Hey everyone! I have been playing bass since 2020. I tracked my progress by making cover videos on YouTube. I found Murphy's YouTube page a few years ago when I was trying to learn the Sugar Ray song "Falls Apart" and I really dug his teaching style. Not spoon feeding every note to play, but he emphasized using your ears to hear what's going on. I finally got into a band this spring. I live in a very small town and finding bandmates my age who like similar music was a bit of a challenge. We had our first gig at the beginning of this summer. I learned a lot from that gig. I have put it upon myself to be our band leader. We had feedback issues at this gig and I have since learned to ring out a system and I have also prioritized having a clean, less cluttered stage. I'm going to try to post a video of our band playing "Falls Apart" it's still one of my favorite songs to play. This gig was at our local high school. It was the end of year yearbook signing party. Our lead singer and lead guitarist both work at the school. My wife played keyboards and sang backup vocals, and her brother is our drummer. We all have kids in high school too. It was a really fun first gig and the students were an amazing crowd.

I have a couple places where I practice. I have an Ampeg micro-VR and Zoom B6 set up in my office. This is where I'll learn songs usually. I can put sections of songs to loop and slow them down with Moises through my computer. Then in my basement I currently have a Boss Katana 500 running through a couple Seismic Audio 410's. I also have an Ampeg Venture V7, I switch between the two amps depending on how I'm feeling. Anyway, this is where we have band practice. My wife is very cool and doesn't mind the noise, she also plays keyboards and sings backup vocals in the band.

Hi, everyone! My name is Mike and I've been playing bass since '94-ish. I'm from Johnstown PA, which is about 50 minutes east of Pittsburgh. I'm currently playing in a traditional Irish/bluegrass band but love playing pretty much any genre of music. In addition to bass I play guitar, piano, and much to the chagrin of my cats, tin whistle (I'm still learning that). Outside of music I design and build (and ride) downhill mountain bike trails, I'm an avid gravel cyclist, and a Whitewater kayaker. My main bass is my G&L Kiloton but I also have a Chevelle by Jackson and an ESP LTD that's strung like the bottom of a 5 string. Here's a shot of all of my guitars in my home studio. Share a little about yourself and a pic of your practice space. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone!

PLAY BETTER BASS is here to help you start playing better, and lose the frustration you might have with random YouTube lessons, and trying to do it all on your own. I want to help you get some quick wins toward playing and sounding better... so take a look around. If you just joined, welcome. I literally just started this group.. so there will be a few lessons going up in the next coming days. (this group officially opened August 21, 2026, FYI). Also, make sure to share a bit about yourself - in the community - say hello, introduce yourself, where you live, who your favorite bass player is, and what made you want to play bass. Be cool to everyone and they'll be cool back to you ⚡️ This is a community that will focus on being positive, working hard, and getting results. The more you dive in... and connect, share, encourage others, and take action on your own journey, you'll see others do the same AND support you along the way. Welcome to Play Better Bass.