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Any female bassists out there?

#41
TobyBass55 said:
One thing I’ve noticed is going into music stores, the store personnel look at me funny when I ask for things for the bass. I think it is not because I’m a woman, but because I’m a woman in my 50’s and so don’t look the part (in their eyes at least).
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Same thing here. I'm in my 60's. Another problem for me is that since I'm so old, (once the get it that what I'm buying is for me) they tend to think I know a lot more about the bass than I actually do. They think I must have been playing forever. But not so, I started playing when I was 62.
 
#42
Re interactions with audiance: I wanna see those folks out on the dance floor moving their fannys in time to the music. So I'm mostly into it because I love making music (even tho' so far it's just been in living room / garage and not on any gigs...) and not so much for male groupies. Mind, I wouldn't mind the compliments, if and when any come my way...
 
#44
Highly recommend that both men and women check out Sara Lee from Gang of Four.
Shared a bill with them in the 80's and was very impressed with her as a person and a player. She has played with many other big name bands as show here:

http://dykeland3.tripod.com/sara/curve.html

This is not some spoof site; she apparetly leads an alternet lifestyle and this site wrote a nice article about her.
Pity, I always thought she was hot!
 
#45
SirGrotius said:
One thing I'm curious about is how female bassists interact with their audience.

I know when I first started playing there were two things that attracted me to getting into music, a) the music itself, and b) the girls.

Are female bassists as interested in meeting dudes (or other women I suppose) as male bassists are interested in impressing the ladies?

I'm not being facetious, just curious. My gut feeling would be that they lean a little more toward enjoying the music for music's sake but don't mind a hunk's compliment here and there.
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"Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place." --- Billy Crystal
 
#46
Count me in. I started playing bass after burning myself out on piano (which I was forced to play from 5 years old through high school). I wanted to play something that was integral to every rock band.

I have a 34" 4-string and a 35" 5-string. I'm starting to look at short scales just because my hands go through a lot of abuse at school and it's starting to limit my practice time. I have no reach problem with my 35", jumbo fret though...just overuse issues. Some of my influences are: Levin, Claypool, Wetton, Entwistle, John-Paul Jones, Julie Slick, Bernard Edwards, Commerford, Eric Avery, and all of Zappa's bassists. Just discovered Colin Hodgkinson too...wow.

I haven't had any problems with the guys at the music store where I take lessons. They don't treat me any different than anyone else. Been asked by a man to play in his band recently and by one of the guys at school to jam. I've always been a tomboy and hung out with the guys anyhow, so I'm used to male-dominated atmospheres. I've played sports on boys teams in HS, played co-ed ice hockey, and was a volunteer firefighter. I'm used to good-natured ribbing and can dish it out pretty good too. You want to see me freak out...stick me in the middle of a sorority. :rolleyes:
 
#47
21niko21 said:
Count me in. I started playing bass after burning myself out on piano (which I was forced to play from 5 years old through high school). I wanted to play something that was integral to every rock band.

I have a 34" 4-string and a 35" 5-string. I'm starting to look at short scales just because my hands go through a lot of abuse at school and it's starting to limit my practice time. I have no reach problem with my 35", jumbo fret though...just overuse issues. Some of my influences are: Levin, Claypool, Wetton, Entwistle, John-Paul Jones, Julie Slick, Bernard Edwards, Commerford, Eric Avery, and all of Zappa's bassists. Just discovered Colin Hodgkinson too...wow.

I haven't had any problems with the guys at the music store where I take lessons. They don't treat me any different than anyone else. Been asked by a man to play in his band recently and by one of the guys at school to jam. I've always been a tomboy and hung out with the guys anyhow, so I'm used to male-dominated atmospheres. I've played sports on boys teams in HS, played co-ed ice hockey, and was a volunteer firefighter. I'm used to good-natured ribbing and can dish it out pretty good too. You want to see me freak out...stick me in the middle of a sorority. :rolleyes:
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Your profile lists you as male. ?????
 
#49
I'm not sure how to say this or how it will be taken, but here goes. In 1970, I saw Bo Diddely at the Filmore West, and his bass player was a girl. Not just any girl, but the coolest, sexiest funkiest (I hope thats a word, if not, it is now) bass player I have ever seen. Even now, I think girl bass players are just plain cool, and I think its the best thing ever that more and more girls are picking up instruments instead of just standing in front of a mic. When my granddaughter is old enough, I'm putting a bass in her hands!
 
#51
becker4567 said:
I'm not sure how to say this or how it will be taken, but here goes. In 1970, I saw Bo Diddely at the Filmore West, and his bass player was a girl. Not just any girl, but the coolest, sexiest funkiest (I hope thats a word, if not, it is now) bass player I have ever seen. Even now, I think girl bass players are just plain cool, and I think its the best thing ever that more and more girls are picking up instruments instead of just standing in front of a mic. When my granddaughter is old enough, I'm putting a bass in her hands!
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The 'Political Correctness' police have just analyzed your post and found it to be a great attitude (not just because I agree 100%). I Can't wait to play music with my daughters, as I played with my father. We need more women musicians and drummers.....:D
 
#54
buchananbass said:
Ok here’s something I’d like to know from the women of tb. what where some of your biggest musical influences when starting out? and how did you come to play the bass? for me it was simply because my teenage friend had a guitar so I went out and got a bass. as far as my influences go, I’d say for probably the first fore or five years of my playing I had focused on being different and never cared to examen anyone else’s playing. I focused more on my technique and coming up with my own material. I eventually realized how much I could benefit from learning to cover the material of others, not only to be able to play with others but to also know whether or not my own was truly my own. as far as my earliest influences go I’d have to say it was all more or less on a subconscious level from usually what ever I was listening to at the time.
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I came by it in an odd way, I think. My friends and I were diehard Who fans, and decided we wanted to start a band. My one friend had a guitar, and another wanted to play drums, so I got the bass. Though it really wasn't by default. I preferred it. So John Entwistle was one of my very first influences..and what an influence! Before I got my first bass I played bass lines on an old guitar my sister had left at home when she got married. Dee Murray was also a huge influence. The first bassline I ever learned was for Funeral For a Friend off of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I wore out 2 vinyl copies of that from playing it so much.
 
#56
Hey...newbie here. Im a female percussionist that is trying to get into the world of electric bass. There is just something about the groove of a bass that has been attracting me for years. Luckily Santa brought one for Christmas so I am thrilled to dive in. My daughter is interested as well so we are both excited to (freshly) be a part of TB. :hyper:

Although I am new to bass, I have spent my share of time in music stores and have never gotten the same time or respect as men musicians get. Oh well. What doesn't break me will only make me stronger. Anyways, I'm glad to be a part of TB and welcome ladies who are also new to the community! I've got much to learn but I'm buckled in and ready for the journey.
 
#57
Ya know…….. I’m finding this thread very encouraging. (Not that I need much encouragement. Once I tried playing the bass, I was immediately hooked.) But it actually is encouraging to hear from other women out there in my age range who play the bass. And other women out there who are beginners on the bass like I am. There do seem to be common experiences.

Also good to hear that people are excited about the idea of their daughters learning the bass. But somehow that doesn't surprise me.........that people who love the bass would think it would be great for their daughters (and sons too for that matter) to play it too.
 
#58
checking in, hullo ladies.
been playing for about 5 years, picked up the bass to take a break from playing drums.
as far as TB, i had a semi-thick skin, then decided the testosteronefest it wasn't worth it and left OT (and generally still stay out) and TB for a while.

oh, and the band i play in is all-female. it's awesome, it just took a while for people to actually judge us by our music only.
 
#60
I actually had my first sexist guitard comment tonight when we were auditioning a new guitarist/drummer. We were talking about how guitarist are a**es and drummers are just stupid and a**es. The new guy said to me that at least I won't have to worry about groupies, the singers get first pick, the guitarist get next, then the drummers and no one give a crap about the bassist and you can forget about any for you anyways because your a girl. At first, it really didn't stick with me but when I thought about it later, made me realize I now had something to tell all my TB Bassards.
 

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