• 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.

My regret as a bass player

#221
Well said Jimmy,
It's your life,live it like you want.....
I no longer rely on music to pay my bills these days,so I can pick and choose who and what I wan't to play and I'am happy,I have been told many time that I over play, but I play what I feel ( and I like power trio's)
Music is an art and if you don't watch it other people will suck the soul right out of you before you know it,and then you become generic....

...Popeye said it best......I yam what I yam
Eno
 
#222
My big regret is that I stoped playing in 1968 and did not pick up a bass again until 2007. Now I know that the old three notes you could use to play 200 songs in the 60's don't get you very far today. I am now taking lessens from some great teachers and am learning what I didn't know I didn't know. Sorry for all the years I missed. Second regret is that I sould my Vox Couger and Sunn amp.
 
#224
Great post Jimmy, and I think the same. Just saw this thread after my absence of maybe a year or so...

Anyway, I quit my last band, took up tenor sax and am now playing in a Doom / Jazz fusion band (so much for a 180 degree turn). As much as I like playing bass, pounding roots and occasionally pulling some 3rds 5ths and 7ths got boring relatively fast. So much actually that I would only ever consider playing bass in a band again if I had enough freedom to play as I wanted to play (no, I don't mean the arrogant "my way or the high way" kind of approach).

Playing in a cover band with a varied set has taught me a lot, but is ultimately not for me, neither is any kind of music which is even remotely popular (I'm SO stuck in the 70s). But unlike many bass players around here I don't have any delusions of grandeur anymore, I play what I like and not to get popular and/or wealthy at the cost of my own musical vision. I realize only amateurs like me have the luxury of choice, so no offense to pro players.
 
#228
JimmyM another great thread and insight. One question though. With nearly 72,000 post on Talkbass within a 2.5 year period. How do you find the time to play?!?!? According to my math that is nearly 79 post per day!!! Assuming you get an average of 6 hours of sleep... That one post every 13.5 minutes!!! I can honestly sir.... You are Mr. Talkbass and I'm glad your here. :) ImageUploadedByTalkBass1381928424.372472.jpg
 
#229
Interesting thread. I started playing bass a few years ago and fell into playing Rush and other Prog material right from the start.

I've tried hanging with some bands that just need a bass in a common support role, but I found it too boring. Plenty of guys can do the support role, I like playing the bass and exploring.

I believe had I picked up a bass at a younger age I'd be doing the same thing, or would have looked for bands that would allow me to play the way I want. This is why I prefer a Trio format, where we all get a chance to stretch out with our playing.
 
#230
Excellent post Jimmy, i to just turned 50 this yr and it is soo true, play what feels good to your soul otherwise you wont be happy or satisfied unless of course there's a big fat royalty paycheck but to what extent will you be happy as a musician. Very inspiring huge piece of advice Jimmy....Thank you

:cool:
 
#233
gard0300 said:
JimmyM another great thread and insight. One question though. With nearly 72,000 post on Talkbass within a 2.5 year period. How do you find the time to play?!?!? According to my math that is nearly 79 post per day!!! Assuming you get an average of 6 hours of sleep... That one post every 13.5 minutes!!! I can honestly sir.... You are Mr. Talkbass and I'm glad your here. :) View attachment 368502
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he's been around longer than that.
 
#234
A few things I don't get. Overplaying is one thing, but grooving in the right band is basically how I made a career for myself. If you are playing covers, then just play the bassline how it should go. But if you join the right original band you should have the experience to know if the music they are playing is going to work with how you want to play.


Some guys think they are ripping, but they are just overplaying and have no feel or groove. I have never been told I overplay, but I write some busy parts sometimes because it works for the song. I have been given solos in about every band without asking, and never really had any issues with being held down creatively - even as a studio musician.

I guess I don't really get the post. IMO if you are a great player, and can make it feel good then your style will not be dictated by anyone but yourself.

Also, sometimes it just pays to play simply. It is a song by song basis.
 
#235
gard0300 said:
JimmyM another great thread and insight. One question though. With nearly 72,000 post on Talkbass within a 2.5 year period. How do you find the time to play?!?!? According to my math that is nearly 79 post per day!!! Assuming you get an average of 6 hours of sleep... That one post every 13.5 minutes!!! I can honestly sir.... You are Mr. Talkbass and I'm glad your here. :) View attachment 368502
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!! he done the math.......
 
#236
Hands down, my main regret is not actually spending the money, that I actually have, buying different basses, and such. I'm just too damn tight, plain n' simple.

I've been playing/gigging a long, long time. But, when it comes to experiencing a wide array of basses/rigs, to be honest, I'm not that well versed. I'm VERY HAPPY with what I have. But, deep down, I'd like to experience more.
 
#237
AngelCrusher said:
A few things I don't get. Overplaying is one thing, but grooving in the right band is basically how I made a career for myself. If you are playing covers, then just play the bassline how it should go. But if you join the right original band you should have the experience to know if the music they are playing is going to work with how you want to play.


Some guys think they are ripping, but they are just overplaying and have no feel or groove. I have never been told I overplay, but I write some busy parts sometimes because it works for the song. I have been given solos in about every band without asking, and never really had any issues with being held down creatively - even as a studio musician.

I guess I don't really get the post. IMO if you are a great player, and can make it feel good then your style will not be dictated by anyone but yourself.

Also, sometimes it just pays to play simply. It is a song by song basis.
Click to expand...

+1

I don't get the post either. If someone is stifling your chops or creativity you can simply start your own band. You can make the bass the focus or the lead instrument, if you so wish. Nothing should stop you. :bassist:
 
#238
I usually play pretty busy, and often get told to play even busier. Which is great for me, because I like busy bass :) I'm not talking upper register shredding, just interesting lines with movement and variation. I guess I've been lucky in that the bands I've been in and producers I've worked for have all liked bass and respected its ability to lift a song beyond some plodding 8th notes or whatever.

The one exception was an audition I went to where the band leader kept asking me to play less and less on each successive run through of a song, culminating in a weird moment where he asked me to play the line without even plucking the notes or articulating them in any way at all, apart from actually fretting them. Definitely knew right then we weren't a good musical match!
 
#240
My regrets as a musician in general is not having had the confidence to have my own band and handle the whole of the songwriting myself until now. I've always written my own songs but i would limit myself to bass and guitar (well the times when i was in an actual band, just bass) and never really made a good effort to make them sound as professional as possible production wise cause i felt like they were really just demoes so that i could get a band together and play them and record them right. And then the band part would never happen cause i lacked confidence to the bandleader and sole songwriter and the songs would just remain unheard by anyone.

Since september i've been recording and composing and spending the hours day in day out to make this stuff sound good and i have never ever felt so fullfilled as a musician (my gf is on vocals and lyrics, all the rest is me). It's as close to the vision i always had of the songs i always wanted to write and play. But i feel a lot of regret when i think i could and SHOULD have been doing this ten years ago. Lot of time lost. I should have been doing this when i was 20 even, not 35. I know it's young compared to a lot here, but it still feels a bit late to start taking your music seriously... I mean i was serious about it when i began but it soon became apparent i wasn't gonna find what i wanted within a band, writing with other people (it's one in a million to find even one person with the same musical vision as you, so 3 or 4 is pretty much impossible). And instead of making the decision to became a full blown do-it-all yourself songwriter, i let that discourage me and kinda put my dreams in my back pocket. Now i'm taking these dreams out for a spin again. But the hour is pretty late.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back