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Do You consider yourself a natural born bassist?

#21
unclekebm said:
i think i'm a natural born drummer/percussionist, everytime i play drums in a band i'm crazy happy, i'm always beatboxing and when i write...it's drums & beats first...
i play bass for a living and i do think it's important for bass players to play drums and drummers to play bass, it creates a deep understanding of the rhythm sections role...:)
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A+. i too am a bassist/drummer and feel the HUGE importance for a bass player to also have an undersanding of precussion, and vise versa.
 
#22
Even though my family was musical, I don't think I'm a natural born bassist. I played French Horn in grade school, and soon learned that I could play from memory better than reading charts, but that was about it. When I started playing bass, it was a real challenge. It was one of the first things in my life that I didn't get right away. It took me a long time to feel comfortable with it, and I'm still learning.
 
#23
I was a basketball and sports kind of guy. From that I developed rhythm fairly easy. I used to love sports and dancing. I started out as a guitarist in college, but I always wanted to play drums since a young age. I finally taught myself to play drums, but that was work.

My bass player about 6 years ago decided to have a family, so I became the step in. I could play bass but never knew much of the "role" of a bass player. It has only been in the past years where I Truly loved being a bass player. You get the sense of foundation with the drums in the funkrocksoulroll we play. I actually enjoy it more than guitar. I just finished up my 3rd gig as a drummer this past year and I have a loooooooong way to go.

So I have some sort of a rhythmic gift, but I still had to work several hours to become decent: But it never seemed like work! :bassist:
 
#26
I do not have any natural born musical talents. But I was born with a love for music. I've been into music all my life and joined the school band as soon as I could when I was in fifth grade. I've been playing ever since... but I've never found that I was naturally gifted to play any of the instruments that I've learned.

My wife is the opposite. She's got an amazing voice and ear... but is scared to death of performing music in front of people. Maybe our kids will luck out and get her gifts and my drive.
 
#28
unclekebm said:
i think i'm a natural born drummer/percussionist, everytime i play drums in a band i'm crazy happy, i'm always beatboxing and when i write...it's drums & beats first...
i play bass for a living and i do think it's important for bass players to play drums and drummers to play bass, it creates a deep understanding of the rhythm sections role...:)
Click to expand...

I've played w/ some bad drummers that don't know what to play and when to play it. I have a good understanding of what a drummer's role is, and I've been able to tell them what to do. At first, they get defensive. But, when the other musicians back me up...they can't argue. So, even though I've not tried to learn to play drums, (bass is me 100%), I think I could if I applied myself.
 
#32
Yeah... Everything I can do I just kind of picked up from looking at the neck and understanding what sounds good and what doesn't.


now when It comes to the idea of why it sounds good/the way it does (theory) not so much.

I was pretty much a natural born DB player, not to brag, but I ouplayed a high school senior chamber orchestra bassist in 7th grade. The instrument is so unruly and cumbersome though that I just dropped it and a couple years later picked up the BG
 
#34
Well, it is a plilosophical question... I consider myself not as a natural born bassist, but as a natural born musician. There is a difference, right? I think that any musical instrument is but a representation of your inner self. If you are not a musician inside, it doesn't matter what instrument you play. You can play very well technically, but you will be just a layman, not a Master and Creator.
 
#37
Absolutely. At the typical age when it seems that all my friends (and boys in general, which I'm glad to see has changed a great deal :) ) were asking for guitars and wanting to be Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, or Robert Smith (this was pre-"Nirvana", you know...) all I wanted was a bass. I took an ad from the local paper advertising a starter pack of P-bass copy, 10-watt Peavey starter amp and accessories, photocopied it, and started to hide it all over the house for my parents to find... on their pillows, on the coffee pot, on the steering wheel of their cars. :smug: I was always drawn to the low-end of songs, as long as I can remember as well as my parents can as well.

Of course there comes a certainly point where, especially if you're gigging and/or recording in a band that you transition from "being a bassist" to "being a musician whose primary instrument is bass", especially if you can play a bit of an alternate instrument...in my case, a touch of guitar and vocals. I've used both terms at different times but I always seem to want "bass" in any description of "what I do". I've picked up a guitar now and then for writing purposes, and set behind the drums for the same reason, but I'm first and foremost a bassist. I've now spent well over half my life playing this instrument and in so many ways it's defined me both consciously as well as subconsciously.

It certainly worked, and I wouldn't even want to think about the percentage of compared to the amount of friends that continued to play guitar as I've been playing quite literally almost everyday since Xmas 1989, minus a few months off after my original band had broken up after 3 years of daily typical "attempt to get signed" practicing, gigging, and recording, and frankly I needed the time away from the bass... I doubt I'd still be playing *now* if I hadn't taken the break then. People need to realize it's okay to step away from the instrument now and them.
 
#40
Suprise Panda! said:
?
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Strangely, yes, even though I didn't start playing bass until I was 16, and didn't consider it my primary instrument until I was about 21. Before playing bass, I played piano (started at age 3), violin (9), clarinet (10), saxophone (11), classical guitar (12), and electric guitar (13). I also own a drum set, which I bought last year, although I wouldn't say I'm up to speed on it yet. I taught guitar part-time from home from age 15-18 and full-time/professionally for a year at a music store from 18-19, even going so far as to do a summer program for jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music. I took up the bass after responding to an advert for a band that needed a bassist (I already owned a mid-level bass & bass amp, in addition to my other gear) when I was 20 and made "the switch" officially when I was about 21. Although, I could see it coming... As far as electric guitar, I started off playing classically-influenced heavy rock, then shifted more-and-more toward blues after seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan on a re-run of Saturday Night Live when I was 15. I started using heavier and heavier strings and doing more & more walking bass-type lines in my playing... At one point, I was stringing up with 14-58 gauge strings on my Strat (tuned E-E). It seemed like the next logical step to switch to bass, and I never looked back. I still think of each instrument as just another color on the musical palette, but bass is definitely where my heart is....

Observe:

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:bassist:
 

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