Responding to "the bass is a lesser instrument" comments

[Verb the Noun]

Cracking up at this thread! A whole lotta y'all must be FUN at parties. =P

1. There is story after story of people leaning how to play bass AFTER joining a band. The stereotype is there for a reason.
2. There has been good natured teasing and crap slinging in every band I've ever been in. The majority of the "bass is a lesser instrument" comments have been from friends and band mates with no malicious intent.

I read the OP and thought it was funny. I've had the occasional musician outright say that bass was easy in all seriousness, but it's never bothered me in the slightest. I know what I bring to the table, so it just cracks me up when it happens. Thus my standard "here ye go, show me" response.

Lets be honest, you could teach a non-musician how to fake You've Got Another Thing Coming by JP in under a minute. Might not sound great to a bass player, but riding the F# for 4 minutes isn't very difficult and no one else in the bar would even notice. Does that make bass a lesser instrument? Not at all, but at least be honest enough with yourselves to understand why someone would think/say it.

 

[IamGroot]

162 angst filled posts.

No professional musician would ever call bass a lesser instrument. But at certain jam sessions you can get an attitude from the guitarist.

Case in point. Two guitarists huddle on stage with their backs to drummer and me. I ask what are we playing and one guitarists kicks off a song without answering. Drummer and I follow with a shrug. Same thing next tune. A blues shuffle. Drummer gives me the eye. He and I play it straight until the guitar solo and we move into polyrhythms plus me answering the guitar solo crap with cutesy bass fills. He ends his solo, we go back to being the humble rhythm section. Song ends and he asks whuttiphluch. Shrug. Ask what his next song is. He unplugs and disappears. New guitarist steps in. Happy times resume.

Never cross the bass or drums.

 

[JoshS]

Oh, you'd be surprised.

Viola players get all the **** among the orchestral players. If there's one instrument that truly has it bad, it's the viola. Bass doesn't even come close (in my opinion it's mainly because the outer voices are the most important ones in a score traditionally, so bass enjoys a fairly favorable reputation in orchestral settings).

Interesting...

 

[IamGroot]

2nd Violin doesnt get much respect either.

 

[IamGroot]

Oh, you'd be surprised.

Viola players get all the **** among the orchestral players. If there's one instrument that truly has it bad, it's the viola. Bass doesn't even come close (in my opinion it's mainly because the outer voices are the most important ones in a score traditionally, so bass enjoys a fairly favorable reputation in orchestral settings).

 

[Artman]

Never had that happen in real life. Even some jerks who I played with during the 1990's were never condescending to bass players about being "lesser talented" musicians. They were just condescending to everyone who played in another band. No matter how successful those other bands might have been. No wonder the bass player slot had a revolving door.
A kid who used to work at a bike shop with me made a few jokes about me "not being a real musician, just a bass player", but then I asked him what musical instrument he plays, and the answer was silence.

 

[Rich Fiscus]

By responding you lose the argument.

Never wrestle a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it.

 

[devnulljp]

Never argue with idiots, they'll only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[oysteivi]

I'll agree and laugh. If the comment was meant as a joke, we are now having a good time. If it was meant as a dig, well, I'm still having fun.

If I still want to talk to the person, I might point out that me and the drummer are tasked with making the guitarists sound good, which isn't always easy, let me tell ya.

 

[Michedelic]

there's a vast difference between being able to play a bass, and to play it very well.

It takes time. Practice. talent. To learn dexterity. To learn dynamics. Choosing proper tone. To learn how to lock in with a drummer, and fit into the song. But yes, anyone can learn root notes and bang away at simple tunes like Dee Dee Ramone, but most music situations require more than that.

There are a number of Ramones tunes that have more chord changes than quite a few Beatles songs, y'know.

 

[Michedelic]

Bass strings are thicker, longer, and make things vibrate.

 

[QORC]

There are a number of Ramones tunes that have more chord changes than quite a few Beatles songs, y'know.

oh? example? I've been a Ramones fan for over 35 years. saw them live 6 times. I never saw Dee Dee do anything but pretty much root notes no more than +/- 3 frets in any direction. Most of their songs, at best, center on 4 chords...so I'm curious as to what Beatle-esque tunes you're referring to

 

[RustyAxe]

Witty comeback? Why? Anyone who makes that sort of comment, and I've heard it too often over the past 50+ years, is an ignoramus and wouldn't catch the joke anyway. I just walk away.

 

[Brewsbrother]

Another thread here got me thinking - what are the best responses when someone gives one of the multitude of "the bass is a lesser instrument" comments? You know, the "you only have 4 strings" or "you're only playing one note at a time" comments other musicians like to make.

So what are some of the good comebacks people have come up with? And if they are specific to another instrument please note as well.

Example:
Guitarist: Bass is easy, you only have 4 strings!
Bassist: Yeah, but at least they stay in tune for more than one song.

"Well, the spine gets a lot less attention than the brain, but try functioning without one."

 

[Bass Momma]

....People tend to listen with their eyes. "

THIS!! People are not listening with their ears. Which is why they go for big names, pretty young girls, dancers, light shows, and on. And why they'll pay hundreds of dollars, or more, to see a big-name band in their 70s, or a celebrity-headed band (as in film stars running bands), from 100 yards back in a stadium, rather than seeing some great local players for free, or close to it. The psychology of music appreciation....

 

[Dreamsinger]

The best response is to get really good at guitar, drums, and bass then you can do the reverse of what @Verb the Noun suggests and pick up the other instrument and shred away on it, and say seems about the same.

My guess is the worst musician in a group is often the bass player so it would stand to reason that playing bass is easy to most people's observation. Hard to argue if you are chugging along playing root notes only in your songs.

In the typical "classic rock" bar band the worst musician usually *is* the bass player but in bands whose repertoire is more sophisticated the bass player usually the best. Guitarists *HATE* having me put down my bass to show them how something should be played.

 

[sqlb3rn]

Are you on Facebook? The next time I need the perspective of a random talentless hack I'll hit you up.

 

[malcolm.mcintyr]

So I guess I should stop telling my brass section that they only spit into pipes

 

[RoaDan]

Bass is a lesser instrument but still powerful enough to get your girlfriends undivided attention

I wish... when I was younger my girlfriend told me she had no idea which instrument I was playing after watching me rehearse with the band for 2 hours. My wife tells me the same thing now... 40+ years later. I tell her it's the instrument you are dancing to... plus the drums. You don't dance to the lead vocals! I have never had a musician call the bass a "lesser" instrument. Quite the opposite, of the 3 six stringers in my present band only one will even think about picking up the bass (but rarely) the other two look at it as if it would bite their fingers off yet I play rhythm guitar quite competently... go figure...

 

[SouthpawBass]

If I gave "that someone" my bass to show me how it is done, chances are he/she is going to be right handed and I'm left handed, and so are my basses. I don't know many people who can play a bass upside down (though I have seen a few on YouTube).