Im a beginner at 54yrs.old! Tell me theres hope!

I Want to learn the bass b4 father time takes me, lol, I purchased an Ibanez gearsound bass guitar, amp had New strings put on b4 i brought it home. Ive been at this a week, learned the strings and i am starting the process of trying to memorize the notes on the fret board, Finger excercises etc, It seems a little overwhelming with all the how 2s out there. another big question is i have a short pinky finger, but the rest of my fingers dont have a reach problem, Is playing with 3 fingers doable? i just joined this site and its more overload on my brain. but there so much info on here. I have been strapping it on evryday for at least and hour or more, progress is slow but im determined to do this. my music intrest at 54 yrs. old isnt Frank Sinatra, lol ! My music intrest is bands like Ozzie, Floyd, AC/DC, etc. Alternative likes Social D. P.O.M etc. Any hope helps! Il put the time in. Thanks

Indeed, good sir! I believe there is/was a bass player on these very forums who'd actually cut some tendons in his hand in some sort of accident, as and as result, one of his frettin' hand fingers was completely unusable. He's very good, too

Also, I've been playing for 3 and a half years and I still haven't memorised all of the notes on the fretboard yet - that's completely through lack of trying. I can tell you which notes are which and where they are, but I can't use that knowledge in improvisation. It's much easier to know the bass fretboard in terms of patterns - Dman's major scale video can get you started down that path if you haven't watched it already...

Welcome, good sir!

Everyone's pinky is shorter, just practice with it and you'll eventually be comfortable with all of them no problem. I'm not saying it's necessary (cause it's not) but from my experience, other guitarists and bassists who don't use their pinky have trouble playing more advanced stuff later on.

As for learning the fretboard, I'm in the same boat as Pip. I know all the notes of the fretboard but I don't KNOW them. Not by heart anyways. The most efficient way that I learned those was from frets 1-5 on every string. If you learn those, then you know the whole board essentially because after that they just repeat. If that seems overwhelming, just learn the natural notes first and the shaps/flats will come with time. Also, as Pip said, learn the major scale.

Pippynip wrote:

Also, I've been playing for 3 and a half years

I had no idea that you've only been playing that long. I guess cause you were here before me I assumed you were a prodigy.

Pip is a prodigy, and a legend on the forums! Though that's more through his wit than playing
He knows his stuff anyway

Yes, patterns are the easier method is you're going with modern music, especially rock. Not much call for knowing notes in the genre.
The question is exactly how much shorter your pinky is? If it's unnaturally so, then maybe it's not an option to play with it. You will have more trouble with some things, but nothing is impossible. (the member Pip was refering to is DTL, and he makes beautiful music) I've even seen bass players without one arm put others to shame, so don't worry.

As long as you practice everyday for at least an hour, you'll reach a decent level within a year...so yes, there's plenty of hope

I'm just starting out again on the bass aged 50. I sold my Fender Squier Precision in 1986 and never had a bass in my hands again until a few months ago. As long as we enjoy it, it's a great hobby, and a wonderful way to relax.