How good am I? Um.. well.. I can actually play solo bass stuff without sounding like someone practicing licks to impress people...
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
How good am I?
Not good enough for me.
However, I’m still enjoying the journey and I keep getting invited back for crap I don’t even like to play or hardly listen to.
I’m a realist that knows I have to do things I don’t like to do in order to get better.
How good am I? I suck in comparison to the bass players I listen to.
My saving grace is I enjoy what I do or I don’t do it, I have the gear I need to get the job done and I have a personality that’s relatively easy to get along with.
Technically, I’m pretty limited but I stick to what I can do and work on what I want to make better.
For somebody to ask me, “how good are you?”, my impression is it’s some punk kid or jackass that just wants to feel better about himself after hearing someone else isn’t as good as he is.
Key word jackass, and I’m at the point in my life where I have little to no patience for fools.
Not good enough for me.
However, I’m still enjoying the journey and I keep getting invited back for crap I don’t even like to play or hardly listen to.
I’m a realist that knows I have to do things I don’t like to do in order to get better.
How good am I? I suck in comparison to the bass players I listen to.
My saving grace is I enjoy what I do or I don’t do it, I have the gear I need to get the job done and I have a personality that’s relatively easy to get along with.
Technically, I’m pretty limited but I stick to what I can do and work on what I want to make better.
For somebody to ask me, “how good are you?”, my impression is it’s some punk kid or jackass that just wants to feel better about himself after hearing someone else isn’t as good as he is.
Key word jackass, and I’m at the point in my life where I have little to no patience for fools.
I consider myself very good. I have been playing bass in bands since around 1980, Country, top 40, Modern Rock, Classic Rock. I get a lot of compliments from other players and the audience. Last April I called a drummer I played with in about 3 quick gigs over 15 years ago. It was a work related call and he was the band director at a high school then a band director at a small college and now the superintendent of schools in a small county. I always say my name, then say "the old bass player." In case he doesn't remember me. When I called him in April and said "the old bass player," he replied "The Ultimate bass player."
About a year ago I was doing a show at a nice waterfront restaurant on the west coast of Florida and when we finished a set a guy came up and said I was the best bass player he had heard in years and he said I kept the whole band together and played some good songs that featured the bass - I think we had played Miss You and John Cougar's Wild Night. Also about a year ago, when we did a show as a three piece and girl singer, I was doing my usual double stop octaves (along with octave-up pedal) and other things to fill things out during the guitar solos. During the first break a guy comes up to me and says, with all that you are doing, you stayed right on the beat and didn't get out in the tall grass.
But, the most unexpected compliment came after a set and a guy said, "You have a gift." I was all ready for him to say something about my playing, but he was talking about my singing.
About a year ago I was doing a show at a nice waterfront restaurant on the west coast of Florida and when we finished a set a guy came up and said I was the best bass player he had heard in years and he said I kept the whole band together and played some good songs that featured the bass - I think we had played Miss You and John Cougar's Wild Night. Also about a year ago, when we did a show as a three piece and girl singer, I was doing my usual double stop octaves (along with octave-up pedal) and other things to fill things out during the guitar solos. During the first break a guy comes up to me and says, with all that you are doing, you stayed right on the beat and didn't get out in the tall grass.
But, the most unexpected compliment came after a set and a guy said, "You have a gift." I was all ready for him to say something about my playing, but he was talking about my singing.
My high water mark in bass chops and genrral creativity in music was my last semester of college when I played Shubert's Arpeggione Sonata and Bach's 3rd Cello Suite at my final performance recital, put on a composition recital with music i wrote for various ensembles, and did a lecture recital series with microtonal music I was writing and performing myself.
In a different way, after getting back into bass over 20 years later, I feel like I'm approaching another peak in performance and creativity. On bass guitar this time, more rock-inspired, I'm finally figuring out how to do some stuff that I sort of envisioned as a teenager, but could never actualize. In many, many ways I will never be as "good" as my past self, but I know I'm doing some stuff now that would have blown that kid's mind.
In a different way, after getting back into bass over 20 years later, I feel like I'm approaching another peak in performance and creativity. On bass guitar this time, more rock-inspired, I'm finally figuring out how to do some stuff that I sort of envisioned as a teenager, but could never actualize. In many, many ways I will never be as "good" as my past self, but I know I'm doing some stuff now that would have blown that kid's mind.
I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody.
Agreed. I remember learning some Chili Peppers lines, back in the mid 90's, and thinking, holy cow, why isn't more of this stuff on the radio. And then somebody asked me if I could play "that awesome riff from the Presidents of the United States of America". That was when I realized the gulf between really great musicianship, and most of what was popular. I haven't listened to anything "popular" in years. Maybe if I did I'd appreciate The Beatles more, since I expect they were miles ahead of most of what around, these days. I'll quit hijacking this thread now.
Once during a break between sets a woman told me that if I didn't go home with her she'd kill herself. Does that count for anything?
I’d say pretty good. I show up, can learn by ear, can read, and can also write and arrange. I pride myself on versatility. I can create just about any tone or play with any play style that would fit a song or enhance it. People around town seem to respect me as a musician, and the groups I play with seem to think I’m good, so there’s that.
Agreed. I remember learning some Chili Peppers lines, back in the mid 90's, and thinking, holy cow, why isn't more of this stuff on the radio. And then somebody asked me if I could play "that awesome riff from the Presidents of the United States of America". That was when I realized the gulf between really great musicianship, and most of what was popular. I haven't listened to anything "popular" in years. Maybe if I did I'd appreciate The Beatles more, since I expect they were miles ahead of most of what around, these days. I'll quit hijacking this thread now.
Im in the same boat man!! Beautiful thing about music is that there is something for everyone. Hope you are staying well!! Keep in touch!!
I'm ok. Nobody will be impressed listening my solo playing. No massive slap/solo chops. But competent in a band setting playing "normal" music.
Good enough to have toured, played with lots of amazing bands and to have released quite a few records, tapes and CD’s. As far as comparing myself to other bassists, I don’t really care to anymore. I chased the technique bug for a long time. It’s fun, but not really necessary for me anymore.
I'm good to the point where I will play with some of the best musicians in the state and not shy away from it, even though they're out of my league, and I usually cut it, too. Been playing since 84, and cut my teeth on prog/fusion, so the chops came early. That said, I hardly play or listen to much of that and am a much more scaled back player. Never been a root-five guy, as generally, I find that boring to play, (but if the music calls for it, I'll do it - that's part of what being good is about).I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass!
I want to know how good you are, and how it relates to the amount of time you've been playing.
For the purposes of this thread, "good" means technical ability, or chops so to speak. Playing fast, playing clean, playing with good taste, being versatile, knowing different techniques, being able to play in different styles, can you learn difficult pieces? etc.
(Yes I know playing root fifth third is also good, but we're looking at chops today).
I know for a lot of people the natural reflex is to say "Ahh I'm not that good" and minimize their actual skill level. Don't be humble! Be objective as to how you compare to other musicians around you, and pros. No one is judging you here! (But don't exaggerate your skill either)
Always room for improvement.
I played bass for 9 months 30 years ago and I've been back into it for a year or two. I'm nowhere as good as I should be. I'm a pretty fast learner but a buddy of mine has been playing bass about as long as I have been and he can play about 40 songs. I tell him if he got to pick all the songs, he could be gigging in two bands at this point.
I'm the classic 'I know a bunch of riffs but can only play maybe five songs all the way through' kind of player.
I'm the classic 'I know a bunch of riffs but can only play maybe five songs all the way through' kind of player.
"Good" is a relative term. I'm not very "good" but I have a helluva lot of fun!
