Remeber what made you choose or love bass?

Silviu · #1 03-16-2006, 04:19 AM

My father was a guitarist and when I was like 14 or 15 he tryed to show me something on the guitar but he quiqly descoverd that I have no conection with it or with music. He sold all his equipment and that was it.
After a few years Bon Jovi came with Keep the faith album and the song with the same name. In the beging of the song there was a guitar intro and shortly after that a nice bass line. I didn't know what that sound was but I told my father that's the instrument I want to learn. He bought me a cheap bass and my journey began.

Havoc · #2 03-16-2006, 04:31 AM

Well, I got adicted in 9-10 grade. Me and a friend of mine (now the guitarist in our band) desided to play "Whiskey in the jar" ,the Thin Lizzie version, for a music project. I was trying to learn guitar at the time, had an acustic(sp?) one. After a while I found that my sound was being drowned out by my friends guitar, so I picked up the schools bass guitar and plugged it in, thinking that this would be heard. From then I was sold. It was just my kind of instrument.

morf · #3 03-16-2006, 05:42 AM

My brother started playing guitar when he was 10 years old. 10 years later, having seen first hand how far he got with his instrument, and following my love for music, and more specifically 60s-80s rock, I asked for a cheap bass for christmas, bought a cheap amp, been playing everyday ever since. I only regret not starting earlier.

Fieldflower · #4 03-16-2006, 04:01 PM

It was in 7th grade in music class, and I got to try the bass for the first time.
Played 5 minutes and then I just knew I had to play that instrument!

We couldn't afford one at the time, and it took 8 years 'til I played again.
But I did it on my own bass.

That's almost 15 years ago and I'm still lovin' it.

/Ff

lomer · #5 03-16-2006, 07:48 PM

Always wanted to play bass as my Grandfather who I never got to meet played for 30+ years, I used to sit around listening to some old recordings when I was younger of his Jazz/Swing band and just knew it was for me.....

Didn't actually do anything about it till about a year ago when I saw a Sabbath dvd and Geezer just mesmerized me, and what a journey it's been since then...

DumbChild · #6 03-16-2006, 08:03 PM

Well i can remember it because it was only a few months ago. I used to play guitar back when i was like 8, but i never really got into it. 6 years down the track i picked one up again and realised that i really enjoyed playing it. Though i never really enjoyed the sound. At this stage i had never even thought of a bass though about 6 months ago i was just listening to some music and i heard its awesome sound. I demanded mother buy me a bass guitar and im now doing my best to pick up the music i learnt back in school and well it was the best birthday present ive gotten in awhile. Never thought id fall in love with another instrument but bass is far more then an instrument to me.

CommandoBob · #7 03-17-2006, 03:28 AM

i first wanted to be a drummer, cus there were not a lot of drummers around my town. Then i spent some time behind a kit and found out my limbs were not working together so i decided that id try something new. Steve Harris was a pretty cool guy i thought and so i played my friends bass a little bit the next time i was over there and all i had to do was hit the E string and i fell in love as all the windows in the house rattled and you could hear the plastic behind the walls vibrate and the dishes clatter.

Havoc · #8 03-17-2006, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommandoBob

not a lot of drummers around my town.

We have the same problem. Our current "drummer" is realy a guitarist, but we needed a drummer, so we are using the school bands drums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommandoBob

Then i spent some time behind a kit and found out my limbs were not working together

Found out that to. I'm even having trouble singing and playing at the same time

Fo' Shizzle · #9 03-17-2006, 09:29 AM

Watching my Grandfather and Dad slapping away at the 1940 Kay upright at church when I was a kid.

I now own that bass....

Koushaku · #10 03-17-2006, 09:43 AM

Like most instruments I play, I bought a bass to get a better feel of its role in music, as I very much enjoy writing songs. I fell in love with it upon the realization that I could get away with playing more complex movements of music on the instrument than anyone else in bands I could play with.

Perhaps that's not everyone's idea of the role of the instrument. But I love still love it when people comment that my playing of the bass is like soloing constantly. Also, just that thick sound that fills up the soundscape and rattles your soul inside you. It is fun when you literally feel your music.

ebe9 · #11 03-17-2006, 12:07 PM

Had always wanted to play an instrument in high school, but never had the funds and folk were very much in the "passing fad" mindset so no luck there.

Finally in seconf year of varsity got some money together to get something but was not sure what I wanted. Anyway I had always been drawn to the deeped sound of drums and bass (very much a rhythm guy) so I flipped a coin.........

And well..............here I am.

Timbo · #12 03-18-2006, 12:35 AM

Ska and Reggae basslines have always put me into a state of ecstacy.

I also thought it was amusing to tell other musicians whenever they said something about bass, "Yeah we'll home theatres have an entire cabinet devoted to ME."

AxtoOx · #13 03-18-2006, 12:53 AM

I had been playing guitar for many years. I was jamming with a beginner bass player and was showing him all the parts. Realized I was having fun, went out and bought one and a practice amp. Decided to take lessons so I really knew what I was doing and the rest is history, along with a lot of cash.

FaithNoMan · #14 03-18-2006, 01:30 AM

I was thirteen years old on a camping trip, and I stayed up all night listening to Faith No More's "The Real Thing" on my headphone cassette player...particularly the flanged parts to the song "The Real Thing"

I didn't know a bass guitar could sound like that.

gop_jeff · #15 03-18-2006, 10:39 AM

I converted from guitar. I was playing at my church, and they wanted me to start playing lead. I wasn't comfortable with that at all - I'm not one to be in the spotlight. A few months later, our bass player began to burn out a bit, and I started getting some instruction from him. Started playing each Saturday at a new service we started up, and never looked back. I now have a Fender Strat collecting dust in its case!

Scourge441 · #16 03-18-2006, 08:12 PM

My friend came over one day, and started bragging about how he had gotten a guitar and could almost play the solo to "Like A Stone" by Audioslave. He suggested I play bass so we could start a band.

I got a Washburn XB100 for my first bass. I got kinda good at it over the first few months, but I didn't play that much. I started playing more and more, and by the summer of that year, I was really into it.

My friend was getting more interested in the guitar, but eventually lost interest due to the lack of a teacher. He's starting to get into it again.

Dkerwood · #17 03-18-2006, 08:41 PM

I was a junior in high school... I was a guitar player, and this freshman was set to come in and play bass in jazz band and for the show choir - I was going to play guitar beside him. Sure, I had picked up the bass here and there - in a couple of situations where I wasn't good enough yet to make the guitar do anything interesting... but I was getting better, and so he was going to cover the low end.

Well, wouldn't you know it. Week before school and he up and dies. Overheated on the football field, passed out, and died.

At that point, the bass was deemed more important, and so I was required to play that. I borrowed my friend's entry level Washburn, and learned how to read those notes on the page and everything.

Played bass my senior year also, and then thought I was done with it. I had picked up a Hohner J-Bass copy, and that was cool and everything, but I never saw it as more than a novelty. I pulled it out occasionally my freshman year of college for some blues jams - after all, I knew how to play 1-3-5-6-b7, and that's all there is to blues, right?

I transferred schools after freshman year - got fed up with private colleges - and soon discovered that bassists were more in demand than guitarists. I got a scholarship based upon the fact that I could fake some "bass" sounding lines.

At that point, I started falling in love with the fact that I could actually be the ENTIRE foundation that a 20 member band could sit on... But rather than falling solely in love with the bass, I applied that to the other instruments I played.

When the time came to move on to a bigger school that had a music ed major, I decided that I didn't want to do guitar because I loved it too much and didn't want it to become "homework". I decided that I didn't want to do drums (my first love) because frankly, I didn't think I was good enough. I decided on bass because it was one of my weaker instruments, and I knew that bassists always get the gigs they want/need.

Since then I've learned so much about groove, it's not even funny. Do I consider myself a bassist? No, but I do consider bass to be a significant part of my musicianship.

g00eY · #18 03-18-2006, 11:17 PM

i found one at home and decided i wanted to play.

juancard · #19 03-19-2006, 12:03 AM

sometimes I feel like the story 'bout how I started playing bass sounds like a damn Archie story or something... growing up, my two best friends were like brothers to me, older and way cooler...around 14 yrs of age, we decided to start a band...Why? to get girls of course!! My two friends eventually wanted to play guitar and be the frontman, ( "cause that's what chicks WANT man!" ) and put my dopey ass back in the rhythm section on bass! Musically, it was the best thing to happen to me!

Fieldflower · #20 03-20-2006, 05:20 AM

I have to revise my answer above.
Have thought some more about this and the real reason behind choosing bass is the power it produces.

That's what made it sooo appealing that day in music class.

Sure You can make a room shake with a guitar too, but with the bass You do it without effort.
That's power...

And that's really why.

Thanks for making me think...

/Ff