Punk is the easiest by far. Blues and country can be easy if you choose to play that way, but it gets pretty boring for the listener if you play SUPER simple.
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Easiest Genre For A Bass Player
- Thread starter bass_snake
- Start date
^ This is GOLDEN advice...if i were you i would take it, in fact this is a thread killer
It seems as though the seat of this argument lies in the working definition of "easy"
Taking blues as an example, although the general outline, at first glance is simple, to do it well one must be able to "sing" with their soul through their fingers and tool (inst). In this instance the technical side may appear easy while the "feel" becomes the challenge.
Using another example, let us say, Teen Town, here one finds challenging lines to learn i.e. fast, tight, rhythmically difficult. However, once again, the "feel" element becomes the deciding factor in whether or not it comes of as sterile (as if one were reading the part) or really well performed. To hear Jaco play this piece with his soul, is far different than hearing anyone else I've ever hear attempt it. His (Jaco) feel made a fast challenging line flow and sing.
This all said, it seems that playing with "feel" or "soul" always becomes the key marker of someone performing great as opposed to someone who can play the right notes... It is also this element that appears the most difficult to teach and relay to others...
Taking blues as an example, although the general outline, at first glance is simple, to do it well one must be able to "sing" with their soul through their fingers and tool (inst). In this instance the technical side may appear easy while the "feel" becomes the challenge.
Using another example, let us say, Teen Town, here one finds challenging lines to learn i.e. fast, tight, rhythmically difficult. However, once again, the "feel" element becomes the deciding factor in whether or not it comes of as sterile (as if one were reading the part) or really well performed. To hear Jaco play this piece with his soul, is far different than hearing anyone else I've ever hear attempt it. His (Jaco) feel made a fast challenging line flow and sing.
This all said, it seems that playing with "feel" or "soul" always becomes the key marker of someone performing great as opposed to someone who can play the right notes... It is also this element that appears the most difficult to teach and relay to others...
Blues... but not "good" blues. A good blues bassist is a good player - but easy blues jamming is a good place to start as a bassist.
After that, simple old rock & roll is a good place to learn. Learn you a bunch of Rolling Stones tunes and you'll be good to go.
After that, simple old rock & roll is a good place to learn. Learn you a bunch of Rolling Stones tunes and you'll be good to go.
I have heard this comment many times about blues music and it doesn't make to much sense to me. All music has a certain feel to it, blues has it's own feel of course but it is not different simply because it has a feel. All music has it's own feel to it.
Bassmickeyd, taking cheap shots at you while simultaneously not contributing to the thread
So I'm a youngin with less ability than you....thanks bro.
Big Harry said what I was getting at with my one word post.
I don't know if any of those quoted comments were directed at you Beardo so much as all the posters suggesting blues is "easy"
Of course all music is about feel. It's just if you don't understand that feel you won't fully be able to play it well. And, feel is definitely what comes with MUCH playing and, hence, usually with age.
Of course all music is about feel. It's just if you don't understand that feel you won't fully be able to play it well. And, feel is definitely what comes with MUCH playing and, hence, usually with age.
Fall Out Boy or KoRn.
Either dont play at all, or just detune so low your strings make a clack. There you go, two bands covered already.
Either dont play at all, or just detune so low your strings make a clack. There you go, two bands covered already.
This is the stuff right here. It's just goofy to go after a genre because a few people think it's easier to play.
I have heard some pretty awful blues attempts, but it is still a relatively simple genre for bass.
Well this what I'm taking about ...
... It's NOT about a P bass with flatwounds anymore, it's way past 1959 in state of the art BLUES
Geezer Butler plays metal. He also wrote some of the most amazing bass lines I've ever heard. Learning to play some of his stuff made me a better player myself. How easy metal is to play totally depends on the player.
Some would say punk rock is an easy genre to play. But then you get guys like Matt Freeman in it.
I think with most genres it really depends on how inventive the player is. Even with bluegrass/country.
I'm going to defend my blues answer in the spirit of the OP's question.
As I understand it.
He was basically asking what would be an easy genre of music to learn fast and get going with and gig with sooner rather than later.
This is the spirit in which I gave my blues answer. If you need to learn a genre from the start and need it to be simple to start with so you can "hit the ground running" Blues IMO is about the best.
You can pretty much practice it for a few weeks and be able to gig immediately and "fake it". And it will work. Many other genres would take a lot more song to song learning to have a full set this fast. Blues you can learn the 12 bar and ask for the key and follow the drummer and your sort of gigable. All be it badly. But then weren't we all horrible when we first started gigging?
I didn't intend my "blues" answer to mean that all "blues is easy" or that its at its zenith any less complicated than any other genre.
It is however in the spirit of the OP's question just about the fastest "cold then to the stage" genre there is. The 12 bar simply takes the guesswork out of what root note to play next and lets you concentrate on learning all the other aspects of playing with a band in a gig situation more comfortably.
This also gives you a very solid starting point to then break out of the root and learn chord theory and start playing more interesting lines but still have the foundation of where to fall back if the line you improved went wrong. It doesn't matter how bad you screwed up even with a couple weeks of blues gig experience your going to know how to land back on the root.
Not to mention playing just roots and faking a blues line a couple hours a night a couple gigs a week will rapidly bore the piss out of you and make you want to learn more.
All the off topic about feel of blues. Playing blues, saturating yourself in the flow of the timing is the best way to learn the feel. I wasn't offering the guy a be all end of of how to play blues but simply a starting point that met his needs of his OP and gave him a good foundation for moving upward and onward with it from there.
-Rav
As I understand it.
He was basically asking what would be an easy genre of music to learn fast and get going with and gig with sooner rather than later.
This is the spirit in which I gave my blues answer. If you need to learn a genre from the start and need it to be simple to start with so you can "hit the ground running" Blues IMO is about the best.
You can pretty much practice it for a few weeks and be able to gig immediately and "fake it". And it will work. Many other genres would take a lot more song to song learning to have a full set this fast. Blues you can learn the 12 bar and ask for the key and follow the drummer and your sort of gigable. All be it badly. But then weren't we all horrible when we first started gigging?
I didn't intend my "blues" answer to mean that all "blues is easy" or that its at its zenith any less complicated than any other genre.
It is however in the spirit of the OP's question just about the fastest "cold then to the stage" genre there is. The 12 bar simply takes the guesswork out of what root note to play next and lets you concentrate on learning all the other aspects of playing with a band in a gig situation more comfortably.
This also gives you a very solid starting point to then break out of the root and learn chord theory and start playing more interesting lines but still have the foundation of where to fall back if the line you improved went wrong. It doesn't matter how bad you screwed up even with a couple weeks of blues gig experience your going to know how to land back on the root.
Not to mention playing just roots and faking a blues line a couple hours a night a couple gigs a week will rapidly bore the piss out of you and make you want to learn more.
All the off topic about feel of blues. Playing blues, saturating yourself in the flow of the timing is the best way to learn the feel. I wasn't offering the guy a be all end of of how to play blues but simply a starting point that met his needs of his OP and gave him a good foundation for moving upward and onward with it from there.
-Rav
I have heard this comment many times about blues music and it doesn't make to much sense to me. All music has a certain feel to it, blues has it's own feel of course but it is not different simply because it has a feel. All music has it's own feel to it.
Bassmickeyd, taking cheap shots at you while simultaneously not contributing to the thread
So I'm a youngin with less ability than you....thanks bro.
Big Harry said what I was getting at with my one word post.
????????????????????
You're wrong I did contribute to the post.
I said;
"If you want easy (bass) play pop tunes under three minutes."
Popular songs are the easiest to play because you just learn a, (usually simple root based), bass line and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Guitar players do it all the time and think/say they can play bass. But give them a grooving blues bass line and they get bored and say it's too simple. They'd rather go back to guitar and practice Stevie Ray licks.
(Disclaimer)
The above comment is meant to be a joke.
A joke is something that is funny and humorous.
Sometimes laughed at or along with.
Some people void of a sense of humor may not get this so this is why I post this disclaimer.
You're just upset because I disagreed with your 'massively contributing' one word "BLUES" post.
(Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer)
LOL
In the spirit of the OP, let me say that a large portion of music today is based on blues ... I also think it is a good place to start. With some practice you may want to go to an open "blues jam" where they will get you up to do a couple or three tunes. Understand that's just a start down the path of being truly gigable IMO, as 12 bar is although often referred to as "the" blues is just the tip of what's out there. Put another way you might be able to fake it, until the guitar player called a standard like "Key to the Highway" and then you would be lost!
I'm not totally disagreeing with Rav
... but to do more than just a tune or two you will need to embrace, swing jazz, various Caribbean patterns, old school R&B, Chicago styles, North Mississippi hill country drone, Texas style, the list goes on and on. And then you get into blues/rock 
and things can really get going.Still I encourage the OP or anyone else with interest to give it a shot, I believe like many of us that do it, you will find a whole new world out there, that many never knew existed past the casual and clichéd "it's just a I IV V with a bunch of root notes."
...Geez, I've never posted on the BG side of things...but here goes: I find that the easiest music to play is with people that you like and that give you the time to learn the songs you'll be playing on a regular basis (at gigs or jam sessions). And yes, it's probably best to steer clear of bluegrass or rockabilly if you don't play the double bass (though that's not always the case). And if you find a band that REALLY needs a bass player, they'll generally be more patient with you as you learn their material. If you ever decide to play the "upright" bass and it fits in w/ your band's particular style, they'll likely work harder to keep you in the group since it looks kind of cool. Good luck finding your perfect band. Oh, and does anyone play punk or metal on a "stand up" bass?
I say NO style is 'easy.' From a purely technical standpoint, blues might appear to be easier than say, math rock or old-school bebop(Coltrain etc). But once you've achieved a certain level with your technical chops, it's really not easier than any other style. Punk? Not easy. Good pop music? Not easy. Not easy to play well, that is. I've played most styles, professionally. I went from Punk to Jazz, then to Prog rock, Fusion. Worked with a couple of Indie type bands for awhile. Then did a stint in an authentic Reggae band. Then Hard Rock/Metal. Now mostly Rock, Pop, and Blues, with a sprinkling of Jazz. Haven't been hired to play Country yet, but I fully expect it to be a challenge. NONE of it was 'easy.'
Depends what you're bringing to the style/genre and what tunes you're playing. Sure, a lot of blues is technically easy to play, but take a listen to some Freddie King, Robin Ford, Robert Cray, B.B. King's "Completely Well" album and you might be surprised. Fusion is typically heralded as difficult to play on bass, but there are a lot of fusion tunes that are technically easy bass-wise. No one has mentioned reggae, interestingly enough. Reggae is technically pretty easy to play, but more bassists play it badly than play it well! As far as the discussion on the blues is concerned, to be a good blues player, I would say that you have to at least know a little about chord construction and walking. this is not the case with punk, where all you generally need to know is the root note and how to pump eighth notes. Punk is more about energy than anything else, and part of the appeal (at least in the 70's) was that you didn't have to be a muso to play the stuff. Anyway, why even ask what music is easiest to play? What music do you want to play? That's really all that matters.
