Members Fine_Young_Fool Posted August 14, 2007 Members Share Posted August 14, 2007 Hey, my firend, (he drums, I play guitar) are in a little band together. We are not super good, but we can play about 10 songs pretty well. Obviously, we need a bass player, but, I was wondering, where do you go next? We are only in High School, so obviously this can't be a full time thing. Our current goal is to play in the battle of the bands at our school, and first, find a bass player. But what after that? I want to write originals, but I am afraid that they will not be good, but I don't want to exclusively do cover tunes. Also, how do you go about getting gigs? (Once we get better...) Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted August 14, 2007 Members Share Posted August 14, 2007 I want to write originals, but I am afraid that they will not be good, but I don't want to exclusively do cover tunes. You have to write the bad ones before the good ones will come out. Songwriting is a craft, and like any craft, you will get better the more you practice it. Just start writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted August 14, 2007 Members Share Posted August 14, 2007 First efforts are not usually the best efforts. Thankfully these days there is a plethora of information on how to write good songs, a mere click away. google is your friend. http://www.ultimatesongwriting.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jonas Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Even if the first ones are not that great, in a few years you can rework them. And it will be a lot of fun. Maybe you will even find them to be awesome with a little tinkering and hard work. Then again, your first song or first songs may be "teh {censored}!", get you to tour the world and sail the seven seas. Loads of free booze and drugs, sex and deniro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members banddomain Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 You actually might surprise yourself on how well your first song turns out. Just practice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bob O'Brian Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Kidnap one of your friends and make them play bass. That's what happened to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 You actually might surprise yourself on how well your first song turns out. Just practice! Yup. "Fire and Rain" and "Sweet Baby James" were among James Taylor's first few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Also, you'll need about 30 more songs to gig regular night clubs. Tommy James formed his first band the Shondells when he was about 14 years old. They lasted 14 years. (Had several number one hits - etc.) He was 28 before he had to look at "work". Think he's running the oldies circuit now. While you are still young, experiment with the music. A lot of creativity seems available to young adults. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timmylikedthing Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 You're in high school? Write your own songs. Send myspace messages to local bands you like asking to open for them. If you want to learn covers, learn covers. Just be aware you'll be playing for people older than you BUT for more money. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chunkytele Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Jamming in High school. This is an exciting time... First enjoy your music as it is. Dont waste time with critics. Keep your stuff off the web until much later. I worked with a young band that let detractors get to them. There's a closet bass player some where at your high school. Networking at HS is a hell of alot easier than hitting the streets. Befriend people in other bands. Ask to sit in on a rehearsal. I been playing for over 15 years. I still try and catch up with witha few of the local band. They know I just like hanging around the music. I wish their were forums like this when I was in HS. PS-If you gig always give them more than their money's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fine_Young_Fool Posted August 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Thanx for all of the help guys. More! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DougH Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 You can maybe try to find a guitar player willing to play bass since you have more or less a band as is. The other option is to play 7 string and get some bass notes from that. If you want to go further then do as the guy from local H did, he screwed on a bass guitar pickup to his guitar just covering the 2-3 lower note strings. http://www.localh.com/ They were on the radio back when grunge was stil on the radio. He ran it through an octave pedal to octave down or whatever setting was needed and plug that pickup into a bass amp, instant perfectly synced bass! No need for anything else. You can also by a bypass switch to switch to a tuner and silence the a amp and play just the guitar or the bass for an intro or a solo of some kind. The other thing is to give yup the guitar for bass and get a guitar player. Guitar players are easier to find than bass players. The drummer is difficult to find to. You can get a playable bass for $100 from rondo music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fine_Young_Fool Posted August 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 That guitar bass combo sounds interesting. Do you have any idea how much it would cost? Also, who would you get to wire it up for you, cause I have no experience with electronic stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 That guitar bass combo sounds interesting. Do you have any idea how much it would cost? Also, who would you get to wire it up for you, cause I have no experience with electronic stuff like that. There's always the Tom Petersen 12-string bass!http://www.12stringbass.com/MainFrames.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Micky Z Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 You have to write the bad ones before the good ones will come out. Songwriting is a craft, and like any craft, you will get better the more you practice it. Just start writing. And don't stop writing. You have to practice writing like you have to practice guitar - more time with it makes it a friend rather than just plain work. Keep playing with anybody and everybody you can. Don't expect everyone to stay, but don't ever burn bridges with someone you find you can work well with, even if he/she is not the most awesomely talented person you've ever met - better to play with a good musician that is easy to get along with than a prodigy who's an asshole. I like the idea of asking other bands if you can open for them, but I'll go a step further and say be sure you talk to some of the folks in those bands to build up your network of musical contacts - it'll help you on down the road. Build bridges, not walls. And if the music scene seems to get dry for a little while, take it from a person who's been on both sides of this little piece of advice: Don't ever sell your gear unless it's to step up to something better. Better to have some old gear around and ready when you need it again (and you will) than to have to start all over from scratch. And always remember to try to have fun, even if some of it seems like work! Just some words based on practical experience... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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