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.
Musician or Bass Player?
- Thread starter Pumpkin
- Start date
-
- Tags
- bass player musician player
Michael Schreiber
Commercial User
I voted both but it got me to thinking that it would be interesting to see the responses to: Musician? Artist? or Both? And also see what type of music the respondents played: covers or originals etc.
(Forgive me but I literally just finished a thesis on Guitar and Bass players perceptions on health and well-being yesterday, so I am still thinking like a researcher.)
Thanks for posting this pole..
I'm a musician because I write music and perform it for people.
I'm a bass player because I play the bass, and really only the bass.
I'm a bass player because I play the bass, and really only the bass.
In a technical sense - all bass players are musicians as others have said. But personally I consider them different.
I always think of a musician as someone who's able to create the fundamentals of a piece of music which includes: chords, melody, rhythm, tempo, structure, etc... It doesn't have to be to the extend of a composer, but if you can create the general gist of a song then I'd consider you a musician.
I would consider myself strictly a bass player. I can do some amount of those things and I've played in bands where I write individual parts to songs created by a musician(s) but I struggle with coming up with the core of a song. I can come up with some looped lines in my bedroom and maybe I've written something that is musical in nature - but none that have transpired to a piece of music.
That being said, I recently got a piano teacher because I want to be a musician. I feel this the most effective way for me to get a taste of composing and I have every intention on learning to write pieces of music.
In a dream world I'd be able to write the music but I'd always want to perform on bass. I chose this instrument for a reason.
I always think of a musician as someone who's able to create the fundamentals of a piece of music which includes: chords, melody, rhythm, tempo, structure, etc... It doesn't have to be to the extend of a composer, but if you can create the general gist of a song then I'd consider you a musician.
I would consider myself strictly a bass player. I can do some amount of those things and I've played in bands where I write individual parts to songs created by a musician(s) but I struggle with coming up with the core of a song. I can come up with some looped lines in my bedroom and maybe I've written something that is musical in nature - but none that have transpired to a piece of music.
That being said, I recently got a piano teacher because I want to be a musician. I feel this the most effective way for me to get a taste of composing and I have every intention on learning to write pieces of music.
In a dream world I'd be able to write the music but I'd always want to perform on bass. I chose this instrument for a reason.
Last edited:
mmm, tough one, since I have reeled in a few years, I focused on bass as my only instrument. In the past I have played keys, guitar, banjo (yeah yeah,,) and horn. Plus 6 years of theory. I guess I am a musician but consider myself a bass player. Look at like this, either you are a surgeon or a doctor !
I voted that I think of myself as carrots. I guess I actually think of myself as a bassist but that choice was thoughtlessly left out of the poll. So carrots I went.
Who really gives a hoot what I call myself? It's far more important that someone calls me (or emails/texts in this day and age) when they need a bassist for a gig. Or in my case, some carrots for a gig.
There should be a feature where we get to bet on how many pages these re-hashed stale threads will garner. That would make it a tad more interesting. I think this one has some legs, 6 pages at least.
Who really gives a hoot what I call myself? It's far more important that someone calls me (or emails/texts in this day and age) when they need a bassist for a gig. Or in my case, some carrots for a gig.
There should be a feature where we get to bet on how many pages these re-hashed stale threads will garner. That would make it a tad more interesting. I think this one has some legs, 6 pages at least.
I don't know what the rest of you do with your basses, but I use them to play music. So I'm a musician.
I'd be interested in reading that!
Different people approach the instrument in different ways. What you think about when you're playing matters. To me, this is a question of how you mentally engage the instrument and the music and where your priorities are within the performance. How would you feel about being called "just the bass player/ bassist?" I thought about putting that phrase in the poll, but figured it would be too great a leading statement and really skew the results.
I play bass, keys, drums and guitar so - yeah, musician.
I like to tell folks that, in a band, I'm usually the "Bass provider"
I like to tell folks that, in a band, I'm usually the "Bass provider"
This is very important, but I fail to see a consistent connection with this and what one calls themselves.
Someone could call them self a musician and suck, while another humble soul could say "just a bass player" and be excellent.
Also, someone is eventually going to call you just a bass player. Probably someone who thinks the singer or lead guitarist are the most important member of the band. Do you really care what someone with such an unsophisticated opinion says? Is thinking of yourself as a musician, rather than a bassist, really going to stop them?
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,166
- 256,977
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
I can see being a musician and not being a bass player. I can't see being a bass player and not being a musician. To me, a bass player without some command of music theory and rhythm is unthinkable.
I think that's where our difference lies. Thanks for clarifying! (And yes, I have been called just a bass player. I'm no longer working with said individual).
I love the bass, but most of what I do or think of could be done on another instrument as well. Because of that I think of myself as a musician with a bass in hand.
But for the record I played some classical Double Bass, piano and sang in choir.
But for the record I played some classical Double Bass, piano and sang in choir.
Isn't it elitist to only think of oneself as only a "guitarist" or a "bassist" rather than a musician? I know this may spark a few flames, but in the end, if you play music, you are a musician, regardless of whether you play a triangle or a sousaphone.
