Do you really want to play bass?

[Zerozeddy]

Is that what you dreamt about as a kid? Prefer standing quietly in the background and not be the one ejaculating lighter fluid all over your flaming Str*t? Happy not to play the screaming tenor sax of Coltrane? Or walk unannounced into a bar and open up the piano and entertain people solo?

It's not that bass isn't fundamental or fun, it's just that if you could play ANYTHING expertly, is bass what you'd really choose?

Dunno.

• I'd rather play guitar, but everyone plays guitar and no-one wants to give it up in favour of bass. I was prepared to make the sacrifice in order to be in a band and hence make more interesting music and have more fun.
  
• Also, the rhythm git player in my band played some bass while I noodled on the git the other day, and he was dreadful. And I realised that it's better to play good bass under average guitar than play the instrument I want to with rubbish bass.
  
• I recently got a soprano sax as I was fed up of not playing a tune. I would love to put the time in to become expert enough to gig in some form, but I haven't the time, I'll not be very good, and I feel I should stick to the bass as I've had 20 years' headstart and am quite good at it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound, and feel, and importance of bass, but somewhere down the line it's a compromise. Bass chose me, not the other way around.

[stedtale]

Bass is a state of mind, some got it, some don't.

For me, bass has always been #1, the best. I'm not one for the limelight, however. I'm more interested in the groove.

[optikhog]

My uncle's band used to practice in our basement when I was little (5-6 years old) and I very clearly remember being drawn to the bass player and what he was doing. Even in my high school punk band where I was the singer and just learning guitar, I was always waaay more interested in what the drummer and bassist were playing than what the guitarist was up to.

I dunno why, but bass has always been my "thing".

[Fishbrain]

i never had an instrument in mind. I tried guitar first because my brother and dad played guitar but it justdidn't feel right, then I tried bass an it did feel right so I ran with it an now I love it! There is no way I'd swap what I do to be a guitarist or a drummer or any other instrument. I don't see all bass playing as being in the background or not playing the melody line or at least my bass isn't. I like to think that with out what I play the songs would be dull, lifeless and bland.

[ryco]

I have to admit my first choice was to play drums, but when the opportunity came to play bass I took it and I have no regrets.

When I was learning there were no bass guitar teachers per se, so I took lessons from couple of old jazz guitar players and a pianist. They thought bass was a rather limited way to play music. They wanted me to learn to play their instruments as well, offering to teach me bass every other lesson.

Looking back I kind of wish I would have taken them up on their offer. Being proficient on a chordal instrument is so advantageous. Especially at the college level where a lot of your theory education is on keyboard.

Still, bass rules! Clearly the most powerful instrument in the band! Some like the frosting - I like the cake

[Sean S]

I really want to play music. Bass guitar is what I became most proficient at, and it helped me understand music more. After that, guitar, then piano. I find much more joy in supporting and making good music. So yes, I really want to play bass, as long as the music is good

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I really do want to play bass and that's why I do. I came via classical guitar at a very young age and have no regrets.

[bassbrad]

I am first and foremost a Bass Player, but I also like to step up and throw down a bit from time to time and be creative on other instruments.
In a more perfect world I probably would have been a piano-keyboard player, but my folks could not afford a piano or lessons so at age 8 I gotta cheap guitar and free lessons at church. In school after having no wind to work a saxophone and too many drummers already and got kicked outta band into the orchestra. Played cello for a year and then got caught fooling around on the string bass nobody played and got stuck on it.
So I gig on bass but at home I am also a closet drummer, keyboard & guitar player and budding studio engineer.

[BillMason]

Originally Posted by ryco

Clearly the most powerful instrument in the band! Some like the frosting - I like the cake

I like to stuff a whole piece of cake in my mouth at once and get that sugar blast - that's why I like bass, especially cranked!

[BillMason]

Originally Posted by Zerozeddy

Is that what you dreamt about as a kid? Prefer standing quietly in the background and not be the one ejaculating lighter fluid all over your flaming Str*t? Happy not to play the screaming tenor sax of Coltrane? Or walk unannounced into a bar and open up the piano and entertain people solo?

It's not that bass isn't fundamental or fun, it's just that if you could play ANYTHING expertly, is bass what you'd really choose?

Dunno.

• I'd rather play guitar, but everyone plays guitar and no-one wants to give it up in favour of bass. I was prepared to make the sacrifice in order to be in a band and hence make more interesting music and have more fun.
  
• Also, the rhythm git player in my band played some bass while I noodled on the git the other day, and he was dreadful. And I realised that it's better to play good bass under average guitar than play the instrument I want to with rubbish bass.
  
• I recently got a soprano sax as I was fed up of not playing a tune. I would love to put the time in to become expert enough to gig in some form, but I haven't the time, I'll not be very good, and I feel I should stick to the bass as I've had 20 years' headstart and am quite good at it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound, and feel, and importance of bass, but somewhere down the line it's a compromise. Bass chose me, not the other way around.

The first instrument I was drawn to was trumpet, at like age 10 or 11, but when I was 12 my parents moved me into the same school as my older siblings, and the only way I could stay there was to join the strings program. I figured bass was way more macho than violin or cello (which it is, not that there's anything wrong with violin or cello).

Now after playing for 25 years, I have a lot of trouble getting my hear around guitar or keyboards - especially keyboards. If the keyboard was reversed, with melody on the left hand, it might be easier. Bass is my "real" instrument though, and always will be.

If you want to play a lead role with bass, get yourself a six string and learn how to slap it like Wooten. Good luck with that.

[Matthew Bryson]

Yes, I really want to play bass. Bass is my first choice, and not a compromise.

[Mudfuzz]

Really don't want to play anything else.

[ducknturtle]

You've got to be loving and generous to play bass. I don't mind standing in the background as long as I know what the most important instrument in the band really is.

[Phalex]

I started out on guitar. All the kids in my neighborhood played guitar. We'd get together and "Jam" all the time. When we had three kids or playing guitar at the same time, I would always just kind of noodle around playing single notes in time.

Turns out I was a bass player. I just didn't figure it out until I was 14 or so.

[clayton]

@TS: I understand what you're saying. I feel the same way, that bass found me and not the other way round. But in no way is it a compromise for me, not anymore.

Maybe it was a compromise during the first couple of rehearsals in my first band in which I had to play bass because it was the only free spot. But I fell to love with its sound and its role. Today my dream is to play better bass, to be a bass God and not a virtuoso in any other instrument, really.

Perhaps bass is like that odd girlfriend which at first glance doesn't strike you as anything special but after a while you realize you love her more than anything else and that she's exactly what you need. :O

[BillMason]

Originally Posted by clayton

Perhaps bass is like that odd girlfriend which at first glance doesn't strike you as anything special but after a while you realize you love her more than anything else and that she's exactly what you need. :O

I'd have to agree, for me. Like the girl you never dreamed of dating, but once you did, you realized you had to marry her. :-)

[Vandelay]

I played electric guitar for 20 years, including bar gigs for about 8 years. Totally burned out on it, didn't even want to pick up a guitar again.

Then, some friends of mine formed an R&B band and needed a bass player. I took up the challenge, and I've absolutely loved it. It's been fun discovering a whole world that I never really "got" before. I think bass suits my personality pretty well, and I'm going to take it as far as I can.

[::::BASSIST::::]

Some people dont like the limelight, centre stage. Some people dont have egos to feed. Some people like to groove in the pocket. Some people like making the floor shake.

Those people are bass players and I am grateful to count myself as one of them.

[Drifta]

As a kid i tried to play guitar a few times but never stuck with it... I started hanging out with a group of friends at 16 or so and they jammed out but there was no bass player ( my musical genious friend who plays anything he touches played bass but then there was no guitar, or melodica) so i played on his bass and he showed me a few riff's and i was hooked.

I had never even gave playing instruments a thought other than short stint with a guitar, until i had a bass in my hands and was playing a riff with what is now like my band. It was my first time ever even holding a bass and i was able to play a simple riff with 3 other people it was just amazing experience.

I now also play guitar(i cant help it theres guitars everywhere in my house) but to be honest i made a connection with electic bass, and i'm gonna be playing for the rest of my life, it's "me" .

[Dave]

Originally Posted by stedtale

Bass is a state of mind, some got it, some don't.

For me, bass has always been #1, the best. I'm not one for the limelight, however. I'm more interested in the groove.

Amen brother.