Bassist marketability

[Jazzdogg]

If you're playing clubs, doing things with as few people as possible makes sense. In my world (church gigs), we have 6 to 9 vocalists across the front of the stage. Instrumentalists are in back. There's no need for a singing bassist in that environment - they just want the best bassist they can get, no vocal talent required.

Before I retired, there were a few occasions when I would have been more marketable if I'd been able to sing. Thankfully, no band Ieader ever failed to hire me because I didn't sing.

My Pop was a professional jazz double bassist who started gigging in '47. He was also a good singer, a choir director (how he met my mom), and competent piano player.
That said, I seldom saw him sing during a gig (except at church).

I've never considered myself capable of singing well, especially while playing.

If I could somehow offer advice to my adolescent self back in the sixties, it would be to learn to sing and play the piano, and to concentrate more on ear and interval training and harmony.

 

[dougjwray]

I think some genres just really undervalue the bass, otherwise this wouldn't even be a question.

Speaking of this, I've noticed that one of the challenges of singing lead on a handful of tunes at a gig is that the frontperson I've been supporting all night suddenly has to support ME attentively and flawlessly, and he or she often doesn't have that kind of focus, once out of the spotlight.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I'm a baritone, and "cutting through the mix" is a challenge in a rock band when you're not a tenor like Jack Bruce, McCartney, Sting...
I, myself, have sometimes had trouble hearing my voice as separate from my bass, sonically.

Oh my voice is not real pleasing to the ear when I get above middle C. Oh, o can hit the F# above middle C but I’m sure nobody wants hear it, or worse yet , paying money to hear it. LOL. Yeah, when that happens they just say thanks anyway, you just play bass.i guess I’ve been good enough at that to keep working.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

After decades of being a bit of a "jazz cat" guy, I confronted a major fear about 15 years ago and started on the long road to singing acceptably in front of people. Now that I'm doing it regularly -- background and lead vocals -- in duo and trio situations, I had this thought:
Why would any leader of a working (non-instrumental) band want a bassist who doesn't sing and can't solo even a little?
Maybe that's stating it too simplistically... but I think there's no doubt that being able to do those things *greatly* increases your marketability.

You could potentially take songs a band leader might sing. You are competition. Some people, and band leaders are common culprits- want the limelight, attention, the best songs, guiding the band, the focus of the band and all musicians onstage as well as the audience offstage, etc... for THEMSELVES.

People are incredibly SELFISH. Maybe your bandleader is one of those people. Maybe not.

 

[mambo4]

Singing will increase your marketability for sure.
but not as much as "I have a network of contacts with which I can book gigs"

 

[allanhearn]

I've lost a bunch of bass gigs because they we're looking for a high harmony vocalist that could play eighth notes.
I'm not blessed in the singing dept, They know what they want and i wasn't it.

 

[songwriter21]

After decades of being a bit of a "jazz cat" guy, I confronted a major fear about 15 years ago and started on the long road to singing acceptably in front of people. Now that I'm doing it regularly -- background and lead vocals -- in duo and trio situations, I had this thought:
Why would any leader of a working (non-instrumental) band want a bassist who doesn't sing and can't solo even a little?
Maybe that's stating it too simplistically... but I think there's no doubt that being able to do those things *greatly* increases your marketability.

I don't think the soloing aspect matters, honestly. If you play for the song, every song, and sing at least solid backing vox, you're more qualified than the rest.

 

[Dincrest]

Am I capable of singing in tune? Yes.
Can I sing while playing a simple bassline? Yes.
Is my singing voice something that people would want to listen to? No. I'm more of a public/motivational speaker than a singer. Different voice quality entirely.

I did some vocals in my old punk band (mostly call-and-response screams/shouts. Sometimes the frontman and I would each take a verse on a song) but bass was my primarily thing.

Jack-of-all-trades versatility is all well and good, but sometimes mastery of a particular craft is just as valuable. We need specialists as much as we need generalists.

 

[Wasnex]

Why would any leader of a working (non-instrumental) band want a bassist who doesn't sing and can't solo even a little?

Surely you can think of reasons.

Not every group aspires to your vision of greatness. IME there a lot of bass players that know lot's of songs, which is also very desirable.

I think there's no doubt that being able to do those things *greatly* increases your marketability.

Absolutely true IMHO. However you can't do and be everything for all people. Consider opportunity cost. For example knowing more songs means there is less time to prepare to sing and solo. Singing and soloing means there is less time to maintain a lot of songs. One group leader may prefer a bass player who sings and can solo. Another group leader may prefer a bass player who knows tones of songs.

 

[Wasnex]

I am a retired pro. I have a pretty limited vocal range and consider my voice too weak and unreliable for lead. I did however sing backgrounds for several songs.

I don't have the required memory aptitude to maintain thousands of songs. I did successfully maintain 6 or more hours worth of music. No problem memorizing and maintaining most pop music. I struggle to memorize jazz standards.

I consider myself successful and feel my strength was my versatility. I switched between bass guitar and upright. I played a wide range of styles to include pop, jazz, classical. The majority of my peers were expected to play jazz and classical. What I found: I was better at classical than most of the jazzers. I was also better at jazz than most of the classical players. The key to my success was finding a path where unique mix of talents was useful. There is no way I would have been as successful as a pure jazzer or pure classical player.

 

[Wasnex]

But bass solos ≠ marketable.

Depends on the type of work you are asked to do. Playing jazz trio requires bass to solo.

 

[Podgorny]

Depends on the type of work you are asked to do. Playing jazz trio requires bass to solo.

The marketability of jazz trios is up for debate.

 

[Wasnex]

The marketability of jazz trios is up for debate.

IME, it pays far better than the average bar gig...but that's not saying much .

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Well said, as a singing bassist I started getting a ton more gigs when I started singing. I mean, in my area, bassists AND male vocalists are hard to come by, so double whammy.

 

[Marc valero]

I started practicing my singing more about 4 years ago and now have a lot more songs in my repertoire and started a duo 3 years ago in which I sing lead on half the songs. Now at 70 I am rockin pretty good. Played a duo gig Wednesday and Friday subbed on bass Saturday and I had to turn down another band Saturday morning that wanted me to play Saturday night.
I think I am the only person in town who uses the old standard mic stand instead of the boom tripod thing.

 

[pepj]

I'm working at it as a 3rd part is useful.
I think I have a decent enough tone on the right song to sing lead but our 2 front line vox are very good indeed so I'll just continue to work up my parts but I'm a far better bass player that vox.
I'm chilled about it but if someone asks if I can sing a part, I just say I'll give it a go..

 

[pbassnut]

After decades of being a bit of a "jazz cat" guy, I confronted a major fear about 15 years ago and started on the long road to singing acceptably in front of people. Now that I'm doing it regularly -- background and lead vocals -- in duo and trio situations, I had this thought:
Why would any leader of a working (non-instrumental) band want a bassist who doesn't sing and can't solo even a little?
Maybe that's stating it too simplistically... but I think there's no doubt that being able to do those things *greatly* increases your marketability.

You're correct that being able to sing backup and/or lead vocals is going to give you a leg up in the getting work as a bassist competition. I can't sing at all and that has limited my potential work possibilities as a bassist over the years. However, I've got a good 5000 gigs under my belt dating back to 1973 so my lack of singing ability hasn't been any kind of show stopper situation for me. I try to bring professionalism, reliability, playing in the pocket, preparedness, and being a "good hang" to my game and it has enabled me to do better than I've had any right to expect over the years.

 

[StyleOverShow]

two things strike me:

-Singing is a good thing. If you do it regularly your pitch, tone and range improve. It’s like a muscle thing. At minimum you should sing bass lines when learning new riffs, it really helps me.

-Singing adds value, like working air conditioning in a used car. I’ve always offered to sing usually the high parts as I developed a clear falsetto voice over the decades. The majority of my career has been in RnB/Funk where such voicing is common.

 

[dougjwray]

Surely you can think of reasons.

Not every group aspires to your vision of greatness. IME there a lot of bass players that know lot's of songs, which is also very desirable.



Absolutely true IMHO. However you can't do and be everything for all people. Consider opportunity cost. For example knowing more songs means there is less time to prepare to sing and solo. Singing and soloing means there is less time to maintain a lot of songs. One group leader may prefer a bass player who sings and can solo. Another group leader may prefer a bass player who knows tones of songs.

Good point about the context. Noel Redding famously got his spot in the Jimi Hendrix Experience because Jimi liked his hairstyle.

 

[dtripoli]

I've never sang lead or backup vocals in a band, although I have been asked to NOT sing, pleeze....then why did you put a mic in front of me?
I've gigged in bands pretty much continuously for over 40 yrs, despite not being able to chew gum(play bass) and walk(sing) at the same time.