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How to become a pro bassist?

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#81
Jay boogs said:
I have been playing bass for a year and after just exploring music and just life in general I realized I want to become a pro bassist . My playing is OK but I feel I'm bad and probably won't make it to being a pro but anyways I would like to know the steps needed to become pro or at least close to it. BTW my style is typically roots, fifths, thirds, octaves and chromatic and diatonic movement
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Practice practice practice, gigs and gigs and gigs. If you tell yourself you are ok, then you are a bar player at best. A pro player doesn't say they want to be a pro player, they just play.
 
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#82
I've been trying for the last 16 years, why don't you tell me?

Seriously, my advice to you is to pursue something else while pursuing bassist stardom. Something that will pay the bills.

This is the same thing as saying "I have shot a basketball and I like it, how do I become a pro basketball player?"

I'm not trying to put you down, but managing expectations is a very important part of having a happy life. For what it's worth, you sound pretty good in the video.
 
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#84
Being a pro means to me getting paid for my musical contributions steadily and for decades as in "a career". Sight reading is a big advantage. Double on another instrument. Piano is always, always in demand and will promote the application of music theory. Understand the music of the last 200 years. Understand the people (non musicians especially ) who are likely to pay to hear live music. Like others have pointed out, network yourself among established musicians. Its a business after all. Think of it as such. Are you comfortable with that? You must be.
 
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#85
dannylectro said:
As a working "pro"... you will, like me, probably do all of the above. And I recommend learning to be a bartender as well...
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I suppose whoever said "being pro just means you're getting paid" may be right if you're an athlete in the NCAA, but for a musician being "pro", to me, means the same thing as "working musician" - music is your primary means of making a living. And every working musician I know works really, really hard to live that life. My pianist friend gigs 3 or 4 times EACH WEEKEND. My guitarist friend who is in a tribute band pulls in nice money at his gig but he only plays once a week, and so during the week he teaches and transcribes to make ends meet.

If you want to be a pro in this sense, or be a first call session musician, you need to have your theory understood so you can get melodic when it's called for, be able to play in multiple styles (slap, pick, finger), be able to keep it simple (my personal weakness), and be able to sight read. Actually, those are all my weaknesses. But I'm not a working musician.

Just work on being the best bass player you can be and do every gig you can. What follows is what follows.
 
#86
I have only worked in the music business since 1975. I've played every kind of gig you can name - in the pit for beauty pageants, Polish weddings, 7 nights a week in country bands, bassist in a 13 piece big band, lead guitarist in a strip club band, solo guitar for hippie weddings, backup vocalist for radio commercials, pianist in a jazz trio, transcriber writing charts for some guy who wrote a song about his coon dog, you name it! Taught guitar, harmonica, banjo, bass, and mandolin the whole time I was playing every night. I've worked for a wholesale company, selling strings, capos, music stands, cheap guitars, etc. to music stores for 10 years. I've owned a little, mostly guitars, music store for 23 years. No job outside the music business for over 42 years. I finally have a paid-for house (small but livable, out in the country), a paid-for Honda van with 217,000 miles on it...now, what was it you were asking about your style?
 
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#87
1. Know all styles
2. Be able to read quickly from sheet music, a chord chart, a Nashville chart, or be able to follow by watching a guitarist or keyboardist
3. Network

Most importantly, you say you don't have confidence in your playing. You need to keep working until you do, because if you don't have confidence, how can you expect anyone wanting to employ you to have it?
 
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#89
EMoneySC2 said:
When I come home I can do all the stuff I want, because I can afford to have expensive hobbies. I spend a lot of time playing bass and being in a band, but I can still simply enjoy it because I don't depend on it for income
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This is so on the money. Its much more fun when you have a income and you can have fun playing bass as a hobby.
 
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#90
malthumb said:
If ever there was a post sorely in need of emoticons, this is it.



If you can change your mind that quickly based on responses from faceless hordes on the internet, you are in for a troubled life. You're still in high school (or so it seems from your video) so you have time to make life decisions. Just be aware that decisions that are easily changed by random comments and criticism were never really decisions at all.

I am taking into account that you are still in high school, but I must say.....this is pretty bad. Sure, it was shot on a smartphone, which does nothing for sound quality, but even looking beyond the sound quality, there is so much to improve on. For all of you. Starting with LOSE THE FREAKIN' PHONES!!! If you don't know the lyrics well enough to perform without reading them from a phone then either practice until you can or pick another song. That looks bad for all of you, not just the two "rappers".

If you are SERIOUS (refer to my first two comments in this message for reasons I think you may not be) then you need to hone your craft. Practice, practice, meet people, learn to read music quickly, learn to play with others and practice.
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I'm one bass
 
#91
I'm not a pro and I don't want to be, but you may want to consider this.

If it hasn't been mentioned enough, NETWORKING. And diversify your skill set - don't just be the bass guy, look at how woodwind players do it and double. This opens you up to more than just the bass player market and may make you more attractive to potential employers too if you can cover more bases than one (since this usually means one less person to pay).

Maybe take up composition and arrangement too.

I've even gotten gigs where I don't play bass at all (I've been hired to do arrangements in a very certain style) - just knowing the right guy who needs your skill set helps a lot. I didn't ask around for jobs, they came to me knowing I can pull off what they need.

A few of my closest friends are freelance musicians and man, that life ain't for me! One dude, accomplished guitarist, doesn't even play guitar most of the time. If he's not out teaching (!), he's working in sound design at a theatre or composes for other ensembles.
 
#93
Jay boogs said:
BTW my style is typically roots, fifths, thirds, octaves and chromatic and diatonic movement
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That's not a style. Those are just musical elements that exist in many styles of music.

Learn as much about music as you can. The more you know the better you will be at approaching any situation.

The mindset of a pro is one that seeks out any challenge and doesn't discriminate based on style.

I call myself a "musical mercenary" because I will play anything if the pay is good, and sometimes even if it's not so good as long as the musical experience itself is worthwhile or there's something I can learn from it.

As Steven Pressfield writes in "The War of Art":

"A pro views her work as craft, not art. Not because she believes art is devoid of a mystical dimension. On the contrary. She understands that all creative endeavor is holy, but she doesn’t dwell on it. She knows if she thinks about that too much, it will paralyze her. So she concentrates on technique. The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods."
 
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#94
E.J. T.N.T. said:
There is a lot of good advice already given but I think this gets overlooked all the time: education.
Lessons are important since they can help you on a lot of different levels but pursuing an education in music can help launch your career in a lot of different ways.



First of all you will be surrounded by music and musicians that under normal circumstances you would not. Moreover it does not have to be college-level education but that would be the best case scenario. Luckily you live in the US where there are a lot of modern music institutions with a modern curriculum and not just classical music.



I know my advice might sound a little bit different than what most have been suggesting but try and see it this way. If you were an employer and had to hire somebody, a candidate with good academic education will always look better on paper (and also come with a lot of other positive contributing skills) than a candidate that does not have one.



A very good way to benchmark this is to look at some of your favourite artists. How did they get where they got. What was their career path? Were they academically educated, did they play in a lot of different bands, did they just get lucky?



Their stories can tell you a lot on how you can be a successful professional.



Excellent examples: Carol Kaye, Juan Alderete, Chris Chaney, any youtube musician.
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I love Carol Kaye
 
#95
Mantis Tobaggan said:
Don't play heavy metal. Don't do what I do. In hindsite, I would go to music school and try to be a session guy but that probably wouldn't be easy. Maybe a little easier than trying to break out as a rock star but still extremely saturated and competitive. I was going to go for it but went to law school instead and now play as a hobby.
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I love metal too, and I can see that there is almost zero money in the scene. It sucks.
 
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#96
Don't discount YouTube. If I were shooting to become a pro I'd be putting loads of time into making original bass content on YouTube. The guys like Patrick Hunter are a great example, IMO. They've got a good following online, they put out great video content, and they can use that as a sweet networking tool.

They're not bassists, but I'd look at Rabea Massad and Rob Chapman as good examples of what YouTube musicians can accomplish if they're talented and driven.
 
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#98
EMoneySC2 said:
Don't discount YouTube. If I were shooting to become a pro I'd be putting loads of time into making original bass content on YouTube. The guys like Patrick Hunter are a great example, IMO. They've got a good following online, they put out great video content, and they can use that as a sweet networking tool.

They're not bassists, but I'd look at Rabea Massad and Rob Chapman as good examples of what YouTube musicians can accomplish if they're talented and driven.
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You gave me a good idea thanks
 
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