Reality check

My first bass lesson with Jason on 1/6/11 didn't quite live up to my own self-imposed hype. To be more clear, I was disappointed that I didn't leave the lesson as the fantasy Lee/White/King bass baby I dreamed I'd be. Clearly, I set my expectations a tad too high. I believed I'd go from zero to awesome in one thirty-minute lesson. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. Or do you?

Let me step back a bit.

In my earlier post, I mentioned that I've been playing percussion since 1976. I studied privately all the way through high school, and I have performed with many groups over the years from marching bands to symphony orchestras and everything in between. Music is in my blood and I'm lucky that it has always come easy for me. I consider myself a reasonably coordinated person. I can't play basketball worth squat, but I can walk and chew gun without falling down, and playing percussion has been second nature to me for years. When it comes to playing OTHER instruments however, I feel like I have no coordination.

When I was 16, I decided I'd like to try to play the oboe as a secondary instrument. I took lessons for about six months, but I had trouble coordinating all ten fingers to work independently of one another. Eventually, I got so frustrated with my inability to do it, I quit.

I relayed the stories of my percussion background and my brief foray into the wacky world of double reed instruments because they directly relate to my bass lessons. I've been thinking about this for the past week or so, and it really comes down to me not feeling confident that I can actually play a second instrument. I tried it before when I was 16, and look how that ended? It's ironic that I am coordinated enough to use two hands and two feet for percussion and feel completely comfortable in doing so, but playing any other instrument feels difficult and awkward. Here we go again! It's like oboe, v2.0.

Sigh. Reality check.

A new endeavor!

Just to get you up to speed, I'll offer up a brief snapshot of my life back at the end of 2010:

I'm 45 years old. I'm married to a wonderful, supportive Hubby. I work full time. I play percussion quite well and have since I was in 5th grade. I have a very socially active 10 year old Child and a psycho pet Kitteh. I have some hobbies I really enjoy, but not as many as when I was younger and single and had more free time. As far as my minimal amount of hobbies are concerned, I've been feeling lately like I want to try something new. What though? Oh! I know! I should take up a new musical instrument. That seems like a totally sane and sensible new hobby to undertake at my age and phase in life considering I'm not, like, BUSY or anything.

Even for a Libra, I tend to go with my gut and make decisions quickly. Done.

Shortly after I made the decision to take up a new instrument, hubby and I decided (rather impulsively, I might add) to buy an electric bass guitar over the course of the Black Friday weekend. Our bass of choice turned out to be a dark blue Ibanez. It's not top of the line by any means, but it was on sale, and it works, and it's also super purty. I'm a woman. Purty matters. I've always had a fantasy in my head of being a kick ass rock/pop/funk bass guitarist. I imagine that Geddy Lee of Rush, Verdeen White of Earth Wind and Fire, and Mark King of Level 42 get together and make a bass baby, and by golly, in my head I picture that bass baby is ME!

In mid December, I called the local music store and set up a series of lessons with their bass guitar instructor Jason. Then, it was 2011. A new year, a new endeavor! When the big day of my first lesson finally came on 1/6/11, I was feeling excited but nervous. In short, this is what I believe I may have looked like right before going in to meet Jason:





The rest is, or will be history.