What is your goal with the bass?

[brorbjoern]

I was just asking this question to myself here right now, and I figured it'd be interesting to hear what everybody else had to say on the subject:

Is there a specific goal with you playing the bass, if so; what is it?

You're welcome to write if you just think playing bass is a chill thing to do too

Anyways my goal is being the best :P the best at playing anything that could possibly fit into any musical context I'm put into, and having fun while doing exactly that.

I'm a bit sad I'm nowhere near there yet xD But hey, that's what practice is for right?

[Scott1]

Just having fun and expressing myself musically. :-)

[michaelstrand]

learn something new every day.
get better every day.
work hard.
be optimistic, have fun.

those are mine.

[bassteban]

Shake butts

[mixtapelove]

For me, it's been one big experiment, as it is a second instrument.

Initially it was so I could have something to write music on.... guitar was (and is) still a puzzle for me. Then it turned into something I could do to approach my drumming differently and also to complement it. Then I started to dabble in production and recording, and I had a lot of fun taking some of my sister-in-law's acoustic-guitar-and-vocal only demoes and "embellishing" them.

That experience served me well when my brother (another drummer) offered me a shot at playing bass in a gigging cover band that he's fronting, which is what I spend most of my time doing these days.

I'm never gonna be a virtuoso only because I probably started too late and developed too many bad habits.... but it is nice to be good enough to be "gig-worthy".

[bwardmusic]

I agree with the butt shaking goal.

But I also have a desire to improvise on the bass. I play a six-string bass tuned EADGBE to extend my solo range. I want to get to the point I don't have to analyze the song for key centers and just PLAY solos.

[Misfit]

Mines pretty simple. Learn songs and play along with albums.

I have no goals of writing music or playing with other musicians, or anything of that sort.

[brorbjoern]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Shake butts

True that... I seem to have somehow forgotten it when I wrote my own down
Any true funkhead shakes butts, and let us never forget that.

[chef wong]

I'd like to at least break any and all limitations of playing fingerstyle.

[CocoBass19]

I want to know the bass inside out. So that is not just an instrument that I play, it's actually an extension of me.
Most importantly, I want to develop the hottest bass face ever.

[millsbass5]

After gigging at more, or less a 90-95% rate over the past 30+ years, not much..... At all! So, those two things are, the passion to go out & gig to my heart's content, and GET P-A-I-D!!!!!!!

What? I guess I'm still supposed to have, "The Dream". Huh, not quite, Buck-o. Not quite. Them days are gone.

[mjac28]

It's just fun for me I love playing along with my Beatles and Classic Rock and my Funk I hear the songs in a different way and it really makes me feel good especially when I finally nail a song I was previously having trouble with.

[39-Bassist]

1st reason was to play with my friends and just make some noise.....then after I knew how to make noise, I actually wan't to be the best bassist I could be. Then I wanted to use my talent of playing for my God, and I still have that belief PLUS just making some noise with my friends again.

[widerberg]

Noodling as a form of meditation for me. Too many kids and jobs during the day that frazzle my nerves. Playing helps center me. That and alcohol.

[rebelscum]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Shake butts

This. And melt faces!

[chuck norriss]

My goal is to steer the ship.

[ewe2]

The zone. Although shaking butts is fun too But mostly the zone.

[Bassist4Eris]

I've been obsessed with music since I was a child, and drawn to the bass itself for reasons I can't really explain. My reasons for playing the bass have changed a lot over the years, but mostly, I play the bass because it's become a part of who I am.

But your question, while simple on the surface, is fascinating and thought-provoking. I am 39, and have been playing for 23 of those years (25 if you count a half-hearted start on the guitar). I have primarily pursued a path of original music.

As a teenager, I was convinced that I was destined to be a huge star. That did not happen. I used to blame it on bad luck, but I've come to realize that I'm not a world-class talent, even if I have learned a trick or two over the years.

And yet, I feel compelled to not only continue playing, but continue to wrap my whole life around it, sometimes to the exclusion of things that others value. For example, I'm not married, have no kids, I work a modest clerk job despite a high IQ and a lot of supposed promise that was talked about by my teachers when I was young. I just don't care about any of it.

I sometimes wonder if I may be autistic. I've always had trouble socially, and my obsession with music would fit the bill too (autistics sometimes get obsessed with certain subjects). But sometimes I wonder: if that's the case, does that negate my music-centered lifestyle, or somehow make it false?

But I don't think so. We all walk the path we are supposed to walk, and I walk a music path. Whatever set me on that path is immaterial. I don't know, but I assume that if there is a higher power (or such a thing as a higher self) then I am following guidance I am unaware of on a conscious level. Perhaps I am preparing for a future incarnation, or perhaps there are other things my soul needs to learn from this experience.

One thing I do know is that before every gig, I pray to the Goddess (I'm a neopagan, although obviously a rather agnostic one) to give thanks for the opportunity to be a part of music, and to hopefully bring some joy into people's lives. (This is significant, because under most circumstances in life, I can be cynical to the point of misanthropy.)

So maybe that's the answer to your question. Or more correctly, the answer to MY question. I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking on this one for a while.

The preceding has been a (slightly) drunk post. I apologize for length, rambling, or the inevitable typos, and hope I didn't come off too pretentious.

[PBnJBassist]

Originally Posted by rebelscum

This. And melt faces!

And boobs.

[two fingers]

1) Fun with fellow musicians. I usually only work with likable people.
2) Learn and grow, but not by leaps and bounds, just baby steps.
3) Folding money.

In that order.