I started playing bass the summer before my freshman year of high school. It’s a hobby that I tended to gravitate towards in the summer. I would practice scales and play along to songs, which was either great or terrible. It gave me something to do when I was tired of reading and Miles and Nora were off on a date somewhere.
The reason I took up bass is because of the song my Godparents danced to at their wedding was a song called “A Remark You Made” by a band called Weather Report. It was a long song, as I soon learned that jazz fusion songs tend to be. They started out dancing together, and then Mom danced with Harold while Dad danced with Anne, then they all busted out a short piece they’d choreographed at the end. Later on in the reception, they played another Weather Report song called “Teen Town.” The bass blew me away. I’d never heard anyone play bass guitar the way Jaco did.
It took me 5 years from the wedding to work up the courage to ask for a bass guitar, all the while paying attention to the bass in all the different music I heard. I decided to learn all sorts of scales so I could work on becoming proficient enough to even try more than the simplest “quotes” of Jaco’s. I liked singing a lot better, so that was my primary focus. I took out the bass when I needed to rest my voice but still desired to turn my emotions into sound so I could study with a clearer head.
Junior year rolls around, and I decide that I’m going to win the Talent Show the next year by doing a bass version of the school’s alma mater song in the style of Jaco. I spent the summer before Senior year coming up with the arrangement and most of my senior year practicing it. Miles totally loved it. Nora hated it, naturally. She said that doing a school song for a talent show was nerdy. (Ironically, she was dating a football player at the time.)
I blew everyone away at the audition, even though I played a little slowly. A lot of the people who were in bands were astonished that I could play, because everyone knew me as a singer. “I don’t play a lot, but I’ve been practicing this arrangement since last summer.” was my reply to everyone who asked if I could play.
During the rehearsals, I continued to play it at the same tempo that I did at the audition, but I would practice it faster at home. Soon that was my way of coping with Senioritis and Nora treating Miles like crap most of that year. (Both of them told me not to interfere, which was counterintuitive at this point. Mom told me I needed to practice when I wanted to vent about what Nora did to Miles right after the audition. “Use the bass instead of your mouth, because at least that way you can do something with your feelings.”)
So, I did. I’d come home from school and practice for an hour before I did anything else. If it was a particularly bad day, I’d practice all the way through dinner. Sure, it made for some late nights and strong tea in the morning due to all the homework I had, but it gave me a calmness I hadn’t had since elementary school. Those two weren’t my problem anymore. Miles would come over to hear me practice when Nora was shunning him. He said it felt soothing.
When it was my turn at the talent show, I walked on stage looking like a female Mexican version of Kurt Cobain. I’d thought about wearing the school uniform, but I wanted to prove that someone who dressed like me could pay tribute to the school.
“I’d like to dedicate this to the Senior Class. Study things in college that you enjoy and are good at instead of what’s gonna land you a good job. You’ll be happier for it, even if you don’t make a million bucks.”
Then I played and blew everyone away again by playing it faster than they’d ever heard. I threw in a few fills that I came up with at the last minute. I got a standing ovation and won the hundred bucks.