Master of none

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1440744010' post='2853389'] Whilst the MU offeres some great stuff, free insurance etc... it's not a real union. It's not going to be withdrawing its bands labour unless it's terms are met, leaving stages empty and venues with a rabble of angry middle aged blokes demanding yet another rendition of alright now... [/quote] Understood! Although if all the good bands in an area were MU members, and charged MU rates, then the venues would have to pay up, or settle for inferior bands. I appreciate that's not very likely. But lots of people here are saying what they consider to be fair pay for a night's work. I'm just surprised that [i]nobody[/i] has mentioned what the MU consider to be a fair rate.

I'm a beginner and not ready for playing in public yet. And I can imagine that if I did, the first few gigs would have to be quite cheap. But I'm slightly surprised nobody's mentioned the Musician's Union. Is [i]nobody[/i] a member here? Are [url="http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Files/Rates/Live-Rates/National-gig"]their rates[/url] so high that members are priced out of all but the very best gigs?

Thanks all for the welcome. I'm afraid I'll have to defy bert. The world needs more bass-players!

For many years, I've had a vague hankering to play bass, but never quite got around to buying one. Now, thanks to my wife, I'm the proud owner of a Squier J. [size=4]I've dabbled in various other instruments over the years (but master of none). My main instrument is the saxophone.[/size] I've been playing bass for a month or so now, and it's both harder and much easier than I expected. First, the basic mechanics. I had no idea muting was such an issue. Second, it never occurred to me that scales and arpeggios are just patterns on the neck. To transpose, just move the pattern around. The last sax exam I took, I think I had to learn 34 different scales and arpeggios. And they were all [i]different. [/i]I've been playing bass for a month and already I can play: [indent=1]major scales (in 3 different patterns, starting from different fingers);[/indent] [indent=1]harmonic minor scales;[/indent] [indent=1]melodic minor scales (which I only started learning on sax two days ago);[/indent] [indent=1]blues scales;[/indent] [indent=1]dominant 7th arpeggios.[/indent] Obviously, when I say I can play them, I mean haltingly and clumsily, but [i]I know the fingering. [/i]And the beauty is, I can play them [i]in any key[/i]. That may be obvious to you seasoned players, but coming from a sax background, it's a revelation! I thought keyboards were easy, but the arrangement of the black keys complicates matters. On the bass, it's so simple! Now, I have a lot to learn before I'm even slightly competent. My fingers are very clumsy, and I need to watch (literally, with my eyes) where I'm putting them, and even then I keep getting fret buzz. And I can't read bass clef. But that's the beauty of those simple patterns - I can play scales and arpeggios in any key [i]without even knowing which notes I'm playing![/i] This is fun!