Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
stop wanking and play the bass
- Thread starter metalmariachi
- Start date
Again there seems to be a loss of perspective in that what you think is "wank" or, as stated in another thread, "wankery most foul" could actually be exactly what someone else wants to hear. And to them, what you consider great solid bass playing could be as boring as listening to paint dry.
I personally find myself attracted to many different forms of expression, especially on bass, an instrument I love. I may not always be in the mood for Victor, nor am I always in the mood for Grand Funk Railroad, but at various times I have heartily enjoyed both, and I will continue to do so in the future.
If music stores are so stressful to some of you guys, maybe you should stop going to them?? Expecting 19 year old bassists (or 49 yr old bassists!) to stop copping their favorite slap riffs in the music store is absolutely a losing proposition, no matter how many of these threads you start on TB.
I personally find myself attracted to many different forms of expression, especially on bass, an instrument I love. I may not always be in the mood for Victor, nor am I always in the mood for Grand Funk Railroad, but at various times I have heartily enjoyed both, and I will continue to do so in the future.
If music stores are so stressful to some of you guys, maybe you should stop going to them?? Expecting 19 year old bassists (or 49 yr old bassists!) to stop copping their favorite slap riffs in the music store is absolutely a losing proposition, no matter how many of these threads you start on TB.
In one sense you are correct. Being a privately owned forum, speech can be controlled by the moderators. We all accept this when we register.
The biggest single complaint Ive heard about free speech is that other people are using it to express differing opinions.
Back on subject .
Not every song needs or is improved by a 20 minute bass solo.
Also just because you dont play solos doesnt mean youre not a great bass player.
MM
not everyone wants their function to just be a supporting role for guitar players to solo over.
growth ain't easy some times.
growth ain't easy some times.
1969
1970
1974
1970
1971
1973
If all that really old stuff is your thing...cool. I don't think that makes those bassist any better than any bassists playing today. Frankly, Classic Rock makes me a little queezy. Sorry, I'm sure those guys were respected in their day but I'm just not that impressed with anything I heard on those vids.
Some of those guys played alot of notes. Is it NOT wanking when you play the same thing the guitar plays but it IS wanking if you play something that the guitar isn't also playing?
Thank you for posting this! Everywhere you look it's bass solo, bass solo, bass solo.
If they wanted to play solos then play freakin' guitar.
If they wanted to play solos then play freakin' guitar.
belgabass said:
Worst logic I've ever heard. All instruments have artistic value and freedom of expression in their own right. It has nothing to do with soloing or not soloing. It's about creating music, which comes from the soul, on whatever instrument the artist wants to create it on. If you don't like it, who cares. It's not about you. It's about the artist.
- Oct 24, 2005
- 92
- 0
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ritter, DR, Jim Dunlop, Hartke
- Oct 24, 2005
- 92
- 0
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ritter, DR, Jim Dunlop, Hartke
I do see your point but lets be honest, it's pretty easy not to hear bassists soloing.... just listen to pretty much anything. One might even say you have to go looking for bass solos to find them.
...True, If you search for "great bass playing" on youtube you'll most likely find stanley, jaco, victor and the ox... lots of players that helped push the instrument forward by exploring it's capacity and challenging it's role... and you'll find a lot of lesser known and younger players trying to just make their instrument sound cool, and yes, you'll find people just trying to play fast.
... Personally, I really enjoy watching people create in all sorts of ways on this wonderful instrument.
YouTube - Band of Skulls - "Light of the Morning"
YouTube - The Kills - Hook and line
Invalid Link Removed
YouTube - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California (Video)
YouTube - New Fang
YouTube - MEATHEAD Live by PINCHES BOLILLOS
all “modern” and a solo thrown in for those who need it.
MM
YouTube - The Kills - Hook and line
Invalid Link Removed
YouTube - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California (Video)
YouTube - New Fang
YouTube - MEATHEAD Live by PINCHES BOLILLOS
all “modern” and a solo thrown in for those who need it.
MM
Agree to disagree in general - I felt like I was letting my instrument down until I let myself realize that there were other players whose musical expression spoke to me more than really technical stuff, like:
YouTube - Morphine - The Saddest Song
Honestly, two of the best albums for bass guitar, for me, are Morphine's 'Like Swimming' and 'The Night'. Just, such beautiful melodies..
And something more modern:
YouTube - Gabriel Mintz - Desert Sky (Live on KEXP)
As far as I'm concerned, perfect bass.
YouTube - Morphine - The Saddest Song
Honestly, two of the best albums for bass guitar, for me, are Morphine's 'Like Swimming' and 'The Night'. Just, such beautiful melodies..
And something more modern:
YouTube - Gabriel Mintz - Desert Sky (Live on KEXP)
As far as I'm concerned, perfect bass.
When watching someone like Wooten, I am awe struck at the dedication and skill, there is no doubt he is talented. But I never resonated with his playing style, it worked for him, not my thing. I always feel like everyone thinks that is how all bass players should be. I work in a music store and all the guitarists think that I should be slapping and pulling all sorts of strings off the guitar.
No.
Thats not me.
Thanks for this thread and how it plainly states that playing the bass the way you do it, is okay. Yeah, you "wank" and you have skill, but I play the bass and have skill as well.
No.
Thats not me.
Thanks for this thread and how it plainly states that playing the bass the way you do it, is okay. Yeah, you "wank" and you have skill, but I play the bass and have skill as well.
I can be blown away by the technical skill of someone like Victor Wooten as well, and i know he is hardly a one-trick-pony, or a not stop slap player. In my opinion, that slap style is fine as an interesting musical effect, and one of many that a bass player might have in his arsenal, so to speak. But, to me.. it's not deep enough to sustain a whole album!!! (or whatever they call em these days). It's akin to a player mastering harmonics and then playing them constantly on every tune. It just bores me after one or two songs. Once again, my opinion only... but to worship that style, to me kind of diminishes the vast breadth and depth of the instrument.
To underline the example.. you ever listen to Indian Tabla music??. Great in it's own way.. but because of the percussive style and timbre of the instument.. you can play it loud, soft, upside down, sideways, inside, outside and it is always going to sound just like it does.. An electric bass does not need to be so limited..by no means. But I feel that slap playing makes it into that kind of an instrument.
To underline the example.. you ever listen to Indian Tabla music??. Great in it's own way.. but because of the percussive style and timbre of the instument.. you can play it loud, soft, upside down, sideways, inside, outside and it is always going to sound just like it does.. An electric bass does not need to be so limited..by no means. But I feel that slap playing makes it into that kind of an instrument.
Sometimes we don't have a choice..... If you play jazz/latin/fusion/funk music, there are sometimes where your bass lines are more complex or solo-istic, especially when walking at high tempos or playing something by Maria Schneider (Just as examples).
YouTube - Bombshelter Beast part 1 (theme)
As part of my requirement for school, I need to play bop-style solos at 260 bpm. It means that I have to get bit wanky sometimes.
I think the point is we all do have a choice, and we really don't need anyone else to validate what we choose to play. You don't have to play Latin jazz funk, or back up a guitar with whole notes, but if it floats yer boat don't let anyone tell you different.
How to make a trolling thread on TalkBass:
1. Post some music that you personally enjoy
2. Add rhetoric implying that some genre is real music and musicians playing some other genre should listen to some real music.
Relevant Post
1. Post some music that you personally enjoy
2. Add rhetoric implying that some genre is real music and musicians playing some other genre should listen to some real music.
Relevant Post
Here we go again. Why do some folks feel compelled to tell everyone else "what and how" to play a bass???
scottbass
Bass lines like a big, funky giant
Uh...maybe because it's PERFORMANCE art? And if you don't please enough listeners, soon you won't be performing and it won't be PERFORMANCE art, just another guy wanking in his bedroom, basement, wherever.
I don't deny anyone any particular style. There is definitely a market for "artists" who perform music in a style that only appeals to similar-minded "artists". Some people enjoy listening to Wooten. The rest of us categorize his style as "wanking".
Hey, some people actually enjoyed the bass stylings of Sid Vicious!
