Two Kinds Of Bassist?

[Matthew Bryson]

Originally Posted by grovest

Khaspir,

What about a distinction like: those with great innate talent and those without?

I'm not Khaspir - but here's my take:

What about a distinction like: those with great innate talent and those without?

I think that's yet another thing… so if you want to look at that aspect of things, I think that you now have eight categories instead of four:

A) Hobbyists who are driven because they are "true artists" who were born with a great deal of innate talent.
B) Hobbyists who are driven because they are "true artists" who, while not born with great innate talent, achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work.
C) Hobbyists who play for "other reasons" who were born with a great deal of innate talent.
D) Hobbyists who play for "other reasons" who, while not born with great innate talent, achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work.
E) Professionals who are driven because they are "true artists" who were born with a great deal of innate talent
F) Professionals who are driven because they are "true artists" who, while not born with great innate talent, achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work
G) Professionals who play for "other reasons" who were born with a great deal of innate talent
H) Professionals who play for "other reasons who, while not born with great innate talent, achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work

I'm starting to think that there are more than two types of people in the world, no matter how many times I hear statements to the contrary.

[grovest]

Hey Matthew,

I don't know if it was rhetorical or not, but all your examples A through H could still be divided into two categories... innate talent or no innate talent. Pick any binary.... example "All basses are either bald or not." There's no reason to say, "well I could be bald... and TALL or SHORT." You're still either bald or not bald. Missing from your subcategories - not to suggest you claimed they were exhaustive - are bassists with and without innate talent that aren't great bassist.

[Matthew Bryson]

Originally Posted by grovest

Hey Matthew,

I don't know if it was rhetorical or not, but all your examples A through H could still be divided into two categories... innate talent or no innate talent.

No - That's what I did to get 8.

You might have to study my A through H again carefully. I may have made typing errors (or copy and paste errors) but I don't see them.

I used the terms "born with a great deal of innate talent" and "not born with great innate talent, but achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work" to represent the two categories you call "innate talent or no innate talent"
I chose the phrase "achieved their level of success through a great deal of hard work" to describe the 'no innate talent' crowd hoping it would describe both those of all levels of success, whether that be great or small.

So, yes, umm "hobbyists vs. professional" could be broken down further into:

Hobbyist / artist
Hobbyist / other motives
Professional / artist
Professional / other motives

Then factor in the "innate talent" question and 4 categories becomes 8 -

Hobbyist / artist / with innate talent
Hobbyist / artist / without innate talent
Hobbyist / other motives / with innate talent
Hobbyist / other motives / without innate talent
Professional / artist / with innate talent
Professional / artist / without innate talent
Professional / other motives / with innate talent
Professional / other motives / without innate talent


…and yes, I understand that we could address the bald vs. hair issue and we'd now have 16 types of bassists.
We might also look into whether bass players are dudes vs. chicks (32 types of bassist) or tall (64) or fat (128) democrat or republican (256)
It all supports this theory I've been working on that involves there being more than two types of people in the world…

[Liko]

Originally Posted by khaspir

Snide retort: there are two types of people in the world - men, and women.

I guess trannies and hermies don't exist...

[gweimer]

Originally Posted by Liko

I guess trannies and hermies don't exist...

Trannies don't count. They're still one of the two. They just traded sides.
Hermies count as 1/2 of each...

[capnsandwich]

I kind of look at it this way. There are 2 types of bassists in the world. There are those who know how to play the bass and then there are musicians.

Those who know how to play the bass have to learn not only technique but also theory, ear training, etc. They practice long and hard to develope those skills to one day maybe do something with it. They can take it or leave it since they mostly do it for fun or to make some extra cash on the weekends.

Musicians do the same thing. They practice long and hard, learning theory, technique, ear training, but when they pick up a bass they take off with it. They learn much faster and theory just comes natural. They already have an ear so all they do is develope it better to hear the song in depth more. Usually they play other instruments as well. They play not because they want to get something out of it but to get something out of themselves. It's programmed in their DNA. It's all part of their physical make up.

I'd say I'm a musician. I played piano at age 3, picked up guitar at age 15 and bass about 8 years ago and now I play them equally and am driven to become better at it, not out of necessity but out of desire.

[pie_man_25]

Originally Posted by Jimbob Jones

I'm somewhere between the two. What bugs me are the people with the theory that if they ever do get famous, they'll stop playing becasue "that's not what it's about" It's a bitter shame that Grandaddy split up, for that reason. I play out of pure compulsion to do so, but at the same time, there is nothing like the feeling of being on stage with the whole room swaying to your groove, then having a load of chicks giving you the eye after the show .

I have to agree with you, although I am compelled to play bass, I also do it purely for fun, I think that no matter who you are you can be an artist, and that art is supposed to be enjoyed. I personally think you're an artist if you do it for the music and not the free beer or money, and you just want to
express yourself. We need to remember that the arts are a form of expression, and that can mean just having fun at the same time.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by lug

I'm compelled to be a hobbyist.

you deserve a high five!