How good are you?

[biguglyman]

I'm a hack. I've been playing for 48 years so I'm an accomplished hack...but still, a hack none the less.

 

[alexbrownebass]

I’m versatile, employable and I have good time, chops and technique on both electric and upright. I can’t slap my way out of a wet paper bag though.

 

[SimonSays32]

Man, what a concept - I don't typically dwell on whether or not I am technically good, as I am working within a fairly subjective medium. That said, I am confident in whatever musical role I am fulfilling in my band.

 

[TOOL460002]

25+ and ya im good. Never spent more time on anything else. So, yes, I'm better at bass than anything else.

 

[BlueTalon]

I'm good. But any time I start thinking I'm really good, I hear someone who is really good. Then I put myself back in my place.

 

[SAlcott]

Good enough to make a living as a bass player for 50+ years.

 

[RobinG]

Good question.. I played in a Rush Tribute band for 4 years. I did not sing, but did play keys in all the ways Geddy did, and the Guitarist sang, so we were a 3 piece band. Does that make me good? The band sure was!

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I'm okay.

 

[aetheldrea]

Egregious.

Is the wearing of dead animals on one’s head a new trend?

 

[Jeff Scott]

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?

Of course, it does. Why would you think, otherwise?

 

[MichelD]

I’m versatile, employable and I have good time, chops and technique on both electric and upright. I can’t slap my way out of a wet paper bag though.

I've been playing upright for about 2 years.

I decided right from the get-go to not bother trying to slap; there were lots of other guys doing that.

I have always dedicated my time to learning scales and chord arpeggios in all keys.

This has always helped playing with singer-songwriters who use other than cowboy chords.

 

[Joebone]

Pretty much all I ever practice is jazz even though very few of my gigs are actually playing jazz. Consequently, I'm better than I need to be for most gigs.

My thinking has always been that if you can walk and solo over a jazz tune at a competent level, then pretty much anything you get thrown at you in the real world will be possible, if not easy.

I grew up both reading music as a trombonist and learning tunes by ear and writing my own parts as a bassist in bands. Being able to live in both of those worlds is probably one of the things that makes me better than average.

Anyone with genuine trombone chops is deeply advantaged! (so sayeth Joebone...)

 

[minimalist freedom]

To many years between bands takes its toll. I should be better than I am for the time I picked up a bass 25 years ago. Not in a band regularly ...but once I get into rehearsals it seems to come back, well most of it. But I continue to add more flavour and listen more as I play through charts on my own and then...things seems to come together.

 

[NOVAX]

Lousy timing, too many notes, and the worst tone imaginable.

 

[Bozzy]

I've been playing for a little over a year and I've gotten pretty good. I'm good in terms of technical ability but I'm weak on the theory side. For reference, I can play ''Dean Town'' and ''What is Hip''.

 

[danbones]

objectively, i’m pretty good for what i’m gigging. it’s been a long time since people came up to me after gigs to tell me how impressed they were, but i‘be maybe been playing to slightly more sober crowds

I dunno, I can lock in with a drummer well and i can mirror a complex guitar lead without much problem, but I can’t do fluent sweep aroeggios or solo across all modes without preparing a ton first. I can play a few different styles well and have a tone and playing style for punk and metal that i’m pretty proud of.

I’d like to get better at playing more nuanced, and I’d like to build a rig that can handle a much much wider range of tones. My post covid plans hopefully involve recording and touring as the guitarist in my death metal band, but overall I want to really sit down with all the funk and motown bass lines I grew up with, and relearn how to really play that stuff with feeling.

 

[Polkatronixx]

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 )

I am terrible - always have been. I got my first bass for xmas in 1987 and have been playing off and on ever since (to be fair, there were large 'off' periods). I was 15 when I got my first bass and there were a couple of other bass players at my school. As is usually the case with teenage boys, what should've been fun just turned into a massive pissing contest. One guy was really good (or so we thought) and really obnoxious - he was a jock and approached bass playing like a competition. I couldn't keep up with anybody - but rather than just accept that I wasn't good and maybe play simple bass lines, I tried to be flashy and show off. It always sounded bad.

I am better now than I was then - but I still suck. I am not very creative or dextrous. My rudimentary knowledge of music theory is just that - rudimentary. But I like playing and figure if it's something I like doing, then good for me.

 

[jamro217]

Did you ever go back and read one of your posts only to find that it sounds far from what you meant it to when you wrote it? That just happened. I was reminded of what my father used to say when I was growing up. He had a great sense of humor (and he was a brilliant man even though the comment was always in jest). Couple that with the work experience and the short list of faults and you have what seems on the surface to be the smug, unctuous ramblings of an egotistical snob. Sorry it turned out that way. What I meant to say was that music (and our proficiency at it) is not as easy to comparatively judge as other more concrete, fact based endeavors. Music appeals to people in different ways at different times. Emotions determine how you perform, too. You play the same song differently when you're happy than you do when you're angry. All of these things don't show up in the statistical band charts. (Imagine what that would look like! "Number of clams from bassist: 3, Number of times vocalist introduced the wrong tune: 7, Number of times the guitarist deafened everybody in the room... I SAID : NUMBER OF TIMES THE GUITARIST DEAFENED EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM!!!...)

 

[Jay2U]

Arthritis often limits my abilities. I might have been better, but I'm content which what I achieved in 10 years time.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

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 )

I've been playing for 50 yearw\s and I suck. I still suck. I'll never not suck, so that settles it