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Really hate the misconception about bass players

#61
Zertler said:
"Very few people choose to play Bass. There are people in the audience who like to listen to the Bass, because they like those low frequencies, and the way they make their bodies feel -but the role of the Bass player in the band is not usually the most exciting role, because he has to play repeated figures. We have a viola parallel here: electric Bassists are often failed guitar players, demoted to this duty after a band meeting in a garage when hey were thirteen."

Frank Zappa (excerpted from his 1989 book: The Real Frank Zappa Book, Poseidon Press, Chapter 8 All About Music, Section: The Anthropology of the Rock and Roll Band, pg. 164)
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With all due respect, Frank Zappa can kiss my ass.

I took up the bass in April of this year after wanting to learn to play for literally decades. I do not play guitar. I have never played guitar. I have no immediate plans to play guitar because I've never wanted to play guitar.

My neighbor who is an excellent guitar player told me that good bassists are always in demand because the ratio of bassists to guitarists is about 100 to 1. I don't know if that true or not, but I don't really mind because I've never had the desire to stand up in front and shred.
 
#62
Ironbar said:
With all due respect, Frank Zappa can kiss my ass.

I took up the bass in April of this year after wanting to learn to play for literally decades. I do not play guitar. I have never played guitar. I have no immediate plans to play guitar because I've never wanted to play guitar.

My neighbor who is an excellent guitar player told me that good bassists are always in demand because the ratio of bassists to guitarists is about 100 to 1. I don't know if that true or not, but I don't really mind because I've never had the desire to stand up in front and shred.
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+1
Guitar doesn't interest me, bass does. As for demand, don't care - I'm learning for myself.
 
#63
Misconceptions / stereotypes? I don't like them, but let's face it, we have to live with them.

Bass players are not necessarily frustrated wannabe guitarists.
Mathematicians are not necessarily nerds.
Nerds are not necessarily boring.
Introverts are not necessarily insecure.
Middle aged white guys are not necessarily incapable of enjoying dubstep or hip-hop.
[members of X political party] are not necessarily [evil, stupid]
etc.

Maybe the best thing we can to to counter such assumptions is to not make them ourselves? Just a thought.
 
#64
i have never heard anyone tell me that i am a failed guitarist, that's why i switched to bass. although, it is quite true lol

i also noticed a lot of bass players are very insecure with their role, and are extra sensitive when one person says something about the bass being easy. i find it pointless to argue with them ... instead, i just play. im quite lucky my band gives me enough room to do something cool on bass. and its also kinda cool cause it changes the general impression people have about the bassist.

my only complaint is that my band does not understand it when i song write with a bass... they'd rather hear that i demo songs on guitar.
 
#65
IncX said:
i have never heard anyone tell me that i am a failed guitarist, that's why i switched to bass. although, it is quite true lol

i also noticed a lot of bass players are very insecure with their role, and are extra sensitive when one person says something about the bass being easy.
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The thing is should it matter if what you play is easy? Since when is music an athletic competition? (don't anwser that...i know it's what it is for at least 2/3 of musicians out there...its just unfortunate) Your only concern as not only a bassist but ANY musician should be, am i bringing something to the song? Would the song be significantly lessened if I didn't play this? If the answer is yes, then you are a good musician. Sometimes it frustrates me actually how some of my favorite songs are so easy to play. Because then, as someone who writes original, you think how is it that I can play any of these instruments used in this song as well or better but CAN'T actually understand how to WRITE such a great song... That's the magic touch i guess.

And about songwriting on bass which you mentioned, I compose all parts of my songs (bass, guitar , keyboards and drums) and 95% of the time i start with the bass. All the best songs i ever wrote started on bass in fact. I've always done it this way and years later i learned that this is the way two of my favorite bands usually operate, rhythm section first...
 
#71
That's a big part of why I enjoy playing the bass; an important role without having to be a frontman or soloist. Being a supporting player and backup singer suits me perfectly. No-one relegated me to it though, it's very much my own choice.
 
#72
avvie said:
And that's when you play the Robert DeLeo card.
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Actually, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking of!

I'm not sure if you follow STP on Facebook, but it's pretty crazy how many people consider Scott Weiland the main guy in that band. No doubt he was a large part of it, but when it came to song writing it was dominantly the DeLeo brothers.
 
#73
styles720 said:
I originally wanted to learn the acoustic, but my mom (bless her heart) hired a bassist to teach me the 'guitar'. Honestly that was an awesome mistake she made because I quickly fell in love with the bass and couldn't imagine myself playing anything else.

A few years down the line, as I really started playing in bands, studio's and churches, I realised that other musicians have this assumption that if you play bass its because you aren't good at playing guitar. I felt annoyed because I didn't want to be looked at as an inferior musician and at that time since I was starting to really like the electric guitar, I decided to pick it up.

Forward a couple of years to the present, I now mainly play the electric guitar and I am very happy with my decision, but I still play bass. I love both of them equally even though I pay attention and bop my head to what the bassist is playing most of the time lol.

I just want to know your thoughts on this issue on how others view bassists (as people who can't play guitar) and if there is some truth to it

PS: I didn't mean to post this at bass humour.
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Well here it is.

Not good at playing guitar? How many guitarists aren't very good at playing guitar?

Listen to Walk Away Renee, Money or any one of a thousand other songs and ask what's really making this sing happen.
 
#74
Zertler said:
"Very few people choose to play Bass. There are people in the audience who like to listen to the Bass, because they like those low frequencies, and the way they make their bodies feel -but the role of the Bass player in the band is not usually the most exciting role, because he has to play repeated figures. We have a viola parallel here: electric Bassists are often failed guitar players, demoted to this duty after a band meeting in a garage when hey were thirteen."

Frank Zappa (excerpted from his 1989 book: The Real Frank Zappa Book, Poseidon Press, Chapter 8 All About Music, Section: The Anthropology of the Rock and Roll Band, pg. 164)

I also cite the movie "That Thing You Do" from 1996. The original bass player character doesn't even get the dignity of a name! He's known as TB Player... Although his one-day replacement character gets both a name and a nickname "Wolfman" (too scary).

Closer to home, my own drummer gets annoyed when I change mid-set from my beloved Rickenbacker 4004 to my G&L 1500 for that funky thump, pop, and twang needed for the dance material. Apparently I'm interrupting the flow for, "an audience of one" (meaning me).

Yes, many (musicians and proletariat alike) look upon the Bass as a demotion and not nearly as important or glamorous as the flashy guy waving his guitar around like a weeny.
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And yet Jack Bruce, a force of nature, while starting on Cello never had any intention of playing guitar.
 
#78
gumbynotpokey said:
That said, guitar and keyboard are looked upon as "real" instruments by some musicians, as opposed to others, such as bass.
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Which is ironic, since certain high-brow circles considered the guitar an inferior instrument until Segovia came along.

I'm largely in the camp that the only people who actually think bass is an easy version of guitar or the instrument is made up of failed guitarists are know-it-all 14 year old kids and inexperienced musicians (I wouldn't say only "true" musicians understand, because that would be a No True Scottsman fallacy).
 
#79
mellowinman said:
Actually, I did. It was the same guy! He is in two bands, and first he screwed up all the bass parts in Band 1, and then he screwed up all the rhythm guitar parts in Band 2.

And a LOT of people complimented him for it.
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There may be a big lesson to be learned here.

What was his stage presence like?

Nevermind...I just figured out who it was.
 

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