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Recommendations for bassists to check out.

#61
steph_sec said:
Awesome! Thanks so much for your quick recommendations! I will start with Led Zeppelin!

I'm not on a time crunch, now that I'm more comfortable with playing I'm looking to start learning more on my own.
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Hi, and welcome to Talkbass!
I would highly recommend you google Carol Kaye. She has a forum for members, but you need to send her an email to get a password. She has a great series of books available, and is an excellent resource if you want to really understand music, and how to play bass.
 
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#64
DD Gunz said:
Bass was played by Glen Matlock or Steve Jones and none of it is what I would consider to be influential.
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(and don't forget the tragic Sid Vicious)

That's cool. I'm not a major Pistol packer, myself - but for reasons that the OriginalPoster posted about playing for not much more than a year, and with interests and material being punk and indie rock, and learning new stuff, I agreed with almost human's mention of them, in that light. I'd even include U2 in the early days as material that's easy to learn that fits the genres in being not too far removed from either - albeit more musical than the Pistols. "New Year's Day" is always a good one for self-teaching.

I think one can learn a lot from simplicity about the emotion and the basic groove and role of playing bass by looking into any style. Sex Pistols punk is a window on simplicity letting the emotion and anti-virtuosic side of it take the forward edge over theory and technique, while still giving one something to learn and hopefully conquer easily enough to both add to ideas and be an encouragement toward advancing further. And what those guys played weren't completely devoid of common techniques. Sometimes playing simple can be one of the harder things to do, especially if a player already has heavy chops. Simple can take a lot of personal discipline; to play with restraint and emotional energy, as well as sincerity and not looking like you're bored. With some punk, the parts might be basic, but the tempos and 2 minute stamina can be a challenge, too. And h-e-double-toothpicks - sometimes it's just fun to punk out and pogo about and not care about perfection. Part of being an artist is having the freedom to not be an artist, or be an anti-artist if you want :cool:

But all of that aside, I mainly reiterated since it was a genre of interest for a new player. They were just an example, and I expect she has the personal wisdom to pick her favorites :-)
 
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#65
steph_sec said:
Hello!

I'm new to the forum and to playing bass. I'm looking for recommendations to bassists that you follow or that would be good to research to learn from.

I began playing bass as my friends needed a bass player for their band. They had their first gig in a month and were desperate. So I'm coming into this as a newbie! We have now been playing together for a year, and I'm now looking to get deeper into playing.

So, who would you recommend checking out to someone like me?
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A trick for developing the relative hearing. Listen to a song (in the car for example) and try to figure out mentally the note before searching it on your instrument, with time and practice of the scales you will be able distinct clearly the intervals, very useful on a gig somebody start a song you don't know.
 
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#66
steph_sec said:
Hello!

I'm new to the forum and to playing bass. I'm looking for recommendations to bassists that you follow or that would be good to research to learn from.

I began playing bass as my friends needed a bass player for their band. They had their first gig in a month and were desperate. So I'm coming into this as a newbie! We have now been playing together for a year, and I'm now looking to get deeper into playing.

So, who would you recommend checking out to someone like me?
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I invite you to read all threads but in particular the one I started ...

Finger style playing discussion.
 
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#67
JollySpudd said:
(and don't forget the tragic Sid Vicious)

That's cool. I'm not a major Pistol packer, myself - but for reasons that the OriginalPoster posted about playing for not much more than a year, and with interests and material being punk and indie rock, and learning new stuff, I agreed with almost human's mention of them, in that light. I'd even include U2 in the early days as material that's easy to learn that fits the genres in being not too far removed from either - albeit more musical than the Pistols. "New Year's Day" is always a good one for self-teaching.

I think one can learn a lot from simplicity about the emotion and the basic groove and role of playing bass by looking into any style. Sex Pistols punk is a window on simplicity letting the emotion and anti-virtuosic side of it take the forward edge over theory and technique, while still giving one something to learn and hopefully conquer easily enough to both add to ideas and be an encouragement toward advancing further. And what those guys played weren't completely devoid of common techniques. Sometimes playing simple can be one of the harder things to do, especially if a player already has heavy chops. Simple can take a lot of personal discipline; to play with restraint and emotional energy, as well as sincerity and not looking like you're bored. With some punk, the parts might be basic, but the tempos and 2 minute stamina can be a challenge, too. And h-e-double-toothpicks - sometimes it's just fun to punk out and pogo about and not care about perfection. Part of being an artist is having the freedom to not be an artist, or be an anti-artist if you want :cool:

But all of that aside, I mainly reiterated since it was a genre of interest for a new player. They were just an example, and I expect she has the personal wisdom to pick her favorites :)
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This is the same reason i suggested the Pistols. No, the bass lines aren't earth-shattering, but they work in the context of the songs, and are great for a beginner to learn.
 
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#68
Poor OP. She joins talk bass, asks a nice question, and then gets pages and pages of words to sort through.

Here's another. Check out Royal Blood. Just the bassist (Mike Kerr) and the drummer, so it's super easy to hear the bass line, and it demonstrates how the bass can carry the entire song (well, the drums help, too).

 
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#70
Rocky said:
Hi, and welcome to Talkbass!
I would highly recommend you google Carol Kaye. She has a forum for members, but you need to send her an email to get a password. She has a great series of books available, and is an excellent resource if you want to really understand music, and how to play bass.
Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds great, thanks for letting me know about it! I will do that right now!
 
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#71
JollySpudd said:
In short (ha! as if I'm ever very brief :laugh: ) Start with what you love and what you know and what will help strengthen your immediate needs, and this will be the most encouraging toward advancement. Once you're bitten by the bass bug, and the music bug in general, you have a lifetime for broadening your appreciation of other genres, eras, and higher technical levels of listening and playing. It will come more naturally that way.
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Wow, thank you for such a detailed answer! I will definitely take your advice. Learn basslines of the songs that I love, and then I have a huge list in this forum to check out afterwards! :smug:
 
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#75
Rosebud said:
Greetings, kudos on being a 4th grade teacher! Zeppelin II is a good place to start for some. This is a little out of left field but have you ever heard of Stereolab? It's an older electronic type group with actual bass lines that some of which are fairly simple. Check it out.
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I have not heard of Stereolab, but I will for sure check them out. Thanks!
 
#79
ghostfather said:
If you are doing an indie punk thing, I'd recommend:

Stranglers - JJ Burnel is a unique bassist and way ahead of his time


(early) Cure - Simon Gallup is such a great bassist; pretty much my inspiration to start playing



Pere Ubu - Tim Wright - another bassist that really sticks out in the band (in a good way)



Peter Hook from Joy Division and New Order, the following is the first song I learned on bass:


my cover version:
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Thank you for the links! I will run through them. Can't wait to hear your cover! :laugh: It will be neat to hear what confident enough to post your bass cover sounds like!
 
#80
Rapisme said:
Hi,

My question is are you doing stuff by ear or trying to cop some rhythmic styling? Either way I would definitely suggest that you probe into some of David Keif books. As this will help you with some chord recognition as well as some styles within various time signature formats. I hope this doesn't in any way make you feel uncomfortable. I only suggest this cause you mentioned what bassists or songs we would recommend and my feeling is that you should listen to what you like, cop some licks off that and proceed on your quest to keep time and be the heart and soul of your band.!
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I'm really trying to do both, and more! But thank you, I will check out if there are any books written by him the next time I'm at a music store!
 
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