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Bridges.  They are what makes playing in a band a pain in the neck and fun at the same time.  They add contrast, texture, and sometimes a little extra oomph to move the story of the song along. 

If you hear a song that's going along just swimmingly and about the time you decide to change the channel and all the sudden the song takes a twist to a different sound and then it pops back into the next verse (often the verse will have a little different feel than the first time) you've just experienced a bridge. 

If you know sissified '70s folk/pop like I do, think about Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver.  It's a song about a place, West Virginia (yeeha).  Then after the first verse and chorus it goes into a minor key and starts singing about a particular person "I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me, the radio reminds her of my home far away", etc.   Then it goes back into the same major chording but stays personal.  That section that starts "I hear her voice..." is a bridge.  It changes the sound of the song and the course of the song. 

Hope that helps. 

If it doesn't, then think of it as the predictable point in an Alternative Rock song where the rhythm section goes spastic. 

- Zurf

I have that problem, except it's that my mouth is faster than my mind.

- Zurf

James -

I saw Livingston Taylor do something like that once.  He was opening for America at the Bloomsburg County Fair (Pennsylvania  - now a county fair doesn't sound like much but in that part of Pennsylvania at that time, it was a good venue).  Anyway, he was playing a lot of original folk music, and all the farmers were sitting in their overalls giving polite applause.  Well, Mr. Taylor knew his job was to get folks riled up and not to play music and so he said, "OK, if you don't know these songs I'll play some songs I know you can sing along to."  And he started playing the Brady Bunch Theme Song.  Folks started to sing along.  Then he split the audience and did the "who can sing louder" game with the Gilligans Island theme song.  By then, the generally stoic German and Swedish heritage folks were having a good time.  Then he pulled out some old-timey Appalachian classics, some Hank Williams, and even a few German drinking songs and really had folks going. 

When America took to the stage, the audience was almost disappointed.  But that didn't last long.  America's a darned good band.  I had the chance to talk to Mr. Taylor twenty years or so later.  I should have mentioned that night to him and see if he remembered turning that audience around.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a musician enjoy playing for an audience more than Livingston Taylor. 

- Zurf

Getting a new guitar you like will really motivate you.  Play it until your fingers beg for mercy and then play it some more.  Congratulations on a good choice.  The Seagulls are real nice.  I've played a few and liked them well.

- Zurf

Great story LR. 

Here's a quick one.  I was about 17 and playing upright bass in a playhouse orchestra.  This particular playhouse was so far off Broadway that it was in a different state.  The orchestra pit wasn't a pit, it was a loft.  The playhouse itself was a converted barn.  To get to the loft, one had to walk in front of the seating, across the stage, and up a staircase in the Stage Right wing.  Well, our bandleader was also the piano player, and the particular musical we were doing had a lot of honky tonk style piano in it.  He was a little slip of a thing.  Probably about 5'3" and not much more than 110# would be my guess.  And he had purple eyes.  Very unusual. 

Well, come Saturday's second performance, he was late in coming.  He took a nap between the matinee and the evening performance and he overslept.  Actors had already taken to the stage, so he couldn't get to the loft across the stage.  "The show must go on", you know.  The introductory dialogue was just about done and the first number about to start.  The show took place in a living room setting, with a couch in the center of the stage.  The prop master had borrowed the couch from someone who had a LOT of cats.  The lead was drastically allergic to cats and his voice kept getting more and more raw all week.  We played the opening number in a different key each night trying to accomodate this poor fellows allergies.  Well, we didn't know what key that number was supposed to be in and the bandleader wasn't there.  Just then, he came running up the aisle behind the Stage Right seat stands - full tilt!  Without slowing a lick, he jumped like he was trying to block a Michael Jordan lay-up, grabbed the floor of the loft, pulled with his hands, and fluid as if he had done it a thousand times in practice he just shot through the rails, rolled up on the floor, popped up behind his piano, shouted "G!" and we played that song starting right on time and without a hitch in the key of "G".   I don't think I've ever seen a better athlete than that purple-eyed piano player. 

- Zurf

Well sure, he's a drummer. 

(if you're a drummer, I'm kidding)  (as far as you know)

Q: How can you tell if the stage is set up level?
A: If drool is coming out of both sides of the drummer's mouth.

I don't really have any name suggestions.  Band names are dime a dozen.  Just pick up a newspaper and there will be some names.  I'm looking at the ads on the side of this page and have come up with...

Quick & Easy
Next Hour
Smilies

All good advice so far.  I'm also new, so my advice should be taken with a grain of salt.  I have a terrible instructor, but he's me so I can't fire him. 

Here are a few things I've done.

For chord changes, write out all the chord changes in a song.  If the progression is G- C- G- D, then you have the following changes
G to C
C to G
G to D
D to G

Once you know all the changes, practice those chords.  Once you know the chords pretty well (meaning you can get them without much delay and without having to think specifically where each finger goes), then think through how you're going to get your fingers from one chord to the other.  I find it helpful to worry about what my index finger is going to do, the others just kind of fall in line from there.  Then, do what you just thought about (i.e., the chord change) over and over and over and over and over.  Then try it with strumming a steady beat.  It doesn't have to be fast, just steady.  Once you feel fairly confident with each chord change, then you're ready to strum the song through.  So go ahead.  Strum the song through.  Sing it in your head or out loud, but bear the melody in mind.  I find it useful to sing out loud, though no one else seems to like it much.

Another thing that I am noticing that I need is the scales work.  I've just ordered a scales book and will begin practicing them.  As of right now, I'm a strummer only.  In a year, I'm hoping to be able to pick out some leads as well.  Playing lead riffs is all about arpeggios (playing the notes of the chord in certain orders) and scales.  Knowing what notes can be played in what "keys" is key to playing the right notes, and I figure that scales are the best way to learn which notes are in which keys. 

- Zurf

Welcome Fred.  Thanks for teaching kids about music. 

- Zurf

Little Deuce Coupe - Jan & Dean?  Maybe Beach Boys.
Hot Rod Lincoln - Asleep at the Wheel and a host of others
Maybelline - Chuck Berry

I'll use a capo.  Fine with me.  It now occurs to me that all my worship songs are chords for playing bass.  The guitar players did use capos a lot, so they probably had some pretty easy open chords to play while I was trying to remember where C# is mid-way up the neck.  Ah well, it was a fun challenge and they were good folks to play with.

As far as the low slung thing, no clue.  I've seen bassists have their basses almost to their knees.  It looks silly at best - definite poser mode as far as I'm concerned.  Look at me, I can play it real low, ain't I cool.  Just play good, buddy and don't worry about how it looks.  While you're at it, get rid of the leather pants.  That's just so LoverBoy. 

- Zurf

e-Bay.  Go out and see if anyone is selling the same albums.  Also, there's got to be some kind of an estimator book.  Check your local library and ask for help from the reference librarian.   

- Zurf