Musician Or Bassist? - Page 2

Sneckumhaw · #21 06-20-2007, 01:50 PM

Yeah, musician too. I'm not in love with bass, I'm in love with music.

MysticMichael · #22 06-20-2007, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m3t4lhed

OK do you play bass as a musician or as a bass player with your band? I know its a stupid question but wanted to know what is more important. being a better bass player or being a better musician?

It really is something of a false dichotomy, as a bassist is a type of musician. But I think what you're really trying to get at is whether one approaches playing the bass from a holistic perspective (i.e. with a consciousness of and responsibility for all the music, or whether one focuses narrowly on playing the bass without that broader consciousness. Yes?

To me there's no contest: Unless you are constantly listening to the music as a whole and doing the best you can to contribute to it as a whole - regardless of whether your contribution would fit into any traditional bassist's responsibility - then not only are you lacking as a musician, you're probably lacking as a bassist too...

MM

T-MOST · #23 06-20-2007, 02:02 PM

For anyone to say I'm not a musician I'm a bassist or I'm not a bassist I'm a musician is really quite idiotic.

Sneckumhaw · #24 06-20-2007, 02:10 PM

Would it be idiotic for, say, Phil Collins to say "I'm not a bassist I'm a musician"? (Just a little Devil's Advocate)

hauntedoak · #25 06-21-2007, 09:42 AM

...i quited my local band 2 days ago ( they played so boring music), but anyway! whenever i am in a band or not i think it is very importent to have both elements! Be a good bass player and of course an active musician!

Personally i think that as long as you can play the bass as good as you prefer yourself, the most importent is to be a good musician!

you know, without skills as a musician you can't create music just play what you are told to!

i go for 60% musician
40% pure bass skills

powellmacaque · #26 06-21-2007, 07:13 PM

I think its important as a bass playing musician is to bring your best efforts and creativity to the table. I think it's best to put your own creativity first, and then when forming a band situation try to find people who A) bring all of their creativity to the table, and B) complement your creativities and abilities.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is if you are a bassist who likes to sit back, dig in, and groove, try to find a guitarist who likes bassists that do that, and who has something of their own to bring to the table, that way nobody is compromising their full potential. You don't need to be flashy or a technical master (though it would be nice) to be a good bassist, nor does that make you a bad musician.

In the case of RHCP, all of those musicians have an in your face approach to music, whether it be stage presence or musically, but thats what makes them who they are.

In my case, I love bass playing, and I love writing good bass parts, but in the other hand, I love writing songs. Would I consider it being less of a bass player to play easier bass lines so I could sing a song? Not really, I'm just finding the best way to express myself. That's not saying I wouldn't try to make a nice bassline to accompany my singing though

I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't limit yourself musically, bassists are too creative and too all-seeing (in a band situation) to have tunnel vision.

joe the cop · #27 06-21-2007, 07:44 PM

I agree that Good bass players are good musicians absolutely, If for the sake of this thread we're going to say that there's a difference Musician or Bassist . I would have to catagorize myself a musician.

Very little do I find myself playing the typical bass player roll anymore. I find it harder for me to play like a traditional bass player than to just express myself using the bass as a way to do that.

After my experiences in three piece bands where there was a TON of space to fill up I just kept going with that. In my experiences band wise there was only a rythm guitarist/vocalist and a drummer so it was up to me to jump out in front 9 times out of 10.

Now after moving on to more and more instruments it all kind of blends together. Playing acoustic guitar has given me a lot of finger style chops and anymore I'd rather use fingerstyle and chords in my bass playing more times than not.

I guess I justify my playing style by analogising it to a piano player, they're not just hitting one single note in the bass register all the time; a lot of times its chords I'm hearing and that to me sounds more interesting.

I can intelectualize this or try to make sense of it all day long, but for me it's all about expression and the bass or whatever else is just a means to an end. I'd probably have some shedin to do to bring myself back to the norm, but would I want to? and what is normal anyway, we are who we are

gottawalk · #28 06-22-2007, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m3t4lhed

OK do you play bass as a musician or as a bass player with your band? I know its a stupid question but wanted to know what is more important. being a better bass player or being a better musician?

Striving to be a better musician will always make you a better bass player! It's not how "technical" you can be, but how "musical" you can be. Less is more, and all that. No matter how much of the "technical" aspect of playing you learn, (and you should keep learning it all!), it's how you apply it that makes the music you play. I would always rather listen to a really good "musician" than a "technician" since the "technician" has so much to say that he can ramble on forever, but it doesn't mean anything. A "musician" can say it once in a song and make the whole song with that one statement!

nonohmic · #29 06-23-2007, 07:06 PM

I dont consider myself a musician. Im a bassist. Maybe when i get better I will be a musician but at the moment i'm writing for live electronica - the bass lines are for the most part simple and repetitive.

When i play in other genres i feel more like a musician but when im not pushed musically in a project im just a bass player.

**Mickey Shane** · #30 06-23-2007, 07:13 PM

I'm a musician. A bassist could rosin up a bow and sit in with the Dallas Symphony.

cowsgomoo · #31 06-23-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m3t4lhed

OK do you play bass as a musician or as a bass player with your band? I know its a stupid question but wanted to know what is more important. being a better bass player or being a better musician?

a musician

gottawalk · #32 06-23-2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonohmic

I dont consider myself a musician. Im a bassist. Maybe when i get better I will be a musician but at the moment i'm writing for live electronica - the bass lines are for the most part simple and repetitive.

When i play in other genres i feel more like a musician but when im not pushed musically in a project im just a bass player.

Then I feel sorry for you. It's not how much you play but how you apply it that makes you the "musician" as opposed to a "technician". It's the "musician" in all of us that takes the most mundane parts and gives them life. I like to do "cover" tunes, but some of them are VERY repetitive. I found that if I listen to everything that's going on around me I can do the repetition and make it interesting by reacting to what the others are doing. Even if I don't change the part, I at least have some interest in how it fits into the puzzle of the piece.

I will admit that there's a few things out there that I would have a really hard time playing because of the repetitiveness of it, but that's because everything around the bass is repeating their parts, too. Maybe that's what you're experiencing; I'm not familiar with "live electronica" so I don't know exactly what you're doing. I hope you find more "musical" things to do soon.

JimmyM · #33 06-23-2007, 10:11 PM

Trying to make the distinction between bassist and musician makes my brain hurt. What's the use?

wickeddoubler77 · #34 06-23-2007, 10:25 PM

A long time ago, in the late 80's, I had an issue of Bass Player Magazine w/ a "demo tape" review of a guy called Phillip Bynoe. He made the statement that "You have to be mature about playing ANY instrument, but you have to be MORE mature when playing bass."

I think that a big part of what makes a musician is MATURITY, and I don't mean age per se. A young person can play with a very mature attitude & style, and by that I mean raising the bar of musicianship to serve the song, the session, and the vibe.

My prinicple instrument is bass. I can also play the crap out of the guitar, drums, saxophone, I can sort of sing, and I'm an accomplished engineer & producer. I have a degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston. I would consider myself a musician, but not BECAUSE of all the things I've just mentioned. Many, many fabulous musicians who can play circles around me have not a fraction of my training. What makes a musician (or a producer or engineer) is DEDICATION TO THE CRAFT. If you've got it, you (& others that hear/see you) will know it. If you ain't, they'll know that too.

m3t4lhed · #35 06-24-2007, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Trying to make the distinction between bassist and musician makes my brain hurt. What's the use?

i just wanna find out if most of us concentrate on showing off or on making your band sound better

joelyb · #36 06-24-2007, 08:48 AM

think about the name of the instrument... its called the bass for a reason. your job is to provide the bass bed for all the other instruments. in saying that, you do that by being musical. ask any of the guys who play bass as a living. do you think that marcus,vic or stanley think of themselves as a bassit before a musician?