This fluff piece is little more than a huge THANK YOU to Josh and this Badass community, but I’m happy and don’t know anyone else to share this joy with.
I finished the BBA last summer with no clear path forward. At 45, I picked up the bass because I missed playing music (drummer in HS) and I wanted to challenge myself to keep learning and not grow stagnant.
I live in a tiny town in nowhere West Virginia with little to no music scene. I don’t know any musicians and for the past eight months I’ve just been doing exercises, trying to learn songs by ear, taking other bass courses, and checking FB/CL for bassist wanted ads.
Well, one came up… for a jazz (
) trio () needing a bassist. The keyboard player is 10 years older, has played music his whole life, and was looking for an established jazz bassist. I haven’t listed to jazz since HS band, I don’t own a fake book… but I had a burning desire to learn and grow.
So -after a few deleted draft responses- I built up the nerve and answered the ad. I was very up front about where I was. I told him I was new at the instrument, don’t know much about jazz, but I was willing to work. We chatted a bit about expectations, he sent me four songs to work on (all standards), and we set up a date to play together.
I put in the work, and made it through two of the songs before that first night. I showed up, we plugged in, and jammed Just the Two of Us for a few reps and immediately he was complimenting me. He told me I was better than bassists he’d played with who’d been at it for decades! (That felt amazing 
)
At the end of the night, he told me he was pulling the ad, I was the guy for the job, and he was more than willing to teach me jazz and take our time getting good… however long that takes.
I “knew” that pushing myself and stepping out of my comfort zone was the way to progress, but taking that first step was terrifying. We’ve played a few times now and it’s gotten way easier. Last night I was able to “sight read” a bossa song that I didn’t know and we jammed on it and had a blast!
Thank you BassBuzz!
