Hi , new here.
I’m 35 ,living in th UK but originally from Slovakia.
The discovery of punk and grunge in my teenage years has had a course altering effect on my life,of that there can be no doubt.
When I saw a band of amateurs perform in front of my home town something went off inside of me and I just had to form a band.
“Yes,I’ll be the lead singer and guitarist of the next musical revolution”, was the overly optimistic thought that shot through my pubescent brain.
The band was formed,terrible instruments borrowed and on the same stage where I first got to see the inspiration for my grandiose fantasy finally came our moment…it was at this point,with my voice echoed back at me through the local hall,that I have realised that I.in fact.can’t sing. at all!
I also managed to flip the pickup switch of my communist era imitation Les Paul to the position which had the volume knob turned all the way down as I went for the solo. Fun times!
Did this crushing embarrassment stop me dead in my tracks? Not at all,but I did reach my first wall in terms of self taught skill with the guitar and I also stepped away from the microphone for good.
Not long after this first taste of rock’n’roll stardom a friend of a friend asked if I’d like to play bass in their young band as I knew how to play power chords, so there couldn’t be much more to it,right? I have, to that point , not even tried to strum a bass string.
I arrived for their rehearsal with a borrowed bass guitar and from the first moment of playing along ( sweet dreams, manson) something unexpected happened- I instantly felt more of a part of the band and the way the bass sounded just spoke to me in a way lead guitar ( at which I sucked) never did. The first time together we played for 5 hours…and just like that i have realised that bass is something that i truly enjoy versus something i imagine I’d like to ,but don’t actually feel, the " feels" for.
The little band had about a dozen gigs, recorded a demo and was aming the best times I had growing up.
Throughout this time I couldn’t afford my own bass,so I only ever borrowed them for rehearsals and gigs.
This,coupled with already acquired bad habits from self thought guitar playing, has led to me never really learning to play the bass properly.
After all that,when it came time to leave the small town I only ever owned an acoustic guitar to strum along with random songs. I left for the UK when I was 20, children started appearing at an alarming rate and although music is always on in the house ,it is rarely coming from me.
Five years ago, my lovely lady said the memorable words:" yeah ,I’ll get it for ya" when we were, childfree, on a little weekend getaway and I have inadvertently dragged her into a music shop. The “it” in question was a lovely dark red Squier affinity PJ made in china ,that frankly sounded phenomenally good to my ears accustomed to iron curtain “Jolana”- P bass clones.
The animal was back, ooooh how great it felt to again tease and poke the meaty strings under my fingers!
Not long after the “wall” made a reappearance- I know where all the notes are on the neck, I can play most simple tunes withou looking and understand tabs…but…playing a song ,let’s say around the world by the chilli peppers, I never use the same fingering(huh?) from one verse to the next and compared to someone actually skilled on YouTube, I seem to be - well, my hands- working much harder than the person playing. I even bought the Bass guitar for idiots,played along,tried to understand the theory …but never overcame the wall,that seems to stem from bad technique and a lack of knowledge of the theory which I just can’t apply .
All of my playing in the end starts sounding repetitive- no matter what root note I start with,what rhythm I choose,whether I pluck or (badly) slap …it all sort of sounds the same.
Well, that lengthy introduction leads me to today and I’d like to apologise for my terrible grammar and atrocious syntax first and the rambling wall of text second. So what about today? Today I came back from the local music shop,having dropped off my trusty squier there a few days ago for a setup, without my old girl and with a brand new Sterling Sub4 HH, a Fender rumble v3 100 and a great set of headphones!
For about two months now I have been playing the bass again,watching videos and came to the conclusion that it is the lack of proper lessons that has held me back. I absolutely adore music and playing bass is something I really wanted to master,although I convinced myself that there must be something wrong with me,for not progressing.
I have obviously stumbled onto Josh’s videos ,among others,and I was instantly drawn to his style of teaching.
So here I am,armed with a brand new subscription to the Begginer to Badass course,all of Josh’s books downloaded and some shiny new gear…ready to hopefully join the alumni here in the near future and finally really learn how to play.
If you’ve read all of this, thank you. I have been reading the pages of this forum for a few days and you bunch seem like great group who have created a truly positive place on the interwebs.
Stan
and very well written.
