Fresh off my first sit-in...

[Irön Waynö]

The 67th Army Band of the Wyoming National Guard dropped in on my band class today and invited a few of the percussionists to a rehearsal they were having that night. I said, "sure, what the hell?"

We went in and I was expecting a concert style band (y'know, saxes, clarinets, flutes, all that good stuff) but, to my surprise, they were a 4 piece (two guitars, bass, and drums) rock 'n' roll cover band that played everything from Hank Williams to Kid Rock. I sat in and played a little bass (yeah, I know, this a guitar forum, but that's what I played) on a few songs and actually didn't do that bad having only played the instrument 11 months.

I got my first experience of playing with a band and learned among other things, two very important details:

1) I definitely want to pursue music as a career.

2) My improvisation skills suck!

[Raskolnikov]

Well, first off I'm a full time bassist and I have yet to see a single complaint (like that would actually phaze me). Second, sit ins are great for your musicianship in general. I play open mics all the time and I've learned that being a quick learner is not only fun (because you get to play a lot more), but also is something that gets around- and people start calling you up to ask if you can fill in on such and such a day for their usual guy. Most of all, the more you sit in, the more you become adept at learning things on the fly... learning how to "jam."