Next Steps in my Bass Journey?

Frosteeman

Frosteeman

Apr 26, 2024
53
149
711
Lehigh Valley, PA
#1
Up front, a couple disclaimers:

I am still very new to TalkBass and it is possible that this is not in the most appropriate forum. If I have made some egregious mistake, I will humbly accept redirection to the appropriate place.

Second, this is a bit of a ramble and could get long. I'm mostly just trying to collect my thoughts on where I am in my bass journey, shout them into the void, and maybe get some useful advice back.

That being said, let's get started.

I've played music on and off since the year 2000. I started on guitar and it was my primary instrument for the majority of that time. I dabbled in some other stringed instruments here and there, including bass, but I didn't dedicate myself to any of them until recently. For the past 3 years, I have found a new fascination in and have primarily played bass guitar. I know I want to continue down a path with it in a few ways, I'm just unsure of how.

#1 - Education
Currently, the vast majority of my playing (bass and guitar) is via Rocksmith, essentially Guitar Hero with real instruments for those who don't know. And it's fun, but apart from some technique stuff, it doesn't teach much more than how to follow colored dots on a screen. It will get you started on learning some songs, but I don't have very good retention once I'm away from the game.

I've tried teaching myself from a book, but I'd really like to get some online or in-person lessons. I will do my own searching for threads and reviews, but I would welcome any thoughts on progress-based online lessons like the SBL Player's Path or BassBuzz Beginner to Badass. And I would especially appreciate any recommendations for teachers in the Lehigh Valley. (Links to good ska threads would be appreciated, too as that's a genre I'm particularly interested in digging into.)

If I choose to do online lessons, that brings me to:

#2 - Playing at Home
I live in a second-floor apartment. Playing out loud through an amp at home is something I just don't want to attempt right now. Rocksmith uses a USB cable to the computer, and when I'm not playing the game, I have a Vox amPlug headphone amp. And it's fine, it's just annoying moving things around and figuring out the signal chain if you want to play with any effects. It does have an aux jack, but most phones don't have headphone jacks anymore.

I will do my own searches for ways to play quietly at home and still have things like Spotify or online lessons in the same ears, but links to threads or options would be appreciated.

And finally:

#3 - Playing with Other People
This is the big reason why I posted this in Miscellaneous. I used to play in church. When I was a teenager I played with some guys from church and we did a couple talent shows. I jammed a couple times in high school, I joined the school jazz band one year, and I did a couple things in college. But the main place that I ever actually played with other people was at church, and I did it at multiple churches. It was always a great and fun experience and the thing I remember most fondly about church.

But I don't go to church anymore. The reasons are long and complicated, this forum isn't the place for them, and they're ultimately not that important to the thread. The point is, I don't go to a place on a regular basis where playing music is something I can volunteer to do. And if I did start going to church again, it likely wouldn't be one where I could play bass. I don't have any other third spaces where I can make connections with other musicians either. I definitely feel like playing music with other people is something that's missing, but I don't know where or how to make it happen.

I'm pretty introverted. I don't get too involved socially at work. And I'm not confident enough in my abilities to answer Craigslist ads for bassists or to show up at a jam at a bar. I'm not even looking to gig. Anything starting out would be really low stakes, just playing for the fun of it.

So I guess I'm asking where you all go to make musician friends and connections that can turn into opportunities to play. What are some of your third spaces where you've found like-minded people to play with? Do you have any advice for an introverted bassist to put themselves out there? I don't know, I feel like there should be more questions here, but the reason for posting here is to hopefully start a discussion. Maybe, if it makes more sense, I'll create a separate thread entirely for advice for introverts.

Again, please let me know if this isn't the right forum or format for this kind of discussion. I will gladly break this up into separate threads in different forums if I have to.
 
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#4
Definitely you will benefit from live lessons. No player is too good to have a teacher critique and guide them through choosing their habits. Make that a priority if you can. Also teachers have other students. Those other students may be looking for just such a bass player. It’s all part of your network.
And there’s a School of Rock in Easton. I’ve never done it but I have friends who do and they are experienced players. Talk about a bunch of players looking for other players.
 
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#7
Killing Floor said:
Definitely you will benefit from live lessons. No player is too good to have a teacher critique and guide them through choosing their habits. Make that a priority if you can. Also teachers have other students. Those other students may be looking for just such a bass player. It’s all part of your network.
And there’s a School of Rock in Easton. I’ve never done it but I have friends who do and they are experienced players. Talk about a bunch of players looking for other players.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'll definitely be looking into lessons in the near future. School of Rock is an interesting idea, if only because they assign you to a band which eliminates the need to look for people. Easton is a bit of a hike, but it might be something worth looking into later.

Lance Bunyon said:
Craigslist to find people at your playing level to jam with.
Just a point of interest, R&B and soul music were basically genres of music invented by people who were church gospel expats. You're in good (and myriad) company being an ex church player.
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My church experience was more CCM than gospel, and it was also primarily on guitar. I did fill in on bass once or twice. And I understand a lot of people come from church. Can't tell you how many interviews I've heard where the musician got their start in church.
 
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#9
Don’t write off blues jams (unless you really dislike playing blues). In my experience playing guitar and bass at jams, you’ve got a lot of leeway on bass, just keep decent time, don’t worry about speed, stick to basics at the start, and you likely won’t be expected to improvise solos like the guitar players.
 
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#10
Frosteeman said:
And I'm not confident enough in my abilities to answer Craigslist ads for bassists or to show up at a jam at a bar.
Click to expand...
IME, many people on Craigslist are too confident in their abilities. That said, there are a lot of people on CL who are just looking to play with others simply for enjoyment. Ignore the ads from people who believe that they are somehow going to be the next big thing. The best reason to play with other people is that it's a great way to grow as a player, and to find your level. You'll probably discover you're better than you think you are, which builds confidence and will encourage you to seek out more playing situations. You will also discover what you need to work on in order to improve further.

There's nothing you can't do, there's just stuff you don't know (yet).
 
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#11
Nothing much to add to what folks have said, but I'd definitely seek out in person lessons.

A good teacher will not just teach you, they'll keep you honest and will likely be able to give you a push in the right direction toward opportunities to pay with others.

Good luck!
 
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#12
Show up at an open mic night. Maybe bring a guitar along with your bass. See what happens.

Probably what helped my skills the most was being fortunate enough to fall into a regular band situation where the guitar players were more skilled than I was, and they needed a bass player. This is not that uncommon. If you are competitive in your natural demeanor like I am, you find a way to catch up quick.
 
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#13
Welcome to TalkBass.

For the "where to meet people", I'll echo what others have already said. Craigslist. Not everyone on there is looking to add a pro to their band. Some people are just looking for people to jam/play with. At worst, you could make your own CL ad saying you're looking for other novice musicians to play with.
 
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#15
Jam sessions in blues bars has been my best way to get in touch with musicians for me so far.
You go there and just talk with people and some connections happen as they all have the same passion.
Surprisingly, many old musicians are quite often ex-professional musicians in rock bands and they can get you in touch with very interesting people.
 
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#16
Thank you all for your great advice. I'll definitely be looking into lessons. I know there's a place around here somewhere that does blues jams. Maybe I'll drop in one day just to listen and get a vibe. I'll keep a closer eye on CL too.

red_rhino said:
The best reason to play with other people is that it's a great way to grow as a player, and to find your level. You'll probably discover you're better than you think you are, which builds confidence and will encourage you to seek out more playing situations. You will also discover what you need to work on in order to improve further.

There's nothing you can't do, there's just stuff you don't know (yet).
Click to expand...

This is the big thing for me. It's one thing to play along with songs and on your own, but there really is no replacement for playing with other people. I feel that goes extra for bass. You've all given me a lot to consider and try. Thanks!
 
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#17
Greetings fellow bassist/introvert/former-church-musician! I've had pretty good luck getting connected with other musicians via BandMix.com. A few years ago, when I got back into playing after taking a break for several years, I found a great classic rock band in need of a bassist. Really terrific guys and I was with them for a couple of years. When I moved to a new city 2 years ago and started a new band, I found our guitarist and drummer via BandMix.
 
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#18
+1 for open mics and jams. Just go and meet people, you don't have to play the first time you go, just go check it out.

Around me, there are lots of open jams for all abilities. The best jams are run by very experienced gigging musicians who are very helpful and supportive of new players. Huge networking opportunity to find like-minded people, people become friends and jam on their own, form bands, etc.

EDIT: School of Rock is a viable option. I know several local instructors and have seen the adult band performances. It's a well structured program and they work on challenging tunes the ensemble can handle. Around here, they put on public shows at local bars and it's always a big friends and family turnout.
 
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#19
Welcome to TB.

It's good that you're ready for some lessons. I spent a good deal of time on SBL when I began my bass journey. There's a lot of great content, but I got in on a great deal early on - it's gotten a lot pricier since then. It's worth a couple of weeks of free trial to see if it's what you need. The fact that you struggle remembering things when you're not playing your "game", indicates that you could benefit form some real musical instruction so that you understand why you're playing what you're playing and not just chasing little dots across a monitor.

For playing at home, I use an amp that has both an aux input and a headphone option and practice about 95% through headphones. I pipe my play along music in the aux input and can hear my bass and the music in the headphones and nobody is the wiser.

Finding the right people to jam with is the hardest thing once you get reasonably proficient. First and foremost: you need to have some songs you can get through to play with people. For me there's nothing worse than the jam where nobody has any common ground. And people don't want to sit through nothing but learning curve.

Once you have some material you can start the search for other people. If you're shy, open mics won't be your friend. As a bassist, I find them to be pretty useless anyway - IME, open mics tend to be for the show offs and wanna-bes. My first bass jam was with people I knew. But I've been on many auditions to unknowns since then and that gets easier every time as your experience and confidence grows. I've used Craig's list pretty exclusively to find opportunities. I did land a couple of sub gigs through Facebook and best of all worlds, was recommended to join one band. Yes there are landmines to tip toe through, but with patience you can find something. In your case, I'd probably put my own post up indicating that you're a beginner bassist looking for some people to jam with. That gets harder without having a space to jam in, but something will usually come along. But you need to be able to get through a handful of songs
 
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