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Hey! You are just the Bass Player!

Stewie26

Stewie26

Feb 15, 2012
1,557
13,571
Redondo Beach-Palos Verdes, California
#1
I love playing bass and have been playing about 17 years. But some, and I repeat, some guitar players, singers and even keyboard players think of the bass as a "Less than what I play instument." I do think that a lot of guitar players, singers, let alone the listening public, don't have a clue or understand how the bass is the glue between the drummer and the rest of the band. The bass and drums set the groove that make people want to dance. We create the canvas that allows other instruments to paint their colors on. I know we all have some crazy drummer stories, but I do think drummers give us a lot more respect than others. Anyway, I play in a band with drums, two guitars and a keyboard guy. We all are good friends and get along well. Last Sunday we were working out a song and the two gutiar players could not figure out a chord transition. After listening to them go back and forth for about 10 minutes or so, I piped in with an alternate way to do it. All I got was: Hay! you are Just the bass player! Just????
Thanks for letting me vent.
 
#3
Well, we ARE just the bass players.
But I've never had anyone ever tell me that. I try to do MORE than just follow along and play the chords of notes, and go above an beyond. If we are just the bassist, by no means will I let anyone think I am not doing the bass job well enough. I don't want anyone to think that I'm just the bass player and that my participation is frivolous.


Seems silly that anyone would ever say that. You must be a terrible bassist, guitarists never say anything stupid.

:D
 
#5
Most guitar players are not able to put their head around the job and duty of a bass player.. Not all guitars.. But most of them.. Mostly the ones that really dont have much worldly experience..
That being said.. Try this at a rehearsal... stop playing in the middle of a song that has a driving bass part..... until the GITS head turns around.. and say " Do ya miss me"
 
#11
svtb15 said:
Most guitar players are not able to put their head around the job and duty of a bass player.. Not all guitars.. But most of them.. Mostly the ones that really dont have much worldly experience..
That being said.. Try this at a rehearsal... stop playing in the middle of a song that has a driving bass part..... until the GITS head turns around.. and say " Do ya miss me"
Click to expand...

That is awesome advise. I will try that if it ever happens to me.
 
#12
svtb15 said:
Most guitar players are not able to put their head around the job and duty of a bass player.. Not all guitars.. But most of them.. Mostly the ones that really dont have much worldly experience..
That being said.. Try this at a rehearsal... stop playing in the middle of a song that has a driving bass part..... until the GITS head turns around.. and say " Do ya miss me"
Click to expand...

At practice I have forgotten to turn on the bass and nobody noticed :( Including me :scowl:

In my defense our practices are very loud; louder than gigs. So I can never hear myself, I just play by feel. Live I rarely need ear plugs but at practice I use industrial -27dB ear plugs. I like the industrial ones because they cut the highs way more than the lows.

The gigs are great though, so I look at the practices as paying my dues. And we generally only have one or two per month.
 
#14
I was taught when I was young that the bass player and drummer ARE the band, and all the rest is just coloration up on top. As Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton showed us, they can have SRV up on top, they can have the Arc Angels or Storyville, but the foundation is the strength that they can build around.
 
#15
A lot of it has to do with the personality involved. Some people are there to serve themselves, some to serve the music, others to serve the customer. It takes all kinds.... and to make it work, everyone needs to know they need the others.
 

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