Anyone Can Play Bass

Zachthebassplyr · #1 02-06-2010, 10:07 PM

A guitar player said to me.......

"Anyone can play the Bass because it's easy."

So I looked him in the eye and said.

"Just because you can drive a car, that
doesn't mean you can handle a truck."

I know you folks have heard this nonsense before.

What are some of your comebacks for this type of verbal assault?

Exploiter8 · #2 02-06-2010, 10:10 PM

When I hear that comment from non-players I reply, "But only I play THIS one!"

X8

your idol · #3 02-06-2010, 10:44 PM

hand it to him and say..SHOW ME

SoonerMatt · #4 02-06-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by your idol

hand it to him and say..SHOW ME

+1

"Bass is easier to learn than guitar but much harder to master."

John Wentzien · #5 02-06-2010, 10:48 PM

Bass is "child's play"....I can only count to 4..

xray · #6 02-06-2010, 11:01 PM

......Really......

Zachthebassplyr · #7 02-06-2010, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exploiter8

When I hear that comment from non-players I reply, "But only I play THIS one!"

X8

Quote:

Originally Posted by your idol

hand it to him and say..SHOW ME

I did hand a guitar player my bass once and after the first song he went home because his hand hurt! lol

kesslari · #8 02-06-2010, 11:22 PM

I must be odd, I never hear that kind of crap. I did when I was much younger, at which point I would invite the guitarist out to my gigs, and ask if I could come to one of his... of course, he didn't actually have gigs, so...

A-Step-Towards · #9 02-06-2010, 11:33 PM

The players in my band are all 19 or 20 years old. The singer wrote a whole song and all the music to it the bass line was really simple but hey its his song so i just played it with my own style. All the guys were ike shooting jokes about how easy bass is , i was mad and i wrote 3 songs and my basslines were not only complex but involved some tricky tempos that had the guys strugging to keep up.

People dont realize how hard bass can be and how much space is on that neck , it takes a badass to handle a bass, guitars are for wimps

oh and anyone can play drums its just alot of banging

NKUSigEp · #10 02-07-2010, 12:05 AM

Anyone CAN play bass.

Tim C. · #11 02-07-2010, 12:18 AM

But not everybody can be good at it.

Munjibunga · #12 02-07-2010, 12:33 AM

My response: "You're right."

fearceol · #13 02-07-2010, 03:57 AM

I'd say that bass can as easy or as hard as the music requires.... just like guitar.

Mtheory · #14 02-07-2010, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zachthebassplyr

A guitar player said to me.......

"Anyone can play the Bass because it's easy."

So I looked him in the eye and said.

"Just because you can drive a car, that
doesn't mean you can handle a truck."

I know you folks have heard this nonsense before.

What are some of your comebacks for this type of verbal assault?

play a cool funk lick or something, hand him your bass, laugh, take back your bass.

Paul262 · #15 02-07-2010, 04:26 AM

If anyone can play bass, why isn't everyone doing so? If it's just as easy as lets say, playing a video game, why isn't everyone doing it? Why isn't it as popular as it should be?

That's a ******** statement.

A trumpeter or a pianist could say the same to a guitar player;

"Anyone can play guitar"

And ironically, more people play guitar than bass...

Jim Nazium · #16 02-07-2010, 04:41 AM

Sure, any moron can play bass.

But I'm not just any moron.

fearceol · #17 02-07-2010, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul262

If anyone can play bass, why isn't everyone doing so? If it's just as easy as lets say, playing a video game, why isn't everyone doing it? Why isn't it as popular as it should be?

I think we all know the answer to that one... because there are big egos who like to strut their stuff on stage, and generally that is not what bassists do. They are quite content to stay in the background with the drummer, holding the whole thing together making the guitarist sound good.

Kujallaa · #18 02-07-2010, 06:10 AM

Bass is a simple instrument to play - if you play it like a guitar.

Bass is a complex instrument to play, when playing it like a bass.

When my friends come to me and say, that bass is a easy instrument to play, I usually show of a bit, and play them something like Moonlight sonata in the way of Stu Hamm. (Well, not as good but you get the point.)

I don't think that it is a bad thing, when people think that bass is a simple instrument. It's our duty to show them, that they're wrong.

Paul262 · #19 02-07-2010, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearceol

I think we all know the answer to that one... because there are big egos who like to strut their stuff on stage, and generally that is not what bassists do. They are quite content to stay in the background with the drummer, holding the whole thing together making the guitarist sound good.

I think thats totally down to the player, because I can list bunch of players that like to toss their egos around.

Also, if an instrument is "easy" to play, that can only be a good thing, I don't get this musical hierarchy, determining that the more complex an instrument, the better the person is at trying to master it. Bad logic.

Sijjvra · #20 02-07-2010, 06:21 AM

I'm lucky in the fact my guitard happens to be my husband, too... and he knows if he says anything like that he'll be sleeping on the couch! Though he appreciates the bass guitar as much as he does the guitar, or drums, or anything else really - a rare quality in a guitarist

Really though ANYONE (or almost anyone) can play the bass. The basic concept behind it isn't too difficult.

Now making it sound good so it supports the song in such a way it makes everything in that song sound 10x better instead of just being "there"? That's the hard part. Besides having to have an excellent sense of rhythm, timing, and complimentary notes to the main chords, you also have to handle the bass guitar itself - those big, thick necks and much longer scales are something that send many guitarists running in terror