Hey, everyone. I’m a 14 year old who officially started bass July 30th 2023. Just wanted to pop in and say hi. If you’ve got any tips for anything, I’m open.
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If I had a tip at all it would be to have fun, you can do a lot with a little. If you ever find yourself in a jam or band situation, be on time, in time, and compliment the other players…people remember that.
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Yeah, this year, starting high school’s been tough with all these opportunities. Thank you. Never quitting bass no matter how bad it gets.
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Welcome, @Javturkey55. You should consider popping over to the Introduce Yourself! (2024) thread to tell the B2B gang about your bass journey. Everyone is ready to greet you.
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Awesome! Contrary to myself and many other people here, you’re actually starting at the right age. Welcome to the forums!
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Welcome! At your age you should start listening to Dirty Loops. If I can go back to 14 that’s exactly what I’d be listening to. 
Start with this classic
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This guys has a set of pipes!
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Hi welcome , you are exactly the same age as I when I wanted to play bass, only difference : you did it 
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Congrats and Happy Bassday !
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Yep, I screwed up and messed around on guitar for about 10 years. Never any good and never really excited about it beyond just picking it up and noodling around. I’m already 10X the bass player after 7 months than I ever was on guitar (Josh has a lot to do with that tbf).
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@Javturkey55 Proud of you! I’ve messed around with all sorts of instruments and bass really has my heart (took me 44yrs to get here).
For suggestions just have fun and practice a lot. At your age fun and consistency are key.
I really hope you find some friends you can play with in a band. Practicing alone is cool but playing music together can be super fun even if everyone is just beginning.
My other advice would be to dig into the music theory stuff but make sure you find sources that you understand. I never really understood all of that stuff but recently it’s finally making sense with the right articles.
I’m in the middle of this article from Fender and they explain it in a way that I’m like, oh wait… Wow that’s simpler than I thought: https://www.fender.com/articles/scales/bass-guitar-scales-for-beginners
Seeing some of that stuff explained on youtube by bassists with bass examples is helpful. I did some time with piano so between piano and bass it’s starting to make sense.
Anyway us 44yr olds can rant but I’m super proud that a 14yr old has stuck with it for a year! My oldest guitar I got at 16. I had a few before that too. It’s crazy when you look back and realize that one of your musical instruments is 28 years old! 
- Practice your bass
- Do your homework
- Most importantly be a kid, don’t let fear hold you back from anything and HAVE FUN! Seriously have fun for me. I miss being a kid.
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I would even say especially fun if everyone is just beginning. I was in a crappy 3 chord horror punk band around that age (think terrible Misfits clone) and it was some of the most fun I had as a teenager.
Kon-fusion… took me a minute to think of the name.
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One of My buddies and I had a “band” about 11 years ago we used to get really drunk and write dirty songs. I never laughed harder.
Moral of the story, drinking buddies don’t make great friends though. Pretty sure his alcoholic a** still hates me even after 6yrs of not talking. Alcohol is a terrible life choice but playing music with others is amazing!
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Awesome! Have fun. Keep learning. Do your thing.
Watch this speech by the great Victor Wooten. Remember that what the world needs is good people.
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Not to mention an awesome keyboard player
Congrats. I need to play bass more.
Alright, thank you I will. Just didn’t see it before I posted that.
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For anyone who wants to check it out, I have a youtube channel. Two vids (technically one) not very good. First song I’ve learned and showed to people though.
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Hey @Javturkey55 just checked your Maneskin cover. Looking good! What’s the axe btw? Can’t quite see it.
So sorry, I haven’t been checking the forum.
Anyways, thanks for the feedback. I currently have an MB200BR Mitchell Modern. It’s amazing. The strings it came with from Guitar Center were quite good too. Very bouncy and I’ve been thinking about REALLY giving slap a good try. Usually I just mess around a little bit when slapping.
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