this is not supposed to turn into a bassist with hurt feelings thread, matt. i actually have received quite a few compliments since my band started doing shows, and i basically just play, hardly sing. it really is sweet though when these guys sing, while playing good basslines, it blows me away! i assume another cool thing is that it means the guitarist won't get all the glory! oops does that sound self pitying???? lol sry matt
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Bassists who Sing
- Thread starter stevethemallrat
- Start date
Me and my (also bassist/singer) friend were talking about this yesterday... in our joint opinion, it allows you to get new, different vocal melodies because you don't think of it as following the guitar, you think of it as matching your bass, and your basslines have their own certain melodic/singing quality in them that fits in with where your brain is going singing.
A fitting interpretation of many things involved in the life of the bassist frontman and the satisfaction when it all pays off:
One thing that I've noticed with a lot of bands that have a bassist fronting them is that on the recordings the bass is always prominent in the mix! I certainly can appreciate that!
I've never been a great guitar player, but I find it's easier to play guitar while singing than it is to bass and sing. Maybe that's just me, though?
-Alex
-Alex
One thing that I've noticed with a lot of bands that have a bassist fronting them is that on the recordings the bass is always prominent in the mix! I certainly can appreciate that!
Not all the time, take Slayer for example. Bassist singer, but the bass is far from "prominent". Granted many are, but not always. I find that the prominance of the bass is dependant on the quality of the bassline/bassist, not his role in the band.
it probably depends on the style of music as to how hi the bass is. its not always best to have blaring bass, often less noticable and in the background can be good too...its all about the overall sound...remember! sometimes it kinda bugs me though that i can hear that the bassist is laying some really sweet lines but u really really have to listen for them.
I think that watching the bassist/frontman multi-task like that, and pull everything off is really impressive and cool...
Watch Geddy Lee on any Rush DVD, especially songs like Xanadu or Driven, where he sings, plays a semi-complex bassline AND plays those Taurus pedals all at the same time, it's freakin' mind blowing!
Watch Geddy Lee on any Rush DVD, especially songs like Xanadu or Driven, where he sings, plays a semi-complex bassline AND plays those Taurus pedals all at the same time, it's freakin' mind blowing!
I wish I could just sit back in the background and play.I've been the frontman in every band I've been in since 1964 and it would be so cool to just blend into the background and jam.I sing lead on 40 of our songs most of the time I don't even hear a lot of what I'm playing because I'm into remembering the words and singing the right parts at the right times.Our last gig a couple of weeks ago our drummer said I was really gettin' butt on bass tonight. I wish I would have heard it.
that's interesting man. good point. i do know from the little that i've tried to sing and play is that i can't really do either well at the same time. singing lead, would def be top of ur concentration i think. it takes a special talent to be a good frontman..let alone playing bass to boot. thats awesome that u can be so good without even really thinking about it...least ur drummer is hearing it!!
- Feb 27, 2005
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- 125
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- Full disclosure, I'm a certified Fender technician working in a music store that carries Fender, Yamaha, and Ibanez products among others.
The best part of being a bass-playing frontman is the ability to stop the rest of the band from telling bad bass player jokes between tunes. Well, that and more bass in the mix.
perhaps u'd have a unique musical style...having the bassist in charge of things, especially if he's the songwriter.
Is Araya really the frontman though? When I think of Slayer, I think "Kerry King"
which bassists do you think have the best vocals or backing vocals? I nominate eddie jackson from queensryche (listen to jet city woman) and michael anthony from van halen
