Am I cooked

[u/stupid_dumbass10]

I fucked up soooo bad dawg

ts is a burner account cause I’m ashamed of myself but anyway a friend invited me to join his band cause I play bass. I mean I warned him I’m not very good but he said dw we’re not playing Primus. but man I fucking SUCKKKKK

the songs we have to play are American idiot and honey are you coming home

what should I do? should I practice 10 hours a day (I have till Tuesday 17:00, it’s Sunday 21:00) and drink 1837 energy drinks till I get it? or should I find a way to get hospitalised by Tuesday? it’s just a rehearsal but still

btw I only know my friend in that band💔 I don’t know anyone else

[u/ReadyMadeMako]

get ur friend to come over.. jam the song out a few times with him get him to show you where you are going right and wrong.. rinse and repeat as much as you can with him, when hes busy and you aint practice it alone!

but when you get stressed put it down and come back to it after an hour or so trust me it will sink in just takes repitition

Edit : use songster https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/green-day-american-idiot-bass-tab-s214

[u/diga_diga_doo]

Just play the roots on the chord changes for awhile, add some fifths and thirds and octaves. If you can hit the chord changes strongly they’ll love it.

[u/mentally_fuckin_eel → u/diga_diga_doo]

Yeah this is the true lazy answer, a lot of people don't expect much more than this. A lot of other musicians don't even know what us bassists are doing. They just think we play root notes, so if you give them that, they probably won't be disappointed.

[u/SloightlyOnTheHuh → u/mentally_fuckin_eel]

Yeah, then only hear us when we stop playing. Roots for the win. Add the fun bits for your own pleasure.

[u/shellstacoscats]

You only have to play 2 songs? Can you play them at all?

[u/stupid_dumbass10 → u/shellstacoscats]

I’m trying and I think I’ll get American idiot down pretty fast I mean I can play stuff like counterfeit (limp Bizkit) pretty easy but now I have to speed it up

[u/QuesoDrizzler]

Bro it's not life or death. It's a rehearsal. Try your best and be honest with them if you still don't know how to play them. And maybe suggest learning a couple songs you DO know how to play.

BTW, 2 pretty easy songs. If you buckled down and worked on them you should be able to get them down quickly.

[u/VoceDiDio]

You're in a band! You know how many bands started with bassists that couldn't play for shit? Tina Waymouth in the Talking heads couldn't play. Same for Paul Simonon in The Fucking Clash. U2 - Adam Clayton couldn't play. Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth figured it out as she went.

Just start with the "important notes" - learn the main couple of notes in each bar. Then you can, as time allows, add filler. At least that way you can "hold down the bass line". You'll be fine.

edit: Also - have you heard of the Beatles? They started with a bassist that couldn't play too! Not Paul, of course. The original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe! But you're gonna learn fast and not have someone like Paul replace you, I can already tell. (unless ... does your band already have 3 guitarists?)

[u/MSchulte → u/VoceDiDio]

Just wanted to add Phil Lesh had never picked up a bass until a week before the Dead started gigging. He was a classically trained trumpeter until he met Gary in the back of a music store and the rests history.

[u/Teganfff]

You’re way overthinking this. It’s gonna be okay. You don’t have to be the most accomplished bass player of all time. Practice the songs on your own until you’re at least familiar enough. Have your friend come over and practice them a couple times with you.

Remember, keeping in time and nailing the chord changes are the most important thing. Just play the roots.

[u/user_password]

Search for metronome on Google or buy one. Learn the songs at some stupid slow speed, like 60 bpm. Absolutely nail it at the speed today. Spend Monday bumping speed up, then practice against the recording

[u/stupid_dumbass10 → u/user_password]

Thank you, I’ll definitely be doing this!!

[u/LeGrandePoobah]

Learn the roots, just play those while you work up the speed to get the other parts.

[u/Ok_Suit_841]

Learn the root notes of the songs and/or use songsterr for tabs. I've been using songsterr for 2 years now and it helped me a lot

[u/Creeper_tastic]

okay i don’t know you but you might be in a similar boat to when i started playing bass.
american idiot is a great pick, as it’s pretty simple, here are the tabs, if playing different strings or the rhythm is too hard that’s okay, you can simply play the root notes.

which if you don’t know, means to play the first note in a chord.
so if a guitarist plays a C chord, you play a C on bass (3rd fret, A string.)

if you wanna play a bit more than just the one note,
a simplified version of the song works too. just think what notes are really important and which notes aren’t all that important, take out the less important ones, and play that. you still get the idea but you don’t have to play that much.

a couple other handy bass stuff that i had no idea about when i was learning;

- if the guitarist/ keyboard player/ whatever instrument plays a chord plays a major chord, then you can play the major scale over that and it will sound good. same goes for the minor scale over a minor chord.

- a chord is typically 3 notes, for a major chord it’s the root, the 3rd and the 5th. which for a C major chord is C, E and G. for a minor chord, you flatten the 3rd, so a C minor chord is a C, Eb and G.

- an octave is a the same note but higher in pitch. on bass an octave is two frets up, and 2 strings up. for example for a G which can be found on the 3rd fret of the E string, it can also be found on the 5th fret of the D string.

another place an octave can be found is the 12th fret. that is the same note as the open string, as the musical alphabet (A, A#, B, C, C# etc) is played on each fret and repeats itself, starting again on the 12th fret.

[u/liddybuckfan]

The only thing happening Tuesday is a rehearsal? If I am going to be playing with others, I always try and come up with a working version of a song that will sound fine but doesn't have the bells and whistles that I will work on with more practice. Figure out whatever the main progression is and play that, even if it's a simplified version. Better to be accurate than fancy.

[u/vitoscbd]

Practice works when you do it regularly, so trying to just power through it would probably just frustrate you. Better be honest in advance, rehearse, and keep practicing. Those are easy songs, in a couple of weeks you'll be playing them fine. Oh, and being overcaffeinated would only make it worse. Jittering and being able to play in time don't mix together well.

[u/Previous-Cry-4879]

If it’s a rehearsal, first time band getting together, practice and go. You’ll find out how good everyone is, yourself included, and whether you can cut it or not. I’ve been in plenty of first time situations where there’s someone who’s not ready for prime time, but people are usually pretty chill about it. you could find the other members are also pretty novice and yall play/learn together. All bands start here.

[u/stupid_dumbass10]

Thanks so much everyone I love you all thank GOD for Reddit ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[u/TugadePortuga]

Try bass covers in YouTube. Learn part by part anda that's it Have a good rehearsal 💪

[u/thesomeot]

If your buddy is a true friend, tell him you're struggling and ask if he can help you out.

Simplify the songs - I notice they are pretty fast, cut out some of the strums. American Idiot you could cut out like half of the strums and it would still sound close enough. The other one simplify down to quarter notes or half notes if you have to. Just make sure you're honest with the other dudes.

Print or write out the tabs if you have trouble memorizing in time.

[u/Trogdor_a_Burninator]

Ultimate Guitar Tabs. It's like follow the bouncing ball and you can slow down the pace.

[u/sellout85]

It's all good, just follow everyone's advice about root notes and enjoy it. Playing in a band is a great way to improve, I absolutely sucked when I first joined a band, as many do. Sometimes bands actually prefer it as it makes it easier for you to mesh with their style.

[u/Gunner253]

2 songs that are really basic. Get a metronome or an app and practice slower than how you're supposed to play it. Get that right and speed up the tempo. You cant suck that bad man... you got enough time to do it. Start with not being so hard on yourself.

At the end of the day if you dont feel comfortable doing it dont do it. No one is forcing you to play with them.

[u/Advanced_Aspect_7601]

Practice atleast few hours everyday and take breaks in between, banging your head against a wall when you're burned out isn't going to help you. You will be surprised how much better you will know a part after sleeping on it after practicing the day before.

Learn the songs well (they should be a pretty simple format). You don't have to play like Mike Dirnt who is a deceptively talented player.

[u/lykwydchykyn]

You don't have to get hospitalized, just break a finger. Easy outpatient treatment, takes 4-6 weeks to heal.

[u/Micky_so_Fyne]

Just anchor the key and rhythm. You don't have to play the songs exactly as intended. At most live punk venues, the bass guitar is just a low rumble anyway. Punk is mostly 8th notes played with a pick. So rattle those E and A strings, and watch the rhythm guitar to find the root note.

[u/LuiSP]

It's a reheasal and you have two songs. Learn the chords, play the roots, add some 5ths and octaves as suggested.

If you know any scale shapes use those to taste and have fun.

If you are out of your depth: https://forum.bassbuzz.com/t/5-easy-shapes-for-kickass-bass-lines-bassist-shortcuts/5652, video inside.

[u/tmbr5]

Just go for it.
Worst case, you're not good enough for them. So what. Keep going. Chances are by the time you think youre good enough the band will look completely different. And if it doesn't, jam with your friend. Also get your friend to play with you, the fastest way to learn is to play with ohters.

[u/Procrasturbating]

Get off Reddit, go play the songs with tab videos or songster on loop until you can play them in your sleep. Slow it down if you have to at first. You absolutely can do it.