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People who started on a bass?

#42
I started on bass. My older brother was a guitar player, but something in my head suggested that I'd rather play bass. Got an old Harmony hollow-body for $35 when I was about 14, screwed around with it a little, then put it in my closet for about a year. Then I broke my left wrist playing pickup football, and started playing after that as additional physical therapy. Built up my calluses and never looked back, added guitar a little later.
 
#44
Started on bass in early 96 with no aspirations to play guitar- I just loved the sound of a bass. I actually wanted a six-string bass very shortly after I got my first four-string. Took years before I could even find one to try out- now I play them exclusively.
 
#47
Shmone said:
I started on trumpet for 7 years and now i've started on the Bass, still playing on the trumpet and I think it really helped having background knowledge in theory and in music in general.
Click to expand...

I agree. Any previous experience of playing music is of course helpful when starting to play the bass. Certain instruments might be more helpful than others for various reasons but none are harmful. But the best instrument for learning to play the bass is obviously the bass.

For my part, I first played the saxophone for four years and then picked up the guitar and the bass more or less at the same time, focusing on the guitar the first five or so years before gradually turning more and more towards the lower frequencies, de-tuning the guitar, selling my alto saxophone for a tenor one and starting to think of the bass as my primary instrument.
 
#49
I was originally a drummer... I have ADHD and tapped on everything in my house so my parents signed me up for the school band (concert band) when I was 10. In middle school my best friend and I wanted to start a band and since I didn't own a drum set I decided that I wanted to be the bass player, as my father is a bass player and I figured he could teach me how to play. He made me get a summer job (age 14) and I saved up all summer and bought an Ibanez EDB400 and signed up for the High School Jazz Band with no idea how to play the darn thing. Long story short, I made it through 4 years of Jazz Band and the instructor had no idea I was winging it. Now (age 26) I still play bass every day and am playing with a band and I also still play drums (I eventually bought a drum set). Now I am a rhythm section for hire, so to speak.
 
#50
I played clarinet for 4 years before picking up the bass. It helped me in understanding music, in general. I had to switch from treble clef to bass clef, obviously, but aside from that I already had a leg up on the competition. :D

Aside from strumming friends (and brothers) guitars periodically I've never been a guitarist. I learned how to form a bar chord by watching them and understanding a little about how to construct a chord (music theory classes a million years ago), but never really spent any real time with one.
 
#53
I had piano lessons as a child, but in high school I picked up bass and nothing else. I couldn't show you two chords on guitar, but I could always pick out bass players who also play guitar. It shows in the approach to the bass. It might be a big reason I have very few problems finding gigs. I find out a lot of bands I wind up with are tired of bass players who can't play bass parts and/or lock/groove...
 
#54
I started on bass. I told a local hotshot high school guitar playin' buddy that I wanted to take guitar lessons, to which he said:
"Don't play guitar, play bass. There's too many guitar players already - a good bass player is really tough to find"
And so it went. 33 years later, his uncommon foresight has turned out to be even more accurate. I discovered over the years that bass has alot more to do with my basic makeup and personality than does guitar (which I taught myself to play as a purely recreational activity).
 
#56
Started on cornet for about 8 years before I ever thought of stringed instruments, played a little piano and some Irish traditional instruments in between that and starting bass, so no, I didn't start on bass, but I started bass before I started guitar, which I've only recently picked up for singalong sessions at the odd party.
 
#57
Bass exclusively since the beginning - I was never interested in anything else. I bought a Guitar many years later - but it remains here only for friends that come over to play. I don't think of it as a disadvantage as long as you realize you can really do anything on it. Having said that I have no issues playing around with other instruments - I think the more you learn the more you grow.
 
#59
-at 4 I started to play the acordeon (yes, I was 4)
-at 7 I started the piano
-at 16 I started the up-right bass (but nothing serious)
-at 19 I stopped playing all the insturments till 4 years ago when I started seriously on bass

Now I´m 28 and still learning bass. The piano helps me a lot when I want to compose.

Apart that I´ve been singing in a choir, and from time to time I still sing. And also learned how to read music..etc.

The thing is that I run a small studio facility and have the oportunity to meet a lot of bass players and see them playing, this way I learn too. And learning how to do arrengements...etc.
 
#60
Started on the trumpet in the 4th grade. That really helped me learn about note values and timing, from there I joined the school band and played drums. Playing drums helped so much in my counting,timing,and how to subdivide.
I picked up the bass at 18 ,self taught, joined a band, and learned how to play at gig levels right away. Playing in that band really helped me figure out what the role of bass playing is all about. Much different than taking formal instruction I suppose but it helped me become the bass player I am today.
 

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