Sure it does take a look at this.
The Banjo is off to the right of the Upright Bass
3 Likes
Sorry Iām late to this thread @autumnsdad1990. That is very cool that youāre doing a jam. I canāt give you any advice other than to just be yourself and donāt over-promise. The most important thing is to be humble about your bass skills. Then when you show them what a badass you really are, they will be totally wowed.
3 Likes
Uh, yeah. It makes the girls want to dance. Whenitās next to the bass
2 Likes
Nice save 
2 Likes
1 Like
While not everyone in the band knows this but the bassist control the band. Thereās no song without a bass part, unless itās acoustic.
If this is your first session then just enjoy the experience, it only happens once. Iād definitely stick with the drummer. Most time, itās the drummer who can not keep it together if all the players are at the same level. Iād also take a wide shot video recording for later. You can quickly spot your area of opportunities when you watch it.
Above all else, have fun!
5 Likes
Pam, you are always awesome. Thank you so much.
4 Likes
That is an excellent point
3 Likes
Yeah, i got no promises. Ima show up and do what i can. Hopefully Iāll keep up. If not this time. Iāll get a good idea what i need to work on. The goal is to play well. I play better now than when i started, so itās an achievable goal. So if i canāt do it now, thatās what practice is for.
3 Likes
I can see why youād be nervous, but it sounds like the other guys are less than professional too, and just wanna play for kicks, so Iām sure itāll be fine. Let us know how it went!
5 Likes
Yeah. Drummers too. Bands can survive a bad guitarist, but bad drummer? Youāre out of luck 
5 Likes
This is so true. All but one band Iāve been involved the drummer seems to be a level above. My keyboard players is levels above everyone on each instrument bass, drum, guitar. Heās a child prodigy at a very young age he plays Latin jazz with members 3-4 times his age, lol.
Nothing frustrates a bassist more than a drummer who can not keep time. When he started dragging and especially drop the volume, itās hell on earth.
3 Likes
Itās not just about drum OR bass, itās about rhythm. They are both part of the rhythm sections, which are fundamental to music. Sure, people may be drooling over a fancy guitar solo, but what are they dancing to? Thatās right, the rhythm sectionā¦
It fascinates me how many times Iāve had to point this out to friends and family. They just donāt appreciate this.
There is truth in this songā¦
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYIaWeVL1JM
āRhythm is a dancer
Itās a soulās companion
You can feel it everywhere
Lift your hands and voices
Free your mind and join us
You can feel it in the airā
Anyway, that was a bit of a tangentā¦ 
4 Likes
Phil Collins felt it in the air too 
4 Likes
Because Phil Collins was so musically attenuated that he can hear the beat of butterfly wings.
3 Likes
If only people would take heed of this?
I put the importance of rhythm right up there with tuning before playing but some people just donāt listen
4 Likes
Metallica is doing okay with Lars 
J/k
Just relax
I had a stroke almost 2 years ago and took up bass from scratch.
I was lucky enough to get a bass position in a garage band.
My advice is to practice, practice, practice. When you get to do your gig listen to the music and get into the rythm.
Remember less is more and just root notes in time is better than trying to be fancy.
Bass and drums are the engine.
Iām talking from experience because we have grown from a garage band to having played our first paid gig last Friday.
We kept people on the dance floor from the first song to the third encore.
Relax and have fun.
PS The bass player is the cool dude in the background.
7 Likes
Hey, thanks Mike! Good to hear from another stroke survivor. Iāve had a couple (relatively) minor hemmoragic strokes in the circle of Willis portion of the brain.
After all the frustration and disappointment of having to learn to do normal things again, being able to learn bass is amazing.
I stink, but i try real hard. And all that trying pays off. After 9 months i can Almost sound like i want to About half the time.
So, as much as Iām scared green to actually play with anyone, Iām going to go do it. Going to Just stick with fundamentals and hope i did well enough to get asked back.
We are getting together Sunday. Iāll post here After. Whether or not i succeed isnāt really whatās in it. Because even if i fail miserably ( a real possibility) Iāll know what to look at to get better.
Keep making noise, we need more noise.
2 Likes
So true 
2 Likes