I'm the only bassist in my high school of over 1200 people, so when I walk around with my bass, I get asked questions. Usually, I'm very patient and willing to show people my instrument and explain it to them (eg. difference between bass and cello), but sometimes, I like to have a little fun. Sometimes I'll just make up the most ridiculous stuff about the bass, and people will believe me. Anybody else ever do this?
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Double Bass Questions about the bass.
- Thread starter nathanmcnathan
- Start date
Well, for example when people ask why my guitar is so big, I carefully explain to them that it is part of the woodwind family... doesn't work with anobody with musical experience, but funny as hell to all the musicians nearby.
Ohh,
I get that alot, too.
My school has really ignorant people, and I can't tell half the time when they're joking and when they're not.
If I walk down the hallway, I hear:
"Look, She's got a tuba!"
"Is that a cello?"
"Why don't you just play a normal size violin?"
"Is that heavy?"
"What is that?"
And the most famous...:
"Can I play that?"
I get that alot, too.
My school has really ignorant people, and I can't tell half the time when they're joking and when they're not.
If I walk down the hallway, I hear:
"Look, She's got a tuba!"
"Is that a cello?"
"Why don't you just play a normal size violin?"
"Is that heavy?"
"What is that?"
And the most famous...:
"Can I play that?"
And then, sometimes they don't even ask... just stroll up on the break and start playing it, like it's furniture or something. It's never a bassist who does it either, usually just some drunk conventioneer from East Bum****. :scowl:
John Sprague
Sam Shen's US Distributor
- Mar 10, 2003
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- Sales Manager, CSC Products Inc.
I like to play in really weird positions... I'll play left-handed for somebody who asks to try my bass, then when they play lefty, I'll tell them to play right. Or I play in thumb position near the nut, and try to use normal fingerings in the thumb-position area.
Ugh!
I know!
My friend plays violin, some random guy at our school comes up, grabs it out of her hands and is like,
"Can I play that?"
&&Then he manages to drop it.
The violin was miraculously ok, the only damage being the bridge and a lot of scratches, and her shoulder-rest broke in half.
But she wasn't much of a happy camper for the rest of the day.
Yeah... next time, instead of a verbal comeback, I'm thinkin'... stun gun.
But usually, I just ask them for a business card, and then I promise to come to their workplace and play, uninvited, with their tools of the trade.
But usually, I just ask them for a business card, and then I promise to come to their workplace and play, uninvited, with their tools of the trade.
This is why I use a bass wheel because as I roll the bass around I'm also wielding my endpin threatening like a club. 
My bass has a super-sharp endpin, one time I was walking down the hall with my friend after a concert, she was in front of me, and then she suddenly stops while i'm still walking, the next thing I hear is:
"OW!"
I felt so bad, and her poor leg has a scar thats like huge.
"OW!"
I felt so bad, and her poor leg has a scar thats like huge.
Jake deVilliers
Commercial User
- May 24, 2006
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- Owner of The Bass Spa, String Repairman at Long & McQuade Vancouver
"Ahh, then endpin stab. I've found it to work really well in scaring people away from my bass."
Its also very useful in bluegrass situations for clearing a path to the vocal mike. Incoming!
Its also very useful in bluegrass situations for clearing a path to the vocal mike. Incoming!
I do this alot.
Most of the time it's from my clumsiness,
but a couple of times its from being squished in between 6 other people, when there was a ton of space next to this guy standing next to me, && he wouldn't move over, so I "Accidentaly" poked some decent scratches into the dudes bass.
I'm the only string player in my school. Everybody else is either a brass or woodwind player. So, in concert band, I usually had to sit in the brass section. Sometimes I got stuck beside an annoying trombonist, and he would always grab my bow, mute my strings, or do some other stupidly annoying thing. So, I 'accidentally' poked him in the eye with my bow. No more problems for rest of the school year!
