CHW

I am at the point where I just could not care less about playing in a music shop. When I was a spotty little teenager I remember being massively intimidated by the long haired, cool guys in a shop who handed me a bass or guitar I could barely afford. nearly 25 years on I just don't care. I may be about to spend a significant sum of money, and as such anyone with a self satisfied smirk who hands me an instrument is likely to lose a sale. I'm not there to be assessed, or judged and don't give a hoot what anyone else in the shop thinks of what I might play.

I've been to several of the smaller folk festivals, Beverley, Whitby, Ely, Festival on the Moor, and I have to say I enjoy the ones that are based on a single site (rather than dotted around the town) The best thing about these type of festivals is that I've probably heard of the main headliner (egs, the Levellers, Bellowhead, E2K,) but no idea about anyone else- The result has been I've seen some absolutely superb bands, individuals, and the atmosphere of these is great. I did the Phoenix festival back in my late teens, which is the biggest I've done. The Mrs and I debated trying to get glastonbury tickets alongside hiring a camper for this year but in the end decided that it was a few hundred quid too far. It remains something on the bucket list though

There is a random guy and bass player on YT covering Toto's Africa. In my humble opinion Africa is right up there as one of the great songs of modern music. This cover- with just 2 vocals (as opposed to Toto's 4 or 5), 2 instruments (as opposed to Toto's 5 or 6) and done live, is right up there. His name is Mike Masse

Any joy checking local eBay/Gumtree ads or local Cash Converters?

It happens occasionally, and I often go with the "thanks- it's great to be noticed in the midst of those noisy sods" response.

Oh forgot the most stupid- Jumped off of a stage in a village hall prior to a wedding gig. Gave myself 6 months worth of plantar fasciitis

In my first couple of years of playing (late high school and early 6th form) I remember long jams and get togethers, it was all about exploring playing together and learning songs from each other and learning how to improvise. Brilliant times. As my skills and experience have grown I have far fewer desires to make a load of noise together and want to really hit the ground running when I play in a group situation. Only as a bit of a release or writing moment will a jam break out- and not for long, usually when waiting for someone to arrive, or come back from the loo. As for these Jam Nights in pubs?? who came up with that title?

You've got the love. Only the 2nd time we've played it out- and it's gone down a storm both times.. When it was originally suggested I really wasn't sure... Oh well

This actually happened in a practice but has so far been my most painful experience. Strumming away happily on an acoustic for my 4 guitar songs, drop my pick, continue using my nails, slight misalignment on an up stroke and I carve a high E string shaped slice through my index finger nail, about half way between cuticle and tip of nail- nothing for it but to trim it out carefully. A lot of blood and a fair bit of pain.

I'm not sure how sellable the stuff beyond the SM58 is but I'd definitely keep an eye on local FB sale groups, Gumtree, eBay etc. If you don't want to ring the police it might be worth ringing the local pawnshops to inform them of the theft (it might be a waste of time I don't know) On the other hand, if it is the singer that's made off with it all, a spare SM58 can always come in useful so maybe he won't look to offload.

It can depend on the gig- if I'm up for a bit more rock and buzzing from the gig, then probably a bit of Maiden. If I'm not in the mood it can be silence, or a bit of folky stuff that we keep in the car. Maybe a bit of TalkSport too. It really depends on circs

Had a Spotify session with them. Great stuff but I did find it a bit samey after a while

The satisfied with mediocrity thing is probably more frustrating-

Just started to experience what I think is a form of tinnitus- I can often hear my own heart/blood swishing in my left ear. I've got some very basic foam plugs that make playing a lot more bearable- don't know how useful they are as they only cost 25p a pair.

I suggested "The Trooper" a while back- it caused one of the guitarists to have a bit of a dizzy spell. I think he had to go for a bit of a lie down.

There are a large number of venues that advertise live music still around here- the problem is that they seem to be a singer plugging an iPod into a PA and crooning along. Loads of open mic nights too, but the quality is hugely variable. There are still pubs putting bands on but some I don't know how they do it. A gig prior to Christmas, that I did a gig where for the first set there were a total of 5 people in the pub, the landlord, a bar person and the half a dozen F&F & WAGS we bring along. The second set livened up but it seems a strange thing for a landlord to risk money on in those circumstances..

Volunteering running my tennis club bar- Can I get a coke? Can I get a Cobra? No you effing can't, You can order one! I can get it, then you can effing receive it!!

This is where we go- it's worth a post after having been on a tour of some of the pits around GM, old canalside units, old crumbling mills where I've had to carry kit up wobbling fire escapes, and wander around in the dark tripping over paint pots. This place is clean, and reliable and the owner is a genuinely nice guy. And (having just checked it out to make sure I got the link right- I'm on the front page) http://www.shure5studios.co.uk/

While I'm not the greatest player, I do have a lot of experience of tutoring, coaching, mentoring and teaching from various day jobs. I've taught a couple of complete beginners, and found it great fun to do. I think the approach I'd take to teaching someone who has been playing for some time is to start with a good chat (unpaid) prior to a lesson and then go through where someone is at, what they are good at, what they really struggle with, is it left or right hand technique, is it a theory issue, is it a technical problem that they are so used to that they don't even notice? Start to break down and rebuild. In the informal lessons I've given, I've never played a note that wasn't to demonstrate something that we were working on..

I've been playing for 20+ years but have only ever intermittently worked at technical skills, and I know I could be a lot more proficient. I've always had complimentary comments from every drummer I've played with but I know deep down that I could be a lot better- there are certainly a load of players I see on the likes of YT that really impress me. I've never really got the hang of the slap style and that frustrates me a little. I'm a solid gigging bass player, but I would love to be able to really ramp up my skills with time to practice and I'd love to go pro.

The guitarist in my band often uses ultimate guitar app for teaching his students from, and I think he does this using a Hudl, This is Tesco's basic android tablet and it seems pretty good.

The comments about learning a bit of keyboard are interesting- I've had a go and it's all greek to me. Whenever I have jammed with a keyboard player, I've had to rely on my ear, and although I can do it. I definitely find the visual aid of playing with a guitarist a help (even when they decide to put a capo on at fret 4 and make me play in funny keys on the upright) I can play some basic drums too, and can't say that this has helped me much as a bass player.

Following on from the Guitarists who would be bass players thread in OT, I started thinking about this. I started off on bass, and picked up a guitar when I had been playing for a couple of years, learning open chords, barre chords and a few scales for a bit of lead improvisation. When I moved back onto bass I discovered that I had automatically improved as a bass player, not just in that I could see(and recognise) a guitarist play a G, D, C and Em progression and immediately have the fundamentals of a workable bassline in my head. but that I could work together better with a guitarist. I have ended up playing both in gigging bands (probably prefer the bass overall still) but still think if I'd never played the guitar, I'd be a less accomplished bass player?? I'd be interested to know if there are any long term bass players out there who cannot play any guitar, and couldn't recognise a B7 chord visually, and how do they pick up the more random seeming chord progressions from a guitarist.

I could never keep up with the sub cultures when i was a teenager, I've got no hope now. It was only a couple of years ago that I found out that a load of the bands I liked when I was a teenager fall under the "grebo" subculture label. I just liked some of the music.

If I'm struggling to hear myself, firsth thing I do is to take a few steps away from my cab- this often does the trick.