Artistry:What made you want to become a bassist?When did you"know"?

Tehrin Cole · #1 04-23-2009, 10:29 PM

Hey,fellow bassists!What's up?In this thread,I'd like to ask:"What made you decide to become a bassist"?Even further:"When did you"know",that was is it?I've been playing now,for 40 years,and I STILL remember my first time,as if it were yesterday!As we all know,the bass is a very powerful instrument,...and rather contagious when you pick it up,for the first time!I was always drawn to the bass,and somehow I knew that,if I could only get my hands on one,I would be great at it.When I finally did,...it was better than I expected!I knew then,I didn't want to play anything else!So the question remains:"When did you"know"? Peace!

southernrocker · #2 04-23-2009, 10:37 PM

When I heard rush. I was sitting in my room, reading Popular Science, and I heard the solo section of Tom Sawyer. Until that point, as soon as I heard Geddy's voice, I would change the channel. That time, though, I was in a good article and was too lazy to turn the station. Good thing I didn't!

rosanne · #3 04-23-2009, 11:13 PM

It's not like I always wanted to play bass, or that I liked a particular bassist's work. (Back in the day I was even a guitarist). I was visiting a friend's studio one day and he handed me a bass and said here try this. I played 2 notes and that's all it took. Revelation, epiphany, call it what you want, those 2 notes changed my life. I'm not the best player but I'm devoted to the bass. I just wish I had found it sooner in life. But at least I found it!

Shoot_A_Hostage · #4 04-23-2009, 11:17 PM

I played guitar for awhile. When my best mate asked me to be in his band, I said "Of Course!" but when he handed me a bass, I almost laughed in his face. The definitive moment I "knew" was when I sat in with him and this drummer. He was on guitar and I was on bass. It was... Fireworks =). I realized I like grooving more than soloing, and that 6-strings was for chumps =)

Tehrin Cole · #5 04-24-2009, 12:18 AM

Cool!So with that said;what was the very first song you ever learned on the bass?Mine was James Browns' "Lickin'Stick"!

**funkybass4ever** · #6 04-24-2009, 12:24 AM

Early on I knew I wanted to be a bassist when at the hospital the doctor slapped my butt and I said " I got a killer bassline for that beat"

Seriously when I heard Rush's Geddy Lee

mightypog · #7 04-24-2009, 02:07 AM

I picked it up because my guitar player wanted to do some duo work and I, then only singing, said 'How hard could it be?' But I really didn't love it.
Ten years later, still playing and wishing I loved it but glad I could make some money, I saw Jeff Healey's band in a bar. When I heard that rhythm section, I swear to you, everything in the world slid into place. Thank God for that day. I finally understood what I wanted to do, and playing bass was like a drug after that. I played myself into a serious bout with carpal tunnel syndrome, I was so jazzed.

ModuMan · #8 04-24-2009, 02:18 AM

I was a drummer and I always listened to the bass lines. I am also a big Duran Duran fan and I always thought John Taylor's bass lines were the real heart of the songs and very interesting rhythmically. So I started learning DD songs on bass. When I also got into Rush I found I had an "easier" time learning the bass parts than the drum parts!

**Rune Bivrin** · #9 04-24-2009, 02:23 AM

I've been playing guitar, keyboards, saxophone and been a lead singer for 30 years (imagine playing saxophone and singing at the same time

). I did have a bass that I bought from a retiring bass player from one of the bands I was in in the early eighties, and I used it once every blue moon.

Three years ago I was asked to join a band as a lead singer. As I was heading to the first practice the drummer told me their designated bass player had changed his mind, so I figured I could bring the bass and thump a little. I really didn't think I had it in me to sing and play at the same time but saw no harm in trying. Much to my amazement it worked really well, and I loved it.

These days I'm trying to get the guitar player to sing more so that I can focus more on bass playing in some songs.

mlafrancis · #10 04-24-2009, 07:32 AM

It took a while for the love of bass playing to sink in. I got my first bass in 7th grade, but never really got into it. Then in ninth grade i started playing guitar alot more. In eleventh grade, i decided to try and make a band. I was originaly going to be a Rhythm Guitarist, cause i couldnt play elad guitarist. But the drumemr i found would only join if his guitarist friend could join. So realiing we diddnt have a bassist, i picked up the bass 2 days before the first rpactice session. But it took a while for it to sink in. This last summer i started getting alot better, and fell in love with playign bass. Now im a pretty decent bass player, i have several solo's, and im the ebst bassist in my school, and several other schools.

The bands a three peice now, and i love it cause i get to play alot of cool sick bass lines and i throw in all these random notes and solo's that fit. The first actual song i learned was ZZ Tops Sharp Dressed Man. But now the way i play it, is so much different than the way Dusty Hill plays it. He keeps it simple, while i make it like one big solo while still keepign the same basic bass line that Dusty used.

RobJ · #11 04-24-2009, 11:54 AM

I was 8 when my oldest sister brought home Meet the Beatles! which had just come out, when the first track began my ears perked up; I pointed at the speakers and asked "what's that sound"? She replied "that's the bass", and I said "that's what I'm gonna play". When track 2 started, I Saw Her Standing There, my fate was sealed. I still have that very album, my sister gave it to me when I turned 17.

Terry Funk · #12 04-24-2009, 11:56 AM

Well, I knew I should be a bassist because when I would hear a song as a boy, I NEVER played air guitar, only air bass. Then I saw "Standing In The Shadows of Motown" and finally put a name and face on those basslines that drove those songs that I grew up on and loved. Once I finally got a hold of a bass (strangely I started on drums), I knew that this was the thing that I wanted to do.

Edgeless · #13 04-24-2009, 03:10 PM

once i started listening to U2 and like adam's bass...then i listened to real music

Thump Jr. · #14 04-25-2009, 12:17 AM

What first caused me to think seriously about the bass was listening to the song "Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz. I was blown away by how such a simple line could groove so much. The solo from "My Generation" by the Who is what cemented it for me. I had been playing guitar a little bit before then, and it seemed that the only person most people cared about was the lead guitarist. Entwistle's solo showed me that, if you're good enough, you can not only hold down a groove, but give any guitarist a run for his money. (Later I would listen to Billy Sheehan and realize that, if you wanted, you could really get ridiculous and mess with people's heads, but that's a long ways off.) I also developed the obligatory fascination with Geddy Lee's basslines. Now I buy music for the bass lines and steal licks from lead guitarists. One of these days, if I put enough work into it, I'd like to blow some kid away like my heroes did to me and complete the cycle.

Adelleda · #15 04-25-2009, 01:40 PM

When i was 13, listened to "Aces High" by Iron Maiden.. just felt so delicious i had to learn to do that sound so i did.

El Beardo · #16 04-25-2009, 01:42 PM

I wanted to learn an instrument and everyone else I knew played guitar and all I ever heard was crappy distortion and feedback. Then I heard "Black Sunshine"

etoncrow · #17 04-25-2009, 02:03 PM

Drummers get bashed on here pretty badly but there is another side of that story. I started playing drums in bands about 1962. Every band I played in until 1982 the bass player was the third worse guitar player in the band, "OK we got a lead and a rhythm; you can play bass!" I was always on an island by myself as far as the rhythm section goes. About 1982, when carpel-tunnel got so bad I was losing sticks in the middle of songs, tired of having to be the first to arrive and the last to leave and I got burned out on carrying all that drum crap around I decided to play bass and make some drummer really happy by actually thinking "rhythm section...what a novel concept!"

millsbass5 · #18 04-25-2009, 02:20 PM

My cousin started playing bass around '73-'74,right when the dominant bass lines of disco were plentiful.And,also,that was about the time the popularity of KISS was practically shot out of a cannon.Oh,can't forget Stanley,either.Well,I was turned on to ALL that cool stuff as a young buck (10-11 yrs. old).Got my first bass on my B-day,Dec.25,1975.Started playing tuba in grade school band that year,too.It's ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE BASS FOR ME.Nothing else EVER interested me.Even though I've came to hold my own on drums,too.But,I consider drums part of the "darkside",too.

reno88 · #19 04-25-2009, 02:34 PM

my mom used to blast the beatles loud when i was a kid. i vividly remember revolver, the white album and abbey road. i was @ 5-6 years old and mccartney's bass would put me in a trance. i was always drawn to that fat tone and bouncing melody. that's when bass got its fangs into me. i dabbled as a teen but had other interests. i didn't start playing bass seriously until i was about 22. mccartney is the reason i play bass.

Greevus · #20 04-25-2009, 08:39 PM

When I saw KISS in '76 and Gene spit blood during the intro to "100,000 Years" I knew I had to HAVE a bass....when I heard "Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Iron Maiden in '81 I knew HOW I had to play...Hearing "Ace of Spades" the first time was a grabber and just seeing Phil Lynott's stance onstage helped too....so many!