Oh, and "Date Rape" and "Ebin" were the Sublime tunes you had to know back in the day ... sheeeesh... different times ..
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"Proof that you're a bass player" songs
- Thread starter fretlessman71
- Start date
Around here in my circles in the late '90s and early '00s, it was most commonly Sabbath's NIB, AIC's I Know Somethin and/or Nutshell, RHCP's Higher Ground and/or Soul to Squeeze, and any of the faster Rush songs of the player's choosing.
Yes, I also remember Higher Ground and Soul to Squeeze being the RHCP tunes to know.
Wait what? The song wasn't "John, You're not my Deere Anymore"?
You got off easy. Coulda been "Ventura Highway."
LTIA? Piece of cake. Try emulating the heavy metal cello section, note for note, in the middle of “Red” and get back to me.
He didn't tell me exactly what he did, a few gigs I think. If we hadn't both been a bit drunk at the time, he wouldn't have told me about it at all hee hee. I kept my promise though, I didn't tell anyone about his secret.
I guess I didn’t grow up in the glory days of the music scene since I have never had this experience of needing to know a certain song to play with any group.
In my experience as a kid growing up and playing in bands in the 90s, one’s ability to join a band mostly relied on having equipment to play in a band. Having a legitimate giggable amp and not being a scary maniac seemed to get you pretty far. Of course having a PA system was a golden ticket in many cases.
There were maybe only two to three bands in my high school of 1800 students from 1995-1999. And I was in one of them. And when we graduated, one replaced us.
The owner of the music store I worked at played in bands in the late 60s and 70s, and from his stories, it seemed like there were way more people playing live music than when I was a teen. Maybe The Beatles and cultural influence of 1960s music helped encourage people to play instruments. Maybe there was also more of a demand for live music since playing music at a club with records or a jukebox has limitations.
And as a teacher of young people for the past 15 years, there are fewer and fewer high school bands let alone musicians on the way up. It seems like young people love listening to music and attending concerts, but their desire to play it on instruments seems pretty underground or
non-existent with the exception of the handful of students I have met that make beats, rap, or play ukulele. But even this is not well-advertised.
So my question is: was this “proof you are a bass player” situation unspoken or spoken as in, did several people stand around and ask someone to play the song as proof, or was this more like people were jamming and someone would suggest the song, and if you couldn’t play it, you weren’t invited back to jam or play more gigs?
In my experience as a kid growing up and playing in bands in the 90s, one’s ability to join a band mostly relied on having equipment to play in a band. Having a legitimate giggable amp and not being a scary maniac seemed to get you pretty far. Of course having a PA system was a golden ticket in many cases.
There were maybe only two to three bands in my high school of 1800 students from 1995-1999. And I was in one of them. And when we graduated, one replaced us.
The owner of the music store I worked at played in bands in the late 60s and 70s, and from his stories, it seemed like there were way more people playing live music than when I was a teen. Maybe The Beatles and cultural influence of 1960s music helped encourage people to play instruments. Maybe there was also more of a demand for live music since playing music at a club with records or a jukebox has limitations.
And as a teacher of young people for the past 15 years, there are fewer and fewer high school bands let alone musicians on the way up. It seems like young people love listening to music and attending concerts, but their desire to play it on instruments seems pretty underground or
non-existent with the exception of the handful of students I have met that make beats, rap, or play ukulele. But even this is not well-advertised.
So my question is: was this “proof you are a bass player” situation unspoken or spoken as in, did several people stand around and ask someone to play the song as proof, or was this more like people were jamming and someone would suggest the song, and if you couldn’t play it, you weren’t invited back to jam or play more gigs?
The bass solo intro to NIB, Anesthesia, and RHCP Higher Ground
He said nothing about ‘solos’; he was talking about displaying ability to go beyond just plonking root notes like on “House Of The Rising Sun”, or whatever. “2120 S. Michigan”, a deep cut instrumental jam, is driven by that bassline, which may sound simple, but although it ain’t Jaco, there’s some subtle changes within the cycle; it’s not just playing a riff in G, and repeating in C...
It was appropriated by Thee Midnighters for their local hit, “Whittier Blvd”...
For me, “Sunshine...” was a benchmark, although it’s pretty simple, learning that run in “Hey Joe” was a breakthrough for me early on, “Going Up The Country” showed how much stamina you had, but the Stones’ “Live With Me” impressed people.
Interestingly enough, where I came from, most people I knew who played music were focused on original music. This meant that by the time I became committed enough to music to buy my own bass, all I really needed to get started was a bass and the willingness to pretty much do what the guy who wrote the song asked me to do. It was actually the perfect way to start.
Like I said I think it's a joke. Playing a complicated song makes you a bass player does it ?
That riff is not ‘complicated’, but it shows that you can navigate more than just “Louie Louie”, that you have a basic level of competency and wouldn’t be a time waster for whatever band was auditioning you. While, yes, it takes a certain skill to keep the groove going on even something basic like “In The Midnight Hour”, you still need to convey that you’re not Stu Sutcliffe(aka the Sid Vicious of the Beatles).
I started playing bass in 1972 at the age of 16. I learned a bunch of Zeppelin, and suddenly I became known in my town as a bass player.
As I progressed, I learned a bunch of Yes, including the entire Close to the Edge album, and stuff off of Fragile and The Yes Album. Years later, I ended up in a Yes tribute band.
So I guess what I did worked!
As I progressed, I learned a bunch of Yes, including the entire Close to the Edge album, and stuff off of Fragile and The Yes Album. Years later, I ended up in a Yes tribute band.
So I guess what I did worked!
I didn't mean the songs you listed where complicated. I was referring to what the op was trying to say.
For my money playing bass (and other instruments ) just be yourself music is all about expression develop your own sound learn of other's but above all BE YOU 
I know this will sound like braggadocio, but in my rock and roll days in the 70s and 80s I played a fretless and created my own lines to all the hits at the time.
To me, being a bassist meant being an artist. Being an artist, I wanted to put ME into a song. I didn’t want to play what was already played. I wanted to play what was in my head then make it happen through my fingers.
Maybe I didn’t play “Roundabout” like the record.......I did play it MY way.
Nobody complained. As a matter of fact they were in wonderment on how I could play without frets!!!
I never thought that playing a song note for note was verification that I could play bass. I’m a bass player because I’m skilled enough to play what I think the bass line should sound like. We already have the great Ray Brown’s bass lines. That doesn’t mean I have to play exactly like he did to be considered a “bassist”.
To me, being a bassist meant being an artist. Being an artist, I wanted to put ME into a song. I didn’t want to play what was already played. I wanted to play what was in my head then make it happen through my fingers.
Maybe I didn’t play “Roundabout” like the record.......I did play it MY way.
Nobody complained. As a matter of fact they were in wonderment on how I could play without frets!!!
I never thought that playing a song note for note was verification that I could play bass. I’m a bass player because I’m skilled enough to play what I think the bass line should sound like. We already have the great Ray Brown’s bass lines. That doesn’t mean I have to play exactly like he did to be considered a “bassist”.
This is exactly what I'm trying to say
