Not interested in music - choose the bass!

[MicceO]

You know what! A friend of mine started in a new school and everyone had to choose an instrument, either piano, electric guitar or bass guitar. And what did the music teacher say?

"If you are not especially interested in music - it's better to choose the bass!"

[Stanley Design]

I would have been suspended for cause a very bad scene including nudity, violence, feces, and bass solo. Hahaha.

[Aaron Saunders]

...nudity?


Yeah. My brother was applying to university for Theatre Technical Production, and he went on like a tour thing at York University in Toronto. His group of techies was lumped in with the actors as well, and the person who was touring them around the school said "Now, I know a lot of you want to be famous stars, but most of you are going to have to settle for less -- a LOT less, like being a teacher." Wow. He immediately regretted even applying there, and ended up getting his first choice anyway (Ryerson Theatre School).

IMO, the biggest problem in education today is that a LOT of teachers are people who became teachers because they didn't have the passion to do anything. I've had both them, and the teachers who are great -- people who really, really want to teach, and care about both the students and their subject. It's kinda sad that the passionless, I-didn't-choose-my-major-until-4th-year hacks are outnumbering the genuine teachers -- and guess what? Most of them go into music, art, drama, and psychology.

[Oysterman]

Originally Posted by MicceO

"If you are not especially interested in music - it's better to choose the bass!"

I can understand this. In many kinds of music you can easily "hide in the shadows" with a bass, pull yourself through a song without any inspiration and minimal effort - and most listeners wouldn't even notice you were there. So, yeah, if you have to play music, but don't want to, play the bass. It will probably save you some grief, since you probably won't have to learn tough lead lines or stand in any solo spot. You can blend in and disappear if you want to. (Sometimes even the ones who don't want to, do. )

However, he/she didn't make a blanket statement such as all bass players are uninterested in music, or that the bass sucks, right? For that wouldn't be right. Any instrument is nothing more than what YOU, the player, make of it. There are crappy instrumentalists everywhere, on every instrument.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by MicceO

You know what! A friend of mine started in a new school and everyone had to choose an instrument, either piano, electric guitar or bass guitar. And what did the music teacher say?

"If you are not especially interested in music - it's better to choose the bass!"

That is so wrong - it should have been drums!!

So everybody knows the famous joke :

Q.What do you call the people who hang around with musicians?
A. Drummers!!

[widefat]

I agree with the teacher.

On bass, it's much easier to learn a few roots and fake your way through a song.

On guitar and piano, its much harder to achieve even a minimal level.

[Passinwind]

I think it actually makes sense too.

I recently started playing in a jazz group. I learned around 200 songs in 2 weeks, to the extent that I could read off the chord charts, and play them in public. No memorization required. I could even solo at will on most of them, well enough to be not too embarassing at least. And no one would care if I never soloed anyway, for the most part. I can't think of a single other instrument that would allow that, really. I do have a fair bit of experience, but still...

Three months later, I've rehearsed like crazy, worked out real solos, and actually have some feel for the tunes. Outside of the band, I'm positive that nobody else knows much difference, save a very few schooled musicians.

Still, that comment stings, and I'm sure most of us view it as a challenge, and maybe a wakeup call.