Why did you start playing bass?

[FenderGibson]

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?

[crustychef]

I love to groove. Simple as that.

[varunkapahi]

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 =

[NickInMesa]

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.

[JukeBoxHero]

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.

[apaniagua]

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.

[millsbass5]

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

[winterburn69]

because Nikki Sixx is cool. Seriously.

[Outsider]

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

[Bassmickeyd]

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

[hesham8]

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.

[classic57]

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.

[Rudreax]

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

[Toronto 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.

[fishsticks]

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

[fpjungle]

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.

[BahamaBass]

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:

[NKBassman]

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.

[los100malditos]

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 ...

[bassplayer7768521]

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."