The Inevitable Question: Why The Bass?

[DirtDog]

It’s all I ever really heard listening to any music when I was younger. Bass. And drums. I just understood it.

Only when I got a little more sophisticated did I hear guitar…around the same time I first heard Zeppelin…and figured what was going on there.

 

[Johnny StingRay]

To attract the girls, of course! I mean bass is way larger than a guitar…………..longness of the neck……if any girl asked if I was “overcompensating” for an inadequacy, I’d just tell her to meet me after the show and she can do her own comparison!!! Haha, wink, wink……………not really, I was a gump when I started playing 46 years ago and the girls never talked to me………sad.

 

[digmeout]

I blame it entirely on Mr. McCartney, and those first couple of Beatles albums.

 

[pfschim]

Just drawn to it I guess. Sang in church since I was a very young person and I just seemed drawn to work out the vocal bass parts. Also, my Dad (RIP) was a pro bass player (UR and electric), and low brass player (tuba and trombone) and I suppose there must have been some adult/child patterning going on there too, although my Dad never directly taught me anything on bass. I stared on piano at 6, which in my musical family, was where everyone started. After a year of piano, I got to choose an instrument and I didn't even blink when choosing bass (UR). I stayed with piano/keys thru my highschool years (which helped me a lot over the years) but bass became my main instrument from that day through today. Still love it and I'm still drawn to the how bass is so fundamental to pretty much all forms of music.

 

[Davebass77]

Lead singer turned bass player. Way back in the late 70s we kept losing our bass player due to being a flake or drugs or any reason. I've always loved the low end; bass is what I listen to first when I listen to music, how it relates to the melody. Thanks Macca! Went to a music store going out of business and picked up a beginner bass (Ric copy, don't remember the brand; yes, still have it) and a Kustom 30 watt amp. Still work at playing and singing lead, but harmony is the fun part.

 

[Titch]

It was Jah Wobble that drew me to bass guitar.

 

[mongo2]

Why bass?

Because the four note bass walkdown in the intro to Jingle Bell Rock really grabbed the attention of my 6 year old brain back in the late '50s.

In the 60 years I've played music I also played accordion, keyboards and guitar but bass has always been special and I've played it much much much more than the others.

 

[rtav]

Well, my friend was John, so I was going to be Paul.

It’s been 45 years and I still hope to be Paul one day.

 

[Flamingo21]

Because nothing else matters.

 

[sabre79]

Open question for all TBers: Why the bass?

I had a friend that played guitar and a friend that played bass. The rest is history.

 

[kev451]

I was just reading this interview or discussion between Mike Watt and Jah Wobble published back in 2016. It's good little read because it points to some things I didn't know and made imediately interested in to point researching, adding more depth my own knowledge about music. It's also a good one because it gets to this essential or inevitable question; why the bass?

If you play the bass, like me, you've almost certainly reflected on the question of why you chose the bass, trying identify the reasons you can put into words. If you play the bass, it's possible, if not likely, you've been asked by others who are curious to know why.

Anyway, I love this section because it's so spot on I feel compelled to put it here.

Mike Watt: Why the bass?
Jah Wobble: It was always going to be bass. I’d been to blues dances, like, these house parties with Jamaicans and of course seeing Family Man play. So you got this one guy with this one instrument called an electric bass and when you get the right sound it’s like you could directly connect to the f***ing universe.

Mike Watt: You feel it a lot more than you hear it.
Jah Wobble: I still feel like that. You know—when you stand onstage and play the heavy bass you just feel like you’re plugged straight into the f***ing universe. Into infinity. It’s an incredible feeling still. A guitar is a different trick—it’s a different kind of thing. Whereas with a bass you feel kind of rooted somehow as well so it was always going to be bass.​

Link Removed

Open question for all TBers: Why the bass?

My dad owned a club in Dominican Republic it wasn’t anything fancy. But he would have Spanish bands who played Salsa and Merengue play. But he always looked for Reggae bands from Jamaica. Growing up I’d go and help the bands set up. Watching bands play I just felt the bass within me. Something about it spoke to me.
here I am 40 years later a bass player who’s recorded and toured. And oddly enough Isay not Spanish music. I play rock and hardcore punk from NYC. Love ya dad miss ya.

 

[tpaul]

I always figured the default answer to this question was "because the other guitarists were better than me."

 

[vvvmmm]

Because I played guitar for about 20 years and wrote originals. I got into recording and didn't always have a bassist. I started playing bass to record my stuff, and then put together a cuppla bands to play it and played bass as often as guitar. 20 years later I play guitar a little better (or at least more uniquely, because I play lead and use lots of FX), but play bass just fine, and get the same joy from both. And when some asks what I play, I answer "bass, and guitar" in that order. I truly have no preference, other than I want to keep playing both. (I also also do percussion and keys, banjo and mando, not nearly as well, and just yesterday received a koto I ordered last month.)

 

[GregT]

I play bass because it is one of the three main instruments of the music I like. Bass, guitar, and drums. I play all three, but I'm the least proficient at drums.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I was just reading this interview or discussion between Mike Watt and Jah Wobble published back in 2016. It's good little read because it points to some things I didn't know and made imediately interested in to point researching, adding more depth my own knowledge about music. It's also a good one because it gets to this essential or inevitable question; why the bass?

If you play the bass, like me, you've almost certainly reflected on the question of why you chose the bass, trying identify the reasons you can put into words. If you play the bass, it's possible, if not likely, you've been asked by others who are curious to know why.

Anyway, I love this section because it's so spot on I feel compelled to put it here.

Mike Watt: Why the bass?
Jah Wobble: It was always going to be bass. I’d been to blues dances, like, these house parties with Jamaicans and of course seeing Family Man play. So you got this one guy with this one instrument called an electric bass and when you get the right sound it’s like you could directly connect to the f***ing universe.

Mike Watt: You feel it a lot more than you hear it.
Jah Wobble: I still feel like that. You know—when you stand onstage and play the heavy bass you just feel like you’re plugged straight into the f***ing universe. Into infinity. It’s an incredible feeling still. A guitar is a different trick—it’s a different kind of thing. Whereas with a bass you feel kind of rooted somehow as well so it was always going to be bass.​

Link Removed

Open question for all TBers: Why the bass?

I’m comfortable with it’s inherent logic as opposed to other instruments. From my earliest remembrances, I understood the walk down to the 5 on a major scale, band back up again to the tonic.

I started playing folk music finger picking at 10, playing the bass parts with my thumb/ By my early tweens I had the major and minor modes down to a T. Then my 6th grade teacher recruited me to play bass in polka band. After a couple gigs he told myband director about me playing bass. Instantly the band had a need for a bassist that started it, 55 yers later, I’m still at it.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Well, me and some friends went on a bender this one night when we were 19 or so. At some point we all realized we played guitar, so we should start a band! We decided one friend, who wasn't present that night, would be the bassist.

That friend agreed, but the first rehearsal he showed up without a bass. Next thing we knew, he bailed. I heard from another friend that he knew someone who was selling a bass for the equivalent of EUR 50, so I said: " I'll do it!". Went to buy that bass, got 3 minutes worth of lessons and off I went.

I had no clue what I was doing... Luckily my dad had played in bands so he gave me some directions. That "band" lasted three rehearsals. I ended up in a different band with one friend for years, but ultimately I am the only one of us who still actively plays and gigs

 

[40Hz]

I like the low notes. It’s as simple as that for me. So that’s what I chose to play.

 

[Ostie]

Because my two friends both played guitar, and somebody had to play bass, and it wasn’t gonna be them, so I stepped up. They still play guitar and I still play bass. Guess who’s played in more bands?

 

[staurosjohn]

So - I played horns… wound up playing tuba - was informed *that* wasn’t really ‘cool’… so I switched to BG

 

[Klangfarbe]

Because... The Bass chose me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯