lozkerr

If you've gone in that time from complete n00b to learning songs and, crucially, being self-critical about it, you've done very, very well. Big-up rispek, and I hope you really enjoy your journey. You'll get a lot of satisfaction out of discovering what you can achieve on the bass.

You could pop an MP3 in here if you're happy to distribute freebies, but TBH I think you deserve a few quid for this. I've been listening to it on and off throughout the day and I'm still giggling at the lyrics - they're so true to life. I've had a few ideas for a pi55-taking video, too. If you wanted to distribute paid-for copies via SoundCloud, @PunkPonyPrincess could help you out - she's put out a few singles there. I particularly like (I Don't Want) Your Germs. If you wanted to send me a high-quality MP3 via PM, could I slip you a fiver via PayPal?

Deffo a plus point - it's always good to learn from someone who walks the walk. My bass tutor is a gigging pro and I'm currently bribing Ellen O'Reilly not to laugh while she tries to teach me to sing and play via Skype. Experience definitely helps. I thought Dad was a little harsh, but he did echo a point that occurred to me too - learning exclusively via tab can make it harder to progress beyond a certain point, unless you're happy just playing along to your favourite songs. Nothing wrong with that at all - we all want different things in our musical lives. It definitely makes it easier to know where the notes are on the fretboard and how scales work. Even if you don't read the dots, seeing fret 5 on the E string and instantly knowing that's the low A, fret 6 is B flat, fret 5 on the G string is C and so on makes it easier to progress than relying on the numbers. I hope your tutor's helping you to master that relationship - if he isn't, he really should be, even if it's starting with just a simple major scale.

@Nail Soup, is there a purchase / download option on there? This song's cheered me up immensely.

I like this. A lot. I didn't have bass pushed on me - I chose it. It just felt right - I'd tried one of those screechy things with too many strings but it never really resonated with me. Then, far too many years later, I picked up a bass and knew instantly that I'd found my instrument. What I find amusing is watching the guitarers shredding in the spotlight oblivious to the fact that their bassists are driving their performances...

Neither can I. I find tabs as meaningless as Sanskrit. I'm glad it's no just me!

@Woodinblack beat me to it. Don't beat yourself up if you can't memorise a tab, which may not be accurate anyway. That also applies to those in books and published scores - I have quite a few where the dots are a fair way off the original recordings. Unless you're in a tribute band, where different rules apply, the things to remember are (a) stay in the right key, (b) stay in time and (c) hold the pulse and drive the song. That's the crucial thing - in fact it's more important than memorising every foible or mastering a tab that may have been put together by someone with a tin ear. I learnt that the hard way when learning Losing My Religion. The tab I found had some weird syncopated phrases in it which threw me completely. Although they may well have been faithful to the original, it became apparent from listening to the CD that apart from the middle eight, intro and coda, the main pulse was 'one, two and three four, one, two and three four' throughout with a slight variation leading into the chorus of 'one, two, three and four and one, two and three four'. Once I got my head round that, I could drive it quite hard and still keep in time. Remember - if it sounds right, it is right.

This is how I do it, at least for simple and repetitive basslines, by breaking the song into phrases. Sorry it's a wee bit blurred - camera wouldn't focus properly for some reason. This one has five phrases, and I learnt each one separately. The pencilled notes show the running order, with the 'v' indicating where the verses are in case I get lost. As there's so much repetition in this song, I learnt the riff and chorus first, and then the ending, bridge and intro in that order. Took a couple of days or so.

Don't encourage the poor guy. He'll catch GAS quick enough once he finds the Marketplace!

+1 for this. Also, if you rely on tabs, you may find yourself playing the five like a four, using the B string as a thumb rest. The big advantage of the five is that you get two full octaves over five frets everywhere on the fretboard, and to make best use of that and minimise shifting, you often have to use different fingering to that indicated in the tab. If you can read the dots, you'll have a massive advantage.

I'm glad it's not just me, although that doesn't help you any. It does sound like something's broken recently, as up until the last few weeks I'd been getting stuff regularly off Amazon. Mainly DVDs, CDs and music books, plus a few wee bits and pieces for our lighting rig. Up until the business with the EUB case, it was working really well. I'm a bit concerned, as I need to sort out my kids' Christmas presents in the next few weeks.

Anyone else had strange experiences with Amazon tracking? I'm beginning to wonder if Amazon and Parcelforce are having a bit of a handbag moment. Twice in the last few weeks, I've had some weird and self-contradictory notifications from Amazon. The first was when I bought a Stagg EUB case from Germany. The delivery dates kept changing - first it was in the UK, then it wasn't, then it was going to be delivered on a Saturday, then it didn't turn up, then radio silence and then it eventually arrived the following week. No delivery notification from Amazon. A similar thing's happened today. I bought a couple of bits off Amazon last week - nothing hugely valuable, just a multi-region DVD player and XLR to 1/4" jack adapter - and after the initial emailed order notification, nothing. Tracking it on Amazon showed it was out for delivery for collection from my local post office and should arrive by 8pm last night. When I checked this morning, it was showing as having been delivered on Saturday. Clicking 'track package' brought up a notification that delivery had failed, Parcelforce were hanging onto it and could I please phone them. Well, the Parcelforce depot is miles away and the post office is just round the corner so I wandered down there. And there it was - arrived on Saturday. Has anyone else encountered this? It sounds like something's broken, or they've outsourced IT support to Track and Trace.

Welcome aboard! I'm in Edinburgh as well.

Bought MrTea's Stagg EUB and really pleased with it. Great transaction, bass well packed and exactly as described. Highly recommended! 👍👍

Howlround Feedback for me 🙂

The Drugs Don't Work - the Verve.

Looks nice! I'm tempted to bid, but I'd be scared of damaging it - I've always been a bit accident prone...

Plenty, but I'm not a big fan of Hollywood films and never have been. I recognised one or two of the other names, but if you'd asked me what they were famous for, I genuinely would not have known.

I got 1/10. At least I know who Homer Simpson is!

Oh Lord. I'm so sorry to read this. I can't think of a worse place to be. Are you any good at DIY? That's not in any way meant to be a flippant comment - there is a lot you can do yourself if you put your mind to it. Over the years, I've retiled a roof, re-plumbed a house and flat, done plastering, wallpapering, laid flooring and carpet, installed fireplaces and curtain rails, replaced wiring including light fittings, switches and power points, installed kitchen units, replaced doors, laid carpets and slapped paint everywhere. It can be done. There are some things you can't realistically or safely do yourself without experience and/or qualifications, such as structural work, messing around with gas fittings or certifying wiring installations, but you can certainly do a heck of a lot of the spadework yourself. The secrets are - break big jobs, such as a room refurb, into lots of little ones, think about the order in which things need to be done, don't be afraid to have a go, practise techniques you're not sure about, learn from your mistakes, buy good-quality tools and know when you must get the professionals in. For example, once you've mastered making watertight soldered joints - Yorkshire ring fittings and a good blowtorch are your friends there - you can fit an entire gas-fired central heating system yourself except for the boiler - that is most definitely a pro job unless you're a Gas Safe engineer. Fitting a boiler is going to be a lot cheaper than paying someone to do the whole system from scratch. And you can work as a pace that suits you and your finances. It's a bit like becoming a musician, really. Also, and this is crucial to maintaining your morale - keep one room spotless and used for living only. It sounds like you already have that, so keep it that way. No tools or materials in there, no filthy work clothes, no effing nowt. Not even overnight. Because when you start to feel overwhelmed - and I can promise you, you will - you need to be able to shut the door on the carnage outside and retreat to your own space for some R&R.

I've been very lucky - like @knirirr, I'm working in research IT. Currently slogging away on covid-19 work, as it happens. When I was offered the gig, I had to pay my own travel between Leeds, where I lived at the time, and London. When lockdown came, we switched overnight from traipsing into central London to fully remote working. I should have a nice wee nest egg now after six months of WFH, but inevitably I've spent it on Patreon subs, singing lessons and buying gear for the band even though it's anyone's guess when a bunch of superannuated weekend warriors will take to the stage again. But at least we'll be fully tooled-up and good to go when that day finally dawns. I know I'm very lucky. Some of the full-time musos I know are really struggling and even though we're not exactly besties, I worry about them and feel very guilty for being more secure than they are.

I do wish you hadn't mentioned that. My credit card's itching now...

I'm out. Snapped up a cheap EUB from the marketplace. I'd been toying with trying an EUB for a while, but couldn't justify the price and didn't really want the hassle of moving it on if I didn't take to it. But £140 isn't going to break the bank. Still, at least I made it to the end of September! (I've also bought a PA, camcorder and lighting rig but was going to claim a pass for those on the basis that they're for the whole band, not just me.)

Me too, Silvia. An online show is nothing like the buzz o the real thing. I'm just hoping it'll be back next year.