Dear John (through Katy), I am 12 years old, I went to see Duran Duran at the NEC on the first night you played there. I was blown away ! After seeing you play Bass Guitar as well as you can. I have started to teach myself how to play. My cousin has given me his old Vester bass and I try to play along to songs like...Planet Earth and Skin Trade. But I can't quite get the hang of it. I've already played electic guitar for 5 years and I thought this would be just as easy....I was wrong. Please could you give me some advice. Lots of love, Danni. xxx

"well Danni, those are two wildly different songs to try and play. 'Planet Earth' is pretty simple, as long as you use a plectrum, the changes are easy once you get the 'galloping' rhythm. 'Skin Trade' is a bit trickier, and I play it with my fingers. Like anything, practice makes possible. I'm not one for flogging a dead horse, the best way to learn anything is to have fun doing it. If there is no one you know that you can bully into playing drums along with you, then invest in a cheap rhythm generator- there are lots of them, that you can plug into your sound system or cheap amplifier. I can play along with grooves for hours, but playing alone is no fun at all."