Soo last practice session was nice.
I played one of the songs I could not play until recently (used chordify for the progressions and then mainly played roots and a bit of transition on chord changes).
When I asked if what I played was okay for them they started adjusting their mix so they can actually hear me. cough
But it’s okay. For most of the songs I wasn’t really playing along anyway and often missed marks (because I don’t know them).
At the end of the session I was asked how I feel in the band and I think we were on the same page that making music together is nice but it feels like I have more distance to them compared to the other members.
Kind of understandable as they were an already existing group of friends and I don’t do any other activities than band practice with them but a little less distance would still be nice.
We agreed that it would probably help to do some activities besides band practice together but then could not really agree on something.
I also mentioned being nervous and/or not seeing how I can learn the songs until our gig in mid november with it being max 5-6 practice sessions and me not even knowing half of the songs. So today I will meet with the ex-bassist/now guitarist so we can go through the songs. I hope it will be productive and I will get enough material to practice until we have our gig.
Also very likely that we go through a grinding week shortly before the gig with band practice every day. Seems to be something the band does. I’m usually more of a “I want to feel prepared roughly a month before the gig.” but then again I can’t change the existing deadline. We’ll see
Yes it is.
And it took the female member of the band returning to band practice for it to happen. It was like “Usually we do this after a month or so but somehow we slipped - how do you feel in the band?”
I think the practice/exchange with the ex-bassist yesterday was productive. Not as productive as it could have been because he, even more than me, is easy to sidetrack. But as long as I kept on track it was productive.
At some parts he still wanted to experiment and had suggestions how it would be better than what we play now but I always referred to the band practice for trying out something like that and to keep it simple for me to practice because everything I have to try out and experiment instead of sticking to something “done” would cost more time and currently that ressource is rare. He always agreed when I did that but never failed to mention those parts he still might want to change or at least talk with the band about it.
Got 2 songs written down hopefully in a way that’s good enough to practice it to the guitar pro exports the band already has for those songs While I am glad I got 2 songs I would not have been able to process any more. Just form and chords would be managable but we also talked about the rythm played and a lot included anticipated notes and syncopation which is certainly playable for me with practice. But to instantly pick up the rythm and repeat it is currently still hard for me.
Didn’t want to work today so I took a day off. Usually not a problem with my line of work. It wasn’t specifically to practice but what kind of bassist would I be if I didn’t use the opportunity today?
Soooo I forgot to update the last band practice.
Was nice - I practiced one of the songs I went through with the ex-bassist and there were results!
The other song I shunned because the recording/guitar pro export was a bit different than I had in my notes and… triplets.
Sad news is:
I could not make it the week before last week because bus and tram drivers were on a strike.
I could not make it last week because we do not practice anymore due to alarmingly high corona numbers in Germany and we have some people who work with groups of children and thus the risk was deemed too high.
I talked to the ex-bassist if we two could still meet up as I have almost no contacts due to home office and everyone staying in anyway and he generally agreed but we did not set a date to practice yet.
It’s frustrating to me and I clearly notice it affecting my mood and motivation (not only regarding bass/music)
Edit: Please please please refrain from having a Corona/Mask discussion in this thread. I just mentioned it because it was necessary for context. Please.
Good to hear from you @juli0r it’s the same for all musicians world wide, I have two friends who have been pro and are now doing menial work. Music was their career their fingers that made music, now blistered and cut.
Jamie
I’ve been watching the situation in Europe as my family still live there and the rise in numbers is terrible. Stay safe @juli0r and the rest will come good given time
Thanks for asking. Reminds me that I still haven’t tried to get a meeting with the old bassist. As said… the motivation ran low after those news.
Right now I am actually sick. Propbably carried over from a colleague of my gf. I suspect the flu but will contact a doctor tomorrow and ask if a test is recommended/necessary.
I do now @juli0r remind you how is practice going? I highly recommend to always record your practice with a band. It helps even just re-listening to it to get to know the groove and vibe of a song.
Oh. Thanks for reminding me.
Yes, I did last week.
I refreshed things mostly and took my notes which I forgot in the practice room.
I practice more often for myself again but for the band the motivation is really low because we don’t even know when we will start with band practice again. I take care to keep the songs I already know in my practice “rotation” to keep remembering the form. As said I’m not very motivated and think my efforts for practice are put to better use by trying to practice full existing songs to remember the form and not grind too much of just songs of the band and become a one trick pony.
I asked the old bassist but before the next year another session seems out of reach
how is practice going? I highly recommend to always record your practice with a band. It helps even just re-listening to it to get to know the groove and vibe of a song.