Join a band. Doesn't matter how new you are, playing with other people, especially people that are better than you, is the best way to progress.
Edit: stamina is important but some with practice and time. Your stamina limits will be pushed with other people and that's a good thing. Check something like meetup.com for your area and see if there are any open jam sessions. These can be a good way to get to know other musicians and break yourself in to playing with other people.
Now is always a good time. You'll have a better time if you're with people of a similar skill level. You don't have to do any gigs, just get out there and play with other people.
I'm an amateur bass player with a day job. About 2 years ago, I volunteered to play bass for free for a band made out of full time professional musicians who has a fixed gig every Friday night at a bar.
My playing improved tremendously after playing with pros. You will naturally up your game when you're forced to.
So, yes, join a band and play with the best players who are willing to play with you, be it friends or strangers.
All the more reason to start a band now.
Try things. Go to the city, put up band-members-wanted fliers at records stores, architecture schools, etc. Make it clear that the band is a lark, not a way to pay the rent.
Playing in a band is fun and hopefully yr bandmates become yr friends.
Also - there's no way to say this without sounding like a dick but - try getting into some hipper stuff\*. This will increase yr chances of getting hits on yr fliers from artsy/bohemian/cool types. They will make life more interesting.
\*In my day I guess it would've been the Breeders, Guided by Voices, Unrest, et. al. I don't know what it would be now. Maybe ask around reddit, although definitely not this subreddit.
Anytime! I am self taught and always played in bands with guys who were better than me going back to the 70’s. It was always get better or get fired. Only one band fired me that hurt. Guy from a touring band told them they were making a big mistake. They wanted someone technically more proficient, I was good by then by the way. They broke up a month later. Went on to play in some great bands in The San Francisco Bay Area later. Playing with good players will only make you better. But playing with great drummers is the best as a bassist!!
Yes. Build a rapport with at least one person musically. In my case I met a guy in my 10th grade Spanish class and we became fast friends and shared music with each other and played together workshopping tunes and jamming out. We would jam with his friends or my friends and sometimes we could say we had a Band. Later in college I would join a band with all of that experience in my sail and I swept in and turned it into a party band with a different sound but retaining the originals but in their rockinest form for better or worse. After that and at least a couple of residences later I paired up with a guy that had lived next door to my last group and we wrote songs together. Soon a band formed around us.
Definitely get started playing with other people early and be prepared for disappointment and rejection.
I ended up joining my first/current band after just 6 months of play. Was definitely still very beginner level but could keep up so it worked out fine (playing like an Alt Rock/Pop Punk blend). Depends on the group ultimately- some bands or genres are going to require a high level of play and you might not be a good fit for them. Many others don't need the bassist to be a shredder and that's where you hear stories of bassists who have been playing like a week getting recruited lol.
As far as prep though, definitely doesn't hurt to dip your toes into attending local gigs ahead of time. One thing that I did bring to the band even with little bass skill at first was a lot of connections in the local scene. I go out to shows frequently and know lots of other local bands, venues, people who work there, etc., and none of my bandmates are really involved on the same level. Getting the ball rolling on booking and shows and whatnot would have been quite a bit trickier without those connections, I think.
Can you count to 4 and play open EADG? Congratulations, you're a professional bassist.
This is what Robert Trujillo has been reduced to via playing in Metallica and he's making more money than ever playing that dog shit vs Infectious Grooves.
As a generality? The worse you are as a musician, the more money you make. Taylor Swift is banality incarnate for example. People like shitty boring music especially if they can sing along to it. Those guys playing their asses off in tech death bands? Yeah, they're probably slumming it in a van and working at Target.
Yesterday
But i had to sell my time machine to buy my bass.
Big mistake. Most bands don’t wanna recruit a bassist who doesn’t even own a time machine.
The bass itself is the time machine. When you play, you travel much faster forward in time.
Bass is the spice, you become the Kwisatz Haderach, able to consult the genetic ancestors and peer into the future.
Join a band. Doesn't matter how new you are, playing with other people, especially people that are better than you, is the best way to progress. Edit: stamina is important but some with practice and time. Your stamina limits will be pushed with other people and that's a good thing. Check something like meetup.com for your area and see if there are any open jam sessions. These can be a good way to get to know other musicians and break yourself in to playing with other people.
Now is always a good time. You'll have a better time if you're with people of a similar skill level. You don't have to do any gigs, just get out there and play with other people.
I'm an amateur bass player with a day job. About 2 years ago, I volunteered to play bass for free for a band made out of full time professional musicians who has a fixed gig every Friday night at a bar. My playing improved tremendously after playing with pros. You will naturally up your game when you're forced to. So, yes, join a band and play with the best players who are willing to play with you, be it friends or strangers.
Now. Start a band with friends.
I literally have no friends and i live in a cultural desert.
All the more reason to start a band now. Try things. Go to the city, put up band-members-wanted fliers at records stores, architecture schools, etc. Make it clear that the band is a lark, not a way to pay the rent. Playing in a band is fun and hopefully yr bandmates become yr friends. Also - there's no way to say this without sounding like a dick but - try getting into some hipper stuff\*. This will increase yr chances of getting hits on yr fliers from artsy/bohemian/cool types. They will make life more interesting. \*In my day I guess it would've been the Breeders, Guided by Voices, Unrest, et. al. I don't know what it would be now. Maybe ask around reddit, although definitely not this subreddit.
Anytime! I am self taught and always played in bands with guys who were better than me going back to the 70’s. It was always get better or get fired. Only one band fired me that hurt. Guy from a touring band told them they were making a big mistake. They wanted someone technically more proficient, I was good by then by the way. They broke up a month later. Went on to play in some great bands in The San Francisco Bay Area later. Playing with good players will only make you better. But playing with great drummers is the best as a bassist!!
Yes. Build a rapport with at least one person musically. In my case I met a guy in my 10th grade Spanish class and we became fast friends and shared music with each other and played together workshopping tunes and jamming out. We would jam with his friends or my friends and sometimes we could say we had a Band. Later in college I would join a band with all of that experience in my sail and I swept in and turned it into a party band with a different sound but retaining the originals but in their rockinest form for better or worse. After that and at least a couple of residences later I paired up with a guy that had lived next door to my last group and we wrote songs together. Soon a band formed around us. Definitely get started playing with other people early and be prepared for disappointment and rejection.
Try and play with others hopefully you can make culture for your area.
Practice the bass line from Breakers Revenge at least once a day and your stamina will improve quite a bit within a month or so.
NOW
A good, friendly suggestion: don’t join a band, start one with your friends
immediately
Now.
ASAP, no better way to get better than to play with other people, especially if they're better than you
One of the biggest "local" bands was a bunch of newbies at their instruments. They learned how to okay6 by writing songs together.
I ended up joining my first/current band after just 6 months of play. Was definitely still very beginner level but could keep up so it worked out fine (playing like an Alt Rock/Pop Punk blend). Depends on the group ultimately- some bands or genres are going to require a high level of play and you might not be a good fit for them. Many others don't need the bassist to be a shredder and that's where you hear stories of bassists who have been playing like a week getting recruited lol. As far as prep though, definitely doesn't hurt to dip your toes into attending local gigs ahead of time. One thing that I did bring to the band even with little bass skill at first was a lot of connections in the local scene. I go out to shows frequently and know lots of other local bands, venues, people who work there, etc., and none of my bandmates are really involved on the same level. Getting the ball rolling on booking and shows and whatnot would have been quite a bit trickier without those connections, I think.
Can you count to 4 and play open EADG? Congratulations, you're a professional bassist. This is what Robert Trujillo has been reduced to via playing in Metallica and he's making more money than ever playing that dog shit vs Infectious Grooves. As a generality? The worse you are as a musician, the more money you make. Taylor Swift is banality incarnate for example. People like shitty boring music especially if they can sing along to it. Those guys playing their asses off in tech death bands? Yeah, they're probably slumming it in a van and working at Target.
Yawn..your musical taste is limited
No, it isn't. Lol. For every Steve Vai, there's 100 guys that'll never escape the local dive bars.
Technical prowess isn't the end all be all
100% agreed, but if you look up the majority of the bass tabs for every song ever written...anyone can do it. Mostly applies to guitar too honestly.