I agree with Jonsi. I'm one of those guys who early on became a multi-instrumentalist for that very reason.
I started out as a hard-core clarinetist, but couldn't get in jazz band in summer camp unless I had a saxophone to play. But I also knew that bass guitar players were hard to come by, so I taught myself how to play bass. Did that at summer music camp until I went to college, even helped form a "jam band" to play as an exhibition act for a talent show. Much fun. My bass playing days ended after a year playing in college band with a bunch of guys who took jazz WAY too seriously--I was there because I enjoyed playing, and I had enough of the pretentiousness majoring in clarinet and didn't want that playing jazz. And I really just wasn't cut out for playing jazz. But I wasn't comfortable enough at that point to try to break into playing rock/metal. I just couldn't wrap my brain around imitating the more advanced metal bass players, and as a music major I just didn't have time for it, anyway.
Meanwhile, my true passion was composing music. So I extended my piano/synth playing skills to free improvisation and even came back to jazz band. It turns out I have a natural ability to read charts, etc., on keys more than bass. Went on to grad school to study composition and came back home to look for jobs teaching music.
Meanwhile, my girlfriend at the time took a job as a receptionist at a hair salon. One of the stylists was married to a guy who plays guitar really well but had really just given up playing in bands to raise his two daughters. I lost my first job, moved back to the Mississippi Delta, married my girlfriend, walked away from my second job after my contract was up, and took another job at a nearby private school. Meanwhile, I got an inside tip on a church gig. Within weeks, my wife's hair stylist friend's husband is asking about me and whether I'd be interested in playing keys in his band. The rest, as they say, is history.
I got fired from my last teaching gig, decided I was fed up with the whole thing, and subsequently started teaching privately, thereupon which I attracted a large number of wannabe guitar players. So... I bought a telecaster, learned to play classical guitar a little on the electric guitar, learned power chords and "Smoke on the Water." Turns out that's all the skillz you need, so I started playing rhythm when either there wasn't much key work on a song or when they just wanted that 2-guitar sound. We fired our lead singer. Meanwhile, I met this guy who started playing bass in our church praise band and invited him to replace our lead singer and shred guitar (dude is GOOD).
So everything is going great, and then our bass player runs away to spend the summer on his motorcycle. So... We start playing "pass the bass" with the three of us alternating. I ended up getting assigned bass on most songs, keys on those we can't do without keys, and guitar on "Hold on Loosely." Just as we're getting good, our old bass player calls up and wonders when we're practicing again. Looks like I'm back on keys now. On the other hand, he has to keep his daughter every other weekend, which is a bummer when you start scheduling gigs around his schedule.
The point is that if you really want to get in a band or if you want to start a new band, you have to be open-minded and realistic. And really listen to a lot of music and ask "What year is it?" Guitar players these days SUCK. I'm being honest here, they really do. Sure, there are exceptions, but not many. And because they suck, and because they are realistic about their range of ability, they don't really show off any more than they really HAVE to. If you really are that talented, I'd suggest moving to either Japan or Sweden and maybe playing some Dragonforce covers.
Learn to play bass, keys, and maybe even drums. Even EVH played keys a few times back in the day, but I think now he and his band just play to tracks (nothing wrong with that, btw). The way of the future is click tracks and programming, so you might consider getting Ableton Live, like maybe the Intro version. Do anything you can to be flexible and increase your chances of landing a worthwhile project.
Here's what I do with my church gig: After grad school, I had a degree that was basically useless--it just showed that I did the work and that I know how to compose. Rather than get my doctorate and commit to an institution, I ended up playing contemporary Christian music and becoming the leader of our praise team--NOT on purpose, it just happened that way. So what I do now is I wrangle as many volunteer instrumentalists as I can (I'm one of two salaried instrumentalists on staff) and then I write the arrangements for the musicians I have available. So far I have a bassist, a guitarist, me, an organist (pipe organ, NICE!), a flutist, and a violinist. Not all of them can be available every Sunday, and our drummer just left for college. The violinist reads changes, the flute player does not, and the pipe organist is a strict traditionalist. The drummer (when we have one), the bassist, and the guitarist do not read music, and I'd prefer NOT to myself. So it's now my job to make sure that I have a lead sheet for myself, the organist has a written part, the violinist has a part WITH the changes, the flutist has a part without the changes, and everyone else in the rhythm section has a lyric sheet with changes. We've been having a different guest worship leader almost every week, so it's also my job to work with whoever the guest is and translate his instructions for my team--for both those who do and for those who do not read music, and the guest himself may or may not really be all that credentialed (on paper) as some of the rest of us (namely yours truly) but is definitely talented and capable.
It doesn't end there. I have to reorganize a youth praise team for their Wednesday night activities, plus we've all seen how badly we need to start some kind of feeder program to keep young musicians in our church so we aren't left in the lurch when the kids grow up and head out for college.
On top of all THAT, I'm 1/2 of a handbell duo and have to try to write compositions and arrangements for us when I'm not doing anything ELSE.
I'm not suggesting you get into church music or anything like that. But you do need to listen to people who say "the right band will find you eventually." It really is true. A lot of what I do now is voluntary. I do it because I'm passionate about the music I'm into right now. I'm taking risks, setting myself up for a lot of failures. And it's ok to make mistakes. But even making those mistakes has gotten people interested in what I do and more and more of them want to be a part of it. I'm not a good leader, didn't ask to be a leader, don't really want to be a leader, but it's just become part of what I do and I'm enjoying it.
Go solo. Play some free gigs. Play some acoustic covers at your local coffee shop. Build up your blues chops, meet with musicians from other bands, and find a bar that will let you come in and just jam for an hour or two. You might find musicians playing in different bands that don't want to give up their current project but might be looking for more gigs. It will happen, but you have to be open-minded and flexible.
Good luck!
12 Aug 2011, 5:22 pm
