Who the heck is J.T. and why am I apologizing to him? Read on...

Next month will mark an auspicious occasion for me. It will have been exactly 25 years since I played my first rock band gig in a venue that was big enough to have not only a PA, but a backline as well. I was 14 years old, and I had been to a my first rock concert less than a year before (Asia). I was, of course, not playing bass then. In fact, it was a year before MIDI came around and completely ruined my life.

My bass player at the time was J.T. We were in almost all of the same classes together, and we attended the same geeky extracurricular activities together. Anyway, we played Rush, Genesis, etc. Not prog, just classic rock (although it wasn't classic yet). J.T. had been playing for about a year.

And all he would do all day was talk about gear and music theory. Don't get me wrong, we partied hard, went to science fairs and competed in debate and math contests (shut up), all the regular high school stuff. But he was always talking about frequency response, biamping, modes, Jaco, etc. And I listened with half an ear. I had been playing piano for quite a while, and I sightread (better than I do now, that's for sure), but I was more interested in synth patches than crossovers.

So I nodded in the right places. When he talked about proper intonation, my eyes would glaze over because my DX7 didn't need to be intonated. A year later, when he switched to fretless, intonation, growl and scale length were the topics of choice...and I didn't really listen. "Uh huh" I'd say as I pulled my one hitter out of my parachute pants. I laughed internally as his strap got shorter and shorter as he got better and better.

By the time senior year came around, were weren't playing together anymore, but he had become a MONSTROUS fretless player. He was in an incredible alternative pop band, and the talent and integrity that made up the band was palpable. They still play to this day.

College came and we went our separate ways.

About 5 years ago, I came to find out that we were nearly neighbors. We both had babies, and we jammed one night, and he was still talking gear and theory. It fatigued me in a way, and for one reason after another, we failed to meet again. Then I moved to NW Indiana.

So a couple years ago, as documented on this forum from the inception, I got the idea that I'd take up playing bass. Not root/5, but really playing bass. So I got my Ed Friedland book, and I started to take lessons with a local jazz monster ( HIS LINK ). I've practiced every moment that I've had available.

And here it was. All that information that J.T. had dispensed to me that I now, at nearly 40, was going to have to learn. Every single new technical and musical concept I was being exposed to was already vaguely familiar because of historical osmosis. The waste of years and my incredible impolite spurning of someone's generously offered knowledge base made me ashamed and intensely depressed. Honestly, boys and girls, it was a low, low moment.

I sent J.T. an email admitting my behavior and expressing my true gratitude and sincere admiration a few months ago, and he simply didn't respond. I was hoping for more communication, but I can't blame him for his non-reaction...probably the classiest thing he could do while being angry, hurt and betrayed. So I'm writing this on my favorite forum as a bit of an atonement.

Learn from everyone who's willing to teach, either overtly or by example. There's no time to not do so. Become an information junkie in the truest sense of the expression. The ironic thing is that I AM an information jumkie, but I failed to see the wealth of information in front of me. Listen, listen, listen...and then ask for more.

And as I try to coax and cajole my errant pinky into actually fretting a non=buzzing note, I will sadly think "J.T. would know how to make this easier for me".

Sorry for the rant.

09...somehow I have the feeling your unintentional transgressions have probably already been atoned. And I +1 your suggestion to learn everything you possibly can at every possible opportunity.

Just out of curiosity...what made you decide to take up bass after all those years of playing an instrument as ridiculously versatile as keys?

Dave

That is a truly great story and a valuable lesson for us all. I had a similar situation with a really good friend and we did not speak for about 5 years. I knew I had hurt his feelings but, for the life of me, I did not know what I had done wrong. One day I just sat down and wrote a letter of apology and told him how sorry I was. He called me in a couple of days and thanked me for the letter. Today, we are the best of friends and I think that situation actually made our friendship stronger.
Rocky

Ah, grasshopper, when knowledge is dropped make sure to pick it up.

Peace.
--s-uu

Actually, JeremyC and Ben Loy were the impetus. Although most of my job functions involve graphic design, UI design and Flash, I'd say a good 20 percent of my paycheck (excluding freelance) comes from music and audio. So I was happily chugging along with bass samples and playing the occasional few bars of bass in my compositions.

But then I was doing a cover version of "Sleepless" for a client, and I couldn't quite figure out how the delay was set and how it was played (I wanted to actually play it). So I made my first or second post on the Lowdown, and Ben showed me what was going on in that deceptively simple line. That got me interested.

So I lurked around and finally got up the courage to PM JeremyC about how to get started. I won't quote his response, but it was a great, personalized game plan that I follow to this day.

A couple thousand posts later, I've almost got "Xanadu" down.

Most excellent story, 09. Thanks for sharing.

Nice story 09.
I'm sure we all have similar stories of some sort to tell. And you're right about soaking up as much knowledge as we can. People enjoy sharing their experiences and the funny thing is that we never know when those same things might become just as important to us.
Thanks.

Great post and story 09, thanks for sharing.

That you took the time to email JT and let him now is pretty classy. There are many people that wouldn't have bothered.

Perhaps JT has no clue what your mail was all about ? Either way, very cool story and very inspirational.

A friend of mine is learning to play the bagpipe (yeah I know) and since I am always talking about bass to him, and he's always shown a certain level of interest (and incomprehension ) I now always encourage him to talk about types of bagpipes, techniques involved, which clef the music is in (sol) and so on.

Now, to be honest I couldn't care less about bagpipes, I'm not overly fond of their sound and so on. But since he listens to me, I listen to him. He is just starting out on his first instrument ever, is learning to sight-read and so on. Plus, he can play a mean bagpipe !!! He does hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato ... I think in the end, he could show me some stuff which would give the bass a new dimension

Huh...I didn't know you could do such things on bagpipes. I kind of like their sound personally...

Dave

For real. I kid you not, Dave!! I was pretty amazed to witness that as well. Might have to change my whole look on them buggers

I had a try at it but got zero sound One could say I totally blew it :rolleyes:

How I wish, in my most sincere heart, that I could get this message across to people.

Great post. I agree that your old high school buddy probably thought: "Huh?" from your email. You laid your soul on the line, but he didn't experience your interaction so many years ago the same way you did.

And you wanna know something else I believe? You said this discovery made you unhappy and depressed. I believe the angels in heaven rejoiced that you finally "got it." Use your epiphany in peace, my friend. Share your Zen with others...well, you can't give it away, exactly.

Just live it.

Oh No! Bass and Bagpipe duet!

sometimes it hard to listen to your friends go on and on about things. You just have to deal with it. If you dont want to hear it. then just be like..Look dude, not to be rude, but i dont really want to talk about this right now. most people will understand..if they dont..then oh well, they arent a true friend anyway. to be a true friend..you have to give a little and take a little. its a a two way street.

I'm glad you recountd that 09. That story in itself is a pretty important thing to pass on to the rest of us. I played drums way back then and didn't think I needed to know what the other guys were talking about. Now, I wish I had listened too.

I had a few thoughts reading this. I have come to believe that we're not always ready for our experiences. And really - how much can we learn at once? I don't think you had the "space" or context to fully absorb JT's info. Fast forward to today - it might be easy for you to think that learning bass was limited to some technique and some theory. But in the back of your head there is a voice that you respect saying "there's more to it". I'd say that your approach to bass has benefitted from that. Look at the full range of your bass time - from notes to technique to instruments to amps - you cover a lot of ground. I know your keys experience helps with that, but maybe JT's voice does as well.

My other thought was that I've been a bit fortunate. I can still contact a few old bandmates. The keys guy from that time, Rick, now lives in Poland. He comes to visit almost once a year, and we manage an evening of catching up and laughing back. He's here now, and was at my house last week. For the first time since the 70s, he sat at keys (my son's 61 key Korg) and me on bass, and we tried a few things. It was dismal-sounding and fun and we immediately connected again. It was great!

Try JT again - this time by phone (even if just to jumpstart the email).

Tom

I've never had a teacher or a mentor, and all aspects of my playing have suffered because of it.

From someone who never had, I can lament with you who had but took for granted.