stressin

[kearney]

lets see, ive been playin bass for bout 8 months now, im decent, and ive been tryin to get a band together since as long as i can remember, but ive had no luck finding a decent guitarist with similar tastes, so i finally figured the following, cuz ya know, ive heard people say (usually when theyre pissed)
" if you want anything done right, you gotta do it yourself!"

so i figured, i play guitar (halfassed) and i know a bass player thats down to jam, so why dont i do it myself!?!

right, but now im feeling remorse cuz im realizing how much more fun bass is. so im deciding to either jump the gun and play guitar myself or sit my impatient ass down and wait for a good guitarist to fall from the sky, see the bassist ive found is really good, and everyone wants him to be it thier band and i think hes in like 2 already, but i play bass and no one knows so i cant find a guitarist, ive got an old friend that my bassist is in a band with but i dont wanna call him er anything cuz im shy, and hes probably got tooo many other bands but im gonna talk to my bassist to get him to get us talkin again and maybe strike a deal

so yeah

im dazed and confused
for so lon-you all know the rest....

 

[Selta]

Sorry to say it, but 8 months isnt much of a wait for a decent guitarist...I've been waiting over 6 years man. Give it time, eventually one'll find you that'll just click.


Ray

 

[Nick man]

Give it time.

Maybe you need to improve more to get the good guitarist to want to play with you. 8 months isnt a lot of time, and you could be great, but maybe you havent gotten as good as it takes to attract real guitarist yet.

 

[Joe P]

You've only been playing for eight months - you understand that's next to nothing when it comes to this amazing instrument, right? You know you've barely, barely given bass a chance, right? You should maybe at least play and learn bass for long enough to get reasonably proficient and comfortable with it. Do you know the basic scales and their patterns at different fretboard positions? Once you do that you start to feel what it's like to really PLAY. You need that to do anything to speak of with guitar OR bass, you know!

Unless you're some kind of prodigy Dude, There's no way you're doing anything on the bass that should get eyebrows raised on your local music scene. Now that I think about it - even prodogies don't master an instrument in eight months. Maybe a savante?

I guess what's left in my mind here is this: If you do switch to guitar, don't say "I used to be a bass player"; the farthest you should stretch it would be to say "ehh - I diddled on a bass couple months, but of course you can't even scratch the surface in that amount of time".

Joe

 

[Selta]

You've only been playing for eight months - you understand that's next to nothing when it comes to this amazing instrument, right? You know you've barely, barely given bass a chance, right? You should maybe at least play and learn bass for long enough to get reasonably proficient and comfortable with it. Do you know the basic scales and their patterns at different fretboard positions? Once you do that you start to feel what it's like to really PLAY. You need that to do anything to speak of with guitar OR bass, you know!

Unless you're some kind of prodigy Dude, There's no way you're doing anything on the bass that should get eyebrows raised on your local music scene. Now that I think about it - even prodogies don't master an instrument in eight months. Maybe a savante?

I guess what's left in my mind here is this: If you do switch to guitar, don't say "I used to be a bass player"; the farthest you should stretch it would be to say "ehh - I diddled on a bass couple months, but of course you can't even scratch the surface in that amount of time".

Joe

Hey, no need to pick on the dude. He's just trying to get advice, not be told how he hasn't spent "enough" time with the instrument. After 8 months he has plenty enough skill to groove with a band, I did after 5. And plus, even if he wont "raise eyebrows", the fact that he'd be in a band would help his playing considerably. I think he ought to go for it. Try placing ads online, and maybe in the newpaper, put fliers up at local shops, start word of mouth by telling all your friends "Hey, if ya know a guitarist who's looking for a bassist, point them to me". Ya gotta advertise yourself as much as look around for a guitarist, cos if you're not advertising, how do people know you're looking? . Just give it sometime as well, when people don't respond in a few days don't get down about it.


Ray

 

[RicPlaya]

Stick to your passion. Bass or guitar whatever you want to play, play it. Maybe try to find a drummer first. A tight rythum section may be more appealing to a potential good guitarist.

 

[Eric Moesle]

Frankly, with 8 months playing experience, it'll be a hard-sell finding a good guitarist that will want to play with you. When you get more experience, the good guitarists will find YOU.

I've universally found that an excellent bassist with no major personality flaws has no trouble finding good work.

 

[Joe P]

Hey, no need to pick on the dude. He's just trying to get advice, not be told how he hasn't spent "enough" time with the instrument....

Ray

You did get my main point correctly, Ray: I think that Kearney has not spent enough time on the instrument. Yes, I still think that. He should give it more time before he gives up.

PICK-on?? Why pick on ME, Man? Almost everybody else who answered this thread said the same thing: "eight months is not enough", right Ray? My thought was to inspire him to stick with the bass, because he likely has barely began to experience the joy and satisfaction that the bass can bring. He's hardly given it a chance yet.

Many say that bass is 'easy to play', and guitar is 'hard to play', right? Most of us know that's not true. Bass may be easier to start-out on, but on the other hand I'll bet that if you have one newbe musician and one good, experienced one, a good bassist could make a newbe guitarist sound better than a good guitarist could make a newbe bassist sound. Or to put it the other way: 'a newbe bassist can make a good guitarist sound bad'. If you de-tune the bass in a band, I'll bet most people in the audience would blame the guitarist.

Anyway - back to the point I wanted to make: I didn't figure Kearney was easily hurt or 'sensitive' or anything. Do you have reason to believe that he has some sort of delicate sensibilities? What did I say to attack or wrong him, Ray?

Don't worry Kearney - I don't believe your eyes welled-up from my input. Stay with the bass, man.. Have you checked the bulliten boards at the area music stores? -if they're like around here it's "Bassist needed" "Bassist needed" "Bassist needed" - Guitarist are a dime-a-dozen, Man!

I'll say it again: "eight months is next to nothing when it comes to this amazing instrument"!

Sincerely,

Joe Polizzi
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

 

[Selta]

You did get my main point correctly, Ray: I think that Kearney has not spent enough time on the instrument. Yes, I still think that. He should give it more time before he gives up.

PICK-on?? Why pick on ME, Man? Almost everybody else who answered this thread said the same thing: "eight months is not enough", right Ray? My thought was to inspire him to stick with the bass, because he likely has barely began to experience the joy and satisfaction that the bass can bring. He's hardly given it a chance yet.

Many say that bass is 'easy to play', and guitar is 'hard to play', right? Most of us know that's not true. Bass may be easier to start-out on, but on the other hand I'll bet that if you have one newbe musician and one good, experienced one, a good bassist could make a newbe guitarist sound better than a good guitarist could make a newbe bassist sound. Or to put it the other way: 'a newbe bassist can make a good guitarist sound bad'. If you de-tune the bass in a band, I'll bet most people in the audience would blame the guitarist.

Anyway - back to the point I wanted to make: I didn't figure Kearney was easily hurt or 'sensitive' or anything. Do you have reason to believe that he has some sort of delicate sensibilities? What did I say to attack or wrong him, Ray?

Don't worry Kearney - I don't believe your eyes welled-up from my input. Stay with the bass, man.. Have you checked the bulliten boards at the area music stores? -if they're like around here it's "Bassist needed" "Bassist needed" "Bassist needed" - Guitarist are a dime-a-dozen, Man!

I'll say it again: "eight months is next to nothing when it comes to this amazing instrument"!

Sincerely,

Joe Polizzi
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

If you have a bone to pick with me, PM me, I will not argue publicy.


Ray

 

[vbass]

Well, I'm with everyone else - you haven't really been playing long enough to worry about not being able to find anyone. If you've been playing for 8 months, you've been looking for what.. a couple? It took me a year to find a band I was relatively happy with, and I'm sure glad I didn't give up after 2 months of searching to pick up guitar because it's easier to find people to play with. I would venture to say in the long run, if you stick with bass and get decent at it, then you will have an easier time finding people than if you tried as a guitarist.

 

[Joe P]

...I would venture to say in the long run, if you stick with bass and get decent at it, then you will have an easier time finding people than if you tried as a guitarist.

YUP.

Joe

 

[Osama_Spears]

just goto local shows and get your name out there...there's bound to be a band that's looking for a bassist,like yourself.

Local show's audience are 60% local musicans anyways