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Are you really happy being "The Bass Player"

#42
I love playing guitar. I practice on an acoustic guitar far more often than I practice on bass, and there is almost nothing more fun for me than rocking out on electric guitar.

However, if I'm in a band with a bass guitar in it, I've got to be the one playing it. I'm just too picky about what the bassline is doing. On guitar, I'm pretty easy going. If I just had a guy playing straight chords the whole time, I'd be fine, but the bass line has got to be doing something I approve of. So for me it's pretty much a matter of my own sanity that I end up playing bass in projects.
 
#46
I really LOVE just being the bass player. We had a break in jazz band rehearsal tonight and I was acually thinking about this same topic. I was just sitting and playing the bassline from "One Drop" by Bob Marley and groovin by myself and just thought of how I love to just play a simple groove and support a soloist. The word groove is just something I love to hear and love everything about it. Nothing better than locking up with a drummer and groovin while a soloist is burnin'.
 
#47
I started playing guitar at 15 and I'm now 35 so that's 20 years of experience on the little strings. I also played piano at the age of 3 so I was a natural when it came to music. As I grew older I got bored of just playing scales and chords. I wanted to drive the music.

Our church needed a bass player and since I was the low man on the totem pole on the worship team I reluctantly agreed to being a bassist. I'm glad I did. I finally found a spot in the band to where I can drive the music and not just accompany it. Now I can control dynamics and play against melodies. I love the bass and I'm proud to be a bassist!
 
#48
Bass is far and away the best chair in the house!!

Orig wanted to play drums, but orchestra teach said she didn't need any more Ringos.
So I took up DB in grade school and BG in jr hi, dropping DB = big mistake!!

There really is no other inst I would rather have as a main
 
#49
bwsailer79 said:
I love being "the bass player". I often joke around about it and introduce myself to people in the other bands as "just the bass player". I don't play to get attention (I'm actually very shy). And I love playing bass... so it's nice.
Click to expand...

Nicely said. :) I enjoy being largely unnoticed.

I tinker around on other instruments, but I started on bass and it's the only instrument I'll ever gig. The low notes move me.
 
#50
When I was a young kid, I asked an adult I respected (can't remember who it was) whether taking up the bass would be a good idea. His response (and this is very close to a direct quote:)

"Great idea. A good bass player will always have work, because everything sounds better with a good bass. And the world is full of guitarists and bad bass players."

His words have been true. And I like being "the bass player."
 
#51
I was born a Bassplayer and will die a Bassplayer, never tought of anything else, when you are there sitting then you look at your basses and amp, then you standup, "Click" the amp is on so the tubes get warm, grab the bass, put the strap around me, then there it is a nice cup of coffee, take a sip of it, then i reach into my pocket, take out my smokes, light it up, then "Click" the amp is now officialy on, then you touch one string lightly, you hear the percusive sound it makes, then "TUUMMMMPPP" nice smooth bass sound, all of a sudden your grooveness takes you over and you just start jamming out, some with just the tap of their foot, some with drum machines and also the other times with your band, "THE BASS!!" its that beautifull sound that makes your body tingle of joy :hyper:..
Count me in Love Bass, Love the community because we dont have to be crazy to standout, we are the ones on the stage that people just look at and people just wonder and compare "The guitarist is working hard to get noticed! yet the bassist is just there grooving out yet i still notice his slick moves"
You ask me, we are more musicians than guitarists in a band because we worry less about standing out and more about the love of the bass, yet we still standout but we dont work so hard to stand out...

That is my .02 cents.....
 
#53
I started off on trumpet, moved to trombone and euphonium in HS, didn't stop til I hit Tuba... studied it in College, gigged, etc. Been all about the low instruments ever since... Bass clarinets, tubas, alphorns. Started playing bass a year ana half ago when my jazz band did not have a bass player. Found my home (though I did a tuba gig last night... still gotta love the Tuba). Once in a while I have dreams of ripping out a big guitar solo, but bass is where it is at... Got my first bass gig (aside from Sunday mornings at church) this weekend...
 
#55
I started out as a guitar player, even going so far as to take some classes at Berklee, and teach for several years out of my house, and at a local music store.

I took up bass when my dad's church needed a bassist for their youth group. I got a *fantastic* deal on a used Fender American Standard Jazz V, but continued to teach guitar and play with my (secular) band for several years after that.

I was really into blues at that point, and was using heavier & heavier strings on my guitars, trying to get a fatter sound, and I started learning walking lines as part of my style.

When that band had run its course, our bassist decided to sell one of his basses, a Spector NS-5. He didn't want to mess with eBay, so he sold it to me for a similarly unbelievable price. At this point, I had been playing bass informally for 4 years, and since I was looking for a new one to join, and posted an ad saying, "Guitarist/bassist looking for work." The band I liked best needed a bassist, so I joined.

It was a pretty easy transition from 13-58 gauge guitar strings, playing walking lines, to bass. It wasn't really a surprise for me to switch to bass - it just feels more like home to me. I'm frankly surprised that it took me this long to make the switch.

Now I have a bass clef tattoo on my wrist:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

What more proof do you need? :smug:
 
#56
I am a guitar player that was coaxed into playing bass. I have been playing bass for so long now I don't know if I can go back. My bass skills have finally caught up with my guitar skills, but I am still a guitar player first, even though I may never do it in front of people. My heroes are all guitar players not bass players. Hendrix, Santana, SRV, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Zappa, Buddy Guy, Robin Trower, ect.
 
#58
Honestly, at times, no, I don't like being just a bass player. 20 years ago, I played in cover bands playing classic rock and hair metal stuff. Playing that type of music is really focused on the guitarists, so at times I didn't like the attention they'd get, even though a lot of those guys weren't all that good. I mean, how many basslines are integral to an AC/DC song?:) Sure I could play other music, but I think deep down I like the rock star stuff :smug: so it's kind of my own fault.

But, I kind of carved out my niche by doing other things: really working with the sound and the performance of the band. Making sure the stage show worked, making sure the songs were tight and the setlist worked.

And, I choose my moments: I'd sing a few songs, I'd insist on songs that had cool bass moments - take "Sweet Child O mine". People really think that bass part at the beginning is cool;)

And in the end, I'd just not try to let it bother me. A hot fan shakin her boobies made me forget about all that stuff :D
 

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