UngratefulBass

The Garden Bar, Eastbourne, for us on Saturday night. First time down there and all in all a pretty good night. Not what you'd call packed, but a reasonable crowd who were happy to dance and shout the night away, with the added bonus of a hen party who joined us for a rendition of It Must Be Love. The evening was slightly marred by one blokes insistence that I wasn't really playing (I use a wireless). I'm used to it and am normally happy to play along, agreeing with them and telling them that I've got a CD player in my amp and that I'm just miming... But this fella wouldn't let it go and as his alcohol intake increased so his 'banter' degenerated into a tirade of abuse. At load-out he blocked the exit to tell me just how crap I was (despite him staying/dancing all evening) and how he was a 'really good musician and I should give him a go on my guitar'. I replied - 'And I'm a really good f**k, perhaps you should give me a go on your misses?' Luckily (for both of us!) His mates bundled him away before things got too out of hand. And we were asked back,so all good in the end.

After a very attractive young lady jumped up on stage and started dancing around the band members, our sax player announced 'I don't think that we should encourage that sort of thing, after all people didn't come to see her. They came to watch ME!' That statement alone should tell you all you need to know about sax players and the state of their egos...

At some point in my dim and distant yoof I bought a strat copy, learned two chords(Em and Am7) then promptly lost interest. Some time later, whilst at college, I persuaded a friend to buy a bass so that we might form a band and change the 'musical landscape' forever.. The 'band' never got off the ground as we really didn't have a clue, however we still managed to make some money out of the instruments. Whenever we were short of cash we would lug our stuff down to the student bar, plug in, put a row of empty pint glasses in front of us and announce to those present 'Pay Or We'll Play' before launching into a tuneless racket. This would continue until the glasses in front of us were full of beer or money.It worked surprisingly well, until one night we really pushed our luck with a drunken 45min rendition of 'three blind mice' that ended up with a fair bit of stuff been thrown and us ultimately been barred!! At some point after this I lent my mate a fair bit of money(by student standards) to fix his car and he gave me his bass to hold as collateral. I had no real interest in it, until one day I picked it up and suddenly everything made sense. The few crappy little riffs I had learned on guitar carried weight on bass and sounded almost tuneful.Not only that, but the instrument felt 'right'in my hands. Things flowed rather than were forced. I started to actually listen to music, rather than just hear it, and try and work out what the bass was doing. As unimpressive as it may seem now, learning 'walking on the moon' by ear, was a massive moment for me. I realized that I could actually play proper songs and whilst, quarter of a century later, I've never been in a band that plays that song, it was those three little notes that set me on the righteous path of bass.

Thanks. We've had the Spinal Tap-ism of being advertised as Grateful Dead and on one memorable occasion as Unfaithful Dad!!!

Thanks again. If any of you are in dire need of entertainment (or possibly the other way around..) and like a bit of a boogie, then my band, Ungrateful Dad, are playing at The Castle Inn, Pevensey Bay this Sat (17th). Always nice to meet other bassists and put names to faces

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1444672433' post='2884992'] Once the drummer has started, that's the tempo to play to, whether it's the right one or not. Once it's established, a good drummer won't change. He won't slow it down, nor speed it up. It happens that it's a tad too fast, or the opposite, but once the count has been given, that's the tempo. Drummers also usually have a fair supply of stuff, some pointy, to throw back, so I'd not advise any other tactic than following the leader. Just sayin'; on the night you'll be fine. We've all been there, and most of us survived. [/quote] I get what you are saying, but the salient point was at the beginning of the sentence, as in 'work on communicating with the drummer before and during songs..' I have seen many examples of drummers speeding up and rather than laying back slightly, the bassist digs in and the whole thing gets quicker and quicker and quicker.. I'm not suggesting that anyone should start at anything other than the tempo set by the drummer, more to use the bass line (with eye contact, or some form of communication) as an anchor if they start getting a bit carried away. And as for retaliation from behind the kit, I find giving them a lighter to play with or, for those with a reflection, a small mirror is enough to distract them longer enough for you to get out of harms way

Thanks for the warm welcome

Some very sound advice given above. My two penneth worth would be to concentrate on tempo and structure. The truth is that very few people, including band mates, will notice if you miss the hammer-on at the end of the forth bar, but everyone will notice something is amiss if you continue to bash out the verse whilst the others play the chorus. So at this stage of bands live career, I would say it's far better to be 'tight'(starting and stopping together etc) than putting pressure on yourselves to play the covers note for note. The other big thing to watch out for is tempo.it is very easy with all the adrenaline and excitement to launch into the opening number at 100mph. If left unchecked, the whole set can become a train wreck (and I've been involved in a few..) and turn a laid back half hour into a 15 min thrash-fest!! Practice helps, but really work on communicating with the drummer before and during songs (I find smiling, nodding, followed by kicking and throwing stuff at them is the best way to get them to slow down) rather than trying to match their tempo and get into a race, at which point the whole thing spirals out of control. But most importantly enjoy it!

Hi all, My name is Alex and I hail from Burwash, East Sussex. I've been playing for far longer than my ability suggests, but don't see that as a problem as I still smile every time I pick up a bass! My weapon of choice is a Sandberg TM4 combined with a tc electronics BH500 driving BC cabs. I currently ply my trade with a ska/two tone orientated covers band playing pubs, clubs and functions. I'm looking forward to chatting all things bass.