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What Did You Learn In 2013

StyleOverShow

StyleOverShow

Still Playing After All These Years
Gold Supporting Member
May 3, 2008
3,573
5,303
Eugene Oregon
#1
Another year gone by. Everyone is working, even saw trombonists in holiday quartets in hospitals.
What did you learn this year

I will start off:

Play it simple at first, build context, get playful as nec. doing covers classic to jazz

Winnow it down by listening till all the parts blend, bass is essential and reliable in this process.

Covers are like favorite movies, books, plays. Characters and landmarks must be maintained, unless you're doing something else. Heard killer jazz background version of Fleetwood Mac tune this PM on local Oregon radio.

Bigger ears than fast hands, please.

Personality plays a part in musical situations, not all are friendly, but play well together

You can't always get what you want, but Sex on Fire should be on every dance band's list. Not all the music died in the fires of Disco.

Sorry cabs weigh so much /are big, bass sound comes out of them.

Finally, KIT - Keep It Together!

Happy Holidays my brothers and sisters of them four(+)
 
#2
Got a couple coming from a recent college graduate just getting into big boys life.

1) Don't let women get in the way of friends and careers.

2) It's not about who's the smartest or does the job the best, it's who you know and how much they like you.

And an optimistic one, put extra money towards debt or in savings!
 
#5
In bass:

Jumping from 4 to 6 isn't actually that hard.

Tuning down can be awesome.

I CAN write songs!

P bass sounds great in the mix.

How to make a facebook page for a band.

Most of how to lead a band.

I'm sure there's other stuff.
 
#9
Well, 2013 taught me this -

1) Getting burglarized and losing all of your gear sucks.

2) Having State Farm for Homeowners Insurance is completely worthless.

3) There are really, really greedy and extremely self-centered people in this world.

4) I really am looking forward to next year.
 
#11
As far as bass goes, I learned that it is wise to keep pedal usage to a bare minimum, and that La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats are THE strings for me.

As far as life goes, I've never been happier or felt more free since I gave up believing in religion and a nonexistent God.
 
#16
Got a couple opportunities to play with Col Bruce this past year and he told me "With music you have to expect a life of pain, misery, and conflict!" Couldn't be more true!!!
 
#17
Learned (or am trying to learn) to not care as much about what people think about me. Faking who I am has caused a lot of mental problems for me.

Also, it dawned on me that my honeymoon phase with my love for music is long gone, made me really concentrate on what I get out of playing the bass.

I think it will be well into 2014 before I am confidant in the outcome of either realization.
 
#20
I'm not even sure where to start. I just graduated college this month and have already accepted my first real job offer, which will relocate me to an area about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. I've had a few epiphanies since this process started:

- I don't know nearly as much as I once thought I did. I had this same thought right after graduating high school, and it's funny that I'm having it yet again :p

- Despite that, I'm still a pretty smart cookie, and I'm capable of accomplishing almost anything I set my mind to so long as I'm willing to put hard, honest work into it.

- That in mind, life truly is what you make out of it. I have friends from high school who are going places. I have friends from high school who are simply spinning their wheels. And I have friends who haven't gotten anywhere and don't seem likely to do so anytime soon. The biggest differentiator between these groups seems to be the amount of work vs play that they all do. YMMV.

- Life is expensive! I've been fortunate to have a parent who could cover a nice portion of my costs of living. I've also been fortunate to have received a lot of scholarships, which have negated the vast majority of my college expenses. I always knew managing your finances was important; I just didn't know how complicated it could be or how quickly every expense would add up.

- Reflecting on the following things in my list, I now, more than ever, want to go places in life. I want to pursue higher education, and I want to accomplish things much bigger than I ever have previously conceived on doing.

This year (particularly, the last five months) have been a real a formative period of time in my life. They've set me up mentally and physically for the challenges I'll face over the next several years, but it'll be up to be to take the initiative to get myself prepared to go even further than this. To say the least, it's a bit intimidating, but it's also very exciting :)
 

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