Never Thought I Would Do This

[ezra1]

I have never thought I was a band leader . Never have been. I play great bass and pretty good guitar.
We have a little band. 2 guitars ,Bass , Keyboards and Drums and a Singer.
I have been playing 2nd guitar.
The bass player has experience but he learns slow .
The other guitarst is really good ( we have played together off and on for 40 years ) and tells the bass what to play and the guy just doesn't get it.
He wasn't at rehearsal and I played bass and we got through 3 new songs pretty fast.
The band wants me to play bass.
The band leader hasn't told him yet and I was afraid that the BL was going to wait to just before we rehearsed again.
So I texted him and told him that they want me to take over the bass duties. That I was sorry and he is a nice guy.
I haven't heard back from him and I may not.
I have never done this before.

 

[51PRI]

A clean break is usually best.

 

[richntiff]

I feel your pain - it's not an easy thing to do. I'm sure he's hurt, pissed, upset - who wouldn't be, at least a little bit? But, at the end of the day, the band is moving in a direction that is good for all the remaining members.

 

[el jeffe bass]

If someone is not willing or able to rise to the level of the musical situation they can’t expect to kept around for long.

 

[gln1955]

Am I understanding this right? You had to tell the bass player you are taking over his spot because the BL won't tell him?

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I have never thought I was a band leader . Never have been. I play great bass and pretty good guitar.
We have a little band. 2 guitars ,Bass , Keyboards and Drums and a Singer.
I have been playing 2nd guitar.
The bass player has experience but he learns slow .
The other guitarst is really good ( we have played together off and on for 40 years ) and tells the bass what to play and the guy just doesn't get it.
He wasn't at rehearsal and I played bass and we got through 3 new songs pretty fast.
The band wants me to play bass.
The band leader hasn't told him yet and I was afraid that the BL was going to wait to just before we rehearsed again.
So I texted him and told him that they want me to take over the bass duties. That I was sorry and he is a nice guy.
I haven't heard back from him and I may not.
I have never done this before.

You really didn't have to do this. It is the BL's job. But it was considerate of you to do it anyway. I would not lose a minute of sleep over it.

 

[Pocket Dave]

You really didn't have to do this. It is the BL's job. But it was considerate of you to do it anyway. I would not lose a minute of sleep over it.

Yep.

And I'd add to that: Be careful that they don't make you BL by default.

I've done it before and it's not a job I'd have again if someone else is willing and able.

 

[Egg250]

You did the right thing. I look forward to practices. I'd be triple upset if I was fired the day before or day of practice.

 

[Marko 1]

Am I understanding this right? You had to tell the bass player you are taking over his spot because the BL won't tell him?

The band leader hasn't told him yet and I was afraid that the BL was going to wait to just before we rehearsed again.
So I texted him and told him...

 

[dalkowski]

So I texted him and told him that they want me to take over the bass duties.

Oops. Not in any way your responsibility, brotherman.

 

[bherman]

If the bass player cant cut it, then it wastes everyone's time to keep him on board. But I think that you overstepped by notifying instead of the BL (unless you were specifically asked to do so).

 

[Pings Bass]

Firing nice people sucks, but not as much as a band who's weakest player is on bass.

 

[KenD]

IMO you almost did the right thing. In person or voice-to-voice from your BL would have been better than a text (but that's probably just old school me).

 

[Marko 1]

j/k

 

[Flamingo21]

I agree with those who say the bandleader should have told the bassist, but the fact remains that the bandleader did not do so. Therefore in my mind the OP did not overstep when he told the old bassist he was being fired, thereby saving him the embarrassment of finding out only at rehearsal. If I were the OP I would have done the same thing.

 

[darwin-bass]

Am I understanding this right? You had to tell the bass player you are taking over his spot because the BL won't tell him?

Whoever does the telling IS the band leader.

So OP became the bassist and band leader all in one swell foop.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'm gonna fire myself...by text. Boy, will I be surprised!

We encourage musicians to hook-up with their more-seasoned counterparts but it doesn't always work out.

Riis

 

[smogg]

I have never thought I was a band leader . Never have been. I play great bass and pretty good guitar.
We have a little band. 2 guitars ,Bass , Keyboards and Drums and a Singer.
I have been playing 2nd guitar.
The bass player has experience but he learns slow .
The other guitarst is really good ( we have played together off and on for 40 years ) and tells the bass what to play and the guy just doesn't get it.
He wasn't at rehearsal and I played bass and we got through 3 new songs pretty fast.
The band wants me to play bass.
The band leader hasn't told him yet and I was afraid that the BL was going to wait to just before we rehearsed again.
So I texted him and told him that they want me to take over the bass duties. That I was sorry and he is a nice guy.
I haven't heard back from him and I may not.
I have never done this before.

Wait, what? Why is the guitar player telling the bass player what to play? Does he tell everyone what to play? If it's cover tunes why is the bass player not learning the lines from the record? If it's originals why is the bass player not aloud input as to what the bass lines could/should be? Does not sound like a fun place to be imo.

 

[ezra1]

Cover tunes and he wasn't really doing his homework and just hoped he could jam. The guitar player was trying to show him the bass lines and it became apparent that he didn't know the notes on his instrument.
This went on for weeks.

 

[Bass Viking]

Wait, what? Why is the guitar player telling the bass player what to play? Does he tell everyone what to play? If it's cover tunes why is the bass player not learning the lines from the record? If it's originals why is the bass player not aloud input as to what the bass lines could/should be? Does not sound like a fun place to be imo.

It's not clear to me if the guitarist is a control freak or if the bassist needs to be told what to play because of incompetence.