Which shows that "ratings" mean absolutely nothing. I know plenty of good guitarists don't know theory. I guess it's not required.
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How good are you at bass? (read 1st post before voting)
- Thread starter DanielleMuscato
- Start date
A 9 fer sure. Just played 2 west end shows in England, and toured with Rain Pryor on DB for 3 months.
Don't read as fast as I would like on piano, but I don't practice very much now. Too busy dealing with business. I stopped practicing electric for 6 years. It felt like work, although I'm starting to enjoy it again.
Don't read as fast as I would like on piano, but I don't practice very much now. Too busy dealing with business. I stopped practicing electric for 6 years. It felt like work, although I'm starting to enjoy it again.
I sound like a perfect 4.
On one hand, I know more than enough songs to fill a 2 hour set with my band and rarely do I blow a song (all classic rock). I have no problem picking up new (rock) stuff quickly
On the other, my sight reading sucks along with my jazz technique. I still do things more by feel than notation
On one hand, I know more than enough songs to fill a 2 hour set with my band and rarely do I blow a song (all classic rock). I have no problem picking up new (rock) stuff quickly
On the other, my sight reading sucks along with my jazz technique. I still do things more by feel than notation
Suprisingly, I apparently qualify as a five out of ten on your scale. I wouldn't have thought that. Apparently scales and chord theory and being able to play some rock songs makes me intermediate.
I'd say I'm a five. My theory is sorely lacking, and sight reading is never gonna happen (never had the need for it), but I can pretty much play any song I've ever tried to learn. This would include prog rock tunes by groups such as Yes and Dream Theater, as well as a few songs from a couple of my favorite fusion artists (this doesn't mean I didn't have to work on them for days on end, for the record).
I am a 4 1/2
working on getting to a solid 5
I can figure most things out...(mp3 bass trainer)
but playing faster stuff at speed and with clean tecnique is hard for me still....
good thing the band I am in is kinda 3 chord basic!....but still very cool ..
al
working on getting to a solid 5
I can figure most things out...(mp3 bass trainer)
but playing faster stuff at speed and with clean tecnique is hard for me still....
good thing the band I am in is kinda 3 chord basic!....but still very cool ..
al
Honestly, I don't know where I belong in this scale. Although I have just started playing the bass for about 2 months, I can figure out and transcribe the basslines pretty well and I know my scales. I can read the bass clef but not in tempo (still working on it) but if given a treble clef score, I can do it in tempo. I know my theory fairly well and I know how chords are constructed. All these were credited to my 15 years of playing the sax.
My problems are that my fingers are not fast enough and I can't slap well. So, I'll probably give myself a 2 on bass technical fluency but I can grade myself confidently a 6 or 7on musical theory.
So where do I stand?
My problems are that my fingers are not fast enough and I can't slap well. So, I'll probably give myself a 2 on bass technical fluency but I can grade myself confidently a 6 or 7on musical theory.
So where do I stand?
Okay, I'm late to the party, but I had to chime in.
I feel like a self-centered putz for saying this, but I gave myself a 9. I have a degree (from MI, so maybe that doesn't count for much?
), been playing for a quarter century, pro for nearly 20 years, have 30 students, play fretted, fretless, and upright, played on over 200 local albums, play jazz gigs, rock gigs, funk gigs, acoustic guitar band gigs, church gigs, write charts for people, and lead rehearsals for my piano player's R&B band. I'm a good reader when I have reason to practice it (which, to be fair, isn't all that often these days), and I can learn a song on the spot at a gig, as well as translate the chord changes into various keys for the horn players while playing the new tune.
And you know what? Big deal. Being a 9 won't get me any more gigs than I already have, and I've learned plenty of things from bassists who might not have cleared a 4 on this list. Even my students give me insight into the bass playing realm without even knowing they're doing it. And I love soaking it all up.
Plus, there's LOTS I still don't know about being a pro bassist - like what pots are better for what kinds of pickups, or what order I should set up my pedals in, or the finer points of tube amps vs. solid state (I just got the loudest, cleanest, cheapest amp I could find - a Peavey Firebass 700 - and left it at that), nor am I fluent on the various latin rhythms one might be expected to play on a salsa gig. I'm not hip to the exact bass line NHOP played on a particular tune, and I don't remember which songs Cliff played on and which ones Jason played on (but I'm pretty sure I could hear the difference). I can't tell you the pros and cons of having large polepieces instead of small ones, or none at all. I can't do a lot of the things that I wish I could.
Which is, of course, why I hang out here a lot more these days.
You folks are too cool. 
I feel like a self-centered putz for saying this, but I gave myself a 9. I have a degree (from MI, so maybe that doesn't count for much?
), been playing for a quarter century, pro for nearly 20 years, have 30 students, play fretted, fretless, and upright, played on over 200 local albums, play jazz gigs, rock gigs, funk gigs, acoustic guitar band gigs, church gigs, write charts for people, and lead rehearsals for my piano player's R&B band. I'm a good reader when I have reason to practice it (which, to be fair, isn't all that often these days), and I can learn a song on the spot at a gig, as well as translate the chord changes into various keys for the horn players while playing the new tune.And you know what? Big deal. Being a 9 won't get me any more gigs than I already have, and I've learned plenty of things from bassists who might not have cleared a 4 on this list. Even my students give me insight into the bass playing realm without even knowing they're doing it. And I love soaking it all up.
Plus, there's LOTS I still don't know about being a pro bassist - like what pots are better for what kinds of pickups, or what order I should set up my pedals in, or the finer points of tube amps vs. solid state (I just got the loudest, cleanest, cheapest amp I could find - a Peavey Firebass 700 - and left it at that), nor am I fluent on the various latin rhythms one might be expected to play on a salsa gig. I'm not hip to the exact bass line NHOP played on a particular tune, and I don't remember which songs Cliff played on and which ones Jason played on (but I'm pretty sure I could hear the difference). I can't tell you the pros and cons of having large polepieces instead of small ones, or none at all. I can't do a lot of the things that I wish I could.
Which is, of course, why I hang out here a lot more these days.
You folks are too cool. i gave myself a 9...
just graduated with a master's in bass guitar. i teach music theory at the college level, teach private lessons also. i can transcribe fairly well (at least in the guitar/bass pitch range), have arranged a couple things here and there but not a huge part of what i do. i've only done a few session gigs, most of which were done by ear, so i wouldn't call myself a monster session reader. being a guitar teacher i read treble and bass clefs, which comes in handy when it's time to read down a jazz chart. that's my story according to the parameters listed...
as far as actual bass playing, i'll give myself a 5. i've come a long way in the past few years, but still so much to learn
just graduated with a master's in bass guitar. i teach music theory at the college level, teach private lessons also. i can transcribe fairly well (at least in the guitar/bass pitch range), have arranged a couple things here and there but not a huge part of what i do. i've only done a few session gigs, most of which were done by ear, so i wouldn't call myself a monster session reader. being a guitar teacher i read treble and bass clefs, which comes in handy when it's time to read down a jazz chart. that's my story according to the parameters listed...
as far as actual bass playing, i'll give myself a 5. i've come a long way in the past few years, but still so much to learn
Mark Wilson
Supporting Member
I'm 7 pushing on 8.
I'm at a college where 1,500 apply, and 7 are accepted into degree. So I must be doing something right.
I'm at a college where 1,500 apply, and 7 are accepted into degree. So I must be doing something right.
I would say I'm a 5. I have adequate technique, sound and feel, for almost all musical styles (including double bass) and I am quite good at figuring things out by ear. I know very basic theory and chord knowledge. I have a hard time with sight/chart reading. Even in orchestral settings I would generally defer to another bassist at first, listen to what he was doing, and connect the dots before the conductor could figure out I didn't *really* know the music via notation (which, of course, hurt me in the long run). Save for "extreme" bass playing a la victor wooten, billy sheehan, etc. I can learn what I'm asked to as long as I have some time to digest it.
But you know, I don't really strive for that extreme level of bass technique is because I'm not really into it anymore. I mean, I want to be a good bass player, but I don't need to do 16th note sweeps at 160bpm for what I enjoy playing. These days I like to lock it down, play some interesting notes and support the song as best as I can. I'm also not that terribly into progressive rock or hard bop/jazz fusion etc. I used to be able to play some Dream Theater and Dave Weckl band type stuff, but these days I'm mostly playing and writing a la Matchbox Twenty, Nickelback and Foo Fighters, ya know? It took me a lot of playing and searching to realize that that is the role I enjoy the most as a bass player. I also play guitar so I get to release some of that pent up "solo" energy in another way, which helps.
So, I'm pretty content at 5. Life is good
But you know, I don't really strive for that extreme level of bass technique is because I'm not really into it anymore. I mean, I want to be a good bass player, but I don't need to do 16th note sweeps at 160bpm for what I enjoy playing. These days I like to lock it down, play some interesting notes and support the song as best as I can. I'm also not that terribly into progressive rock or hard bop/jazz fusion etc. I used to be able to play some Dream Theater and Dave Weckl band type stuff, but these days I'm mostly playing and writing a la Matchbox Twenty, Nickelback and Foo Fighters, ya know? It took me a lot of playing and searching to realize that that is the role I enjoy the most as a bass player. I also play guitar so I get to release some of that pent up "solo" energy in another way, which helps.
So, I'm pretty content at 5. Life is good
hmmm...when i first bought my bass back in 01, i took 2 lessons from a guy who admitted to being a pianist/guitarist, realized he had no idea what he was talking about (as far as technique), and hadn't taken a lesson since. never having played an instrument before, i was also tone deaf.
i learned to play by listening to tabs, playing any song on the radio i could figure out (at first with the aid of tabs), be it country (i know, i know), rock, jazz...anything. i really haven't even been onstage more than a few times (okc musicians seem to be kinda flaky), until now, we have a solid, committed cover band.
so, i have no theory training, couldn't tell you the names of the notes in a mode/scale, but can play them on the bass from copying people such as flea, etc...i can read music like a first year spanish student translating homework...put it in front of me, i can figure it out, but it'll take a while
as far as writing originals, i can write bass lines from heavy metal to rap to country...
so i guess stage inexperience ranks me as a 1...improvising ranks me as a 10...and everything else ranks me as somewhere between...but i'd say, on my own ranking, i'm about a 6, and have no plans of getting much higher than a 7/7.5.
i learned to play by listening to tabs, playing any song on the radio i could figure out (at first with the aid of tabs), be it country (i know, i know), rock, jazz...anything. i really haven't even been onstage more than a few times (okc musicians seem to be kinda flaky), until now, we have a solid, committed cover band.
so, i have no theory training, couldn't tell you the names of the notes in a mode/scale, but can play them on the bass from copying people such as flea, etc...i can read music like a first year spanish student translating homework...put it in front of me, i can figure it out, but it'll take a while
as far as writing originals, i can write bass lines from heavy metal to rap to country...
so i guess stage inexperience ranks me as a 1...improvising ranks me as a 10...and everything else ranks me as somewhere between...but i'd say, on my own ranking, i'm about a 6, and have no plans of getting much higher than a 7/7.5.
I'm loving this poll heaps.
I'm having heaps of fun subbing in famous bass players and grading them to this scale.
it's making me feel so arrogant.
i'm not gonna put my rank on here, but i ranked myself honestly and i'm quite pleased. but if you wanna rate me then you should come to one of my gigs in sydney and then rank me.
but even if you are at 10 there will always be someone better than you. and in pete wentz case that's pretty much everyone that participated in this poll
I'm having heaps of fun subbing in famous bass players and grading them to this scale.
it's making me feel so arrogant.
i'm not gonna put my rank on here, but i ranked myself honestly and i'm quite pleased. but if you wanna rate me then you should come to one of my gigs in sydney and then rank me.
but even if you are at 10 there will always be someone better than you. and in pete wentz case that's pretty much everyone that participated in this poll
