Hi again,
I don't think anything matters except whether you all feel like getting together and giving it a go.
The group I play with has an age span of 50 years - literally half a century. We could be each other's sons, grandads, brothers or whatever in a bewildering range of permutations. :shock: Two of the members do part time teaching, two could be said to be still at the student/intermediate stage. There is no direct relationship between ages and competence, and one of the best players usually plays an unfamiliar type of instrument that he is a brand new student at. We usually all turn up, but even that is not always true - due to commitments like school holidays, doctor's appointments, family outings, etc. We don't use either a drummer or a bass player (although some of us could play either if we chose to, and very occasionally one of us does). Sometimes other people join in for a song or two (or more). The youngest was a 4 year old who added some juice bottle percussion while his Dad played some mouth wateringly excellent banjo.
NONE of these things is any kind of problem. We don't have an album to release to a deadline, a stadium gig on the weekend, or a bunch of incompatible ego driven fantasies about what we're doing. We just all enjoy each other's company and the fun of playing music. If you play solo then you need to be reasonably good at filling the entire sound space - preferably with your voice too if you can. As a duo, you can each contribute less for the same end result, and so on. If somebody has limited ability then it's not too tough to work out an arrangement where they provide whatever their current skill level allows.
At the level you're talking about, the only thing that really matters is whether you all get on and can maintain interest and enthusiasm for playing together. If you all have at least some understanding of how music fits together, and a willingness to contribute whatever is best for the overall sound, then the musical stuff shouldn't be so tough to sort out. It's unlikely to immediately all fall into place, but working through who play what, and how and when, will be an invaluable part of everybody's musical education - and a blast when it works! :mrgreen:
Best of luck
Chris
Amen!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I'm gonna be the evil one here. As it was said before, it does depend on the attitude. However, it also depends on maturity. I don't know the 16-17 year old crowd around here, but my son is 15 as are most of his friends. That group is beyond a doubt, retarded. I ain't joking. One of them has not even figured out how to drink soda without it going out her nose, and I won't even go into detail what comes out when she actually speaks. HO-LEEE CRAP!
But the worst is the general 'doing-stupid-stuff' phase that they're going through as High School Freshman. There are a couple of his friends that I would play with, and a couple that I absolutely would not due to the retard-factor.
On the opposite spectrum, even the kids that I would consider playing with will have their moments, as we all do. The next question, is do you have enough patience to deal with that? You know, Earthly important stuff interupting practice, like texting girlfriends, deciding to go to the bathroom and stopping for 10 minutes to watch TV on the way to AND from the bathroom, etc. Hell, I know 50 year olds like that. Got enough ADD meds to spike their sodas with?
Oh, and usually, there's this one retard whose mere attendance is enough to make the groups retard level grow exponentially. Identify and eliminate. You'll spot him easy enough. He's the one that's convinced the others that playing discuss from your driveway out into the cul-de-sac with landscaping bricks is not only a fun packed good idea, but intellectually stimulating as well because of the international Olympian flavor.
I rambled.
Bottom line, make sure they can handle playing with the big boys. I'm sure baby-sitting week after week will be appreciatted by their parents (heh, and neighbors), but not your job.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I hear ya Roy! But ........ it depends on the kid. Here is the 16 year old little immature a-hole I gigged with and what he's doing now. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7357260/a/Lift+The+Curse.htm I'd like to think I'm a little responsable for War Pigs being in there. When we had our little group we discussed goals. I said I'd like to play in the park at our local summer festival. Haven't done it yet. Ethan said he wanted to be on Head Bangers Ball on MTV........ Been there done that for him. :twisted: Their songs have also been played on that stupid Spike TV wrestling. One wunderkin I thouroughly enjoyed jamming with.
Edit: I noticed his name not in these credits .. he started as the bass player but is now the drummer. They recently toured Europe. Here is his myspace ... he is also a talented tatoo artist! Want to be on his friends list? Tell him TR sent you.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=131974657
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
deciding to go to the bathroom and stopping for 10 minutes to watch TV on the way to AND from the bathroom, etc. Hell, I know 50 year olds like that. Got enough ADD meds to spike their sodas with?
Actually, yes I do cause I'm the one w/ ADD :D
I've gotten in touch w/ a couple of people via craigslist, I think we're going to try to go the more mature route, with the exception of my son. But he's more serious and focused than I am, which is pretty sad since he's 16 and I'm a couple weeks shy of 36.
