Ace of Bass

After the harrowing experince with the trumpet, I stayed away from musical instruments through high school and college. I have friends who have guitars and drums and are in bands, which is cool, but I wasn't tempted until last summer.

Once again, I was at a bar drinking, as one does. I think it was PBR this time. I was having an animated conversation with some friends about starting a band. This seemed like the best idea in the world after about four or five beers. Plus, I had been looking for something creative to do in my free time, and playing an instrument seemed like a good idea. So, I said to myself, "What the hell? " and then ordered another beer.

I talked to a friend of mine that plays the bass in an actual band, instead of a beer soaked fantasy band. He suggested looking on Ebay and checking out what kind of basses are out there. I asked him if he thought it would matter if I got a regualar bass or a left-handed bass. He said, "How do you play air guitar?" Of course! What a brilliant question! I held my hands up like when I listen to AC/DC guitar solos. He said, "You need a lefty bass." And with that, it was decided.

I looked on Ebay quite a bit and realized that I couldn't afford a Fender or anything with a name that I recognized. I also realized that it was proving to be challenging to get a feel for the bass with just a picture and a description.

So, one brisk Saturday afternoon a few months ago, my boyfriend (who also plays music), my bass playing friend and I drove down to Pioneer Square to go to Emerald City Guitars. I felt like a big poser at the guitar store and started to sweat profusely. But my friend goes there a lot and so the owner knew him and really helped us out. In the end, I picked a black and white Lotus brand lefty bass. Now I've never heard of Lotus, but for $100, it's good enough for me to learn on. My friend said the most important thing is to make sure you think your bass looks cool - and I do.

My boyfriend bought me a tuner (and later a practice amp) and I got a "gig bag" and a strap and I was on my way. Now I just had to see if I could play anything, or if the bass would become a decorative wall hanging in our extra bedroom.

I set a goal to practice once a week and got to work on picking out some songs that I wanted to play. I've been pretty good about sticking to that schedule. And here, my friends, are some examples of songs that I can play now:

1. "You shook me all night long" - AC/DC
2. "Fascination Street" - The Cure
3. "The Sweater Song" - Weezer
4. "Closing Time" - Semisonic
5. "A Night Like This" - The Cure
6. "Back in Black" - AC/DC

Those songs are a lot more fun to play than "Jingle Bells" or "From the Halls of Montezuma"!

So I'm no Kim Deal or Kim Gordon (maybe I should change my name to Kim?) but I hope I'll be able to play in front of real people in a bar someday instead of just rocking out in my living room and annoying my neighbor downstairs. (He should be glad that I'm not still playing the trumpet!)