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Does age matter?


DJpullchord

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I think the bigger age differences matters less as you get past a certain age.

A 20 year difference in our band works ok, because the youngest is mid 40's.   If the band had the youngest member at 20, i doubt whether anyone 40 years or older would get a look in

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38 minutes ago, fleabag said:

I think the bigger age differences matters less as you get past a certain age.

A 20 year difference in our band works ok, because the youngest is mid 40's.   If the band had the youngest member at 20, i doubt whether anyone 40 years or older would get a look in

Must depend on the band and the individuals involved. We've got a 23 y/o and a 60 y/o in the same band, but it works cos there's a whole range in between. If there were four 20 year olds I'm guessing the 60 y/o would feel much more out of place and vice versa.

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For many years I was usually the youngest in bands I was in. Very fortunate in getting to play with some people who were better players with more gigging experience than myself which helped me enormously, both musically and socially.

Now it’s a different situation - my main band are all in their mid 50’s to mid 60’s, and although there are maybe 10 years between some of us, the gap seems less as you all get older. The really odd part is that we also have two cellists who are in their early twenties, and even the massive age gap there doesn’t cause any problems. After over 45 years of gigging, I’m very lucky to be working with such great people.

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7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Must depend on the band and the individuals involved. We've got a 23 y/o and a 60 y/o in the same band, but it works cos there's a whole range in between. If there were four 20 year olds I'm guessing the 60 y/o would feel much more out of place and vice versa.

Similar here.  Mid 20s singer, mid 60s drummer. Guitarist mid to late 30s and myself and keys are in our 50s. We all like the music we play, and we get on well enough socially, so it’s all good.

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My band is called "Generation Mix" because of the big age difference between us! I am 62, Nick our Guitarist is 59. Paul our sax player is 57. Next is one of our singers who is mid 30's followed by our drummer who is 19 and the youngest is our singer Ellie who is my granddaughter and is 14 at the end of this month. But don't  be fooled by her age she has a big voice for someone so young! This was done when she was just 12 playing for friends at a private do with just me, our Guitarist and Ellie. 

Listen with headphones as was only recorded on a phone. 

 

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One very surprising thing (to me, anyway) has come out of this thread, and it’s that the majority of members/contributors seem to be shall we say 'of mature years'.  I suppose at 72 I am at the upper end, but when I joined I expected to be in a very small minority.

BTW, I’m scheduled in tomorrow evening's church band with

Keys player in her late teens,

Drummer in his 30s

Leader/lead vocals in her 40s

guitarist - 50s

BV in his 60s.

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On 14/02/2020 at 13:59, DJpullchord said:

I’m looking for a new band to play bass or guitar in. Current band are just too busy for me. In the last four bands, I’ve been the youngest (I’m currently 43), by about ten years usually. When we play it obviously doesn’t matter but with the other stuff it does, musical references, inspiration, song selection (I really don’t like ‘brown sugar’),

Am I wrong to enquire about the age of band members when looking for a new band? As we all know age doesn’t matter...

I'd rephrase the question: what should I look out for in a new band?

To start off with you are in a good situation, it's far better to be doing too much than too little and people will want an already gigging bassist over one who isn't, don't rush, take some time and look for the right band for you.

Is it really genre or is it the shared experiences and outlook you want? It's easier to be mates with someone when you can say do you remember when... and they do. Musical tastes? I'm the old guy in our band and I'm the one who wants to do the newer material, though for our band that's the 90's :) You are always going to be playing older material in pubs, by and large there aren't a lot of young people going to see covers bands and as someone said most people stick with the music of their teenage years, even more true of audiences than band members. Dan Dare is right though, being able to relate to the rest of the band is important too, nothing wrong in looking for some of that.

Take your time and look at the set list of any band you consider. Go and see a prospective band if you can, what's the vibe? Do they look like they are sociable and friendly or has the bassist just fallen out with the drummer and the singer fighting the guitarist. Have a look at their current gig list, if they are out every other weekend and you are looking for 20-30 a year then is that what you want? You'll have to compromise on something but do a bit of research and remember you are auditioning them as much as they are auditioning you.. Good Luck

Edited by Phil Starr
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Age doesn’t matter. After all, I met my wife when I was 35 and she had just turned 20... I’m now 51 and she turns 36 in May 😁

My last band, I was the eldest by far, the singer / frontman being the youngest with a fourteen year spread. My current band, we’re much closer in age - 53-45. 
 

And in answer to the earlier question about who’d want to join One Direction - if I were eighteen, yes, like a shot! 

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22 hours ago, micguy said:

I play in churches where it's talent that matters. I'm 61 , and sometimes play with a drummer who's...17? (I've been saying 16 for at least a year, so , yeah probably 17). We have a real mix of folks.

I did a one off gig last year with a 16 yr old drummer and 61 yr old lead guitar.

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