What Drives You!?

[Squnk]

Howdy ya'll! This may seem like a question with an obvious answer, but what drives you to play bass? And for the folks that gig, jam, and/or are professionals what drove you to follow music as a career or professional hobby? I want to hear people's stories, wisdom, or just whatever made them pick up that bass and play?

[Mojo-Man]

Just the joy of music.
I love to play, been playing for 27 years.
Love to play live, always looking for that magic, that one song were everyting grooves, that high from playing.
Where the band just kills, It could be a set, the hole gig or just one song.

[Aaron Saunders]

I keep playing 'cause I love playing. There's nothing that feels better to me, nothing that makes me grin wider, than playing ang grooving with someone else. I don't think I could keep a gig in a metal band, because having a goofy smile on your face during stuff like Opeth just doesn't look hardcore enough.

*Why* I started playing can be found at my website, linked in my sig.


{/end shameless plug}

[Zlartibartfast]

interesting question - I've pondered it from time to time - it's probably different for me than many of the others here, since keys are what I play in the band - I don't realy need to play a bass, I've got a zillion bass samples ready to go at any time, and a powerful left hand that can run on autopilot for days without end. Still, to hold that beatifully shaped piece of wood, feel the curve on the back of it's neck, twiddle/pop/tap/stroke the strings to produce the visceral, pulsing, rythmic vibrations felt deep down inside, whilst maintaining a gentle control over the powerful forces, ready to burst forth in wild abandon...

I just realized the answer

Sex

[Nickthebassist]

What drives me? The want to push bass to its limit, and make it as much a lead isntrument as it is a rhythem isntrument, to draw awarness to bassists in bands(because most of them get overlooked when you have some guitarist playing to zillion notes per second), and also to be part of a band, and write bass lines that make the hair on your neck stand on end.

[Pacman]

Because I can't imagine doing anything else.

[James Hart]

to get chicks

























naaaa, I wanted to play bass since before chicks were cool!

Take Mojo-Man's post and replace the 27 years with 24 and it's the answer I was gonna type

[Nick man]

Originally Posted by Pacman

Because I can't imagine doing anything else.

Pacman's answer is probably closest to describing how I feel about it.

To me its not a question of what drives me to play bass, but what drives me to get up in the morning, and thats the bass. There's nothing else I can think of that makes me feel the way playing bass does.

My motivation to get up?
-I have class.
My motivation to go to class?
-To get good grades.
My motivation to get good grades?
-To stay in Gainesville.
My motivation to stay in Gainesville?
-To play in a band.
My motivation to play in a band?
-Bass.

Thats just one of the many tracks you could follow, but everything I do leads to playing bass. I dont know why it makes me feel so good, but it does.

[Planet Boulder]

What drives me to play the instrument itself?

- I enjoy doing it more than anything else.
- Nothing moves me like the low frequencies
- I've been doing it for so long that I've forgotten what it's like not to play bass
- The bass makes the song. As a bassist, it's my duty to improve the music

[Ba Gua Tiger]

meh, I'm switching to guitar

[Ba Gua Tiger]

KIDDING.


I did just order a guitar, but that is more for some fun, I still am a bassist at heart. Just want a guitar to fool around with. Kind of like a one night stand if you think about what Zlartibartfast said...

[The Golden Boy]

Belinda Carlisle

[Brendan]

Having an audience.

[Erlendur Már]

I don't really have anything to motivate me..
I'm not in a band, my amp is broken (and has been for a long time) and I kind of feel like I'm wasting my time.
I always try to practice, but I usually just end up in my bed early. I think I play like a half an hour a day, because I feel like I have to play something every day.

[Squnk]

I really don't know why I play bass, i just try and play, cause it's fun!

[fastplant]

Originally Posted by Brendan

Having an audience.

I started playing in my current band just for money. But the crowds keep me coming back. I usually forget that I get paid for this when they hand over the money at the end of the night.

[bluntman_bass]

when i started i thought it would just be a hobby and i would play every now and then. but now i play right when i get home for a long time, and almost any other time of the day, and im always trying to improve myself or come up with new stuff, ive gotten much more serious with it.

[the ombudsman]

It's in my skin.