burgundymouse

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1202214' date='Apr 16 2011, 10:41 PM']BUT if you've never actually played live bass to accompany other live musicians (playing along to CDs really doesn't count) then I would strongly advise getting that sort of experience before you try getting up on stage. I'm not trying to discourage you, far from it, jamming is superb fun and you'll learn a lot incredibly quickly. It's just that really dumb questions sometimes turn out not to be so dumb after all.[/quote] Abslutely - I remember the first time I got up to sing with a live band and everything was just so loud I couldn't hear a bloody thing!Never mind the fact that there was nothing coming through the moniter and I was blinded by the lights so couldn't really catch the eye of the sound guy who was asleep I think. I suspect the local jam night at the dog and duck won't be this bad. Have played a bit with friends but this truely will be a first for me . Eeeek. And room for more gear - I have a whole house and barn in the midde of nowhre in France should London become a bit cramped. Nothing comares to the feeling of plugging in my bass over there for the first time and turning the amp up to 11. Oh wait - mine only goes up to 8. I feel an attack of GAS coming on!!!

[quote name='mcnach' post='1202183' date='Apr 16 2011, 10:03 PM']Rule #1: GO FOR IT Rule #2: You will probably get second thoughts when the time is near and think of giving it a miss that day. At that time remember Rule #1 Just be careful: it can be addictive [/quote] Yep already feeling the second thoughts! Turned up last week having overcome said second thoughts to be told that it was only on every two weeks and I'd turned up at an off week! I have a very addictive personality - but there are worse things in life right? Your boat story was very cool. I'm nowhere near that confident yet.

Can do a 12 bar in A and C and I'm hoping someone there is a fan of SRV as I've got pride and joy licked! Will make me look so much better than I really am. I'm more of a play by ear person although am taking lessons to learn how to do things properly but one step at a time eh?

Really good advice both - thank you! Writing down the songs I know is a good idea I hadn't thought of. Really looking forward to it now!

So, I've been noodling along to my laptop now for about 6 months and think its about time I went out into the big wide world and met other musicians. There's a jam night in a pub not far from me tomorrow. This is quite scary as a)no-one but my clearly deaf neighbours can hear me at the moment, and I've only been playing bass for 6 months. Never having been to any of these things before I wondered if anyone had any advice ("just don't" probably not being helpful!) . I'm a single girl who's musician friends are all friends of the ex-husband so no chance of me dragging more experienced mates along. So is turning up alone weird? What shoud I expect? How good will everyone be and indeed how does it all work? Advice very gratefully received!

I'm very new to the bass and when I bought mine I went into the music shop and asked for lessons and a bass please. The really helpful man in the shop showed me a couple of Cortes but I saw my Jazz and like a small child said "I want that one" purely because it was prettiest. It was then about 10 minutes of embaressment when he asked me if I wanted to try it in a music shop full of real musicians and I hadn't a clue what I was doing. Still the best decision I ever made however no matter how flawed the decision making process!

Thank you!

Hi Everyone, I'm a relative newcomer to bass guitar having only taken it up 5 months ago, however have been a singer for a long time (hence the photo) and got bored hanging around rehersals waiting for everyone to learn their part so decided I was really a closet bass player. I've got a gorgeous Fender Jazz Standard in Olympic White which never fails to suprise me in lots of nice ways (ohhh I didn't know you could sound like that!) I've got a tiny Laney 15 watt amp but am hoping to join a band once I get a bit better and then the gear will get better I'm sure. I can't see a time when I'll cheat on my current bass however, unless the Fender 50th Anniversary Bass in Apple Cherry Red happens to walk my way! I've got a great teacher who keeps telling me off about my finger positions, but has really got me up to an ok standard quite quickly. I try and learn two or three new songs a week and currently have a reportoire that includes Elvic Costello, Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, Rainbow, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix and Wild Cherry among others. Its great to meet you all and looking forward to developing as a player by using this forum for advice.