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Easiest Genre For A Bass Player

B

bass_snake

Inactive
Aug 13, 2008
1,594
3
46
Stouffville, Ontario
#1
What up!

I' ve been checking out Kijiji and Craigslist classifieds lately trying to find a band I can join.

I' ve only been in a band once as a bass player. The group didn' t stay together long. We played few covers of Rage Against The Machine and Black Sabbath back in high school.

Anyway, I' m wondering. Which genre of music is easiest/ simplest to play. I was thinking metal, country/ bluegrass.

What do you guys think?

thanks,

Fred
 
#3
This is SUCH a subjective and relative question.

I think most genres... well ALL really, can be easy or hard bassed on how you play and what you are comfortable with.

I usually stick to heavier ends of the spectrum where having good rythm and right hand speed is key. When crazy prog friends of mine try to play some of my songs they just can't because they're not use to the speed i suppose. Likewise, my fretting hand isn't as dexterous as theirs and i fumble around just as much trying to play their songs.



I know most people will say punk here... but i would contest that...


Why would you want to play something easy anyways? Even in punk bands i try to add in little fills here and there to challange myself. Without challange your skills just stagnate...
 
#10
Punk is no easier than any other genres, but it may help you grow.

The thing is always to play the genre you like and to challenge yourself every single day.

You can start by playing the root and 5th in pretty much any rock genre, just ask the guitarist for the root notes, and just tag along, then slowly add fills.
 
#15
Also... gonna go on a wee rant here for a sec:

In regards and defence to punk rock and ethically punk bands: There is a WHOLE lot more to playing this style of music than just the physical playing of it. I was a concert cellist, clarinetist and oboeist in highschool. In classical music i was taught to read the notes and play them verbatum. All i had to do was practice my little part and pay attention to the conductor and all was well. Technically, the music was fairly difficult sure... but i didn't think it was "hard" because of the lack of thought involved in playing.

All this changed when i started going to punk shows. Living in DC in the late 90s was an amazing experience, as the punk scene was one of the best history has had to offer so far. I remember seeing a show in a dirty basement with the bands Pg.99 and Jerome's Dream played. My musical world was changed from that point onward. Sure, the music they were playing wasn't technically difficult... but the PASSION they exuded was something i had never EVER seen before. Shoot, i had never even been AWARE of it before. I still remember getting my first bass on my 15th birth day and trying to play along to all the hardcore punk records i started collecting and being so incredibly dumbfounded as to why i didn't sound like they did. I could play what they played fine... but i didn't have the passion. It wasn't untill i started playing in a real all original band where my heart and soul were able to flourish that i began to truly know what dwelled in the heart of punk rock music.

Nowdays i trully am aware of this other factor in music. I see it in my friends, in bands i see live, and on the internet. Shoot, i'm pretty sure i can even tell if someone is feeling the music they're playing from just a recording. It really does make all the difference. Unlike skill though it can't be learned. Because of that i get so irritated when people pass of punk music as "simplistic". There is so much more to punk and music in general that goes far beyond any skill or technique set that one can learn.


I guess that concluded my rant...

take it as you will i guess. I apolagize for sidetracking things :hmm:
 
#16
bass_snake said:
...I' m wondering. Which genre of music is easiest/simplest to play. I was thinking metal, country/bluegrass....
Click to expand...


That genre which you learn best is easiest. Practice, listening, and serious study will be required, classical, jazz, rock, country, rap, blues--sorry, but the demands of music are unchanging and unforgiving. You can be good or suck. It is up to you to do the work.

Most importantly, go after what you love, and REALLY go after it.
 

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