Has playing bass altered the way you listen to music?

[duo8675309]

Before I started playing bass I always listened to the vocals first and then the guitar. I didn't even know what a bass sounded like. I thought the rhythm guitar was the bass! (I was stupid, I know). Now that I've been playing for about 3 years, I hardly notice the guitar anymore. And the vocals come and go depending on if i'm listening to the music only or the song as a whole. I don't even hear the guitar when it solos. I just use the opportunity to listen to the bass while its not being covered up note for note. Unless its slash. I know duff's good, but I love how slash plays the guitar. I listen to him. Anyway, my point is that playing bass has completely changed the way I listen to music; for better or for worse. Occasionally I'll catch myself listening to it like I used to: not seperating the instruments at all and just letting it all flow into my ears. I don't know which I like better. I just know its changed.
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I feel like i should type more, but thats all I can think of....

[morf]

It has but only when I concentrate on an instrument I want to hear. I can still chill out and stop listening to every bass line in every song to hear the song as a whole though. Thank god.

[heath_the_great]

ironically, i dont listen to the bass as much, unless its something like meshell ndegeocello....i focus more on drums or guitar naturally...but i usually enjoy a track in its whole....but i just tend to listen to guitarists more

[ras1983]

No, but studies with my teacher have changed the way i listen. i'm nearly always in an analytical mood, its annoying sometimes, but its just been drilled into me (and every other jazz musician alive).

It has made it MUCH easier to learn chord changes and melodies.

[JimK]

Yes...I listen from the Bottom to up(bass-drums-etc). Hopefully, I'm listening with more attention to detail, too.
As a kid, I'm pretty sure I listened from the Top to down(vocals, guitar, melody line, etc). What's a bass?

[lemur821]

I listen from the bottom up too -- but I that's why I play bass. I started playing after I started hearing the bass.

[lilboo77]

I kinda listen as a seperated whole - if that makes sense!!!

I think I just sorta listen to all the parts to get the feel and changes to key off of.

But I don't listen to music as I did before I started playing.

[mimaz]

I notice when I'm listening to a live performance, I tend to listen more critically to the bass, whereas recorded music I'll tend to listen to more "completely", unless I'm learning a part or something like that.

[tZer]

Yes, playing bass has affected the way I listen to music - but I believe playing any instrument causes you to listen to music differently then you did before you played an instrument. You get to 'peek behind the curtain' so to speak. And it certainly changed my focus when I changed from playing violin to bass.

These days I find myself listening to 'major-market radio pop/rock etc...' for the components that make it sound interesting to my ear. Not specifically for a single instrument, but for that 'thing' that catches me and makes me want to listen more. I feel that if I can understand that it will make me a better composer and contributor to other people's compositions.

[borden]

well as opposed to everybody here, i could feel a little change in the way i listen to music. Fortunatly it's for good. Thing is, now that i play bass, i'm more concentrated on every little cues that are important for a song to be as a whole.

of course i tend to listen to the bass more that other instruments but i still feel the need to listen to other instruments since they complete each other and that's what gives the feel of a song.

when i'm goin' to live performance, i just keep watching the bass player..... technique-wise, how he moves, can he sing, does he incorporate alot of pop/slap where's it is/isn't needed... i kinda look like a bassist groupie when i'm at a live performance. Fortunatly, my friends and i know why i keep looking hehe

i think it's a part of practice, certainly helps to get better, for me anyways

[Juneau]

Well Ive always listened to bass first in songs for the most part. However, since starting to play, I notice a lot more nuance, and also pick up on some bass parts I didnt pay a lot of attention to before. If anything, I think playing has better helped me separate the instruments in a recording. Its also opened me up to some music I wouldnt otherwise have listened too.

[Der Bluten Kat]

yea i listen to the bass first.. then the melody to see how it connects.. guitar is just annoying to listen too so if i can breakdown what the bassist is doing then i focus in on the drums

[MAJOR METAL]

You bet, I am much more aware of the different approaches bassist take in writting their parts in songs.

[whitedk57]

I definitely listen for the bass part more now.

It's also cool to re-listen to old songs and realize how bassy some of those songs were. It seems like alot of today's song mask the bass with the other instruments - I like it when you can feel the bass pattern in the song.

[Demon]

Ye same as most, listen for the bass aswell now, if it can be heard that is (lots of metal=)) Btw, damn, if you thought thinkin rhytm guitar was bass is stupid, dude,i thought Steve Harris CLANKING sound was the basss lmao, iknow..

[CrazyArcher]

Well, there was a short period when I had to made a considerable effort to make myself listen to anything other than bass. Nowadays overall, I listen to everything, but of course I pay attention on bass parts more than before, or on harmonies in general.

[B-NoteCowboy]

I usually hear a song for the first few times just like I always have - just absorbing it on an enjoyment level. Then if I am still listening to it when it comes on, I feel compelled to figure out what the bass is doing and then what each other piece is doing.

It's like as a musician I've learned another language and kind of take songs apart from the inside out.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I find myself usually humming bass lines to songs. I can't remember, though, if I started doing that before I took up the bass, or only since.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by whitedk57

It's also cool to re-listen to old songs and realize how bassy some of those songs were.

I sometimes listen to the Oldies' station...whoa, some of those '60s/'70s Pop tunes had some busy bass that was obviously missed by me the first go-round.
Examples: "One Bad Apple", "Knock Three Times", "One Man Band", "Backfield In Motion", "Chick-A-Boom", "I Gotcha", etc.

[Seigi]

usually whatever is the focal point, but sometimes I'll listen to other instruments in the "background" if they interest me. For example, sometimes I'll listen to the drums on Primus's Tommy The Cat, sometimes the guitar, and sometimes the bass. Other times I'll just listen to the music as a whole