So I went to my first jam session with my bass this weekend and it was awsome!
My wife was going out to jam with some friends and asked me if I wanted to come along.
I decided to go but not bring my guitar (different story for another time). As we were packing to
leave she asked if I was bringing an instrument (and hinted the bass would be a good idea). I
eagerly jumped on the band wagon.
To digress a minute, I've only had the bass for about a month. I've always toyed with the idea of
getting one, but winning a copy of David's book put me over the edge and I went for it.
Now back to our story... We get there and start setting up. Turns out amongst all five of us we
have 2 electric guitars, 4 acoustics and 2 basses. I figured the other bass player knew what he
was doing so I'd just play along and keep my volume on the low side until I felt comfortable. We
started playing and I stuck to the basics (root-V, playing in the box, an occasional foray into
other notes in the scales- Thank you David!).
After about three or four songs the other bassist
told me that he was brand new to bass and thanked me for keeping it simple and not showing him up.
I admitted that I was brand new also.
We played for a good three or four hours. I found that reading the other guitarists chord shapes
and picking up a decent beat became easier as the night went on. It was definately worth doing
and really helped boost my confidence and improve my playing with others skills.
-PD
I stuck to the basics (root-V, playing in the box, an occasional foray into
other notes in the scales-
Some have built entire careers with those bassics. :)
Congrats!
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
I hope you told him to buy a copy of the book! :wink:
Seriously, congrats on your first time out playing bass. Sounds like it went well. Real question is, are you eager to do it again?
Looking forward to more progress reports!
Peace
Good for you! That sounds like a wonderful jam.
I found that reading the other guitarists chord shapes ...
-PD
This is one of the most useful tricks never mentioned, but watch out for that capo! I've learned many songs that way. Some people think I can play guitar because I know most of the chords - but I can't. My eyes know the chords, my fingers don't. :roll:
I hope you told him to buy a copy of the book! :wink:
Seriously, congrats on your first time out playing bass. Sounds like it went well. Real question is, are you eager to do it again?
Looking forward to more progress reports!
Peace
I did in fact mention your book David - I'll find out when we play again if he bought it or not.
Which in fact answers your second question - yes I would love to do it again.
(It was a lot easier going out this time then the first time I played guitar in public.)
-PD
I used to go to an acoustic jam every week in a local pub. One week, for a change, I decided to take the bass - I hadn't been playing it very long, but I did have a few year's worth of guitar playing under my belt! I was amazed how easy it was to play along - one reason being I knew most of the songs, so root/V was easy enough - the other reason, songs I didn't know that well, I could read the chord shapes - I picked that up after a few month's acoustic jamming.
It's not easy to play bass well - but it is easy to jam along just using a few basic notes!
Enjoy the next time!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Well we had our second jam session this past weekend and things went even better than the first one.
David's book was on the table for most of the night and I referred my fellow bassist to it several times.
I even worked with him to show him some easier fingerings to get a good bassline (he was trying to do as much as he could on a single string instead of working all the strings).
At one point we even had an extended version of Locomotive Breath going and I decided to get creative with the two of us playing the bassline using different fingers for a varied tone - I even threw in some V notes myself for variety. With the two basses, three guitars and two singers taking turns it sounded awesome - of course none of us had any recording gear setup to capture the occasion...
The funny thing I noticed was that I could read his girlfriend's fingering of chords much easier than my wife's (maybe because my wife likes to move while playing). [ok keepyour minds out of the gutter on that one 8-)] It worked for me but it wouldn't work for him since he never played guitar and couldn't tell a chord from a ???.
He was actually watching my fingering to see what notes I was picking out.
-PD
Since you are teaching, you are now an expert! 8)
Good for you all around.
