Have you ever tried getting a new band together? It’s not easy. Many people are forced to turn to websites such as Craigslist or Bandmix to find local musicians, and it doesn’t always turn out well.
9/10 times you’ll find people aren’t serious about the music. They want to ‘play band’ rather than play in a band. They overestimate their abilities, and if you can actually get them to meet up with you it’s a huge letdown.
Fortunately for you, this is especially true with bassists. This means that if you actually care about your instrument (I’m assuming you do, since you’re on this site!) you’re at a real advantage.
Let me tell you a story. I played guitar and drums before I began playing bass. There are plenty of guitarists in my area, quite a few drummers as well. Bassists? Not so much. I tried getting a band together and we had everything we needed http://kyleschen.com/tag/enlightenment/ except for a bassist. Like most groups eager to get started, we utilized Craigslist to look for a bassist. We actually got a lot of replies! Here’s what they typically looked like:
“Hey duuddeee, im a good bassist lets jam”
Setting a good impression from the start, right? 🙂
Well, we were desperate. We ended up inviting 4 different “bassists” to our practice space. 3 didn’t show up. The one that did was a disaster. He didn’t play a single bassline we gave to him. Instead, he cranked his amp up ridiculously loud and played some random garbage over our music. It was horrific.
So what does this have to do with you? Well, I’m going to assume that you’re not one of these people. I’m going to assume you actually care about playing bass. You want to play bass – and you want to be good at it. By having this sort of devotion to your instrument, you’re probably already ahead of 90% of other bassists in your area. There are bands right now waiting for someone like you to come along and send them to the next level.
The reality is, bassists like you are an asset. People like the ones I mentioned earlier have set a low impression for bassists by other people. Guitarists don’t expect you to be good at your instrument. It’s sad, but it’s true. When you show up to an audition actually knowing something about music, you’re going to completely wow them.
Are You Good Enough?
I asked the same thing before I started working with other musicians. As I mentioned, the entry bar is lower since you’re a bassist and not as much as expected from you since there’s lower competition.
If you’re joining an existing band, ask yourself these four simple questions:
- Can I get to practice on time, in a good mood?
- Can I play more than just the root of chords?
- Am I actively looking to get better?
- Do I care about playing bass?
If you answered yes to those, you’re ready to join a band. If you want to start your own band, the only question you need to answer is:
“Am I good enough to do everything I want to do, or can I get to that point with practice?”
Yes? Good. Start a band (or join one, if you’d like).
That’s it. Quit procrastinating – go put out an ad right now. The quicker you get started, the better. There are people waiting for good bassists like you!
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