I am fairly new to Talkbass and this is my first Post. I am 48 years young, and just started playing the bass 8 months ago. My son is 16 and plays guitar and piano, and I mainly started just to play along with him. I greatly enjoy playing and learning about music with my son, but I have also developed a love for the bass on my own. I had very little previous music experience. I play every chance I get sometimes 2-3 hours a day. I take lessons once a week and I have a very good instructor. I started playing in a band about 4 months ago, and my playing has improved rapidly by playing with other musicians. The band also should begin playing out very soon. On top of all that I am constantly watching instructional videos, and read about music theory, scales, chords, etc (in many cases on this forum). I work as a law enforcement officer and will be able to fully retire at the fairly young age of 55. I am in very good physical condition. My children are all 16 or older and should be mostly self sufficient by the time I retire. I will also have my house paid off by then. The questions I have are 1) Would it be realistic for someone who began playing the bass as late as I did to ever make any kind of substantial money playing the bass? Keeping in mind I would mainly be interested in just supplementing my retirement income. 2) If it is possible, what are the main things I should be doing and working on over the next few years, and what advice would you give me to get to that point? and 3) Am I crazy? I have already learned a great deal from reading through these forums and I look forward to your responses. Also, never mind answering the last question I think I already know the answer.
First of all, welcome to TB and to bass! No you're not crazy, to answer the last question first.
For the other questions; music is not an easy business to make much money in, especially if you're getting into it late in life. There are some guys around TB who actually pay their rent playing, but most of us are weekend warriors at most. Having said that, it's not unrealistic to aim to get into a regularly-gigging bar band and bring home $100 a night or so. Depending on where you are and how far you have to drive to gigs, that might really be a net of $80 or 90 after counting for gas and such. If the band is busy and gigging half a dozen times a month, that can add up into a nice bonus (by my standards, anyway), but not enough to live on, obviously.
The main problem with relying on that is that bands are fragile things. Sometimes they just can't market themselves effectively. Sometimes personalities clash or drama arises and the whole thing implodes. The Band Management forums here at TB are full of cautionary tales, angry vents, and good advice on these issues. I played in a classic rock band for a couple of years where we were gigging almost every weekend; then one day, out of the blue, they up and fired me, because their old bassist (that I replaced) became available again and they decided they wanted their buddy back in the band. It happens.
The guys who do make good money (better than $100 a gig) are typically in the wedding/corporate function bands. Those slots are not too easy to come by, as there are not nearly as many of them as there are casual garage bands, and the slots in them are usually pretty coveted and go to people with strong skills and presentation, comfortable switching from jazz to pop to country. It's not impossible that you could get a chance to get into one, though.
As far as things to work on - music theory is a big boost. Lots of people don't know it, or not very well, but being able to identify the basics of what key a song is in and what notes go with which chord will hugely speed up your ability to pick up new music and expand your repertoire. That means scales and chords.
Train your ear, practice learning songs and playing along by listening to them rather than having to consult a TAB. Learning to read music is a useful skill - most bar bands don't use sheet music, but you might find yourself having an opportunity to play in a pit orchestra or a church or a recording session where you would need it.
There's also the issue of just chops - Joaquin des Pres' book "Bass fitness" has a lot of exercises for building up speed and accuracy. At the same time, think about musicality - remember that just because you CAN play lots of notes fast doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Try and learn the three major playing techniques - fingers, pick and slap. It's OK if you're better at one than the others (I utterly suck at slap), but the more you can do - the more you can do.
And learn songs! That's what all this is for, right? Learning your favorite music is a huge amount of fun. If you're aiming to be a working bassist, you should also build up a repertoire of popular favorites. If you Google the DJs' lists of most requested songs from last year, that's a great way to find out what people want to listen to out there (which is often not the same thing as what musicians want to play).
Have fun and good luck!
Supplement, sure. But only if your band gets good and there are good paying gigs available in your area.
Perfectly reasonably to look at music as a retirement avocation / maybe income supplement, but don't plan on getting rich and famous off it.
