Serious about bass playing?

[Nilmar]

Does it mean that playing bass like mark hoppus or other punk bassist means that you are not serious about playing the bass. It is because i saw someone comment that if you are in to slapping and popping, it means that you are serious about bass playing. Please advice

[Sonorous]

Originally Posted by Nilmar

Does it mean that playing bass like mark hoppus or other punk bassist means that you are not serious about playing the bass. It is because i saw someone comment that if you are in to slapping and popping, it means that you are serious about bass playing. Please advice

First off, Marc Hoppus is not a punk bassist. However, there's nothing wrong with playing bass like Marc Hoppus. You'll probably get bored very very soon though. Slap bass is not the most important thing in bass either, it's just flashy and fun to do sometimes.

[Bassone]

lol nah what bs :P play howeva u want depends what ur into playing, u like blink u say? how can sum1 else tell u if ur serious bout bass or not dont have to brag bout playing u'no jst play 4 urself

[B'Aces High]

If your serious about bass, buy a bass and play what you want...dont worry what other people are thinking.

[DaRt]

if u take bass guitar seriously then u play what u want to!! don't care what other ppl say of think just play how u want to!! thats the best way

[widefat]

Originally Posted by DaRt

if u take bass guitar seriously then u play what u want to!! don't care what other ppl say of think just play how u want to!! thats the best way

.!

[Mr. Zebraface]

You don't have to be able to slap to be good, just look at Fieldy.

There are some damn good punk bassists - Joe Prinicpale, Craig Ahead, Mike Watt, Fat Mike, Matt Freeman.

Just dont mention EMO otherwise you'll be persecuted, especially by someone called StupidMatt, saying EMO to him is like showing a cross to a vampire...

[adouglas]

Slap/pop does not necessarily mean you're serious. It just means you want to learn a flashy trick. A lot of really great bassists don't do it...and a lot of really great bassists do.

I agree with Mighty Zultan. There's nothing wrong with playing like Marc Hoppus if that's what gets you out of bed in the morning...but IMHO certain styles of music get really boring to play after a while. Punk in particular is all about energy, not complexity. It's hard to maintain that insane energy when you've played the same three notes over and over and over and over and over again....

IMHO the mark of a serious bassist is timing. Even if all you're doing is hammering away at the root note, being exactly on the beat is really important when it comes to making the song sound good. If the rhythm section isn't "on," it starts turning to mushy noise very quickly.

IMHO the mark of a poseur (that's not a typo...look it up) is a bassist who pays more attention to what they look like on stage than what they're playing. Bassists who don't listen to the rest of the band really irk me. For that matter, so do drummers and guitarists...I'd rather listen to a good, tight band playing music I don't particularly like than a bunch of hacks butchering my favorite song.

Bass is not easy if you do it right (nor is any other instrument). It is easy if all you want to do is make noise and you don't give a rip about sounding good.

These are just my opinions.

[De Teng]

Before giving my opinion about this, Dart and Bassone...please at least try to spell your words correctly and make full sentences. Since we're not all 15 or 16 years old an not of that GameBoy generation, we haven't had a mobile phone when we were 9 years old (and we 're proud of it!!!), most people do not appreciate this way of talking ok?

Slapping is just a technique...it's not the whole amount of skills, needed to play a good bassline. Just feel the groove, try to walk like it..etc... only then you make a good impression to play bass (or how serious you are)... if you need slapping, alright... but it's not a must, don't forget that. Just play it when you think you could need it. But don't see those arguments as a reason not to practise. You'll never know when you could use it...

[Whafrodamus]

Originally Posted by Nilmar

Does it mean that playing bass like mark hoppus or other punk bassist means that you are not serious about playing the bass. It is because i saw someone comment that if you are in to slapping and popping, it means that you are serious about bass playing. Please advice

Slap doesn't make you good. Infact, slap is pretty easy and something you usually "show off" to non-bassists with. Just because you do it, it doesn't mean you're good or serious. Jaco didn't slap :-p

[Mud Flaps]

Jaco Pastorius didn't slap or pop and he's considered by probably %75 of bassists to be the best bassist who ever lived.

I don't think that you have to be in the "bass-virtuoso" genre to be considered "serious about bass", but often people who become "serious about bass" by accident or otherwise put themselves into that genre. You'll find the majority of these bassists in Jazz Fusion or Funk. Others can be found elsewhere, like in Rock, Pop, Latin, or elsewhere.


P.S. You need to be especially careful about which forum you post in. "Basses" is for discussion about basses only. This thread should be in "Bassists", "Misc.", or possibly "General Instruction". I'm not trying to threaten you or scare you away (please don't leave, we love you), but posting in the right forum makes it easier for all of us ;-).

[Whafrodamus]

On an other note, this thread has killed the English language.

"omg plz i lik da bas gitar u can pla 2 wut eva beat u want lolz"

Oi vey.

[quallabone]

Originally Posted by Bassone

lol nah what bs :P play howeva u want depends what ur into playing, u like blink u say? how can sum1 else tell u if ur serious bout bass or not dont have to brag bout playing u'no jst play 4 urself

Just when I thought humanity had a chance.

This is what he meant to say I think
TAHT IS INCOR3CT!!1111!1 OMG *** LOL PLAY WHICHEVAR STYL3 U CHOSE111!11! IT AL DEPENDS WUT U 3NJOY PLAYNG1!!!!1!1 *** LOL IF U LIEK 2 PLAY BLINK HOW CAN SOMEONE ELSE TEL U TAHT UR NOT SERIOUS ABOUT PLAYNG11!1 LOL PLAY FOR UR NOT FOR BRAGNG RIGHTS11!1 OMG LOL

[Fuzzbass]

Originally Posted by B'Aces High

If your serious about bass, buy a bass and play what you want...dont worry what other people are thinking.

Amen.

[The Antipop]

The poorest, most unskilled player can be serious about playing.

It is all how you take it, not how serious other people think you are

[Arthur U. Poon]

Originally Posted by Nilmar

Does it mean that playing bass like mark hoppus or other punk bassist means that you are not serious about playing the bass. It is because i saw someone comment that if you are in to slapping and popping, it means that you are serious about bass playing. Please advice

I've seen Blink 182 in concert and I thought they put on a great show. FWIW I admire the punk bassists from my youth: Paul Simonon from The Clash, John Doe of X, and Dee Dee Ramone of the Ramones. If you like the style, don't worry about what anyone else says. It sounds to me like you're serious.

[adam on bass]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zebraface

You don't have to be able to slap to be good, just look at Fieldy.

He was a good player at one time. If you can find the LAPD cd or tape somewhere get it and you'll find out. I use to hang out with them in those days and it was fun trading licks with'em.

[sargebaker]

horse manuer! To be serious about the bass, one most own a bass of minimum 5000 Usd (i.e.: Fodera, F, Carl Thompson, etc.) One must also be a skilled jazz musician, and skilled slapper/popper. It is also essential that one must have some fretless basses and a minimum of 1 octave string bass and 1 8 string bass to be a serious player. Anything less is *clears throat* n3wbz0r...

I concur with everyone else pretty much... I'm bored

Edit: Hunter is a pretty good "punk bassist" What does FWIW mean?

[MAJOR METAL]

I think being serious about the bass has to deal with commitment to the instrument and being open to grow and expand your skills. Being joined at the hip with the thing is good if you can do it.

[cephas45]

some bass player wisdom:

You will be a serious bassist, when you become serious about playing the bass.