Bass Player -VS- Bassist

[frosty]

Well put Ben. I think that sums it up nicely. It's a
state of mind. Too many guitarists think of it as
wallpaper or something. Those in the know under-
stand that any band is only as good as its rhythm section.

 

[Matthew Bryson]

...and when your really good, they call you Cracker Jack...

for the love of god people, Richard Lindsey is the only one so far to post to this thread and make sense.

 

[Benjamin Strange]

If we're going to banter on semantics, then I have a motion to put forward:

Base, not Bass.

Base = foundation
Bass = fish

I see myself as a base player, others see me as a musician with base tendencies.

 

[sobie18]

I hate bands that swap out instruments every other song. Pick a damn weapon and use it! Peace.

 

[Atshen]

To me, "bassist" and "bass player" are the same. But let's assume a bass player is someone who usually plays another instrument. Some people are great multi-instrumentalists (ever heard Adrian Belew's solo work?), while some people would be better sit down and listen and not play. I mean, bass itself is no music, it's an ingredient of that (sometimes) tasteful recipe that is music. A great guitar player, drummer, keyboardist or whatever-ist should be able to appreciate a good bassline, and in the case of a composer, even suggest a basic idea for the bassist. About that recipe analogy, let's consider the bass is the tomato juice in the spaghetti sauce: Put too much or not enough of it and see what happens... By the way, I love playing bass, I love the sound of this instrument over any other, but again, there are other important ingredients to the recipe...

 

[eVersi0n]

Yeah, I think that a Bass Player is someone who plays bass more as a side inturment, not a main insturmen. A Bassist would be someone who plays bass as there main insturment. I was a guitarist, but now that I never really play it anymore I'd call myself a Bassist.

 

[cjazz50]

To me, a guitar player who toys around with a bass is not even a bass player. To me, "bass player" and "bassist" both imply that the person is serious about bass. I tend to use "bass player" in every situation except when talking about a classical double bassist. I would probably never call an orchestral bassist a "bass player."