ive been playing bass for four years now, im quite good, i can play all kinds of different style ranging from funk to indie, metal to punk, hip hop to prog rock. i have been writing tunes, both on guitar and on bass, some with lyrics some without. i have loads of friends in bands that just dont see me as an option. i can listen and accept ideas and opinoins from people and strive to get the feeling right. i just dont understand it.
Yeah, most musicians are pretty cocky. You're probably not as good as you think you are. You might be good, but nobody wants a bassist who is too full of themself.
one thing i know that helps, at least it does for my band, is having a basic knowledge of music theory, knowing what notes are what on your bass, scales and what not. In my band, the rhythm guitarest and myself know a good amount of music theory, and use it to compose our songs, and it makes it alot easier on me to tell him what to play then rather just show him. Our bassist in our band knows almost nothing, and im almost tempted in throwing him out...he is pretty good on the bass, its just that its difficult to make music with him because we dont understand each other very well musically.
i've been playin guitar for almost 3 yrs. i can play guitar alright but i really dont consider myself all that good. i tend to down play skillz i may have because with my luck the next Vai or santana will walk in the room and own me i have seen people on the other extreme and have owned them, even though as i said im not too good. You need to look at the fact that thier bands probly already have bassists. Unless you are uber good chances are they wont just ditch thier current bassist, who they have already written with. you also said you strive to get the feeling right, but often in bands its DO not TRY. i havn't heard you play so i cant pass judgement on it, but if you really want to be in a band keep your head out and look for local bands in need of a bassist. Jam with your friends, get good musical vibes flowin and maybe they'll shoot a part in a band by you sometime. :sunglasse
People use to think 2 much ... If you know a little play of an instrument so come on ! Form a band Some members of band like The Clash, The Electric Prunes or Ramones etc... were often real begginers (they just begin to play a few month before or even begin to play when they form the band!) I wanted to form a band as a singer and guitarist but i'm really too shy to do this...i loose all what i learned and i'm nervous if i played with too many people around...so i'm just a lonesome guy who play really good when he's lonely! So i will maybe form a band but not with a rule too important! If you've got not a big problem of shyness you've got to form an inventive and original unit...it's what music needs in those cold radiophonic times.
if i play in a band it will be a psychedelic road band adventurous and hypnotic (psychedelic era Byrds, jefferson airplane, early Hawkwind etc...) something who fly between clouds...really a spatial music with sometimes original instruments and acid guitar!
yeah i would to just make a band that incorperates, all types of music into their songs. as for those who think i am too big headed, im sorry you see things that way. what i meant when i said im quite good was that i have a genuine passion for my instrument that most people in my hometown dont. i have some of my work on mp3's is there anyway i could put it up here?
How's this for being in a band ... I know a fella named Brenden and he started a band that he decided to call Brenden and Friends, but get this, there's no one else in the band, he plays solo under that name.
I also play bass, and I play in a band that does a little bit of every style, and a band who experiements a lot. BUT most bands seem to stick to one or two certain styles, and it depends on the songs your writing. If you've got a metal type style, and a band you run across is jazz, and you show them those songs but you say you can still play jazz, they're likely to move past you and find someone who writes in a jazz style. But as other people said, you're either being way to cocky about your talents as a bass player and they dont like that/your'e not as good as you claim to be, or their not into the style you play. You actaully gotta PLAY for a band before you get into it, you jsut can walk in the door and say "I'm your new bass player!" And expect them at accept that. And every musician does have a certain style they play it, not nesicarily (sp, sorry) a genre of music like rock, or jazz or whathaveyou, just a certain style. A certain chord they use a lot, a pattern they tend to you use in their music or branch off of. I know that when I play, I tend to use a lot of extremes. I go from really low and slow, to really fast and high. To me it makes the music for interesting and brings bass as an upfront instrument to the band, instead of being in the background holding up the guitar players. Sometimes I have to sit down and really think about branching away from that, as I tend to use it a little too much. It has made for somet interesting songs though, but it doesnt' fit into every song I play. When you write lyrics, do you tend to invision a bassline or a drumpart along with it? When I write lyrics, I do that a lot. I'll be scribbling down random words, but I can feel a bassline with it. So I'll be sitting there in my room with my bass singing my heart out trying to see if it works, and then I'll have someone who plays guitar come over and see what they think and build on it from there. So that's also something you could try - Go to a band with lyrics and a bassline/drumpart, play the bassline for them and sing the lyrics, and see if the guitar player has something to put on top of it, or if keyboard has an idea ect ect. That what tends to work for me when I go to the people I play with with new ideas and songs. Good luck to you, I know a bass player without people to play with/a band is not a happy bassplayer. But just look for people to jam out with too, it doens't all have to be about a concrete band, it's all about the music remember Haha I hope that made some sense... Good luck once again.
being in a band is like being in a marriage....i've been in a band for three years nows...its tough work....
