Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[James Hart]

I was lucky enough to have a few years of theory under my belt from playing sax (mostly alto, as well as alto clarinet, oboe & bassoon) in school. My Grandfather played country geetar professionally... and had all kinds of instruments for my sister and I to make noise on. Hammond B3, Vibraphone, electric & acoustic guitars, mandolin, tenor & bluegrass banjos, lap & pedal steel.

By the time I convinced my folks I was serious about wanting to play bass, I knew most the open chords on guitar... only song I could say I knew was the C-Am-F-G progression.

Not sure what the first song I learned on bass, but I know my first 'jam' with a guitarist consisted of "Walking on the Moon", "Message in a Bottle", "Roadhouse Blues", "Born to be Wild" and "Rock & Roll". We had been both taking lessons from the same guy (local jazz guy that is still actively teaching and gigging) and even though he'd been playing a year to my month, the teacher hooked us up since we were at similar levels.

 

[sandybeach]

Smoke on the water - It was a minor chord first then two major chords if memory serves me
Then minor-major-major up a fret then slide back down to the major.
1min-3maj-4maj
1min-3maj-4 aug maj-4maj
something like that? Sorry about the weird hieroglyphics.

 

[KDude]

Been a guitar player since I was 13 (err...35 now). I'm not that good though. haha. Just a hobbyist. Mostly electric, but I own a little of everything.

 

[DaveP]

My first group of guys that never made any money played Beach Boys and other surf tunes.

I remember Out of Limits. I was a surf music junkie until Carlos Santana grabbed me by the ears. Then, it was Hendrix, Stepenwolf, and away I went into the music of the Flower Children.

 

[DaveP]

Been a guitar player since I was 13 (err...35 now). I'm not that good though. haha. Just a hobbyist. Mostly electric, but I own a little of everything.

We were all hobbyists at first. Once the urge sunk in and started pushing us, we were hooked. What keeps you going is other friends who are into music. You share, challenge each other, and start to grow. It's habit forming. After a while you start hanging out with those guys all the time and you have ... a band!

 

[Mac]

I was doing poetry one day and my buddy said: "You should be a rapper!" So I gave it a shot. I went to go record a few years later and my producer said: "You don't need a DJ dude! You need a band!" The rest is history. Zero formal training here.

 

[bassnut]

I was doing poetry one day and my buddy said: "You should be a rapper!" So I gave it a shot. I went to go record a few years later and my producer said: "You don't need a DJ dude! You need a band!" The rest is history. Zero formal training here.

I tried formal training late in life (early 20s). I enrolled myself in the community college's music dept in Monterey CA. Not realizing that it was "da ...." in community colleges for music. I was already "making a living" playing music but I didn't trust my luck. It was the best of the best in schools and it was an awful awakening. I wonder how I survived it.
Anyway I ended up in the Jazz Band and on a field trip we went to hear the Thad Jones/ Mel Louis band and stayed after for a "lecture".
Our band director asked Mel Louis on our behalf "What advice do you have for young musicians starting out in a professional career?"
Mel sez: "Quit school, join a band and go on the road".

 

[sandybeach]

I learned to play piano by ear when I was little just from listening to my big sisters and my mom who were musicians. When I was 19, I decided to go to music school. I was studying classical guitar privately. Jammed a lot with friends, but was not in a band yet.

Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from majoring in music. Majoring in Performance probably was kind of dumb - I probably should have majored in Music Education, but I never liked teaching private guitar lessons all that much. I wanted to be a star. After studying at the Aspen Music Festival with a cranky star who put me in my place, I realized that I probably wasn't good enough to be a classical guitar star.

I learned a lot about music theory and history and had a great time in all the piano musicianship and voice classes as well as private classical and jazz guitar and electric bass lessons. The consumer music classes were great. Classes in scoring for films and commercials were awesome. I loved the field trips to the big studios downtown Chicago, and we had some awesome teachers who were pros in the field.

But I had to take a break. I was getting way too structured, all my flowing improvisation skills were put on hold to learn my chops. I felt like I was turning into a technician. I love guitarists like Segovia. The technicians, not so much.

I took two years off of music to clear my head, then I joined a band playing bass and singing backup vocals. I was writing songs, the band was using my songs in the act. I loved it.....

until.....
I had put an ad on the Illinois Entertainer. That was how I found my band. One of the other bands I interviewed had a drummer that was a sweet guy. We started dating. I had a two year old son and was a single mom at that point. I liked the drummer. He HATED me being in a band. He thought I was sleeping with the lead guitar player. He thought I was sleeping with my classical guitar teacher. I wanted a husband. So I quit music.

Sad story, eh?

 

[bassnut]

Ya know what Sandy?
It's a man's world. As much as I hate to admit it..depending of course but I have seen it (I've literally been around the world on the slow train) and recognized it as wrong from this side as a man. As in all things, it's really up the individual woman's determination (easy to say) as countless examples have shown, to succeed.
Should I name them?
Don't be a victocrat. Not even in hindsight. We all have to come to terms with and own the choices we made regardless of circumstances. Should we have chosen different? How different life would be...better? Would you trade now for that? You might!

 

[sandybeach]

Not at all a victim -- I have a great life! It was just something that happened in the past, I've moved on I just play for fun now, and like it that way. I sit in with friends' bands sometimes.

 

[bassnut]

You caught me in mid-edit but I dig that you dig and I dig too.

Edit:
Can you dig it baby?
Defining yourself as an artist and presenting yourself as such becomes more difficult with age.
If being an "artist" is an ego thing then I believe it won't serve you in the long run.
If being an "artist" is meaning to struggle to express what goes beyond the reach of words with your mind's intent, that should serve you as an identity for a lifetime and beyond. No worries there...I hope.

It has to be sort of a "This is what I've experienced and how I feel and this is how I want to communicate it" sort of vibe. Even if it's written on yesterdays news or yesterday's Mozart or Tolstoy, nobody and nothing can ever take that way from you.
You can express that anytime, anywhere.
The gift of musical expression, I've been told, is very special indeed.

 

[sandybeach]

You caught me in mid-edit but I dig that you dig and I dig too.

Edit:
Can you dig it baby?
Defining yourself as an artist and presenting yourself as such becomes more difficult with age.
If being an "artist" is an ego thing then I believe it won't serve you in the long run.
If being an "artist" is meaning to struggle to express what goes beyond the reach of words with your mind's intent, that should serve you as an identity for a lifetime and beyond. No worries there...I hope.

It has to be sort of a "This is what I've experienced and how I feel and this is how I want to communicate it" sort of vibe. Nobody and nothing can ever take that way from you.
You can express that anytime, anywhere.
The gift of musical expression, I've been told, is very special indeed.

Hmmm... Not so much struggle, but more of the gift you speak of.

I am at my best when I touch the universal spirit with my painting and my music. Especially when I write a song that just "came to me". Or if I paint something that was already in my head.... that's just the coolest. How did that stuff get into my head, anyways?

In the words of Edie Brickell...
Shove me in the shallow water before I get too deep.

 

[bassnut]

I have a tendency to write weird stuff after a night of hard playing followed by an early morning of hard drinking as a reward when I get home safely. Sometimes I cringe after reading it later but I wouldn't detract it. I'm actually grateful to myself in an odd way.

 

[DaveP]

Unknown Hinson ... redneck genius!

 

[sandybeach]

Never heard of Unknown Hinson. LOVE the pedal steel!

 

[bassnut]

LOVE the pedal steel!

Dotto big time. I love pedal steel. This is the best clip of the song I could find - about eyes I guess. It's actually a nice study. Especially at the end.

OMG Emmy Lou. I stood behind her once in a club crowd admiring he long grey hair and shapely body before I released who she was. I'd say she's about 5'5"...or 10/10

 

[bassnut]

Hmmm... Not so much struggle, but more of the gift you speak of.

.

Struggle is part of the game (art) to me. It's growth, It's life "You can sleep all you want when your dead".

ETA
I know this sounds militaristic. Music is fun in the bottom line but it also takes it's toll in blood (self esteem) and if you don't know what I'm talking about (rhetorical), you ain't jamin'.

It's one of them life things...sees no color nor class. It's not about what's fair. It's about "what it is, bringing it to the table if necessary, then everybody is welcome to the party.

 

[DaveP]

Struggle is part of the game (art) to me. It's growth, It's life "You can sleep all you want when your dead".

ETA
I know this sounds militaristic. Music is fun in the bottom line but it also takes it's toll in blood (self esteem) and if you don't know what I'm talking about (rhetorical), you ain't jamin'.

It's one of them life things...sees no color nor class. It's not about what's fair. It's about "what it is, bringing it to the table if necessary, then everybody is welcome to the party.

I learned early on that music transcends class and race. People are judged for their ability, not their standing in society or their genetic sourcing. If you can play, you can fit in and work. Growing up in the south, that was an eyeopening experience for me. I was 16 went I went into a black night club in the late 60s with our drummer on a Saturday afternoon to meet with a black singer. We were sent by our booking agent who set up a meeting for us at the Key Club. There were about 200 people inside, eating supper and drinking and suddenly the place went silent, everybody looking at us with distrust and mumbling. I felt like a cat in a room full of canines.

A bouncer walked up and asked us what we wanted. We told him we were there to meet with Jimmy B----- to talk about a band gig. His eyes lit up and he said, "I thought you must be the cops. Ain't no white folks but the cops come in here. Follow me, Jimmy's right over there." Jimmy smiled, shook hands with us, and you could feel the tension relax in the place. He stood up and told the crowd, "These guys are musicians and they are my friends. We are going to play some music together." Smiles all around and no one noticed us anymore! We were accepted just like that.

We all became musically bonded friends. He, his horn players, and our guys played college frat parties all summer. I was impressed. It was a Blues Brothers movie experience that proved to me music was a universal bond between people.

 

[bassnut]

Well, Dave....
I'm glad you were able to find some meaning in that post because I can't figure out what I was trying to say.
It was one of those late-night posts that I mentioned earlier.

 

[sandybeach]

Dotto big time. I love pedal steel. This is the best clip of the song I could find - about eyes I guess. It's actually a nice study. Especially at the end.

OMG Emmy Lou. I stood behind her once in a club crowd admiring he long grey hair and shapely body before I released who she was. I'd say she's about 5'5"...or 10/10

There was something about "Kind Woman" played on my first boyfriend's reel-to-reel that was really special! Wasn't it Richie Furay who did that one?

Emmy Lou- is that her today? Wow, she's stunning!