Appreciated as a bass player

[Flatwound]

In my current cover band, we've had three guitarists in the last 5 years or so, not bad I think. # 's 2 and 3 have been very aware of the bass, and my playing. Both have been pretty complimentary, which is very nice. I mean, they don't rant and rave about me being a wonderful bass player, but I get occasional comments like, "Hey, that little descending run you did sounds great" or something like that. I read lots of stories of the bass player being considered kind of a second-class citizen in bands, but it hasn't really been my experience. If something comes up, and I can't make it to rehearsal, they usually don't rehearse, because it doesn't "feel right" without me being there.

The first guitarist, who put this band together, and was the band leader, didn't really appreciate anybody. He had an inflated view of his own ability (imagine that...) and his own importance. We gave him the boot, and are now much more democratic. And we get along better.

Two out of the five band members have difficulty remembering their parts, and use either tablets or sheet music (keyboardist). The keyboardist watches me pretty closely on some songs to see where we are, although I'm not sure he'd admit that.

I'm not claiming to be a virtuoso or anything like that, because I'm not, but the songs we cover are a bit more complicated than "three chords and the TRUTH!" and can sometimes be challenging, for me, anyway. I'm just saying that it's nice being appreciated.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Best ways I feel appreciated: People dancing & pay at the end of the night. I don't expect more, though sometimes receive it - I smile, say "thanks" and return an honest compliment.

 

[eniac]

I'm old enough that whenever I get a compliment on anything, I suspect there's some sort of agenda behind it. I've been right over half the time.

The really good bands I've been in -- where everyone was an A-lister in terms of prep, equipment, and chops -- compliments were never given. Why? Because we all just knew that each of us "had it going on" and that the product we were putting out was impossible to improve on. Wish it'd happened more often, but I'm thankful to have gotten a few tastes of it in my career.

 

[Hawk620]

Always nice to know your playing is appreciated.

I never thought about it much other than to notice if people were getting into the bass groove and dancing knowing that it was me who was creating that. Being part of the same bands for many years and never being asked to get my act together musically or be replaced is a compliment as well.

 

[sheesh]

I'm just saying that it's nice being appreciated.

Yes

 

[mambo4]

I read lots of stories of the bass player being considered kind of a second-class citizen in bands, but it hasn't really been my experience.

hasn't really been mine either.

 

[Hot Rats]

I ran into this problem a bit with the cover band I'm in. Lots of tunes we do are Malo, El Chicano, War, Santana, etc. where the bass is pretty predominant in the album mixes. But the guitarist gets excessively loud and I felt was drowning out the vibe of the tunes. At a band meeting, I told them about my perception of the sound, and we came to an agreement that the bass should play a bigger role in the mix. The guitarist still gets out of hand every so often, but now I have other band members on my side to curb his "enthusiasm" so to speak. I have yet to convince the guitarist to put his amp on and angled stand, but I will never give up hope. By the way, he is like 75 years old, has been playing for 60, so I know damn well his hearing is shot! But with the new Mesa Boogie 800D I got, the bass is well pronounced and epic on so many levels. I love cranking the gain, bumping the bass and putting the HPF at 5 or 6 and getting a super tight sound. Going further out on a tangent, I have had more compliments on the punch and sound of my bass since getting the 800D than any other amp. I am in ramble mode, so I say good night to you all.

 

[KohanMike]

I play bass uke/mini bass guitar with a 35 person ukulele group. Since I'm the rhythm section, I make a point of keeping in the pocket, I have a natural sense of time (my younger brother is an accomplished drummer). I get compliments fairly often for that, especially from the leader of the group. I've even received applause when I get through the Los Lobos bass line for La Bamba.

I actually got a compliment for keeping time some years ago, long before I started playing bass, when I played rhythm guitar. I was on a date to a place in Toluca lake, Sushi On Tap, that had open tap dancing night. About ten people got up, various levels of experience using a boom box they brought. The last one was a somewhat elderly man who did not have any music, in essence tapped "a cappella." I think he was one of the white tappers in the movie Tap with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr.

He started a routine, very good, but little by little, he was going off time. I noticed and started slapping my thigh to help him out. He carried on to my tempo and when finished, he made a beeline to me, shook my hand, asking if I'm a drummer. I said my brother is a good drummer and I play rhythm guitar. He said thank you very much and off he went. Very gratifying feeling.

 

[Flatwound]

Last week at rehearsal, the guitarist actually asked me to turn up a little. I mean…

 

[Tim Skaggs]

First of all, I’m no virtuoso on electric bass. I consider my self a reasonably good bar band bassist with a LOT of experience.

My most memorable compliments from other band members haven’t been made directly to me, but have been made to others and I either overheard it, or the person who was told about my playing passed the info along to me.

One compliment came when was when I was playing with a guitarist who had years more experience (and was better on his instrument) than I. He also knew dozens more musicians than I did. A friend of his, that I didn’t know, wanted to sit in for a few songs at a live gig. The guest asked my bandmate if I could play a few different songs we didn’t normally play. The compliment from my band mate was, “he can pick up about anything, and he knows when not to play”. I’ve done a little bit of teaching, mostly for upright bass, and I tell the student that my goal is to teach them the right technique for playing upright and to know when not to play.

Another comment I got from a bandmate that’s more a show of appreciation than a compliment;
I just met a rhythm guitarist & started playing in a band with him in Aug. ‘23. Since then there have been three occasions where the band had a booking that I could not play. The sub for me (the same guitarist from compliment #1 above), played all three gigs. My current bandmate told me I was sorely missed on those gigs. I asked him if the sub screwed up, and he said, “no, he did fine on every song at all three gigs, but he didn’t play the queues”. This was something new to me. I didn’t know I played “queues” so I asked what that meant. He said that I play “something different” when we approach changes in songs that leads the band into the changes in the right timing. That came as a complete surprise to me, but I took that as a show of appreciation for the bass player (and I hope I don’t overthink whatever I’ve been doing for “queues” and start screwing them up…)

The same rhythm guitarist owns all our PA and helps with basic sound check. He frequently has my bass hotter in the main mix than I think it should be. His reasoning that he told me; you play well enough and funky enough to get folks out on the dance floor, so the bass needs to be prominent in the mix. I took it as a positive.

 

[Jefenator]

When they think they're fine with any old hack in that chair, I probably don't need them either.

 

[Runnerman]

Most of the after gig comments are more general starting with some positives, "we were tight tonight", "song 'x' went over well", "good crowd".

Then as we are packing up we might talk about something that went wrong and I think it's generally intended to ensure it's corrected for next time, but you have to have a certain thickness of skin for these conversations and don't take them to heart. Knowing the guys, I know these comments are not intended to tear anyone down, just an overall desire to be better as a band. Other than that, there's a mutual respect for each other's musicianship and that's all I need, I don't expect more.

Mostly it's an audience member that gives you that boost through eye contact or after gig comments. A bass player from another band in our circle was at Saturday's gig and made some positive comments to me between sets. Means much more coming from another player.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

In my current cover band, we've had three guitarists in the last 5 years or so, not bad I think. # 's 2 and 3 have been very aware of the bass, and my playing. Both have been pretty complimentary, which is very nice. I mean, they don't rant and rave about me being a wonderful bass player, but I get occasional comments like, "Hey, that little descending run you did sounds great" or something like that. I read lots of stories of the bass player being considered kind of a second-class citizen in bands, but it hasn't really been my experience. If something comes up, and I can't make it to rehearsal, they usually don't rehearse, because it doesn't "feel right" without me being there.

The first guitarist, who put this band together, and was the band leader, didn't really appreciate anybody. He had an inflated view of his own ability (imagine that...) and his own importance. We gave him the boot, and are now much more democratic. And we get along better.

Two out of the five band members have difficulty remembering their parts, and use either tablets or sheet music (keyboardist). The keyboardist watches me pretty closely on some songs to see where we are, although I'm not sure he'd admit that.

I'm not claiming to be a virtuoso or anything like that, because I'm not, but the songs we cover are a bit more complicated than "three chords and the TRUTH!" and can sometimes be challenging, for me, anyway. I'm just saying that it's nice being appreciated.

I’ve been the bassist in our (12 piece horn and vocal) band since 1970. I think that speaks for itself. A couple of reasons, one I’m always on time and prepared, and know my musical place in the ensemble. Secondly, I’m not a buthead. I’m pleasant, professional with a can do attitude. Sure I can play a little, but I’m here to tell you there are plenty of bassists out there that can my doors off, and that has always been the case.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I don't regularly get direct compliments for the reasons many have cited. The most common happen post-gig, and these are essentially group hugs: "great gig, everyone", "yeah that was fun", etc.

Direct compliments are more frequent when doing sub work (at my bar band level, anyway), even if it's a simple "thanks for coming in on short notice". But for me the greatest satisfaction of subbing is performing well with a new-to-me band on short notice. Second greatest is callbacks!


Notable compliments do sometimes come in. Two of my favorites:

• A guest vocalist announcing "this rhythm section is tighter than two coats of paint!"
• After a short-notice sub gig featuring some obscure/tricky tunes that I had to work hard on, the BL telling me I played better than his regular bassist

As others have said my main concern is keeping my gig calendar busy. The verbal stuff is just icing on the cake.

 

[bobba66]

I am a legend in my own mind.

 

[Kevorargh]

I've had the pleasure of getting some compliments from some very good drummers I've been lucky enough to play with recently, both telling me was solid. One guy is an old vet and was paying attention to what I was playing and doing fills to match me. The other drummer tells me he looks to me to know where we are in a song because I always know.