Learning to play out as an adult

[Flashback Bass]

Around these parts we have a couple of Blues "Band Style" Open Mic's. If you have any around you go and check them out. At ours we have all levels of talent. You just sign up for what instrument you play and you get up and play three tunes with usually two guitarist and a drummer. You can walk the blues or just shuffle the root notes. They pack 'em in around here. Apparently there are a lot of "couch" musicians in this area. I'd say the average age of the participants is around 45 to 50.

Then you chat some guys up to see if anybody is interested in taking it further.

 

[Zach Soczka]

I didn't read through replies because I am in a hurry.. But I would say which I am sure others have that you should most definitely learn some classics. Not just because you will probably play songs like Bill Withers "Use Me" in a gazillion bands but because learning different songs is a great way to start understanding the concepts behind composing. Thats all I got for now.. you can get gigs on the internet pretty easy these days. Good luck man your going to have lots of fun.

 

[BassUrges]

Lots of good suggestions! Mostly maybe I need to get over myself and be willing to be embarrassed.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

My understanding is that there are two kinds of bands. The ones who play the material more or less perfectly, and the ones who "fake" their way through the songs using the root notes. I would only qualify for the latter, if at all.

I played with fake chord sheet music on stage for years. Then decided to leave the music stand at home. Yep I could wing a pretty good rhythm guitar or bass line, but, I could do a much better job with the chord charts on stage with me; So I started using a music stand again. No one has come on stage and beat me around the head and face for playing from sheet music.

Chill out and have fun, even if you have to lay the sheet music on your amp, or the floor. Do what ever it takes to get with other musicians. They will force you out of your comfort zone.

 

[Spidey2112]

I'm an old beginner--set the bass aside for 20 years while life happened. I was never very good as a teenager--couldn't afford lessons, didn't have the internet (just the Hal Leonard books by Dan Dean and my parents' turntable), didn't have a band, only played in public a couple times for school. A year into my renewed bass journey and I want to get on a stage.

The thing is, I can't just put together a garage band and play awful hacky punk in the driveway for the girls from down the street like I should have done back in the day. Any band I might audition for is going to expect someone more like most of TB--has been playing for 40 years and can knock out 3 hours of classic rock covers while passed out. I'm at a teenager level of experience but without the excuse of being a teenager. (I can read better than I could back then, I have a much better understanding of theory, and I'm working on transcription skills). Oh, and I don't really know any songs, and I've been hesitant to devote time to learning them without knowing what my hypothetical future band will play.

So I'm asking for advice on getting myself ready to play in a real band. I'm up for dive-bar covers or snooty jazz festivals or disco revival or even hacky driveway punk. I'll even play Mustang Sally and have fun doing it.

One option is a "School of Rock" type thing--there are several near me, including actual School of Rock locations and Swallowhill Music--and I'm also curious if anyone has any experience with that sort of thing. It might be a way to get experience that I could use in future auditions. Another is trying to find bedroom guitarists my age--I know a couple. Not sure what we'd do for a drummer, or whether those guy would be willing to devote the necessary time, or be interested in actual gigs.

You're more than half way there, brother! Put another way, you can't drive a golf ball 300 yards with just a backswing... Find solutions, and make them happen!

 

[Jamvan]

I did the exact same thing as you are doing right now. Played when I was younger, life took over for over 15 years, then got the bug to start playing again. I'm going to echo what others have said. You need to focus before you think you'll be able to walk into some established band and start to play. You won't be able to learn that many songs in that short of a period of time and they won't be willing to wait for you. This is what I did and I think it's a good starter approach: Think of it as the 80/20 rules to getting back into playing.

1. Re-learned to play bass:
   1. Refresh/relearn where the notes are on the neck
   2. Refresh/relearn different scale patterns (major scale first and foremost. Obviously learn other scales as you go but the major scale will cover a lot of ground)
   3. Refresh/relearn timing (I only focused on good timing up to and including 1/8 notes). I recommend playing with online drum loops to help facilitate good timing.
2. Learn songs. I started by playing songs I used to play when I was younger. Muscle memory is an amazing thing as they came back very quickly. It gave me a good foundation to move on to step 3.
3. Find a group of people or band starting out in your chosen genre and start to play with them. It doesn't matter if they're good and it probably helps if they don't have gigs as it affords more time to get up to speed. Playing with people is an incredible accelerant for ability. You learn and get better much more quickly than sitting at home and playing with yourse....I mean BY yourself. Most important, you'll learn VERY quickly whether you still have the chops to actually play out. I got with a group of guys and played with them until I reached a combination of confidence in my own abilities and fear that I'd actually have to play out with them as it was not a very good group.
4. Start learning as many songs from your chosen focus as possible such as those in this list: Invalid Link Removed This will give you the ability to be a sub or make you a solid participant at open mics/jam sessions. Jam sessions will also facilitate networking and will get you the connections you need to get into or establish an active gigging band.
5. Most important; Be patient. It took me 12 months to get through step 2. 3 months to get through step 3. I was fortunate and joined an active gigging band but have been working step 4 while actively playing for the last 18 months.

Again, an established group isn't going to wait for you to get up to speed. I had two weeks to learn a 50 song setlist when I joined the band I'm in now. Fortunately, I knew a good number of them already and went, essentially, from my basement to 4 hours gigs with nary a hiccup. I realize why I stayed out of it all those years but I don't know how I actually survived because I love playing out with people.

I do wish you well. Good luck!

 

[StringNavigator]

I don't know your level. Even if you want to play today's hits, you should bring yourself up to speed with American Music (and Brit's).

Use the internet.

Search for song lists of three chord songs with their key: La Bamba, Mony Mony, Twist and Shout, I Think We're Alone Now...

Learn a fast and a slow twelve bar blues tunes with three chords.
Then a couple of twelve bar rock and roll tune like Johnny B Goode and Kansas City.

Find old Elvis and Little Richard tunes. Lucille and Good Luck Charm.
Country music is great. Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison. Willie Nelson's On The Road Again.

Learn two Doo-Wop songs from the fifties with (C Am F G7) or (G Em C D7) chord progressions.

Soul Music: Midnight Hour for major triads. My Girl for the major pentatonic scale.

Remember the old Surf music? Lot's of simple tunes there. Wipeout?

Pop: The Beat Goes On... Sonny and Cher

Make a spreadsheet with a list of about a dozen tunes, as above, and start playing along with YouTube. You will soon find your limitations. Track your progress. Don't be a perfectionist, yet. Keep up the momentum. Finish the project

Your fingerboard is conquered by learning one position at a time. Start with the first five frets. Learn your notes to play chord roots:

E A D G
- - - -
F Bb Eb Ab
Gb B E A
G C F Bb
Ab Db Gb B
A D G C

Practice your major and minor triad patterns.
Practice the major scale to play walk-ups that lead into each triad.
Add the major-sixth note and flatted-seventh note to your major triad.

LH. Use fingers 1, 2 and 4 in this position to avoid Carpal Tunnel and keep the hand balanced. Save finger 3 for those odd times that it is handy. It is better to shift the hand to reach a note than to always keep your hand tensed up for no real gain.

RH. Practice with fingerstyle and repeat with a pick so that you can use both.

If you experience pain, stop immediately. Seek out help. Take it slow and have fun.

 

[Oddly]

I've been in a somewhat similar situation, although back in the day I was playing with several bands on a pretty much full-time basis.
Then married life, kids, and work all got in the way and it's only a year or so back (ie 25 years after my hey-day) that I've had the time and freedom to try and get back to playing out.
It's not been easy.
Of the guys and gals I used to play with, there's only maybe 3 still play anything at all.
Of them, 1 is in upstate New York, the other 2 were later to kids than me and still have a lot of responsibilities there, so hardly any time.
I joined some FaceBook groups, set up a couple of jam sessions, have been to a few open mic nights and have met a few new people.
One problem is there's a big age gap so finding common ground on tunes to play can be an issue - I admit I'm still living in the past to some degree in my music likes and in what I'm interested in playing.
I also find myself a lot more intolerant of a lot of the stuff you'll read about in band horror stories...lateness, lack of preparation, kids these days...
Another problem is that I'm nowhere near as good as I was - I never learned to read music, and my memory's not what it used to be.
Also hand and back problems make it difficult for me to play for too long.

That all said, I have had some very positive experiences recently, and while I haven't got that fully functioning, gig-ready Commitments/Blues Brothers Soul Revue just yet, I am slowly getting there.
You just have to keep plugging away, make what new contacts you can, be prepared to compromise a bit...
But keep in mind the whole thing's supposed to be fun !

 

[Engle]

So just go out and find people despite the lack of talent and experience? That sounds a bit nuts but hey, I can give it a try. I can hit roots and fifths all day, although I'd like to at least get close to the original in a cover context.

The nice thing about being an adult is you have enough life experience to (hopefully) not be afraid to talk to people.
If there's a local jam night at a pub, find out who is organizing it and talk to them. Show up and play Mustang sally or Crossroads or whatever 3 chord blues they call out.

My daughter had a concert with her elementary school concert band along with the community adult concert band. I watched the adult band and the drummer was awesome. I talked to him and he invited me out to a local Friday night casual big band session. A few months later, we ended up starting our own band with a guitarist, sax player & trumpet player that were also at some of those sessions. My point is: Talk to people and go for it! And be open minded as far as genres.

You can play a lot of music with roots and fifths. Throw in the occasional walk and you're the man!

 

[StringNavigator]

A year into my renewed bass journey...I want to get on stage...I can't just put together a garage band and play...in the driveway...like...back in the day... One option is "School of Rock"...find bedroom guitarists my age...a drummer...

Rock/Bass camps sound ideal for guidance and learning. Search for age range. If too expensive, use Craigslist as most resurrected bass players do. I've gone through several re-births after years of inactivity. You will find that you are going to fly where once you walked. Nothing is lost... I bet you would find a drummer like yourself before anyone else. Bass players and drummers make an ideal learning/practicing duo to each other's benefit. The drummer can even be more advanced as long as you are steady. And they usually have a small practice room/garage handy. Bass is for Life... but don't put it off again...!

 

[BAG]

Put what theory you already know and start to learn to play with songs you like.

If you know your major and minor arpeggios, you already know a huge amount of the notes you need to play along with just the chords of the song and can try and make your own lines to a song. You definintely don't need to be able to play them note for note. And if you learn 20 songs that YOU like, then when you do find yourself with other musicians you can at least ask "hey, do you guys know XYZ by band ABC?"

Bass is supposed to be a supporting instrument and the most fun is gained playing with other instruments. You can practice playing your own lines over backing tracks here with a good range of stuff to play along to. Below the video where the description information is you can click the "show more" button and it has the chords and scales to use on each song. I've been using them a lot since getting my fretless so that I can practice my arpeggios all over the neck.

 

[DaveB in VA]

The quickest way to get your feet wet on stage is to join your local Blues Society and attend their jams. There has got to be at least one in the Denver area, probably more than one. Learn the 12 bar blues format so that you can play it in any key. I recommend the Hal Leonard Blues Bass book by Ed Friedland. That will teach you the various blues formats (12 bar, 8 bar, etc.) and their variations. I also recommend the Teach Me Bass Guitar video course by Roy Vogt (teachmebassguitar.com) if you can't or don't want to take private lessons.

I've been a member of the Central Virginia Blues Society for the last three years. We usually have two jams each month. Just about every musician that shows up to these jams is way better than I am as I only started learning to play in 2011. Playing with these guys has been incredibly fun and has helped me become much better over the last two years. Give it a try, I don't think that you'll be sorry.

 

[singlemalt]

I'd bet you could find a blues jam every night somewhere in Denver. Go see what's going on. Make a list of tunes you hear. Get a book on blues bass, learn the forms and style names.

You'll always get a few tunes a night on stage. That'll focus the mind.

You could be making $50 a night with bar food thrown in by next summer.

 

[JES]

Play with others. Post a craigslist ad and tell your story. There are probably others in the same boat.

 

[BassIsFun17]

learn some popular tunes, try to find a band with similar music influences of yours. don't have any expectations.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Give yourself 6 months to woodshed, practicing 30+ every day. Don't up on stage not ready - but don't be afraid to take risks.
It won't be easy - but music IS NOT EASY.

 

[fhm555]

While all the technical aspects of music are good to have, at your age, outside of regular practice and lessons, the single most important thing you can do to fast track your stage ambitions is learn how to quickly learn a song structure by listening. Playing note for note is a great way to improve your chops, but even the folks who recorded the line you've been struggling with for the last three weeks rarely play it the same way twice, and almost never note for note live. The exception for us mortals is a serious tribute band. If you want to earn money for nothin and your chicks for free, you better nail the recordings note for note and adopt the correct period look. Outside of that, learn the basic structure, and have fun. People come to bars looking for a drink and an excuse to ask someone to dance, not to critiqe your ability to nail Cissy Strut or Play That Funky Music note for note, or even realize how awesome your tone is.

Work on ear training as it applies to picking out key and basic structure, then chit gawdam, get off your azz and jam. Keep after the tech aspect if you want to be an on call pro or if you enjoy learing for the sake of it. It will make you a better all around player but be careful or you'll wind up like my sister. Sit her at a piano and put any piece of sheet music extant in front of her and she can usually nail it on the first or second pass, but tell her to play a 12 bar in A and she gets that deer in the headlights look.

 

[eric_B]

A lot of good suggestions already. I would just like to add to learn songs: make a playlist of easy songs you like (on Spotify or whatever) and just play along a couple every time you practice. You will pick them up pretty quickly.

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

The thing is, I can't just put together a garage band and play awful hacky punk in the driveway for the girls from down the street like I should have done back in the day. Any band I might audition for is going to expect someone more like most of TB--has been playing for 40 years and can knock out 3 hours of classic rock covers while passed out. I'm at a teenager level of experience but without the excuse of being a teenager. (I can read better than I could back then, I have a much better understanding of theory, and I'm working on transcription skills). Oh, and I don't really know any songs, and I've been hesitant to devote time to learning them without knowing what my hypothetical future band will play.

Forget all that nonsense - it's only being on TB that makes you feel that way. I'm 35, started playing bass one year ago because it suited my then band, and now band v2 have been auditioning guitarists. No one has any expectations of how long you've been playing, how many songs you know, what genres etc. My situation is slightly different in that I'd been playing guitar solidly for some 23 years, but I hadn't been in a band for over 10 years when we started this project.

I'd strongly suggest you find a drummer first, build a repertoire over a few weeks, then advertise for a guitarist along the lines of "we are a band looking for a guitarist" that way you are in control of where it goes, and you get to find the right guitarist to finish the band. Alternatively just choose your favourite songs, learn some of them, and head out in search of a band that needs a bassist that plays similar songs.

I've known musicians play for one year and blow other "veterans" out of the water. The first months can be the strongest in terms of rapid improvement if you put the work in early. After that it's a continuous game of refinement.

 

[jamro217]

All of the responses you received had something worth consideration. Hope this doesn't ruin it. I'd concentrate on getting timing and rhythm down. Know where all of the notes are on the fingerboard. Without this, trying to convincingly play anything is futile. You need the tools to accomplish the job. When you feel comfortable that you can play the first note of each measure on time and in tune, then you can proceed to learn songs. What could be more disastrous than going to an audition thinking you can play Mustang Sally and throwing the whole band into chaos by not fulfilling your primary task of anchoring the rhythm section? Much better to go to the same audition and learn easy tunes on the spot (which proves you possess skill) under the assumption that you never had to play them before. Nobody knows every song, and if they look at you funny for not knowing standards, explain that you were working on originals and those particular covers weren't in your repertoire. If you pick up the material quickly, they'll be impressed by that, and your growing song list soon won't be an issue. It's also a good idea to start with musicians who are more or less in the same boat, that way you can grow together and not have some members get tired, bored or disgusted, fire the drummer and rage quit. Hope this helps.