peteb

But you have those gigs in the diary. This lot are still rehearsing up a set, have no gigs booked and are nowhere near ready to gig. Not to mention that they may find themselves without a drummer...

I would just leave well alone and see where you are at the beginning of next year. Personally, I would be more worried about the attitude of the guitarists and if I was a drummer there was no way that I would play with them in the current situation. TBH the band sounds like a goner.

It's nearly 2022 already and the chances are you wouldn't be gigging much this year (or even the beginning of next year) even if you wanted to. Give the guy a break...

If she's singing BVs, then she's singing BVs - nothing wrong with that! Some of the greatest singers ever have been employed as backing vocalists, '20 Feet from Stardom' and all that...!

My gigging basses were all made in either America or Japan / America, amps from Poland or America (with a spare made in Italy) and cabs from America again. I'm not at all bothered about buying British these days, but I do think it's quite cool that the amp that I use live the most was handmade by a small company (in Poland as it happens).

Hi Greg, I downloaded the transcription and there's an error in the final part of each chorus (bars 7 to 10). This section should have a natural F (rather than F#) otherwise you find yourself playing a F# against the F chord, which I don't think is quite the harmony that you are intending!

The thing is that there is no bass on the verse, you just come in on the chorus. Sorry for ruining the joke by explaining it...

I think that this thread was derailed when it was suggested that it isn’t such a big thing if you don’t like the songs that you are being asked to play, because you don’t have to invest too much time in learning many pop songs. This has led to many people’s insecurities being exposed because they don’t have the skillset to actually learn stuff that quickly. I think that Tim has a rather singular way of viewing the world due to his rather unique personal experience of life, but in this case I actually agree with much of what he has said. Others are reading far too much into his comments and taking it personally. To get back on thread, I remember reading an article in some bass magazine many years where was an article by a guy you may have heard of, but isn’t well known enough for me to remember his name. He was saying that there are three criteria that he considers when he is deciding whether to do a project or not: the music, the money and the people involved. If two out of the three works for him then he will pursue the project. I think that is still pretty good advice…

Very true

You can rephrase it all you like mate. The bottom line is the better you are, the more likely you are to nail things after one listen and the better you will be at busking...

Lee Sklar plays small gigs with his friends in local bars when he's not on the road with big acts. Probably the same sort of gigs that you and I do! We have had a few sign up to Basschat, but they don't tend to stick around (although Guy Pratt & Neil Murray occasionally post).

That's great, you are trying to improve as a musician. The difference between someone like me, who's quite experienced and not a bad player, and the top session guys is mainly about their ears (rather than just technique, etc). I like to think that I've got a pretty good ear, but I had a lesson with a guy who plays one live with a world famous band and has done loads of session work and it's a different world. He hears nuances on the first listen that it would take me weeks to work out, if I ever did (and I'm better than most on these types of things). We are all trying to play at a higher level, which takes work and requires experience. But some guys are already there and they can nail things first time that we would take ages to get.

That my friend, depends on how good you are! That's one of the big differences between the not bad bass player you hear in a pub on a Saturday night and the really good pro...

That isn't going to happen, just as it is unlikely that you will be able to play many Beatles songs after one listen. However, there are loads of great songs that you definitely can!

Know your audience! Some friends of mine played in a pretty successful Rush tribute band for a few years. Not really my thing, but there is certainly an audience out there. In some pubs, Mustang Sally will be the highlight of the set, but in others you will hear an audible groan and see everybody heading for the bar!