Two years into playing bass, what were you learning and playing?

[mcblahflooper94]

At about a year and 1/4 now, and I'm at the point where I can pretty much play anything besides the really hard stuff, like YYZ, etc.. I can *pretty* much play YYZ, just can't execute it flawlessly all the way through. I slap occasionally, but I've found that I'm more of a fingerstyle player. I really should work on playing with a pick. Another thing I need to work on is learning how to make actual basslines. I can solo like a guitarist easily, but it's not easy to just make up a bassline from improv. Those are the things that I wish I could do and I feel I am lacking from making me a good bassist.

 

[Jhengsman]

Just over a year after putting down the guitar and filling the bass chair full time I work on the next Sunday's songs plus a few songs the musicians want to add to our book.
Books:
Depending on my mood I work through the Hal Leonard, Blues Bass, the Funk Bass and the Reggae Bass books. Also Afro-Cuban Grooves For Bass and Drums Funkifying The Clave. I may pick up Building Walking Basslines again soon.

DVDs:
Ivan Santiago's Urban Bass Techniques DVD and Victor Wooten's Groove Workshop

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Although I didn't start to take music seriously until my dad brought a bass home, I started taking guitar lessons from him at age 8. He was a professional musician and educator, so I had about 3 years of private lessons- reading treble clef, learning about rhythm, scales, chord structure, etc., before I switched to bass at age 11.

I did my first recording session at age 12. My dad got hired to record a bunch of short cues for a multi-media presentation that Kodak was exhibiting at Expo '67, in Montreal. Don't get the wrong idea, I was far from precocious. My dad taught me some simple blues progressions, but I muffed them repeatedly. We had to start over each time (remember, this was home recording in 1966, so there was no multi-tracking, just a single mic in the center of the room, connected to a reel-to-reel tape deck). As a result, a few minutes of music took about an hour to record.

In order to get me more motivated, he had promised me a full share from the proceeds, which came to $225.00. Needless to say his plan worked, and I practiced a lot harder after that session. Sadly, $225 per hour remains my career high, 45 years later!

My next gig was for a Grade 6 prom (we were all in Grade 8!). $15 for three hours. We had to pay the drummer's mom $5 for gas, so after expenses, we netted about $3 each. We had no PA, so no-one could hear the lyrics, and we had to repeat our short song list quite a few times, in order to pad it out to the alloted time. Quite a comedown after the recording session...

By the two year point, I was 14, and jamming with buddies in a couple of pickup bands. Good fun, but there were no further paid gigs until two years later, when my dad got me a Union card, and started taking me out on casuals, mostly weddings and banquets.

 

[bolophonic]

1989: playing Cream, Police and Zeppelin covers with a couple of dudes and wishing I was in Jane's Addiction.

 

[trunkshope6]

lagwagon,suicide machines,rancid,nofx,stuff like that

now I'm all into Motown and am trying to play slap

 

[BassGen]

I think I'm just shy of 4 years into this adventure. At 2 years my greatest talent was probably GAS.

But more seriously I changed quite a bit. I was a hobby guitarist and my brother-in-law asked me to (told me I was going to actually) pay bass in his band. I moved from pounding out roots and feeling completely overwhelmed by it when I first started to riffing along with the chords and still feeling over-whelmed. I learned as I played and pretty much on my own. When we learned a song it was by ear or I needed a chord chart or tab to work from. If I tried to pick out the song myself the BIL would say "You've got notes from the chords in there but not the root."

I also got hung-up on playing a song the way I first figured it out which may not have been either the best or easiest way.

Fast-forward a bit more to now and my ear is much more developed and sometimes I'm correcting the band now when we are learning something new. I'm much more confident with the bass in general. I "write" my own walking lines to songs that did not use them. I get a lot of compliments from the band on just how far I've come.

Now I'm revisiting everything I play and realizing "Hey, I've been doing this the hard way or in the wrong place on the neck" and can refine things to make it easier and/or sound better.

I am only just now developing an ear for "my tone". I've liked the sounds in the past but I'm hearing more subtle changes now and really finding my groove.

I'm actually at a point where I think that maybe I should turn in my "Crappy bassist with expensive gear" membership and upgrade to the "Mediocre bassist with expensive gear" club. But I don't really presume myself to be in the league with so many of the other fine bassists here at TB so I'll stay where I am for now.