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How well do you play Bass..

#84
I tried to learn to play bass when I was 19-20, but I was too distracted by college, drugs, and girls. Then I spent 20 odd years working.

Now I'm trying to learn again. I've been at it for a year. I don't practice enough, so I suck.

Still, I love the feeling of the bass. That's what brought me back to it. The feeling of my (right-hand, plucking) fingers on the strings. The visceral low-end vibration. And the beauty of the bass as an object.

Hope I learn to play before I die.
 
#85
I am a good enough player to know that I am not that good. I have been playing for about ten years and I still feel like I have miles to go.

I get compliments in the band, so I don't worry about my level of skill, but I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me if I really wanted to be a great session bassist.
 
#86
I've been playing for 20 years, majored in music in college and played full-time off and on for 10 years of that. Now, I just play at church but am looking for a new band outside church too. I get asked to join bands but I'm pretty picky about what I do now because I don't really need the money - though it would be nice. I'm a pro level player when it comes to gospel, funk and rock and good enough to pass on a jazz gig. I don't have virtuoso chops but I can solo well enough to impress non bass players and more than a few pretty good bassists too. I don't do it often, but when I do other musicians I play with tell me I should take more solos. I'm more than adequate on fretless though nowhere near where I want to be. I'm kind of a busy meat and potatoes player. I occasionally am guilty of over playing, but far less often than I used to be.
 
#87
drunkenrobot said:
I've been playing round about 4 years now, first started when I was 14. I can't really say how good a player I am for two reasons.

I'm currently playing at Grade 8 level and I'm doing my second year of A Level Music (which requires at least Grade 7 performance (I'm not sure how these qualifications translate in America, Grade 8 is supposedly 1 level below a Degree)). I can play Jaco Pastorius' Portrait of Tracy pretty competently and some of the more complex RHCP and Primus stuff, just for example.

But, when it comes to playing in my band, I play, what seems to me to be very simple and unremarkable stuff. We were recording with a stand-in Saxophonist recently and he commented on one of my lines saying it sounded like something a guitarist would write.

I guess I can play well enough, I just can't put it into the stuff I come up with for the band :atoz:
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Here is a trick that might help you. Play your bands music through some headphones, and then sing your bass lines , or what you want to hear when playing through a recorder, but keep it loose and fun and make it interesting. Then you can listen to the song later and transpose your singing to real notes. ust thought I would share a crazy way of learning new music pretty fast, and you would be surprised how much more professional your bass lines will sound, as your ear will tell you what and when to play.
 
#89
dogofgod said:
I am a good enough player to know that I am not that good. I have been playing for about ten years and I still feel like I have miles to go.

I get compliments in the band, so I don't worry about my level of skill, but I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me if I really wanted to be a great session bassist.
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Yeah, we all do in a way. IMO, it's imperative that you have this attitude when it comes to getting better at the craft. With everything in life, there's always someone better or more advanced in a particular area of playing bass or at anything for that matter. If we see something that we lack in musically, we need to look to those that are better in that area and use them as an example that there is another level of growth. The day we think we've arrived at our goal, that's the day we don't get any better at playing.
 
#91
MusserMusic said:
The only thing stopping me is my OWN lack of confidence! When I see bad-ass players ripping it up it sometimes F***'s with me, but I know I'm better than good enough. When I judge my level of playing by another's, I usually end up either "SUCKING" which I don't OR thinking "I'M ALL THAT" which I'm not. Playing an instrument is a gift at what ever level we're at. ...I just love playing my bass and THATS all that matters!!!!
__________________
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This. Almost exactly.
 
#98
This is a topic I have often contemplated. I definately do not play as good as I did in my 20's and 30's. I think my focus has changed alot. Im not as cocky, and I actually listen to others with a non-biased ear, which is something that didnt happen alot in my youth. What I have found is im not half the player i thought I was, and now after not playing every day for the past 10 years, im even less than what I once was.
What makes it really apparent how lackluster my playing is, when I go to the music store and the guys that work there play something, and im just sitting there going, oh man, i dont want to even plug anything in after hearing that guy noodle. His BS noodling blows away anything i can do.
So its somewhat a depressing subject for me, but like the OP, I find that even though im not the most technical of players, I still find a reasonable amount of work, and can hold my own in country, rock and blues. My brother tells me not to let it depress me, because im a good player, these other guys just have a different style than me. Nice of him to try, the real thing is, they are consumate seasoned proffessionals, and Im not, even though i thought I was.
 

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