Dad3353

It's difficult to know how many have suffered from bad posture or hand/finger issues, or may even have had advice on how to reduce these health issues since acquiring 'bad habits'..? If they have had any modicum of financial success or media exposure, these issues could, maybe, have been addressed. How many 'unknowns' carry these, and other, 'bad habits' throughout their whole playing career (often cut short by physical problems, such as shoulder injury, or limited to light-weight instruments...)..? On the other hand, one may sail along in youthful ignorance and/or stupid hubris until it's too late and the damage is permanent. It's a choice.

Here's a list of Tutors in the North West. Any good..? North West Bass Guitar Teachers ...

Firstly, no, we're not saying 'Teacher only', simply that it's by far the best method for each individual, especially when starting out from scratch. Once some of the basics are in place, there are many on-line courses, or excellent method books, in all sorts of styles for all sorts of players (from beginner to virtuose, and everywhere in between...). There are, however, those very important steps that have so many pitfalls, whereby one takes on, unwittingly, bad habits, which can be long, difficult, and sometimes impossible to rectify. Getting off to a Good Start is more important, I'd suggest, than anything else, and need not take long, nor be costly. One thing a face-to-face lesson can do, that no book nor screen can do, is correct issues immediately, before they become Issues. Stupidly simple stuff, such as Posture, height of strap, choice of fingering and position, breathing, keeping in time, with a regular tempo, at the right speed (neither too slow nor too fast...) and much, much more. Once these fundamentals are acquired, there is a whole lifetime of honing one's skills, choosing songs to play, learning to play with others, recording, at home or 'out', enjoying a new style etc... I'm not saying that either of the courses mentioned are not worth their cost (there are many others, too...); just that none can see what you're doing (right or wrong...) from the very first moment. As early as possible, find a Bass tutor and take at least an introductory lesson, explaining what it is you wish to achieve with your bass journey, and take from there. He/she will also have tuition material for practicing, and will be able to advise on other courses, too. That's my opinion; others may offer different advice. Edit : Just to say that Google search algorithms are not constructed to produce the best 'quality' at the top of their results, but the most commercially interesting for themselves. To be kept in mind at each Search, I suggest. Edit again : North West UK covers a lot of land. Where is your nearest Big Town..? It may help in hunting down a Tutor.

My Top Tip is to practice the ending (last few bars, or section, or last minute, or however it's structured...). Long enough to be able to retain it, and feel comfortable with it. Once that's acquired, start practicing the preceding section, and continue through with the ending. As you advance, you'll be playing into territory that's more and more familiar. Continue with this until both sections are done. Now start off, again, with the preceding section... Rince and repeat until you've started from the beginning. Choose the length of each of these sections to be within your comfort zone each. Essentially, start from the end and work backwards in chunks. You'll find that, this way, every song ends with you playing a part that you're very comfortable with, so enjoyment increases as the song progresses. This Tip applies in other domains, for actors learning long lines, anyone doing speeches and more still. Try it and see; you may be agreeably surprised.

Does your band, with this drummer, play pub gigs..? Does that volume level work, in that context..?

Amplifiers don't deliver sound; speakers (drivers, cabs, whatever...) deliver sound. Watts is a unit of power, not volume; decibels is a unit of volume. The more efficient the speaker (driver, cab, whatever...), the more volume (decibels...) it can deliver for a given power (watts...). This would be referred to as its 'efficiency'. Soooooo... A low-powered amp into an efficient cab can produce more volume than a high-powered amp into an inefficient cab. Watts, in themselves, are a very poor unit for expressing volume. What's the solution..? If volume is required, look for an efficient cab, then match an amp to that cab. Turn the volume down at home. There is no contradiction; a good amp/cab combination can be used on stage and at home with no issues. If arena volumes are required, the PA will do the 'heavy lifting', anyway, and an IEM system will keep the stage volume at decent levels, whatever the amp/cab. Any quality amp and/or cab will be fine for both purposes (but a less imposing version may be preferred for home practice, to avoid carting stuff around...) There's a lot of advertising spiel surrounding the selling of music gear in general; don't be taken in by claims of 20/200/500/1000 watts or whatever, and ask your peers for their experience of 'real-life' usage. Hope this helps.

Fixed.

It's nevertheless not Good Practice to use such machines whilst cycling. ...

Not all music is played to a metronome. It's like playing the accordion; just because one can, it doesn't mean that you have to. Most drum machines have systems to create a more 'human' feel, to avoid having the percussion too metronomic. Just sayin'.

No worries there for the drummer, listen through once, maybe twice, and it's down 'pat'. Easy peasy.

Not at all; he's right. It's you that's got it wrong. Best offer an apology. ...

Cheers; no need to shout, though. I know I'm old and deaf, but not that deaf.

Not so sure that we're 'typical', either, or even if that term means much in the French venues we've played.

Go to your Profile, select your User ID (top right...) and choose 'My Attachments' from the drop-down list. Hope this helps.

I can think of a couple of occasions where that has definitely been the case. On one, we played well, on a decently equipped stage, but the folk sitting around the tables were there for the 'turning to stone' little fellow for whom the event was planned. They had no interest in 'whooping it up' at all. A 'lead ballon' event; they needn't have booked a band at all.

Doesn't 'mint' mean that it's got a hole in the middle..? ...

Maybe with compensation from folk buying non-American products instead.

I'm neither jealous nor envious of other folk getting paid more than me whether it's a paid gig or a free one. I give my time and money when and where I want, and if I'm having a good time playing, and giving a good time to others, that's fine by me. For charity or not, I (and the band I have been playing in for the last decade or so...) neither want nor expect to be paid, whatever the event. It's just our way of thinking, that's all. Others do things differently, and that's fine too. Peace.

Just a 'throw-away' comment; I had a look at pictures of these various decks and, as a philistine, don't see any major difference in overall 'decor' aspect. I appreciate that we all have different perspectives, and it seems to be important for some, but it escapes me. They all look much of a muchness, to me, from a visual point of view. I have no comment on their technical merits; it's just the appreciation of their aesthetics that I fail to understand. Just sayin'; peace.

Resist, resist. Just another day to wait. Better that than be asking for details of a competent repair person for a blown-up valve amp, no..? Wise advice for any electronic equipment, really, but for an amp which will, by its functioning, heat up cold glass rapidly, it's a 'no-brainer'. Patience, young grasshopper; patience.

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This tends to be a rather clumsy option for the fretting hand, though. ...

I'm not sure that I understand the difference, unless one is playing into an oscilloscope for measuring. All that counts is what is perceived, I'd say. The end result of any active or passive system is that any change of one element affects the whole, as for as human hearing is concerned. Peace.