At what point did you first start playing with others?

#61
I was lucky. My best friend at the time took up guitar at about the same time I took up bass guitar. Then we started jamming right away with a guy we knew that had been playing drums for one or two years.

If you can find a few other grasshoppers, it's much more stimulating to learn how to play as a group.
 
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#62
Yonni said:
So, I've been playing for about 17 months but progress has been slow with 2 young kids and studying part time on top of my job. I'm itching to play with others but not confident I know what I'm doing enough to jam. How did you get started jamming and joining a band? Is there a minimum set of knowledge you think you should have before you're ready?
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It is desirable to play with other musicians as soon as you're comfortable with your own instrument. The more you play with other people the more you can learn from working as a group. Don't limit yourself to one genre or style. find others that want to play. Expand your song list and you will be sought out the more versatile you are. You can learn a lot from accomplished players as well as beginners. Stay humble, there's always someone you can learn from.
 
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#64
I had to force myself. I posted an ad in the local Craig's List... ("unskilled talent... 3 chords & a beat") & received replies. Now I was obligated. It has been an incredible experience for me. I will not play in front of others, now I had to do so. I've learned so much with only 3 meet ups.... (yada yada yada yada)
 
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#66
Yonni said:
So, I've been playing for about 17 months but progress has been slow with 2 young kids and studying part time on top of my job. I'm itching to play with others but not confident I know what I'm doing enough to jam. How did you get started jamming and joining a band? Is there a minimum set of knowledge you think you should have before you're ready?
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Hi Yonni. If you've got a home stereo, or practice amp with iTunes input there's nothing stopping you 'playing' with others right now. If you struggle picking up songs by ear you can download transcriptions & tablature to help you get going. Begin with simple songs. In no time you'll feel confident enough to join a band. Have fun!
 
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#67
Yonni said:
So, I've been playing for about 17 months but progress has been slow with 2 young kids and studying part time on top of my job. I'm itching to play with others but not confident I know what I'm doing enough to jam. How did you get started jamming and joining a band? Is there a minimum set of knowledge you think you should have before you're ready?
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you obviously haven't had the primer:
Johnny gets a bass for his 10th birthday. He gets home from from his first lesson and Mum asks what he's learned.
''Today I learned quarter notes on the 1.''
Next week same deal. ''Today I learned eighth notes on the 4''
Following week is way more dramatic as Johnny doesn't get home until 1am. ''Where the hell have you been?''

''Today I learned the turnaround and we had a gig'':)

Lots of truth in that if you are willing to put yourself out there.
 
#68
OK - I am average and I know it. But I bucked up the courage to seek out other muso's and hoped for the best. I got lucky and found a pretty damn good guitar player who had vast experience on stage. We started jamming and hooked up with a drummer. I was really worried I wasn't going to deliver and get booted but turned out, the more we played, the better I got. I constantly sought feedback from the guitar player and his constant response was " you are in time and on chord - that's perfect.." As time passed, I got more confident and started branching into more complex riffs and runs. Now we are a solid, rip snortin, tight crew. I would never have got to this point without playing with others. Sitting at home doing scales is not going to get you the skills to play with others - you need to experience the whole interaction to truly know what it's all about :)
 
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#70
Yonni said:
Cool, what sort of stuff do you play Tyco?
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Hi, We mainly do classic rock stuff. When I started out with many tunes, if it was an easy riff, played that and if it wasn't so easy, I just pumped out the roots and that worked a treat. Then as I got familiar with the songs, started learning the "frilly" stuff. One thing I picked up pretty quickly, generally people listening to you don't know if you played the song "exactly" as it was recorded or not. As long as you can maintain the chord changes in time, people don't really know nor care.
 
#72
I learned to play with others the week I got my first guitar. But that was in the days before internet, and cable TV. So for entertainment and something else to do but drink beer, we played music.
 
#73
About 1970. Basements and Garages. Our keyboardist had a big-old Bx Hammond and Leslie ( and even back then we almost killed ourselves to move it, thus the Farfisa sometimes ), Slingerland drums, and I think I had a $50 bass.

Santana. GFR. Pink Floyd. Yes. KC. ELP. CSN. Hendrix. The Golden Age of Music!

Played my 8th grade graduation dance in the basement of my Catholic grade school, vomiting Bassman speakers as I went along.

God I miss those days... ( I also miss my 360/361 during my high! school years )
 
#74
So...
I just had my first jam! At first I felt really awkward and didn’t know what to do with the notes but pretty quick I started messing around and finding a groove. Next I mixed it up a bit and improvised on the blues scale but adding a maj 3rd too. Great fun we mainly did blues type stuff but also jammed around Take Five too. It was just bass and guitar but I held the beat ok. My pal said it was like I progressed 6 months in 90 minutes, the difference between my playing at the start and the end of the session. We’re going to make it a semi regular thing every month or so. I’m feeling chuffed (that’s British for “stoked”).✌️
 
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#75
i wasn't playing bass at the time (tenor sax), but: in jr. high = jj played guitar, rod played drums, craig played wurlitzer piano, bernie played bass: we wanted to play (in a band) so we agreed on a tune (maybe a few), set a date, and we were off to the races. i was 13-14. i've been rehearsing with some sort of group(s) ever since....


...55 years ago this spring!
 
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#76
I started "jamming" after a couple months of playing. Music is organic and playing with others really jump started my learning process. Focuses me on what I need to learn vs what I want to learn. Also helps me to execute what I am learning.
 
#77
Yonni said:
So, I've been playing for about 17 months but progress has been slow with 2 young kids and studying part time on top of my job. I'm itching to play with others but not confident I know what I'm doing enough to jam. How did you get started jamming and joining a band? Is there a minimum set of knowledge you think you should have before you're ready?
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My first musical experience was playing viola in a 5th grade orchestra class. The instructor spent time with each student to teach them how to play an open string; everyone then played together.

If you know one song, you are good enough to jam on one song. The first rock band I joined knew somewhere between 10 and 14 songs. I learned all of them by ear from the original recordings before our first rehearsal. We rehearsed about three times and a few weeks later we played the songs at a party.

IMHO, The key is finding someone with similar experience and expectations. Two people who can barely play 5 songs can have a blast. If one of the players is a beginner and the other is a seasoned pro, it probably won't be much fun for either player.
 
#78
While I had a bass and went through the Hal Leonard book years before I had only pulled it out from time to time as I was mostly playing fingerstyle on a nylon string guitar. Then I had a week to get ready, with the songs assigned on Wednesday to play bass for the church that next Sunday.
 
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