology is advancing at a rate that is going to force the upcoming generations to continuously improve their skill sets just to stay relevant, so you might as well do what you're interested in.

I ended up going to college for business. Long story short, I didn't like it but I knew it would guarantee me a job upon graduation, and it did. I worked in operations for three and a half years and started as an assistant supervisor and worked my way into the warehouse manager position.

I thought I'd find happiness higher up the ladder, but I found myself still disliking the work despite it providing an excellent living for me.

At 27, I retired from Ops and am now back in school studying something I actually enjoy doing and learning about. The only thing that sucks is that I didn't start working on these new skills earlier.

If you're genuinely interested in doing music then do it. Working in a field you enjoy makes the day fly by, and you'll always be interested in learning new things. However, you need to learn what the business is about. Performance is only one aspect of it, but if it's what you want to do then you would be best to start approaching it like a job now.

Good luck.
 
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#207
jmattbassplaya said:
There's no guarantee in any field these days. Technology is advancing at a rate that is going to force the upcoming generations to continuously improve their skill sets just to stay relevant, so you might as well do what you're interested in.

I ended up going to college for business. Long story short, I didn't like it but I knew it would guarantee me a job upon graduation, and it did. I worked in operations for three and a half years and started as an assistant supervisor and worked my way into the warehouse manager position.

I thought I'd find happiness higher up the ladder, but I found myself still disliking the work despite it providing an excellent living for me.

At 27, I retired from Ops and am now back in school studying something I actually enjoy doing and learning about. The only thing that sucks is that I didn't start working on these new skills earlier.

If you're genuinely interested in doing music then do it. Working in a field you enjoy makes the day fly by, and you'll always be interested in learning new things. However, you need to learn what the business is about. Performance is only one aspect of it, but if it's what you want to do then you would be best to start approaching it like a job now.

Good luck.
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OK so how can I go about being a pro musician and be able to live like someone who's a doctor
 
#209
I have about 1000 tips I could offer on becoming a pro bassist, but the longer I'm around - the more I believe it's THIS, and only this:

Learn to play proficiently, always be prepared and know the material inside out, show up early, and be a person that everybody wants to be around.

You could have the greatest chops and reading skills on the planet, and if you can't get along with people or they don't like you - you won't get gigs or make any money. Take a look at what happened to Jaco.
 
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#214
Jay boogs said:
What's the best way to approach it in this situation
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You just don't sleep a lot, and there's little time to waste on other stuff. At one point, I was working 40 hours, taking a full load of classes and gigging 4 and sometimes 5 nights/week. Except for the time playing, it sucked. I was fortunate that we were often able to double up gigs, like Saturday and Sunday afternoon at one place then the nights at another.

So, to distill it to one word - focus. Focus on what you want. If you want to play and want to be a pro, play any time you can, play every style you get an opportunity to play, and learn how to learn songs.

Especially learn how to learn songs. After a while, it becomes second nature to play songs you've never played with people you've never played with. The best learning experience I ever had was backing up an older guitarist/singer that probably knew just about every blues, rock and country song ever written - no one ever knew what he was gong to call next, he'd just turn around, shout out the name of the tune, the key and count it off... A typical night might include stuff by Van Morrison, Led Zepplin, George Jones, Steely Dan, Howlin' Wolf, George Benson, The Platters, Skynyrd, Duran Duran, etc. Never a dull moment, LOL!

Walk down Broadway in Nashville any night of the week - the majority of the 'bands' are guys who met in the parking lot right before the gig. They walk in, start playing songs, and entertain the audience. IMHO, that's pro. A buddy of mine has a steady touring gig in the summer, but during the winter he gets calls just about every night to play gigs like that.
 
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#215
LoDownSinner said:
You just don't sleep a lot, and there's little time to waste on other stuff. At one point, I was working 40 hours, taking a full load of classes and gigging 4 and sometimes 5 nights/week. Except for the time playing, it sucked. I was fortunate that we were often able to double up gigs, like Saturday and Sunday afternoon at one place then the nights at another.

So, to distill it to one word - focus. Focus on what you want. If you want to play and want to be a pro, play any time you can, play every style you get an opportunity to play, and learn how to learn songs.

Especially learn how to learn songs. After a while, it becomes second nature to play songs you've never played with people you've never played with. The best learning experience I ever had was backing up an older guitarist/singer that probably knew just about every blues, rock and country song ever written - no one ever knew what he was gong to call next, he'd just turn around, shout out the name of the tune, the key and count it off... A typical night might include stuff by Van Morrison, Led Zepplin, George Jones, Steely Dan, Howlin' Wolf, George Benson, The Platters, Skynyrd, Duran Duran, etc. Never a dull moment, LOL!

Walk down Broadway in Nashville any night of the week - the majority of the 'bands' are guys who met in the parking lot right before the gig. They walk in, start playing songs, and entertain the audience. IMHO, that's pro. A buddy of mine has a steady touring gig in the summer, but during the winter he gets calls just about every night to play gigs like that.
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I was told that u cannot make money playing music and it should be kept as a hobby
 
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