How come there's always a huge demand for bass players wanted

[low-endz]

I find it strange that an Instrument that is so gratifying and dynamic and also usally thought to be the "easy" instrument
be in more demand by recruiting bands.

Sure there are allot of guitarist that can & do double with EB, but those of US that are Bass Purists usally get the nod, Im sure we usally understand the role of the Bass more and also know various techniques, accents and stylings more than some Musicains that view the Bass as thier 2nd or 3rd instrument.

Ok I'll get to the point.

I have allways had the luck in being in bands that the guitarist had/has alot more talent than myself, but I allways was getting and still get, on the back slide offers from other musicians to play for them. Much more than the guitarist (pisses off the lead singer)
I can carry a groove, have a small but applicable bag of trix to add to a song but I am in no way even close to being great
by TB standards. ( Heck come to think of it not even Really Good by TB standards)

Well if its such any easy intrument that a lowly shlub like myself can play with a smile on my face due to the bliss the instrument generates well...

How come there isn't a massive surplus of bassists begging to join the any band that well take em, rather than what I experince.

Oh, this is not a rant I am glad to witness this, but given that everyone reminds me that I play "the easier" instrument ( not that I care what they think about bass) why the continual demand for bass players.

What do my TB sisters & brothers feel or experience on this?


I'm not sure if it has been discussed before, but I failed to find any threads on this
thanks
JOE E.

[JTE]

Simply put, it ain't sexy. Most people don't have a clue what bass is or about. To most of the world, the bass is either just another guitar or that big fiddle shaped thing that's a prop for Arsenio Hall in Paula Abdul's first video.

So not a lot of people start by going "I wanna be a bass player!". Like birthday boy Jack Bruce once said, most bassists start off playing something else and sort of get pushed into playing bass. The singers get the adulations of the women, the guitar slingers get the reputation from the other men, the drummers are just weird. And the bass player's the one schlepping the gear, setting up the PA (no one else knows how to do that), and booking the gig.

jte

[stflbn]

Recently I spent a few months doing a targeted search for a new casual band. Each audition was littered with horror stories of the incredibly bad bass players that seem to becoming the norm.

1. There seems to be tons of bedroom bandits out there who have spent tons of time honing 'skills' but in the process lack 'tools' and 'knowledge' needed to be what's perceived as a desirable bass player.

2. Tons of guys that have no clue or no desire to be 'part' of a band rather then every break of every verse of every song being a solo opportunity using sounds that aren't appropriate for the song.

3. You see a lot of guitar players who honestly think they're bass players, yet never make the transition in style, technique and sound.

4. Alot of guys just aren't learning to 'play bass' with bands. The trends in music have started warping what traditionally a bass player has done and needs to do. As younger people learn based on those trends, more and more 'knowledge' never gets learned.


The good part of it is that it makes a bass player who actually understands what his job is even MORE valuable. And it makes the other guys even less desirable in the process.

[low-endz]

Originally Posted by stflbn

1. There seems to be tons of bedroom bandits out there who have spent tons of time honing 'skills' but in the process lack 'tools' and 'knowledge' needed to be what's perceived as a desirable bass player.

Yep I've met plenty of young guns that have plenty of flash but dont know how to lay a groove for the rest of the band to ride on.

[robboy]

I teach a lot of students both privately and in a university setting. What I notice is a lack of understanding about the role of the bass in a musical situation. Everybody wants to be the next Victor Wooten or Jaco or Marcus. That's great and all young players should have role models but what they don't get is that 99% of the time you get hired to play music not solos.
The last thing most band leaders need is a bass player drawing attention to themselves while the music suffers. Learn to groove, be on time, have good gear that works, and be easy to hang with. You'll work all you want because I think that there is a shortage of players who get it.

[four2oh]

more demand for bassists = more gigs for me! WINNAR!

[MrLenny]

low endz - your getting gigs because you are a bass player.
I'm in the same boat. Decent player but most guitar players can blow me away technically, but they don't think like a bass player and when they sub on bass
they sound and play like guitar players.

[jaywa]

+1 to many of the above. I don't think a lot of players (bassists or otherwise) appreciate how valuable you become to other musicians if you can consistently make their jobs easier and/or their bands sound better. If you get to the point where musicians are regularly telling you things like "you're really easy to play with" then you're in a pretty good spot.

[ksandvik]

Originally Posted by MrLenny

low endz - your getting gigs because you are a bass player.
I'm in the same boat. Decent player but most guitar players can blow me away technically, but they don't think like a bass player and when they sub on bass
they sound and play like guitar players.

Yep. I've seen guitar players taking over the bass and it's sometimes very easy to catch what they are doing: playing a lot of notes, a lot! Also, using the thumb for everything. Playing complicated bass lines that don't fit the drummer pocket. Not even communicating with the drummer musically. Using chords in most unexpected places. Not knowing how the 8/16 bar is the place for extended bass lines.

Anyway, there are always exceptions, anyone who studies good bass players would catch up with how things are done.

The biggest issue is with the ads is that the bands are looking for a bass player that will become part of the band, and depending on the chemistry it might work or not. I suspect that's the reason why there are so many ads floating around, in order to find the right person that gels with the drummer and the rest of the band.

Anyone who knows how to play with drummers have a big opportunity. Go to any possible jam you could find in your home town and play with as many drummers as possible. I think that's the key to getting more gigs and other opportunities. --Kent

[JimmyM]

In my high school, there were numerous guitarists and drummers, many of them pretty good, but there were only 3 bassists and only 2 were any good and one moved away in my junior year. That left me as the only good bassist in school. At the time I also played guitar, but I came to the realization that I will probably be much more in demand than the guitarists if I played bass. I was right.

Simply put, drummers and guitarists are a dime a dozen, there are slightly fewer good drummers and guitarists, but bassists and keyboardists are rare, and there isn't enough demand for other instruments, so bassists and keyboardists are the most in demand players.

[Johnny Crab]

Originally Posted by stflbn

Recently I spent a few months doing a targeted search for a new casual band. Each audition was littered with horror stories of the incredibly bad bass players that seem to becoming the norm.

1. There seems to be tons of bedroom bandits out there who have spent tons of time honing 'skills' but in the process lack 'tools' and 'knowledge' needed to be what's perceived as a desirable bass player.

2. Tons of guys that have no clue or no desire to be 'part' of a band rather then every break of every verse of every song being a solo opportunity using sounds that aren't appropriate for the song.

3. You see a lot of guitar players who honestly think they're bass players, yet never make the transition in style, technique and sound.

4. Alot of guys just aren't learning to 'play bass' with bands. The trends in music have started warping what traditionally a bass player has done and needs to do. As younger people learn based on those trends, more and more 'knowledge' never gets learned.


The good part of it is that it makes a bass player who actually understands what his job is even MORE valuable. And it makes the other guys even less desirable in the process.

So all those hours, weeks, and months spent "learning from" ALL of the greats that DON'T solo for the entire song ARE well spent and possibly more important than learning the latest super-duper-speed-lick-from-hell-that-some-think-will-impress-everyone-alive. 99.9% of my playing is(or should be) spent painting the canvas behind the lead folks(guitar, singer, piano, etc.). You/we support the song mostly or as Rick Suchow put it:

It’s All About The Song.

http://www.ricksuchow.com/press-group-80.html

Those other people just help us get the good work.

[low-endz]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

In my high school, there were numerous guitarists and drummers, many of them pretty good, but there were only 3 bassists and only 2 were any good and one moved away in my junior year. That left me as the only good bassist in school. At the time I also played guitar, but I came to the realization that I will probably be much more in demand than the guitarists if I played bass. I was right.

Simply put, drummers and guitarists are a dime a dozen, there are slightly fewer good drummers and guitarists, but bassists and keyboardists are rare, and there isn't enough demand for other instruments, so bassists and keyboardists are the most in demand players.

Reminds Me
In Highschool I played bass during the hieght of the Metal Age 89-93' I was one of 2 only dedicated bassist and the other guy lack the edurance to play with the shredders anyhow I was a kid in a candystore, that I had many options and took up on as many that I could handle

[SteveC]

Everybody around here plays bass.

[Eric Perry]

There's very few bassists in my area that are solid, let alone exceptional.

Hell, I don't think I'm exceptional at all, yet I've never been turned down for a gig after an audition. I think part of it is my personality. I have a very *group* oriented mindset, and (at least I think) I work well with others in a band setting. I'm far from being on any ego trip. Despite what some want to believe, that means a lot!

[RED5]

Originally Posted by four2oh

more demand for bassists = more gigs for me! WINNAR!

Amen to dat Brudder!! Gotta go..phone's ringing!!

[HashbrownCOBM]

Well I agree. More gigs for me. Plus have you ever listened to guitar players that fill in on bass? They sound like guitar players playing bass. Ick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jvl8rs95pU

[HashbrownCOBM]

Oh, the other thing I meant to say was bass wasn't my first choice either. I wanted to play drums. But luckily my friend had "dibs" on them so I was given the bass. Lucked out in that respect because you get to play rhythm and harmonies with half the gear to haul. Takes me five minutes to set up as opposed to twenty.

[neuromancer]

Originally Posted by JTE

Simply put, it ain't sexy. Most people don't have a clue what bass is or about. To most of the world, the bass is either just another guitar or that big fiddle shaped thing that's a prop for Arsenio Hall in Paula Abdul's first video.

So not a lot of people start by going "I wanna be a bass player!". Like birthday boy Jack Bruce once said, most bassists start off playing something else and sort of get pushed into playing bass. The singers get the adulations of the women, the guitar slingers get the reputation from the other men, the drummers are just weird. And the bass player's the one schlepping the gear, setting up the PA (no one else knows how to do that), and booking the gig.

+1. This appears to be more common than I realized. There's probably a lot of reasons for the shortage of bass players, and IME I think a lot of people saw what happened to them personally or to others.

In some situations (including some of my own), it turns out to be a vicous circle. For example, I've been in more than one band where the guitar player played the bass parts. Once that precedent was set, that person would then expect any person coming in to sound/play exactly like that, and any deviation would throw their world into utter chaos. In a situation like this, I'm not going to hang around....and it appears that most other people won't either. So, the position is never filled and the instrument retains its ineffective "role." I was actually in a band where I was the band's 5th bass player, but the guitarist and drummer were original after 5 years, and the keyboard player was #2....which should've set my radar off, but didn't....

I'm not talking about paid sessions here, I'm talking about situations where the bass player is (or should be) a partner, and is covering a certain amount of expenses in keeping the band going. I really don't see how anyone can be expected to have their playing/tone/level be completely up to someone else when no one else in the band is subjec to the same condition(s). This is (imo) not a manner of ego or anything else; although the term "double-standard" might apply.

I understand that there are those on TB who don't encounter this situation much (if at all), and it's too bad that's not the norm. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how this type of thinking can be corrected.

[jefkritz]

lotsa guitarists & drummers = lotsa almost-bands looking for bassists

[JmJ]

Bass is traditionally a support instrument. Many folks want to have more attention paid to them. Guitarists tend to hog the spotlight/solos. It takes a more 'giving' type of personality to continually support other musicians, many of whom are unaware of the true nature of the situation. A lot of musicians just don't have the ability or willingness to provide a supporting role and want to be the star of the show. More gigs for us - Guitarists are a dime a dozen, a solid bass player is worth his weight in beer.