Musician or Bass Player?

[Short-scale]

I'm a country bass player!!
However, I haven't found a country band yet. I am in a rock band, an original gospel band and the praise band at church.

 

[beatnut]

The audience are the musicians dancing on the floor. I'm the musician standing on the stage. If anybody asks, I say I play music.

I might as well go on and say that I disagree that you necessarily need formal education. It's handy, but just a means to an end in my view. I'm one of those who sees music as a basic human need, like food, air, conversation, community and so on. You can go to school to be a chef, a public speaker or a conference facilitator, but there are plenty of humans who cook and make friends without a degree to their name. I call everybody who can appreciate music a musician, whether they play an instrument or not, because the circuit is not complete without listeners.

Also, every performer is a frustrated singer or drummer, except for singers and drummers, of course

 

[The Regulator]

I'd say both, besides being the bass player in my band, I am also one of the main writers along with the guitarist.
Sometimes I write the entire song, which include the parts for all of the other instruments.
Other times I co-write with the guitarist. And other times the guitarist writes the entire song.

 

[Jebberz]

Decades ago, my music teacher told us about our High-School Dixieland band that we were 5 musician and a Drummer....

 

[ak56]

Depending upon the circumstances of a particular discussion, I am a:
Bass-player
Bassist
Musician
Singer
Bass
Baritone
Classically-trained singer
Singer who plays bass
Bass Player who sings

 

[Runlikegregg]

bass guitar player

 

[Kragnorak]

How many of you think of yourselves as musicians, and how many think of yourselves as bass players?

I answered as both. I played other instruments well before I picked up the electric bass, but once I did that became my specialty and main interest. For example, I'm playing bass and keys at a gig tomorrow, and we may end up doing some improv or jammy stuff at the end, in which case I'll be playing keys since the other bassist is JD DeServio who's great, but no matter how many hats I wear for various projects I'm usually most at home on the bass.

As far as your terms, they have more than one meaning. If your preferred definition of 'musician' is 'artist that specializes in music', then there are many beginning music students that may not qualify. Some of them are better defined as 'aspiring musicians' while others are simply students that are broadening their horizons or trying to make parents happy.

'Bassist' is more self-explanatory, but we all know that there are guitarists that double on bass and lack a certain understanding or rapport with drums, so even there we can probably think of some people that play bass without being bassists. If you're viewing it through this admittedly elitist lens, a true bassist has either a) a basic ability to groove within at least one chosen genre and/or b) the ability to wear a bass comfortably and lock in with other instruments. B is important because bass has certain ergonomic challenges and you can always spot someone that is new or doubling by how uncomfortable they are while playing parts, even if the notes are correct.

 

[dmac1961]

Beer drinker who plays bass.

 

[HolmeBass]

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 guess if they were trying to cut you off from making suggestions about arrangements, or song selection, or other band decisions, in a setting where you were not specifically hired (and paid) as a sideman then quitting was entirely justified. It all depends on context. If they said it merely to mean I don't sing in the band, I wouldn't take any offense. Unless I was playing guitar or percussion, then I might have to wonder.

Sometimes to lighten the mood I'll make a joke: Charlie has that talent, Susan has the looks, and I play bass. (I got joke that from TB actually.)

 

[rockinbilly]

How many of you think of yourselves as musicians, and how many think of yourselves as bass players? As I work on different things (mainly theory and comp) I find myself asking this question fairly frequently and now I want to know what my fellow TB'ers think about the issue. Do you see a difference? Do you rememember a moment in your playing career when you crossed a threshold between one and the other? How would you define the difference, if you think there is one?

I guess I'm a musician / bass player. I've written and recorded songs, played in several bands over the past 50+ yrs, play acoustic guitar for my own enjoyment, play drums, and play by ear. In the end I guess it really doesn't matter to me because music has always been a huge part of my life and I really get my jollies playing for an audience, and the back and forth energy of live performing. So call me what you like, either way I'll keep on rockin as long as I can !!!!

 

[Michael Schreiber]

I voted musician - with exactly in mind what bass40hz pointed out:

You dont choose the instrument, the instrument chooses you = musician
If music pours out of you = musician
If you lay in bed awake at night and figure out how to play songs or write a melody in your head = musician
If you can feel it, and not only hear it = musician

On the other hand, I started learning violin, can already play a bit - but am far from calling myself a violinist.
Simply because I'm far from the level where I can express myself through playing.

That, by the way, is reason enough for me to call orchestra members and similar players musicians.
No matter whether they play music or make music. I think that relates to what @Pumpkin meant by "muscial playing" - expressing feelings, be it your own or not; phrased playing, everything that makes at least the player himself feel the music.

What others think might be important in art ... still waiting for that as topic

 

[Lesgo]

As the bluegrass folks would say, my "natural instrument" is the bass guitar.

Although bluegrass players would never actually say that.

 

[Pumpkin]

As far as your terms, they have more than one meaning. If your preferred definition of 'musician' is 'artist that specializes in music', then there are many beginning music students that may not qualify. Some of them are better defined as 'aspiring musicians' while others are simply students that are broadening their horizons or trying to make parents happy.

'Bassist' is more self-explanatory, but we all know that there are guitarists that double on bass and lack a certain understanding or rapport with drums, so even there we can probably think of some people that play bass without being bassists. If you're viewing it through this admittedly elitist lens, a true bassist has either a) a basic ability to groove within at least one chosen genre and/or b) the ability to wear a bass comfortably and lock in with other instruments. B is important because bass has certain ergonomic challenges and you can always spot someone that is new or doubling by how uncomfortable they are while playing parts, even if the notes are correct.

I think we live in an elitist reality, like it or not. The negativity comes from a pejorative judgement, not from accurately assessing skill level. We shouldn't judge aspiring artists for not having put it all together yet and we shouldn't judge their teachers for being criticial of their work. I have my interpretation of the relevant terms, but I wanted to see what TB had to say to help me with my own perception of that. This has been incredibly helpful in that respect.

Beer drinker who plays bass.

I love this answer.

 

[Oddly]

Bass Player here, and proud of it.
Some of you folks are overthinking things.

 

[rtslinger]

I vote both imo as a bass player you are a musician and as a musician I play bass
def:
a person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically talented

 

[Kragnorak]

That, by the way, is reason enough for me to call orchestra members and similar players musicians.

Ya never know. Many people that don't know formal theory or that don't read think of classical players as italic/capital letter Musicians. But the same respect can be reserved for those that can improvise wonderfully and maybe can't read a note. This is a bit long-winded, but a composer told me a story that I found quite interesting...

This guy was older, and during the 1960s he was trying to break down barriers between the classical and jazz worlds. So he wrote a clarinet concerto that was scheduled to be debuted by an acclaimed clarinetist (who was left unnamed), and he left the cadenza blank. The clarinetist asked the composer what to play and the exchange went something like this:

Cl: You left the cadenza blank. When will this be finished?

Comp: It is. I just want you to improvise the cadenza.

Cl: *blank stare*

Comp: Just play what you want. The intent is for you to put some of your ideas into the performance.

Cl: I don't do that; I interpret what has been written.

Comp: Just try it; have fun with it, it'll be great!

*Clarinetist leaves and returns multiple times; each time he reiterates that he doesn't know what to play and demands that a cadenza be written. Each time the composer refuses. Finally rehearsals are beginning and the performance date is approaching, so the performer is growing increasingly desperate*

Cl: Look, my reputation is on the line here. You HAVE to give me something to work with here!

Comp: *sigh* Fine. Here are some of the tonalities you could move through: *writes out a series of arpeggios to suggest scales and chord changes*

During the debut performance, the composer watched in disbelief as the clarinetist proceeded to play the arpeggios exactly as written, playing each note for an equal length of time.

___________________________


My conclusion is that this guy may have been a great instrumentalist, but he was not necessarily a great musician. He may even have been an expressive interpreter of the works of others, but he was either unable or unwilling to express himself which is one of the aspects that we take for granted in good musicians.

 

[Kragnorak]

I think we live in an elitist reality, like it or not. The negativity comes from a pejorative judgement, not from accurately assessing skill level. We shouldn't judge ....

Good, we're on the same page and probably feel similarly about this stuff. I try to be careful with written language because I don't have negative feelings about people that have different goals in music. I know I can get in trouble for saying 'true bassist' because everybody that signed up for this forum is a bassist on one level or another. But on the other hand, I watch someone like Richard Bona who has an amazing bond with his instrument and maybe from his point of view there's little difference between the rest of us mortals and someone that just picked a bass up for the first time. I dunno, it's all relative and interesting stuff.

 

[Felken]

I consider myself a bass player. Musician seems more of a title to those who pursue music as a profession. However, I am currently writing my first song, which might make me more worthy of the musician title upon its completion.

It started out as jazz funk in Dm that sounded awesome and positive. Now it sounds more like prog jazz fusion because I keep writing licks in 7/8 and 6/8. Also, I somehow managed to make my song sound very depressing...

I think I'm done for today.

 

[funkymonk13]

I play bass, but I'll probably never be a musician. I don't have the ears for it.
I've read (right on here even) that any musician should be able to hear when an instrument is out of tune, and I can't.
I also can't tune by ear, even to a relative pitch.

I'm not ashamed to wear a t-shirt out in public with a bass headstock on it though:

I need to get a new one though, because right now both of my basses are 2+2 headstocks, and I prefer that.

Give ear training a try? when i started out playing music at 13ish my ears sucked. I literally couldn't tell where the bass was or what the guitar was doing on basic pop punk songs.

It takes time and practice like anything else, but its really not rocket science; you'll start improving pretty fast if you do ear training exercises.

 

[smogg]

Well; I may not be much of a musician or all full of awesome as a bass player but, I play a pretty mean stereo.