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Double Bass Studying db in middle-age

#21
I'll throw in one more, Martin. Took up double-bass at age 48 (a year and a half ago). Played guitar and piano from my early teens 'til about age 25, and then didn't do anything at all with music, of any kind, for the next 23 years. At 48, a long-simmering desire to play the double-bass finally took hold of me and I jumped in. Got a teacher through my local adult education program, and he s fantastic. Very supportive, very encouraging, really a great guy. And I'm enjoying it immensely. In just the year and a half I've been playing, I've played a few local gigs with small combos, got in a 20-piece jazz band ensemble (also through the local continuing education program), and I'm having the time of my life. I agree with the others -- this is the most enjoyable thread I've seen in a long time. Thanks for raising the issue.
 
#22
This is a really great thread. I have been beating my self up for a few years now for not buckling down and getting serious about learning, and this kind relieves a little bit of the pressure (for a few minutes anyways.) I will be 30 this summer and have only been playing DB for a couple years now, BG for about 15. I have finally located a local DB teacher and will be starting lessons this summer after my kids get out of school, which is very exciting but equally daunting.
It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one here just getting started.
 
#26
Don Higdon said:
You're kidding, right? 30? That's middle age? That makes me dead 7 years ago.
Click to expand...

I know Im not middle aged (feel like it some days) but it just gets me questioning myself when I hear some 17 year old kid totally ripping it up. I step back and wonder "did I wait too long to get started? Will I be able to get to where I want to go with my playing?"
 
#27
Better late than never...

I played the tuba in school and got pretty good at it.
Last year I got the bug, after going out to see lots
of live jazz in LA. I have had a BG for about ten years
and learned to play a bit by ear. When I could hear and
play the root without thinking about it I realized something
was happening musically upstairs.

I got a carved bass, and my wife got a piano. She had not
played since grade school, and has found a local teacher.
Then I bought a tuba and relearned it quickly. Now a
better bass, and moving on to better teacher(s).

I came out of the woodshed for the first time this past
weekend to a Jazz masterclass and had a grand time.
I did not play well, but learned a ton and found many
weaknesses than I can now focus on.

It is as big a challenge as any athletic or academic
endevour I have ever chased after, and there have
been some whoppers. The combined mind and body
skills, with intense attentiveness required, and the
immeadiate feedback is a grand meditation on life.

I cannot wait to hear the sounds that are in my head.

paul t-
 
#29
I'm just getting started at DB and I'm going to turn fifty in a couple weeks. I've played guitar on and off since I was a kid. got away from it as I started working longer hours but got back at it about ten years ago. Also loved jazz and blues since forever.

Always kept music and instruments around my kids. My two sons have played a whole variety of instruements and did the band/jazz band thing in school. My younger son just got a scholarship to play jazz drumset in college and my older (afet playing jazz clarient and bari sax) recently switch to BAGPIPES (!!) and is playing in a college pipe band.

i recently decided to sell a couple guitars and buy a DB. I've hooked up with a local jazz player/teacher for lessons and am shopping for a bass. I'm currently playing an Englehardt M3 that I brought home for one of my boys...hpe to have a real bass soon.

So far I'm having fun!

BTW, Paul...I just got Bill Evan's Riverside box set and can't get it out of the CD player...that must have been one hell of a gig! Have you ever written on TBDB about your experiences with Evans?
 
#30
Its great to hear all us "older" folks taking up double bass (old is not really in my vocabulary). I took up upright in my late 40's after playing electric bass in a jazz band and wanting to get that upright sound. Three years later I'm playing in a college orchestra with alot of pro types of musicians and other students and just got back from my weekly gig with my swing dance band where I played upright. I'm a bass lady and the physical demands of this instrument have sometimes been a bit much in the beginning. But I've never been in better shape either. I play 5/8 basses and have good light equipment such as the GK 24 pounder amp and have figured out how to get things moved from one place to another. Taking up musiic again after a long hiatus is the best thing I ever did. This is my passion. My upright teacher is priming me for some good paying gigs in the near future and I think in terms of making this my new career with both electric and upright. If ya really want to do it you'll find the time.
 
#31
BTW, Paul...I just got Bill Evan's Riverside box set and can't get it out of the CD player...that must have been one hell of a gig! Have you ever written on TBDB about your experiences with Evans?[/QUOTE]




As i've mentioned before, i've written an account of my time with Bill and Philly Joe kind of in story form for Bob Branstetter (our mid Western/Conservative/luthier/Double bassist) who's been in the process of recovering from a knee replacement surgery. He's sent it back to me and i'll be posting it real soon.
Thanks for asking.
 
#33
I too recently turned 50 and 3 months ago decided to start playing again after a 30 year vacation from db and a 20 year vacation from bg. I rented a plywood box for a couple of months and then bought a nice carved bass. A couple of weeks ago I auditioned for the local civic orchestra on Tuesday and played the concert on Saturday. Managed to hit most of the notes in Beethoven's Prometheus Overture even though it was about twice as fast as I had practiced it! :eek: (I'd never heard it)
Started lessons last week with a great teacher and life is good. Don't know exactly where I'm going, but I'm having a ball on the trip!
 
#34
bassballbobby said:
I too recently turned 50 and 3 months ago decided to start playing again after a 30 year vacation from db and a 20 year vacation from bg. I rented a plywood box for a couple of months and then bought a nice carved bass. A couple of weeks ago I auditioned for the local civic orchestra on Tuesday and played the concert on Saturday. Managed to hit most of the notes in Beethoven's Prometheus Overture even though it was about twice as fast as I had practiced it! :eek: (I'd never heard it)
Started lessons last week with a great teacher and life is good. Don't know exactly where I'm going, but I'm having a ball on the trip!
Click to expand...

Hey, baseballbobby,

One thing about practicing at home for the orchestra is that its going to be twice as fast at rehearsal. Haha, wait till you get to those tricky passages where you've got to alternate between piz and arco each measure or during the measure. I'm really getting my chops up. Enjoying it all the time.
 
#35
I wanted to say that I, too, am picking up the instrument again after a brief hiatus. It was 6 years to be exact. I will have my first lesson next week and I feel like a kid in a candy store. So much knowledge to pick up and not knowing where to start.

Congrats, to all who have rediscovered a love for this wonderful instrument, no matter how long we were away or how old we are.
 

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