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Are you dedicated Or do you multitask?!

Are you dedicated or do you multitask?

  • I am dedicated to the bass although I CAN play other instruments

    Votes: 102 62.6%

  • I am dedicated to the bass because it's all I learned to play

    Votes: 23 14.1%

  • I enjoy playing many different instruments as well as bass

    Votes: 45 27.6%

  • I play many instruments because I record my own demos

    Votes: 18 11.0%
  • Total voters
    163
#21
to show the guitarist the RIGHT way to play the part :)

I play well enough to work out chord progressions and often begin the process of writing songs on guitar. I find that if you can make a song work with only acoustic guitar and voice it usually means it will hold up well in a band context.

But my main instrument is really my voice. I've always been the singer. Guess that makes me a multi-tasker!
 
#23
Strictly bass for me at this point. I started out on guitar long ago, but the only things I can still do well are country blues slide and that Jimmy Nolen/Nile Rodgers choppy funk comping (which, BTW, not many guitarists can get at all). I do have a 12-string that's good for trying out chord progressions on, so the situation might change if I can muster the energy for some home recording.
 
#25
I'm a drummer primarily, and bass is a fairly distant second. I do enjoy playing bass more, both the freedom (to walk around, sing and such) and just the sheer musicality of it as opposed to drums...I suppose the only reason why I play drums more and consider it my "primary" is because I have more time, money, and skill invested in it.
 
#26
I am mainly a bass player.

I played flute in middle school and high school a bit in band because I was lazy. I also spent a little time on the piano, but lack of practice has left me really rusty. I did take some guitar lessons here and there, mostly so I can watch a guitar player and figure out the chords they are playing. I think it is definitely a good thing to learn to play a chording instrument even at an elementary level for the songwriting aspect, even though my songs pretty much suck.
 
#28
Piano for 4 years as a kid.
Tuba for about a total of 4 and a half years.
Handbell Choir at Church when I was in middle school.
Singing for most of my life.

But these days, instrumentally, I'm exclusively a bass player. I desperately want to learn banjo, though.
 
#29
Bass is my #1, but I get too much personal enjoyment and satisfaction in playing other instruments to dedicate myself solely to bass.

I love guitar (almost as much as I love bass!) and I love synths as well, especially older classic synths from the '70s and '80s. Love playing drums too!
 
#30
I couldn't choose between 1 and 3 so I picked both. Besides bass, I love to play the drums too and enjoy playing guitar. I actually own more guitars than basses, but no drum kit... :( Then I sing a lot, and I've actually put a lot more effort lately into singing than ever before. It has really paid off, thanks to a good method. You know what method if you've read my posts in the threads here about singing... :)
 
#32
I mainly play bass. It is the only thing I will gig with. At home I also play guitar and sax. If I had a keyboard I would play that too (I can just really rusty). I have played many instruments through the years especally in high school band. I was the guy that the director would move to where he had a hole because I could pick it up in a few weeks. In the five years Between 8th and 12th I played sax (tennor and alto), baritone, tuba and french horn (marching and concert). They also tried to get me to learn the oboe and basson, but they gave me a head ach. Plying double reed instruments is like blowing through a straw.
 
#33
Started out 40 years ago on keyboards, classically trained pianist. In school, I started in band in 7th grade, brass section. Trumpet mainly, though I did pull stints on tuba, baritone, flugelhorn, and trombone. Somewhere in there I also got stuck in the woodwind section, playing alto sax, and clarinet. Played tri-toms in the marching band when the other tri-tom player got in a car wreck and was out for a month. So I've played almost everything at one point or another. I fark around on guitar, mainly for my own amusement. In my very first working band, which was also my first band, I played keys- Rhodes 73, which we built a strap contraption for, so I'm the only person to my knowledge that has strapped on a Rhodes! :eek: Clavinet and Juno 6, then later upgraded to a Juno 60, and a Korg Poly 800 (badass flute sound for our two Jethro Tull tunes). Heard Level 42 while I was in that band and it immediately and irrevocably shattered my mind, so I switched to bass, 9 months later was a gigging bassist and have never looked back.

As far as the multi-tasking thing goes, I do sometimes play keys and bass simultaneously, usually on "Black Magic Woman" or other Santana tunes, since I am so familiar with both parts. Left hand on the bass, right hand on the keys, plus backing vocals at the same time. Gets pretty busy in my cranium! ;)
 
#34
I love playing bass in a band, but I also play solo acoustic guitar gigs. Lot's of fingerstyle with odd-ball tunings. I never play electric guitar, however. Whenever I play a lead it sounds like surf music, so why bother? But bass on the other hand, a whole different story....:bassist:
 

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