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How good are you?

#142
Felken said:
I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass! :D

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 ;))
Click to expand...

I started playing in 1968 ... by the early 1970s I was one of the better bass players in a smaller town area. I moved out of the area went to school got married, changed jobs got divorced got married etc ... thru all of that I had periods where I played a lot and periods where I didn't play as much. thru all of that and up to today ... I am better than I was in the old days. In the old days I was usually in a band where I had band members that were better than myself, these days I am usually better than most of the other musicians. I can play faster and cleaner than I used to, but for me the biggest improvement is I have better timing and note choice, I know when to lay back, or play more, and when to play in front or behind the beat, I also like to play off of the vocals. I am not a virtuoso but I have good skills.

www.3dentourage.com/425/pink-s.mp3
 
#144
I think I am solid on Rock, Country (newer and classic stuff), 60’s R & B, and horn rock Chicago type stuff.

I’m good at most traditional bass player role parts. I suck at slap. Ditto, my sight reading. If I have time to learn a part from notation, I am solid.

BUT, the phone still rings and I am playing live and continue to be considered solid in my role, according to band mates.
 
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#145
Felken said:
I hope this thread doesn't devolve as much as I think it will, so prove me wrong Talkbass! :D

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 ;))
Click to expand...

Being honest, I am too inconsistent to be a top rate player. Moments of sheer brilliance followed shortly by what in the world was I thinking. More of an artist/musician/creative type than a polished instrumentalist. My chops are above above average, speed, range, the ability to get up and down the fingerboard. I’m a good fit in the studio, and can cover a wide range of styles. I prefer to being in the background making music proceed logically, but I can ride when it’s called for. A big negative is I think I’ve played exactly 3 songs written after 2010, so I don’t know if what I bring to the table is relevant, but I can still pound out the oldies.
 
#146
I'm not very good.
I have a poor sense of timing, and I don't know how to play with other musicians. (but I think given the right circumstances, I have good note choice)
I have been playing off and on for about 15 years all told. Some times I am so down, I don't even touch a bass for months.
Other times, you couldn't pry it (a Bass) out of my hands.

I think maybe part of my problem is I bounce around too much; I might play a Journey song followed by a Slayer song followed by "Good Times" by Chic, for example.

But; I love music, and I have a lot of gear.
 
#147
My honest self-assessment is that I'm a competent (good, but not outstanding) bassist within the genres I play (Americana, rock, blues, folk). I think I ought to be better, considering how long I've been playing (over 40 years). On the other hand, much of that time I was an occasional player (mostly a few simple songs at church on Sundays). In recent years I've been reinvigorated and recommitted to playing and learning and developing, filling in the (many) gaps. A couple of years ago I stepped out of my comfort zone and auditioned for a band, and got the gig. It was the first gigging band I'd been part of in decades. Playing with them was a great experience and opened up new things for me, such as singing lead while playing bass. It also gave me confidence about my songwriting (they likes my songs and ended up performing some of them). That, in turn, led to forming a band that plays nothing but originals. Lately I've been teaching myself to play upright bass (which I had never played before), including bowing. Next I want to take lessons geared towards learning to play jazz. My hope is to be able to continue to play with other musicians, in diverse situations, and have fun and keep growing, for as long as I can. I don't expect to ever be more than competent, but I want to be competent in more ways.
 
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#152
I don’t play. I’m here for my 11 year old who has been messing around on bass for 2.5 years in a “band” with his sisters. I think he does ok pound for pound, but I also recognize that I’m his dad and don’t know much about bass playing, so take that with a grain of salt. They’ve got no interest in being musicians for a living, but we required them to each pick an instrument to learn, and they thought that doing it together would be more fun. And that it’d be a good way to raise $ for dog rescue groups.

 
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#156
One day I was drunk and told my guitar player that sometimes I felt self-conscious about being kind of limited as a bass player. He told me I was more of an artist than a bassist. He explained that I was good at writing memorable bass lines and guiding everyone into my artistic vision of how the song should be.

That's what I'm good at a a musician: Arranging. And then not knowing how to write and arrangement and explaining it with long sentences and mouth noises, of course haha. But organizing all the layers and writing a bass line that fits it, that I'm good at. And also writing lyrics. I'm pretty proud of them. I can also get the general vibe of the music genre and twist it into my vision kind of well.

Learning covers has always been a struggle when using a tab and completely terrible by ear. I don't have the patience for it and identifying things by ear is a huge struggle for me. I don't have a specially clean or fast technique too. My slap is mediocre, my pizzicato passable and my playing is at its best with a pick (which makes singing a lot easier.

I can also sing lead while playing when I wrote the song. Specially because I'm an untrained singer. And my drummer uses my right leg to be sure he keeps time. It's like a metronome.

So, the ideal guy for my band that mixes punk, samba and funk. Probably pretty mediocre anywhere else.

[EDIT] Some silly typos.
 
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#160
My Tae Kwon Do teacher told me 'If you're gonna brag, always be 10x better than you say you are'.
On a good day, when the humidity is just right, I'm pretty good.
 

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