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Does being a bassist suck
- Thread starter DaDrew2112
- Start date
Relax.
It's called critical listening. As a musician, you should be able to isolate an instrument in our head as you listen to music. You haven't been robbed of anything. Just go back and listen to the songs again and broaden your attention to hear the entire production.
You should be able to use rotating attention enough to be able to rotate your attention back out to the full production.
Honestly, I can't believe you've been practicing critical listening and you're PO'd about it. Do you have any idea how many people out there CAN'T do that...and; therefore, SUCK at trying to play an instrument. Without rotating attention, you'll never lock in with a drummer or be able to find the right chord in a song.
Critical listening is a strength; not something to be disappointed about.
Does being a bass player suck? NO...but not being able to use critical listening and rotating attention does.
+1. This guy has the right idea.
You should be happy man. Critical listening is one of the most important things a musician can do, and is a pretty big milestone.
I wish half the people I play with listened critically to anything.
Good to know then guys. It's just I've been delving into songwriting and i can structure songs great, but coming up with melodies and lyrics are infinitely harder for me to do. I figure it's because i'm less exposed to those parts of music. I agree though that it can be a good thing. i remember before i started playing bass, i couldn't even hear it. (songs like "communication breakdown" didn't sound like it had a bass in it to me) that was when i was young though too so i suppose that's a factor. thanks for all the input so far guys!
Yes it is. Musicians listen to music differently - more analytically - than do non-musicians. There was a study result published in Scientific American years ago that showed that brain activity of musicians listening to music was generally in a different region than that of non-musicians, and it is the region normally associated with computation and reason. We can't help it, it comes with the territory.
Another point made in either that article or another at about the same time was that of what makes music sound "good" to the listener. The conclusion was that it came down to a fine balance between the expected and the unexpected. I found that to be particularly astute, especially when combined with the first point.
Speaking of drums, if you think the "bassist dissection" is bad, then try being a drummer. Once I started seriously learning the instrument and transcribing drum tracks, I couldn't listen to a song without try to pick apart the complicated beats.
Being a bassist certainly does not suck. If all you are listing to is the part you should be playing may mean you may be a little self centered. You have to hear it all. That's part of playing well and knowing your cues. also if you think a bass guitar has no melody then you are going about it with the wrong attitude. It is what you make of it. If you think it sucks to play a certain instrument due to limiting factors, maybe that instrument is not for you. Keep searching.
The original question is silly, IMO. If you think it sucks to be the bass player, play something else. Or don't play. There is no try. ;^)
bass rocks!! I can switch it off and just listen as well, but a new song will draw my focus to bass. lots of fun with a big cab making the stage rattle though.
It's your choice how you want to approach and listen to music.
What is anyone else to say about it?
Aaron Copland once wrote a book about how to listen to music: What to listen for in music - Aaron Copland, Alan Rich, William Schuman - Google Books
His point of reference was mainly classical music, of course, and some jazz. But there is at least one entire chapter in the book about listening to music in a way that you cna specifically isolate the voices (instruments) in a piece of music. Those of us who grew up listening to prog rock probably did this without thinking about it.
You play a song like Rush's Xanadu or Freewill over and over again (because you're a fan, of course), and first you notice the guitar, because it's loud and up front, along with the singing. Then you start to realize that the drummer is awesome, what is that guy's name? (Looks at album cover) Still drawn to the song you realize that the bass is playing counterpoint to the guitar (although you've never heard that word becuase you're 13 years old) and is a huge part of the overall sound. Then you go back and listen to the song as a whole and just let the sound swim around inside your head.
Later you find yourself doing this with everything you listen to. Vivaldi, Bach, Metallica, Duke Ellington, Yes, John Coltrane, Weezer, Marilyn Manson, Micheal Jackson.
At some point you decide enough is enough. Just listening isn't good enough. So you buy a bass, and then you're heading down that road....to a thread on TalkBass wasting your time talking instead of practicing! Time to go now...
His point of reference was mainly classical music, of course, and some jazz. But there is at least one entire chapter in the book about listening to music in a way that you cna specifically isolate the voices (instruments) in a piece of music. Those of us who grew up listening to prog rock probably did this without thinking about it.
You play a song like Rush's Xanadu or Freewill over and over again (because you're a fan, of course), and first you notice the guitar, because it's loud and up front, along with the singing. Then you start to realize that the drummer is awesome, what is that guy's name? (Looks at album cover) Still drawn to the song you realize that the bass is playing counterpoint to the guitar (although you've never heard that word becuase you're 13 years old) and is a huge part of the overall sound. Then you go back and listen to the song as a whole and just let the sound swim around inside your head.
Later you find yourself doing this with everything you listen to. Vivaldi, Bach, Metallica, Duke Ellington, Yes, John Coltrane, Weezer, Marilyn Manson, Micheal Jackson.
At some point you decide enough is enough. Just listening isn't good enough. So you buy a bass, and then you're heading down that road....to a thread on TalkBass wasting your time talking instead of practicing! Time to go now...
For me it's other sounds, like the cowbell in don't fear the reaper.
Things that used to be meshed into the background I now can't block out, it just anoyys me and i stop listening to the song.
It actually sucks, cause their are songs I used to love I now can't stand listening to.
Things that used to be meshed into the background I now can't block out, it just anoyys me and i stop listening to the song.
It actually sucks, cause their are songs I used to love I now can't stand listening to.
Yeah, but tell me you don't laugh thinking about Christopher Walken every time you hear it! I bet the guys from Blue Oyster Cult must hate that skit.
I think TotallyFrozen has the point here. In fact, I believe it is a detriment to your playing if you cannot isolate the other instruments. One at a time, as you see fit.
I often play with an acoustic ensemble. One of the guitar players is horrible (there! I said it!); he plays out of key/tempo more than half the time, and when he gets lost he gets louder. This annoys the other guitar player to no end.'
Me? I just "pan" around the room, listening in to what each guy is laying down all the while having the rest of the band coming through. Except for the guitar-god. He gets muted!
And that is what you can do with your new-found power. It is AWESOME once you learn to control the mind-faders.
I often play with an acoustic ensemble. One of the guitar players is horrible (there! I said it!); he plays out of key/tempo more than half the time, and when he gets lost he gets louder. This annoys the other guitar player to no end.'
Me? I just "pan" around the room, listening in to what each guy is laying down all the while having the rest of the band coming through. Except for the guitar-god. He gets muted!
And that is what you can do with your new-found power. It is AWESOME once you learn to control the mind-faders.
Awhile ago I was wondering why I could hardly remember the lyrics to some of my favorite songs now compared to when I was a kid, where could usually recite the lyrics to most of the songs on the radio. I was really stumped for awhile and thought I was just going senile at an early age. Then a bit later I realized while listening to some Judas Priest, that I really wasn't listening to vocals anymore, and primarily tuned into what everything else was doing. I just remember basslines and guitar solos now.
The only part about being a bassist that sucks is having to glue together the different instruments and personalities in the band. The drummer moving the downbeat around, adding and subtracting them; the guitarists who plays chord changes either a beat behind or a beat forward but rarely on the correct beat; the percussionist who forces a tambourine anywhere he can't force his only other instrument: the congas. There's even the dyslexic guitarist who- for reasons unknown- sometimes just plays the chord structures backwards. Yes, as in: in reverse.
But once you club and bludgeon everyone into getting in line, it's pretty cool. I recommend playing bass with an iron fist.
But once you club and bludgeon everyone into getting in line, it's pretty cool. I recommend playing bass with an iron fist.
Actually I read somewhere that the guys from BOC said that they liked it a lot and appreciated the humor.
Learning the Bass has been one of the best decisions I have ever made, without doubt. I've expanded my horizons so much travelling and being in a band and I wouldn't choose any other instrument to do it with. Now being a rhythm guitar player, that sucks!
Lol, true that! As bassists, I think we get ample room to mix things up and have some fun with any given song. Rhythm guitars? Yeah, your pretty much the lead players b****.
And yeah, being a bassist rocks.
