I had a friend ask me this a lot who couldn't understand why I chose bass.

Now I ask you, why'd you choose bass?:confused: :bassist:

I love to groove. Simple as that.

we have done this before right? every time in a different subforum!
i started playing bass because the school band wanted a bass player. school band= hot = chicks = :D

Every one was a guitarist, a singer, a drummer. There were very few bassists.

I like being different. Also thought that a good bassist would be in demand.

But mostly because I loved the sound of the instrument, especially Pino Palladino.

I dig the sound and when I was starting out I wanted to play stuff like John Entwistle, Joe Bouchard, Geddy Lee, and what I refer to at the time as "the guy from Yes."(Chris Squire) Almost two years since that ambition(didn't take it seriously until a year ago, so the second doesn't count for me) I still don't quite have it down. I be a fool though to think I could do something like that quickly however. :D

Formed a "band" with some friends back in early high school. Problem is we had 3 guitar players and no bass player, and we didn't want to bring in someone outside of our circle of friends to play. So since I hadn't bought an electric guitar yet (all I had was nylon acoustic) I decided I should get a bass starter pack instead. After that I just fell in love with playing bass.

I don't know....It's been THAT long.

because Nikki Sixx is cool. Seriously.

Because I didn't my fingers to be all cut up and bloody from playing guitar, little did I know it can still hurt

She picked me.
Luckily, I was paying attention when she spoke.

Because the size of my fingers make it very difficult to play some electric guitars. I have to struggle to fret an A major chord on a fender stratocaster.

I used to mess around on electric guitar and play along with Santana on the stereo, but those bass lines stood out for me and soon I only wanted to follow them, so I sold the guitar and bought an old bass, and the rest is history. My new Music Man Sterling arrives tomorrow.

I hate being in the front, and bass is cool and (almost) always in the back.

I heard a John Entwistle solo and was knocked out by the sound of the instrument. I found out it was one of them there 'bass guitar' things and eventually bought one of my own.

because i couldn't find a bassist to play in my band.....:hiding:

Around 1967 I went with a church youth group to a "folk band" concert. There was a guy named Jingles playing a hollow body electric bass and I'll never forget that sound or his name. It was still 5 years after that I finally picked up an electric bass and started playing. Hey, if anyone knows who that Jingles was (a local from central Massachusetts)let me know.

I was playing lead guitar in a one man band and we thought some of the songs really needed bass. eventually we realized all the songs sounded better and lead was just the icing on the cake. so i bought a cheap bass from a local music store and started playing root note bass. Played a few gigs and also started playing bass in church.

fast forward a couple of years: never really thought I had that bass player feel so never thought seriously about concentrating on bass until I realized how in demand bass players were and I wanted to make a living with music.

Since I have always been sort of a drummer/rhythm guitarist and now played lead guitar figured playing bass was kinda like playing drums and lead at the same time....two of my favorite things to do. So I decided to get a few lessons on bass from a bass player friend of mine. I decided to switch exclusively to bass and put down the lead guitar after a bad experience recording lead in the studio. The bass I recorded sounded better than the lead. the rest is history....and still in the making. :)


oh and when I was young my cars always had that big booming bass system. Love to feel the bass all through my body. love rattling things. That was my life back then....cruising around blasting heavy bass laden tracks. Man I spent so much money on car systems! :lol:

I was around 12 or 13 when I switched to playing guitar from piano. When I got to Jr High I wanted to join the jazz band, but they already had a guitar player, so I took the bass instead (I couldn't read any music for stringed instraments anyway, so what did it matter?). When my friends and I decided to start a band, I originally wanted to play guitar, but since I was the only one who had even remotely played any bass, there I went.

I spent the next few years as a "guitarist playing bass", but I've since made the transition into a full fledged bass player. I barely even touch my guitar any more and couldn't care less.

I liked the sound of this thing i heard in the intro of Iron Maiden`s Tailgunner ... at that time i had no idea of what was a bass, neither of wich was his role ... I Only was aware that that thing could make a good song turn into great one ... then i saw one in some friend´s house ... I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH THE THING ... i knew how a guitar was played, but it never really caught me in, but this thing did it ... the size of the strings, there was not so many of them, just 4, you just needed you fingers ...

I bought Master of Puppets by Metallica. I sat there listening to Cliff Burton's bass lines and said to myself "Damn, I want to play the bass."

The guys that were in the first band that I joined needed a bass player. I played saxaphone at the time as well as a couple other instruments. My dad played bass so he gave me some gear and taught me the basics so I could join the band. After that, I fell in love with the instrument and have never wanted to do anything else.

I was playing lead guitar in a one man band and we thought some of the songs really needed bass.

Quoted for "HUH?".

I was thirty two, single, dead end job, depressed, and felt unwanted and useless. So I turned to a higher power and asked "Why am I here?, All I do is fail and suffer. Please help me understand why I live on while others who seem to have their crap together and are loved die too early?" Something like that. Anyway the next day a friend gave me a guitar. I played and got fairly proficient, but as a reggae enthusiast, was drawn to the sound of the bass. I knew I wanted to play bass. The guitar gave me confidence in myself, so I went out and bought a bass and practice amp totaling $150. I was kicking myself for spending that money, then I fell in love with playing bass. I am 38 now and live for music. I started a band, and we have been together for four years.

Around 1967 I went with a church youth group to a "folk band" concert. There was a guy named Jingles playing a hollow body electric bass and I'll never forget that sound or his name. It was still 5 years after that I finally picked up an electric bass and started playing. Hey, if anyone knows who that Jingles was (a local from central Massachusetts)let me know.

I met him in a bar in South Boston he was
Down and Out
Look to me to be the eyes of age
But the smoke ran out
He talked of life
Talked of life
Laughed, clicked his heals and said.
Mr. Bo Jingles. Mr. Bo Jingles
Mr. Bo Jingle play da bass.

That's the same guy, right?

I was playing lead guitar in a one man band and we thought some of the songs really needed bass. :

That's wild I played drums in a one man band. ...... Did we ever meet?

Geddy Lee

Well, I'm primarily a guitar player, but upon hearing The Meters, I decided to go from just dabbling in bass to actually taking it as seriously as guitar.
Plus, knowing multiple instruments is always a plus, especially when on the rare occasion you find other people to play, they either suck or play punk/hardcore.
Right now, I've basically just said '**** it' and have decided to record all the instruments myself.

tried guitar and just wasnt filling it, my roomates a great guitarist and suggested i try bass so we could jam. so i played a bass and fell in love the second i plucked the first string...

When I was 12, my brother got a couple Les Claypool CDs (Brown Album and Highball With the Devil) and I fell in love with bass. I'd never heard anything like it before. It took another 10 years before I finally got one. I was in college at the time in a tiny a$$ town and couldn't afford lessons, let alone travel to them, so I had to learn myself. When I started I didn't even know what frets were for (seriously!) but I studied hard. A year later, I had to concentrate on graduating, and put it away for about a year, and about a month ago I pulled it out again and am learning to play once more. Good times lol.

Shame, everybody. Shame shame shame.... You go to the same place for lyin' as you do for stealin'.

We started playing music to meet girls. All of us. Even the girls. Confession is good for the soul. Testify, y'all.

;)

Because of this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS6Bvtp050w&feature=related

I played guitar for years, but didn't like playing chords; I just wanted to play solos. I switched to bass to make things easier for me.

Single notes are the way to go. ;)

james jamerson.

My friend's back in school were putting together a band and they needed a bassist. So I became the bassist.

Every one was a guitarist, a singer, a drummer. There were very few bassists.

Heh, same reason it caught my attention. When i was in high school, my friend's where in a band. For the longest time they needed a bassist, but it didn't support my budget.

However, i was also the only one with a vehicle so I got to drive them around to their battle of the bands and what few gigs they did get.

I wish I could go back to those days with a better or just another job.

Demand for bassists, plain and simple.

as a reggae enthusiast, was drawn to the sound of the bass.


Ding ding ding!!! :bassist:

Last year I was jamming guitar for fun with a band when they practiced without their singer. It was more for fun than work when he wasn't there. I can play as good as any of them. They begged me for days to play bass when their bass player couldn't make a gig. Never played a bass before for more than maybe two minutes.
Nine months, four basses, and three bass amps later I'm still hooked. I play several instruments, but never tried bass before last year or cared.

Bass is cool!

here is the little story as to why i started....


http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448737

Seeing Gene Simmons spit blood and do his monster bass intro to "100,000 Years" just F*cked up my mind. Hearing Geezer Butler's intro to "NIB" did too...then "Killers" by Iron Maiden... Jeez, I think Satan and blood and guts did it!!

Geddy Lee and Cliff Burton's bass solo- Pulling Teeth.

Didn't know I'd get so many replies lol :hyper:

i play bass because I don't have a guitarists personality.

Black Sabbath's paranoid. see "planet caravan" and "electric funeral"

I'm a third generation bass player. I knew from a very young age (about 6 seriously.) that it was all I wanted to do.

i started out as a guitarist but i started playing bass for these 4 reasons
1. i liked the sound better
2. there were less bassists (being in demand is fun):D
3.primus

Cos it looked easier than guitar, and playing piano for school sucked.

i started out as a guitarist but i started playing bass for these 4 reasons
1 i liked the sound better
2 there were less bassists (being in demand is fun):D
3 primus

and you wonder why guitards call us incompetent

When I heard Yes for the first time, Chris Squire's lines and sound were mesmerizing, and I knew immediately, that's the instrument for me. Little did I know then, that I'd spend the next 25 years making sure my bass never sounded like that.

Why did I start(trying......still)to play bass?
How could ya turn your back on bass after hearing The Ox's solo on My Generation?Cliff Burton's Pulling Teeth & then a brilliant guitarist saying,"dude,I need a bass player.If I teach ya,will you do it"?What 16 year old could say no?
Great.The wind just changed & everything I say from now on ends in a question mark!No,wait.That's just a myth,right?

and you wonder why guitards call us incompetent

Mate.I gotta tell ya,to be completely honest,this is extremely sig worthy.& I say that in all honesty,rather than it being a case of one bass playing fatty supporting another ;)
Let's grab us some pancakes if you're ever in town eh.

Cliff Burton

Hi,

It was mainly Queen's John Deacon playing and general presence on stage as Queen is one of my favorite bands and the first band i really got into. Deaky just looked so cool to me and listening to his playing was just inspiring. He mainly got me into the bass. I then got hooked on The Who and after hearing and watching John Entwistle on stage, i just had to have a go at playing and it's been going on ever since and now i love playing and i play in a coverband who mainly covers Queen and The Who!;):bassist: So it's fairly safe to say that John Deacon and John Entwistle are my two favorite players despite their very different approaches and sounds.

Alex :)

I Love the sound of a bass, Always wanted to play guitar as a kid and as a teenager just fell in love with the sound of a bass, Tupac Shakur's little riff at the end of Gridlock'd sealed it, having never seen a bass played pretty mcuh solo with such coolness, really opened my eyes to the sound available from a bass. Plus the intro MxPx's chick magnet was cool as...

Turns out I'm better suited to bass anatomically as well, I struggle more with guitars as my fingers bend inwards and it's bloody hard to be accurate in such a small space. Bass just falls to hand so much easier.

My dad was listening/listens to alot of jazz &blues so i grown up listening to bass licks, and i always liked the sound of them, and i felt the guitar was most of the time screeching my ears and crap, basically i preferred the bottom. And my parents always encouraged me to play music, starting with flute to learn the notes and then did a bit of clarinet, tried guitar really didnt liked it and traded it in a pawnshop for a bass.

i thought about guitar cuz its cool but then after listening too two guys jam in a music shop i was like "the lower the better!"

plus every one plays guitar i knew i'd DEFIANTLY be in a band playing bass =D

Ding ding ding!!! :bassist:

my bredren!

long story short...

as a young pre-teen I was paid to turn pages for my guitarist Grandfather and his bassist at a show. I sat in a chair between them and in front of a 2x15" Fender tube rig. I couldn't catch my breath because of the bass pulse and spent the show on the verge of a panic attack.

after I got home and regained my composure, I WANTED THAT POWER :smug:

Tone..............electric bass is the only instrument I've ever wanted to play since about say......1965?

I started because my brother-in-law called me up and said his band needed a bass player so he taught me the basics and i found that i love to groove

"With a guitar, you can break their eardrums, with a bass you can shake the whole building."

That why.

because Nikki Sixx is cool. Seriously.

exact same reason here...not why i first bought a bass but definitly what made me want to become one

because Nikki Sixx is cool. Seriously.

that is the funniest joke I've heard in a long time!:hyper:

Initial interest because I preferred the techniques involved (slap style looked alot more entertaining to do than anything I'd ever seen a guitarist pull off) but once I actually got into it in a year or so, I found I preferred the tone, feel and general presence. As it has been said many times before, drum and bass make the song whole :)

Why bass guitar?

Because God told me to learn bass guitar. And I love the deep, groove sound they create.

Because its easy. :hiding:

Why bass guitar?

Because God told me to learn bass guitar. And I love the deep, groove sound they create.

So God specifically said Bass Guitar and not the upright? Man that clears up so much for me.

Friends of mine were starting a band in college. At the time, I was playing a bit of piano and organ, just sort of messing around. I was a big Pink Floyd fan at the time, and Roger Waters was sort of a hero -- I dunno, really, I suppose it was because that was the seat open to me.

So God specifically said Bass Guitar and not the upright? Man that clears up so much for me.

Indeed. Not the upright. Bass Guitar. Complete with mental image of a bass guitar. So now I am learning on a 5-stringer and practicing with my church's band, with the intent of training another drummer to replace me so I can move to bass.

Converted from guitar so I could get into a band with a really good guitarist. Now, I hardly ever play guitar..

Converted from guitar so I could get into a band with a really good guitarist. Now, I hardly ever play guitar..

A-ha! Another failed guitarist!

I started on the bass, only had 2 guitars in my life, barely played them. Still have a strat, just to learn a few chords, but I suck at it.

Other than a moan from a beautiful woman there is no cooler sound than the bass

I heard this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Burnel) playing this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-55d4XkfW8w), and wanted to make that sound :bassist:

In my early teens I wanted to play something. Duh, musicians were cool. I went to a music store with my father and thought about buying the coolest looking instrument I could afford, which turned out to be a bass. My dad said that I should buy a guitar because you can do a lot more with a guitar than a bass (I'd say damn him to hell if he wasn't my dad..) so I bought a guitar. I took some lessons and everything but I didn't really like it. The higher notes sounded awful and the whole thing just wasn't so much fun. Then came a day when I happened to pick up a jazz bass at schools basement. That day I found that playing music can really be fun and could really be for me and that you can do whateverthehellyouplease between the chords. The next day I sold my guitar to a pawn shop and bought my sisters boyfriends old squier jazz. When I went over to buy the bass he showed me what slap bass is. That was it.

A friends band needed a bassist for a show, i was there... Well ye.

Started as a goof.

I was the sax player in the worship band. One weekend, the bass player, regular guitarist, and a keyboard player who could play bass were all on vacation. I jokingly mused out loud about subbing on bass and the worship leader took me seriously. [I had played guitar in the past and knew some music theory].

Borrowed my wife's cheap short-scale she got for tooling around (and keeping her 6 guitars company). Practiced intently for three days. Showed up for Thursday rehearsal thinking they would kick me off the stage, but they didn't. Played that Sunday and was hooked. Went out and bought an Ibanez SR505.

Now I'm the regular bass player. Had no intention of ever taking up bass, but once bitten, I knew it was what I had to do. :bassist:

I guess I should tell you guys why I chose the bass.

I was trying to learn guitar but failed miserably...
I picked up my uncles old bass and started to learn on that. From that day on I had been playing bass and I am now in a thrash metal band called Krieg.

Music has become my life. :bassist:

If Someone never understood why he started playing bass then he will fail....I started because i heard cliff burtons intro For whom the bell tolls (live)

Every one was a guitarist, a singer, a drummer. There were very few bassists.




bass all the way. i love the low sound. a powerman 5000 song started for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB69L7LGhlM
'one nation under a groove'

They looked cooler that guitar. It looked easy.

Steve Harris... Instantly drawn to those bass lines. After HS I joined the Air Force and decide to start learning the bass. Some reta... urrr some guitarist convinced me that the best thing to do is to learn the guitar first. Six months down the road I realized that I absolutely hated it. At the same time my music collection had expanded and, funny how it works, it was almost exclusively "bass"ed upon very good bass players. Stanley Clarke, Cliff Burton, Jaco, Chris Squier, etc. I donated the guitar equipment to a local school and just continued my music collection and didn't give playin' another thought.

Now, 16 years later, kids, wife... responsibilities... I realized that something was missing. I was still adding to my music collection. Victor Wooten, Larry Grahm, Robert Trujillo, etc. Then I figured out what it was... I picked up my first bass in August and I am having a ball. Aching fingers and back, frustration trying to figure how to get my left hand to work that way (the frustration turns into instant laughter 99% of the time). I'm simply having fun just learning. Haven't had this much fun learning anything before. Recently, I became unemployed. That bass does a lot for my sanity, now.

I don't know if it will ever lead me to playing in a band or not, and I don't really care. I'm doing this for me. Simple as that. I love this instrument.

They looked cooler that guitar. It looked easy.

That is the thing about this instrument. When you are good at it, people think what you're doing is easy.

Like a previous job, where I was the IT guy, I had everything under control, so they thought I was doing nothing, and eventually they let me go and replaced me with contractors. Man, did they regret it... Everything since was done slower, incompletely and for more money.

I have had this several times: dude stares at my fingers the whole duration, with that "Hey I can do that...", then asks me if he can "play" my bass. It usually lasts a few seconds.

"Man, those strings are solid..." Yup.

Because I had a choice: My parents are musicians and it was of two things laying around the studio that they weren't afraid of me hurting and the choice was, learn guitar on a acoustic guitar:spit: or a electric bass :bassist: Now being as I had just been exposed to "Anestesia Pulling Teeth" it was a no brainer;)

Because i thought it'd be easier than guitar. 4 or 6 strings with fat sausage fingers !

Bass is the most metal, heaviest ****ing instrument. A solid foundation of power for the guitars.

because the grade school orchestra teacher said she "didn't need any more Ringos".
Then she pulled up a double bass and said she had an opening for a bassist.
Looked cool and my parents were boppers. I loved Woody Herman/Chubby Jackson.
Also knew rock bands used bass guitars, so I went for it.

The feel, the looks, the sound, the role and the attitude most bassist have, if you think about it, 90% of the bassists i have seen, know or see, are the most easy going and fun guys in the band, and it suits my personality so well it is just a match made in heaven..

i<3 Bass and nothing is ever going to change that

I started for the groove and sound :) and u can beat the crap out of the strings and not worry about breaking them .

I think my story is particular. I had an acoustic guitar that belonged to my grandma, but it was broken. When I was around 12 years old, I broke a string on my brother's electric guitar, he was learning at the moment and that killed his interest... he still doesn't know that I broke it and he thinks he broke it while he was drunk. :o Years later, a friend lent me a drum set because he wasn't using it and I never really got to into it. There was place near my house where I could get music lessons so I kind of gave up on it. Once I gave the drumset back, a conversation came up with my cousin... he had this bass that he did not use and I decided I'd buy it, for 60$ :o.

Before that I didn't even know what the hell a bass was or what it sounded like, and when I played it...

I freaking hated it, with a passion. I thought it sounded horrible, but after awhile (almost a year of owning it) a music school opened and I went there, then I started loving it more and more... it evolved from passionate hate to passionate love. I freaking love bass now.

I wanted to learn to play an instrument. My older brother played guitar, so I think that had something to do with my decision to play bass. However, after getting the instrument when I was 15 or so I basically let it sit in the closet for a year. Then I broke my left wrist in a pickup football game, and I started playing as therapy. Then I realized that I really enjoyed playing, so I kept it up.

to impress chicks....and anyone that has ever played that says otherwise is a liar....


and my dad is a guitarist and my bro is a drummer....so naturally, didn't want to live in any of their shadows and the only thing left for me was bass.

I started playing bass because I thought learning to play music and starting a band would be a good new focus for my life after my engagement fell apart and I dropped out of college.

I meant to take up the guitar, but when I was in the store, a bass on the wall just jumped out at me, and I had to take her home.

And it was all downhill from there! :bassist:

They looked cooler that guitar. It looked easy.

But you found in the end that bass is not that easy.

When I was 13 my music teacher introduced me to the guitar. We learned things like 'Smoke on the Water,' and 'Lean on Me.' I hated the instrument, and at the end of the year vowed never to touch a guitar ever again in my life. About six months later I listened to a couple of my friends jam. There was a drummer and like four guitars. I continued to watch them practice and they decided they needed a bass player, so one of them switched to bass. He hated it and quit the band. The band was going nowhere and sounded crap so another quit the band, so it now was a drummer and two guitarists who couldnt play very well. The music techer (a bass player himself) suggested I take up the bass and he would teach me so I could jam with my friends, so I did. Now I'm 18 and have since taken up piano, guitar, banjo, some singing and drums with bass still as my main instrument.

Lifes funny sometimes :)

I picked electric bass initially because I had to. The HS jazz band was going to Florida for a competition and we didn't have room for an upright. There were three bassists that year in jazz band, and two of them flat out refused to play electric. I said "Sure, why not?" and got to go. Didn't take it really seriously until a couple years later when touring with the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra, a buddy let me listen to Michael Manring's "Thonk" album while on the bus. That changed my complete outlook on electric bass.

I picked upright initially because in fifth grade, we had orchestra rehearsal at the middle school (we were bused from elementary) one day a week. They had four uprights at the middle school and I'd always sneak back and hit those open strings. When the option was available in sixth grade, I jumped at it.

....Hearing Geezer Butler's intro to "NIB" did too...then "Killers" by Iron Maiden..."

I was raised on Geezer's lines, and it wasn't until I started playing bass a few months ago that I realized Iron Maiden is the brainchild of a bassist.

But I have always liked the blues, and even funk (for a white boy). Then Geddy Lee, and Flea rolls along.

But bass is sort of organic....fingering, big strings, that fat big sound, and the groove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KpxOmksHrY

The first minute and and fifteen seconds or so of that song... :bassist:

I heard a John Entwistle solo and was knocked out by the sound of the instrument. I found out it was one of them there 'bass guitar' things and eventually bought one of my own.

I am sure you have seen this, but just in case....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PZkYxVkFVA

I found that after years of playing guitar I was terrible at chording and playing leads so I decided that bass would be easy. It sure is. I play much better than most players who have only played bass!




http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m116/falthead/Wizard_troll_doll-low_res.jpg

i played tuba in high school and when i graduated i couldnt afford to get my own tuba but i could buy a bass. the rest is history.

There's a band called Mother's Finest whose bassist Wyzzard made me want to play bass all the way back in 1980.

I thought it was a natural step up from being a drummer.

Other than a moan from a beautiful woman there is no cooler sound than the bass

Sigged.

I began playing piano at 4, and played professionally (as in, got paid to play) through most of my teens. I never really loved it, though, and once I got to college, I just stopped, both because of time constraints as an art student and just general apathy. I had also played trumpet in school (hated it) and messed around on guitar (hated it, too). I grew up listening to Prince, Primus, funk and hip hop, yet somehow never put my finger on the fact that I was into bass-driven music--even though I recognized all the music as such. Anyway, many years later, as I was playing a new, little-known new game called "Guitar Hero," something rattled the stupid out of my head, and I got the notion to try bass. Love. This. Instrument. I feel like I was a bass player all along, I was just too dumb to know it.

I was 14 years old and playing guitar in a band. The bass player sucked. I had to show him the bass lines for every song. Yes- Roundabout was released, and I was blown away by Chris Squire and the amazing stuff he was playing. Finally, we kicked him out and I took over on bass. The year was 1972. :eek:

Low E.

I played a friend's guitar and thought it was fun, but I hated the small strings and using a pick. He told me that bassists could their fingers and that the strings were quite a bit larger. That and I had just gotten into Iron Maiden a few months before hand.

Basically it used to go like this:
Hey dude you wanna play in the band? Sorry we got a guitarist already so can you do Bass?

If thats necessary to get me in the band, well ok then. But only untill we find a bass player so I can do 2nd guitar ok?

But secretly you're jumping up and down knowing that when rehearsals take place
you'll be playing Bass with and grin.
And you don't bring up the "second guitar" discussion...

Besides the rest is just there for random noise while YOU on BASS are actually playing THE riff of the song!
Right?
Right!

http://i46.tinypic.com/2zrjk7d.jpg

The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft a bass from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Jay, was to carry that bass. THAT is why I started playing bass.



Actually, it was the only instrument that none of my close friends played. I picked it up so I could jam with them. Years later... tadaaaaa.

Why did I start playing bass??

My older brother, upon his departure for Junior year of college, didn't even bother to say goodbye. But he left a POS Hofner copy on my bed with a note that simply said "Learn to play this".

So I did.

That was 32 years ago.

Meddle.

Some stereo bass goodness.

Kiss Alive! I still love the bass on that album.

Started with playing guitar but wasn't really good at it and it wasn't that fun. Got a bass from a friend and it's loads more fun to play:D

Now I ask you, why'd you choose bass?:confused: :bassist:

Pants down - I just couldn't find a band as a guitarist :scowl: and there has been quite some demand for bass players :smug::hyper:

Victor Wooten (particularly his solo bass pieces) and SMV.

I'm a big fan of electronic music and started to play keys and synths. Bass in music was like a big guitar to me. Old music ( like disco wave rock etc ) with beautiful bass lines in it, before i played bass i never never noticed bass in it.
But listening to the elektronic music of Patrick O'Hearn with the warm fretless bass sounds, so much 'feel' in it , it never came out of the synths.
So: I Bought a fretless bass, joined a band, have fun in playing in the band and at home playing with the synths.
Maybe we must known/play it first before we can apprieciate it !

I never listened to rock music. I grew up playing the piano, and my Mom only had two types of music in the house: Classical and New Age. I would occasionally hear songs on the radio (grunge was popular at the time) and thought it was "music to kill yourself by."

Then I heard Metallica.

I had a computer science teacher that liked to play music in class, and one day he was playing Metallica's "Black Album." I had never been a fan of pop music, and CERTAINLY not metal, but something really struck a chord in me. My buddy and I got really into Metallica, and it inspired us to play guitar. He bought one first. I still remember being in guitar center that day, about to buy a Squier Stratocaster. I was on the verge picking it up when, we heard some really cool music being played. We looked over and saw two guys, one on an acoustic guitar, and another on bass. They were playing this really rhythmic, flamenco-tinged progression, and I thought it was awesome. I remember thinking, "Well we'd really like to play in a band...but if I buy a guitar, then we'll need to find both a bass player and a drummer. But if I take up bass, then we'll only need a drummer." I still remember our first time playing together, him on guitar and me on bass. We attempted the simplest song we knew, "Brain Stew" by Green Day. It sounded awful. To this day I still don't know how we managed to make those five power chords sound bad. Fortunately, we got better.

Today I'm happily playing bass on a church worship team and also a classical guitar ensemble. I've come to really enjoy bass, and can't imagine playing another instrument.

Now I ask you, why'd you choose bass?:confused: :bassist:

It choose me....

I picked one up and knew right away...

Most of it was Geddy Lee. The other reason was that I was afraid of breaking the strings of a guitar; they are just too thin. :smug:

I was the only guitarist in my high school jazz band that could read music when the bass player moved away. The rest is history (38 years worth).

ha ha - all of the above -

even though I was the best musician, I liked being in the back rather than the front.

I liked making the rest of the band sound good.

I liked being the guy who made the groove.

I was a technical geek and liked the watts/ohms stuff.

Me have strong fingers and make good sound on slab of wood.

I was playing guitar at the time and i went down to my local music store to trade out for another one. when the guy told me he didnt have another guitar to trade i asked him about a bass. i wasnt gonna leave the store withoug a new instrument haha
but im glad i got a bass :)

He inspired me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OzjtHzDF8

He inspired me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OzjtHzDF8

haha
+1

He inspired me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OzjtHzDF8

Dude, he is my main influence!