Do you think your influences come through in your playing?

[Wasnex]

Definitely.

IMHO what most players do is regurgitate stuff they stole from someone else. At some level, perhaps you develop the ability to mash it all together and synthesize something a bit different.

When I was young, great bass players inspired me. You might say that I had the audacity to think I could do that some day. When I was in my early 40s, the military band I was in hired a young bass player who was approximately 19. I recognized that he was already a stronger player than I will ever be. I learned from him and was inspired to modify my plucking technique. But he was also part of the inspiration for me to cross over over to being a full-time audio tech.

 

[Mystic Michael]

Q. Do you think your influences come through in your playing?

A. Probably. But only in a very general, semi-subconscious way.

I'm fortunate that the earliest years of my formative period as a musician occurred during the early 60s to early 70s. My very first exposure to the bass guitar was from early Motown tunes - and the great James Jamerson - as my mother kept the stereo on all day long while she worked around the house (as I was too young to go to school yet).

It wasn't long before The Beatles came along - and that changed everything. I had already subconsciously internalized Jamerson...and could instinctively hear Jamerson's influence in Paul McCartney as well - though it would be years before I read an interview with McCartney in which he explicitly claimed Jamerson as an influence of his own.

By then, I was hooked on British rock - and the artistry of such legendary British stylists as John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, and of course the groundbreaking style of Chris Squire. To this day, I admire - and to a certain extent emulate - the compositional approach to the instrument (somewhat in the Baroque sub-genre), epitomized by Paul McCartney, and especially by Chris Squire.

Although my own style of playing is not similar to either one of them, I do strive to play "out of the box" - by taking creative risks whenever it has the potential to supercharge the music, and I strive to bring a certain degree of melodicism to my playing as well - in my own particular (and hopefully unique) style. Quite a British innovation, in my observation.

MM

 

[legalbass]

Geddy lee, I pluck hard through the strings and my triplets are spanky.

He's also the worst role model for learning bass proper because he doesn't really follow the drums and hold the line, he's all over the place, more like a "lead" role.

18 years later I'm so broken I struggle with normal rock songs because it's not ADD enough, I also can't slap.

I wouldn't worry about it; most rock bass is completely uninteresting musically.

 

[JohnnyPustular]

I grew up in Detroit in the 60s and 70s where James Jamerson was always on the radio. Learned to play bass from guys that learned to play bass from Jamerson's students. Found out many many years later on TalkBass that 'my' approach to bass playing was actually James's. Along the way, listened to Stanley Clarke, Paul Chambers, Reggie Workman, Phil Lynott, John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Alphonso Johnson, Jaco, Family Man Barrett & Robbie Shakespeare, Bruce Thomas, and on and on. They are all in there somewhere, apparently filtered through Jamerson's approach.

 

[Bass Motifs]

Q. Do you think your influences come through in your playing?

A. Probably. But only in a very general, semi-subconscious way.

I'm fortunate that the earliest years of my formative period as a musician occurred during the early 60s to early 70s. My very first exposure to the bass guitar was from early Motown tunes - and the great James Jamerson - as my mother kept the stereo on all day long while she worked around the house (as I was too young to go to school yet).

It wasn't long before The Beatles came along - and that changed everything. I had already subconsciously internalized Jamerson...and could instinctively hear Jamerson's influence in Paul McCartney as well - though it would be years before I read an interview with McCartney in which he explicitly claimed Jamerson as an influence of his own.

By then, I was hooked on British rock - and the artistry of such legendary British stylists as John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, and of course the groundbreaking style of Chris Squire. To this day, I admire - and to a certain extent emulate - the compositional approach to the instrument (somewhat in the Baroque sub-genre), epitomized by Paul McCartney, and especially by Chris Squire.

Although my own style of playing is not similar to either one of them, I do strive to play "out of the box" - by taking creative risks whenever it has the potential to supercharge the music, and I strive to bring a certain degree of melodicism to my playing as well - in my own particular (and hopefully unique) style. Quite a British innovation, in my observation.

MM

I like your baroque reference! I was attracted to Motown and Baroque music as a kid because of how the bass and harmony worked. Strong basslines driving the pulse and harmonic direction of the music.

 

[logdrum]

Hopefully in a sub or reading gig, you play what is expected of your by the composer or musical director. If you are covering something improvising or reimagining feel free to show what inside you which may at one point be shaped by your influenced but you should strive to be you

 

[Otisblove]

Nope.

 

[Mystic Michael]

I grew up in Detroit in the 60s and 70s where James Jamerson was always on the radio. Learned to play bass from guys that learned to play bass from Jamerson's students. Found out many many years later on TalkBass that 'my' approach to bass playing was actually James's. Along the way, listened to Stanley Clarke, Paul Chambers, Reggie Workman, Phil Lynott, John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Alphonso Johnson, Jaco, Family Man Barrett & Robbie Shakespeare, Bruce Thomas, and on and on. They are all in there somewhere, apparently filtered through Jamerson's approach.

I loved Bruce Thomas' work with Elvis Costello and The Attractions! IMO, he was by far the most innovative and interesting player in that band, and really propelled the music forward in a most fulfilling and satisfying way.

MM

 

[Timmah]

If your influences don't come through in your playing, are they really influences? Or just bass players you like?

 

[Mystic Michael]

I like your baroque reference! I was attracted to Motown and Baroque music as a kid because of how the bass and harmony worked. Strong basslines driving the pulse and harmonic direction of the music.

It's all about the counterpoint. For a good example, listen to the brief fugue section of the 18 minute, 44 second title track suite on Close To The Edge, that begins at about the 8:00 minute mark, crafted chiefly between Chris Squire and Rick Wakeman. Beautiful stuff!

You can hear another brief example of Baroque counterpoint beginning shortly after the 3:00 minute mark on the final track on the album, Siberian Khatru.

MM

 

[_Some Dude]

I don't really think about it, but I've had people tell me who my influences are when they listen to me play or material that I've wrote, and they've generally been correct.

That said, I played in a pop-punk band for a bit and whenever I had to write a part I'd think, "What would Fat Mike do", and it served me pretty good.

 

[KohanMike]

My influence was Denny Croy at McCabe's Guitar Shoppe, who taught me how to play bass after I played rhythm guitar for almost 50 years, then in mid 2013, tenor ukulele for a year, when the leader of the group I joined asked if someone would take up the bass. Bass uke has been my primary instrument since then, with tenor uke and some blues harmonica right behind.

 

[edwinhurwitz]

Yes.

 

[bass12]

I know what my influences are, for the most part (some might be subconsious) but I'm not sure how much of that influence would be audible to other people. I've had people tell me they can hear the influence of x player when x player wasn't a conscious influence at all.

 

[SteveCS]

Would you say your influences are audible in your music?

It is pretty much inevitable, in the same way as accents, dialects and inflection reveal elements, however subtle, of where we are from, where we have been and where we grew up.

 

[Jogobass]

yeah when I listen to my own basslines I find there's similarities to the people I listen to most. sometimes it's a bit of one, sometimes the other. and there's a layer of what I could call my own development. but that came from somewhere as well. I didn't invent radical new bass playing of sorts.

 

[Old Blastard]

yeah when I listen to my own basslines I find there's similarities to the people I listen to most. sometimes it's a bit of one, sometimes the other. and there's a layer of what I could call my own development. but that came from somewhere as well. I didn't invent radical new bass playing of sorts.

Agreed. As a kid, I listened to 60s Top 40 (family was BIG into music) and many of my favorite tunes in those days had Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, Larry Knetchel, Dunn, Jamerson -- the usual suspects -- on them. That seeped into my brain.

In the earlier days of the Internet, I chatted via email with some well known players -- I am not -- and took their advice on "swinging" and getting some old school classical music training on the instrument as well as ditching metronomes. Now I'm utilizing the transcript thread to learn others' bass lines.

I don't write out bass parts for the band I'm in, I make them up as we learn a song, add and subtract as we get ready to play it. I find all those conversations, studies and impact what comes out of my fingers.

That was a long-winded way to say "yes, they do."

Now I see my wife rolls her eyes when I talk about bass

 

[DirtDog]

I wouldn't call them influences If they didn't influence my playing.

I’m at that point.

For a long time, I considered JPJ, Jameson, Flea and Entwhistle my influences. I don’t/can’t really play or sound like them in most scenarios. I like to listen to them, yes, maybe have lifted a few licks and riffs from them but mostly does not come through my playing.

If I’m being honest, I’m more like Cliff Williams than anything else. And I’m OK with that!

 

[mambo4]

JPJ, Jamerson

Both major influences that I mercilessly steal ideas from all the time (within my skill level)
Also big Tony Levin and Sting fan, but not sure how much "influence" could be detected.

If i like a bass line, I learn it, I dissect the theory and harmony, find how it applies to new keys or changes, and add it to my palette, so influence is inevitable.

 

[Dincrest]

No, I always sound like myself, but hints of several performers can be found in my charismatic stage presence (along with my own mojo/stank/Dincrest-isms).

Reflecting back on this more...

When I think about the bassists I admire and all... it's not just those who inspire me to be a better player but to be a better person.

One of my biggest bass heroes is Alphonso Johnson. Alphonso Johnson not only inspired me to become a better bassist, but to become a better person. So while Alphonso Johnson cannot be heard in my playing, I strive to carry his attitude in my being.

I'll never be able to play like him, nor do I aspire to. Heck, he himself would probably encourage me to play like myself, build my own identiy. But I digress...

Here is my Alphonso Johnson story:
The music store I was taking lessons at back in 1994 was hosting a trade show one Saturday and Alphonso Johnson was there doing a clinic sponsored by Ampeg. My bass teacher introduced me to him and I was so nervous (because I was a 15 year old just starting out and this was a man who had played and toured with some true greats), but Alphonso was such a warm and welcoming person who seemed genuinely interested in the start of my bass journey. That he made a stupid kid like me feel like a valuable person to talk shop with inspired me that if I ever got any clout as a bassist, I would want to make others feel as welcome in my presence as he made me feel in his. Pay it forward, like.

And I still remember playing with this punk band from 2010- 2015 and having kids come up to me saying how they always wanted to learn guitar and start a band, but after seeing me they want to play bass. I would always try and channel my inner Alphonso Johnson and inspire them on their music journeys.

Other bassists like that, for me, include Victor Wooten and Ryan Martinie. Monster players with techniques I try to utilize in my own particular... idiom (to quote Monty Python). But more importantly, it's their attitudes, their humility, their positive outlooks on life that I strive to take with me.