Bass-Players – End the Hassle of Auditions!
– by Traktor Topaz
When I was in third grade, there was this one kid who had hardly any friends. He was a grade younger, so I didn’t know him well, but at recess he was generally puttering around by himself.
He seemed sad. And one morning in a frenzy of good-will I struck up a conversation even though he was in a grade lower than me and my pals.
He seemed happy to talk, and soon was telling me about this and that and what he did and stuff he had. I guess he was impressing me because I was older. He said he had a telescope.
“Really?” I asked. He nodded vigorously.
“Yes!” he said, “At night you can see the moon real clear, and during the day it makes things look like they’re right there.”
I had never seen a telescope. I was hooked.
“Could I come see it?” And his face brightened up.
And then his expression grew wistful.
“Well …” he said, “you can … but …”
But what?
THE GOOSE
“We have a goose,” he said.
Now I was really interested. I had never seen a goose.
To shorten the story, what happened was that he seemed oddly reluctant, but agreed I could come by after school to see the telescope.
And so after school, I did. I didn’t walk with him, because he was from a lower grade. But I did dawdle along behind, and so two minutes after he went in his front gate, so did I.
And then I learned about a goose.
A BATTLE LOST
I wasn’t very big when I was in the third grade. The goose seemed almost as tall as me. But, with wings spread wide and flapping, and hissing and darting its beak left and right, as it waddled angrily toward me, it seemed much larger.
I turned and ran.
When I got home, I realized one of the reasons that kid didn’t have many friends.
NO WONDER!
Nobody could visit him. It was just too much. It was a major, terrifying event. It was beyond a hassle. It was too scary. If you were going to go to his house, you’d need to bolster all your courage. You’d have to get ready for the experience.
Now as a grown man, and as a bass player, this childhood hassle may not seem like much.
But I’m struck by how it’s not completely different from the hassle of going to an audition.
WHAT IT MEANS TO AUDITION
You know the score. You’re a bass player, and generally speaking, that means if you want to perform, it will be with a band.
And that means, to find a band, you’ve got to go to auditions.
And … it’s a hassle, right?
You have to gather all your focus. You have to haul the gear. You have to meet some guys who are, half the time, looking at you funny when you come in the door.
Sure, sometimes it can be fun.
HOW OFTEN DOES IT WORK OUT?
But, all too often, it’s a hassle. If not on the front end, then a hassle on the back end. Because a *lot* of those auditions have got to end with … no gig.
And half the time when you do get the gig, you have doubts about the other guys in the band. And all too often your fears were well-founded. One guy can never show up on time. The guitar player just won’t turn down. One of the guys is a jerk, and the leader, well … he’s a Nazi.
Not always. But you’ve seen it right?
You’d agree that the whole process is, generally, a hassle? And that, all too often, it just doesn’t work out?
And yet, if you want to play in public, you need a slot in a band. A good band. A stable band. A band that gets gigs. Hmmm.
END THE HASSLE FOREVER
What if there were a way to end all that hassle … forever?
What if you could just do a simple thing, and turn your back on the hassle, the egos, the jerks, the idiots, the guys who turned you down, and the bands you *wish* had turned you down … what if you could just do a simple thing, and turn your back on all that hassle, from now on?
Well, you’re in luck.
TWO METHODS FOR ENDING THE HASSLE
Because there’s a way. Wait! No, there are TWO ways you can accomplish this. It could transform your life and your music, I think you’ll agree.
Here’s how. (I’m warning you now, it’s awfully simple. But it’s radical. You’ll have to suddenly think completely different. Can you do that?)
Here’s how …
METHOD #1
Using the skills you’ve developed, you can change over to playing basslines on what we’ll call a ’specialty tapping instrument.’
I mean an instrument that’s specifically designed so you can play the six bass strings just by touching them to the fret.
And on this special instrument, there’s another set of six strings, tuned higher. And here’s something wonderful …
If you place your left hand on bass strings around fret two … and you place your right hand on the ‘melody’ strings around fret twelve … then the notes beneath each of your hands is exactly identical across all six strings.
And you know what this means, right?
It means that *you already know how to play those high melody strings*!
YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO PLAY IT
You play those high melody strings exactly the same as you play those low bass strings.
Now the two hands are playing two octaves apart, but the notes are exactly the same. If you can play “Louie, Louie” with your left hand, you can play “Louie, Louie” in unison with your right hand.
It’s startlingly easy to do.
And in fact, right at first when you’re learning how to transfer over to this radical new way of playing, when you’re learning to transfer, you can even train your two hands at the same time.
Now once you can simply play your two hands identically, and at the same time, then you simply do a little … less.
For example say you were arpeggiating a chord with both hands. Now try just playing the low root left-hand, and play the other notes right hand.
Suddenly you can do rhythmic things in an astounding way … and it’s simply using what you already know.
AUDITION? WHAT AUDITION?
Now, about those auditions …
Since you can play with both your right hand and your left hand, you will find it’s just a baby step from there to … playing roots or hooks with your left hand, while you play melody or rhythm with your right hand. I mean it. It’s actually *easy* to do.
It just so happens … that your background as a bass player … has pretty much perfectly prepared you with the skills to play two-handed touchstyle on such a specialty instrument.
And now you can start to play … solo gigs.
Start with a coffee house or restaurant gig, work up to weddings and bigger gigs. Because you’re offering something so different, getting the gigs is not that hard.
Now look. Even though your practice will carry you further along than it used to, you *do* still have to practice. And even though you have a great novelty factor to help you get gigs, you do still have to go ask for the gigs.
But audition for a band? What band?
METHOD #2
Once you can play your specialty touch-style instrument — it won’t take long — here’s what you do …
Place an ad, or put up some posters, or spread the word around, that *you* are interviewing musicians for a band. Now you’re not just the bass player. It’s *your* band.
Now going to an audition isn’t your hassle.
It’s somebody else’s hassle!
HOW TO GET YOUR SPECIALTY TOUCH-STYLE INSTRUMENT
Click here for a display of affordable and great sounding two-handed tapping instruments.
And click here to see all the prices.
You can do this.
What are you waiting for?
Act today, and change your world.
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