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The underappreciated bass player

Kipp Harrington

Kipp Harrington

Feb 8, 2018
6,138
8,979
62
Wauseon, Ohio
#1
I understand that I am preaching to the choir with this post. After a few Skrewball Peanut Butter Bourbons, I was alone with my thoughts and thought I would share.

For the most part, bass players are not recognized for the responsibilities and magnitude they offer and provide to music (and I am totally fine with this). They do not play music to get recognition from the populous or their peers. They genuinely know their responsibility in an ensemble and provide what is necessary to make the song musically meaningful.

When the public goes to see a band, they recognize a good guitar player, a good drummer, a good singer, but rarely will they recognize the importance and genius behind what a bass player offers to a song. I guess the same can be said for keyboardists.

I played guitar for over 30 years in bands and always enjoyed playing. However, once I started playing bass, I realized how important and wonderful an instrument it is. I guess I always realized that from a young age because I was so enamored with the bass when I heard it in songs. It was the one instrument that I could always identify with.

It is so nice to belong to a bass community like TB! I have learned so much from being a part of this community. So many knowledgeable people offering insight into various areas of bass playing. I have only been playing bass for two years and have so much to learn. It has truly been a Renaissance moment for me in my musical journey.

Ok, I'm off my soap box...lol. just had this inspiration to share my thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has helped me and guided me through discovering this wonderful instrument.
 
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#2
Kipp Harrington said:
I understand that I am preaching to the choir with this post. After a few Skrewball Peanut Butter Bourbons, I was alone with my thoughts and thought I would share.

For the most part, bass players are not recognized for the responsibilities and magnitude they offer and provide to music (and I am totally fine with this). They do not play music to get recognition from the populous or their peers. They genuinely know their responsibility in an ensemble and provide what is necessary to make the song musically meaningful.

When the public goes to see a band, they recognize a good guitar player, a good drummer, a good singer, but rarely will they recognize the importance and genius behind what a bass player offers to a song. I guess the same can be said for keyboardists.

I played guitar for over 30 years in bands and always enjoyed playing. However, once I started playing bass, I realized how important and wonderful an instrument it is. I guess I always realized that from a young age because I was so enamored with the bass when I heard it in songs. It was the one instrument that I could always identify with.

It is so nice to belong to a bass community like TB! I have learned so much from being a part of this community. So many knowledgeable people offering insight into various areas of bass playing. I have only been playing bass for two years and have so much to learn. It has truly been a Renaissance moment for me in my musical journey.

Ok, I'm off my soap box...lol. just had this inspiration to share my thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has helped me and guided me through discovering this wonderful instrument.
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I concur. Good post.:thumbsup:
 
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#6
From what I have seen locally, if you are a mediocre, but young and attractive band, musicianship and sheer talent pale in comparison. I shouldn’t bash - but here in Wisconsin I’ve watched a band made up of two sisters and a brother- good looking kids in their early 20’s garner praise that is laughable considering their actual ability. The bro plays bass, in that , he’s managed to identify and oftentimes hit the root note. Neither sister is a strong vocalist, but they sort of get that ‘sister harmony’ going. Sometimes. Drummer is solid - actually played with him once and I’m convinced he’s holding them together. The main thing is that both girls wear shorter skirts and the bro is buff from his day job. Maybe I’m just old and jealous, but they are so mediocre it’s painful to watch. They are booked solid. Must be the legs and biceps...
 
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#7
Guild B301 said:
Actually an average audience doesn’t recognize any of the musicians, nor what they do. Only the lead singer. Unless one of the players also happens to be the lead singer. They also believe the lead singer writes all the songs they sing.
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Sad. Why even bother if that's what you think? Besides, it's not the least bit true. The vast majority of people in audiences I've played for I have no problem telling Bass from guitar.
 
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#8
JimmyM said:
Sad. Why even bother if that's what you think? Besides, it's not the least bit true. The vast majority of people in audiences I've played for I have no problem telling Bass from guitar.
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I bother because that’s all I ever wanted to do. I guess it may depend on the type of music you play, as to who is in your audience. But, I really find that most people don’t have a clue about instruments, especially nowadays. But I think it’s always been that way. At least since the early 1900’s. For at least the last 70 years, most girls go because they have a crush on a singer, and most guys go because it makes them seem cool, or to pick up girls.
I tend to take a broad, long term view of the music business. And I’ve never considered it from the point of view of only doing it for fun. I believe that to sell enough, you have to appeal to the teenagers and young people with a lot of expendable income. Otherwise it’s almost impossible to make money. :)
 
#9
richntiff said:
. The main thing is that both girls wear shorter skirts and the bro is buff from his day job. Maybe I’m just old and jealous, but they are so mediocre it’s painful to watch. They are booked solid. Must be the legs and biceps...
Click to expand...


If i'm not mistaken, this has been the formula since Videos became a(the) thing. There was a time when "grown ups" (regardless of looks) made the music.

I think I came into music right around that time.

Video Killed the radio star. Its not just a song, its a thing.

Yeah, and to the OP, the baas player has always been the least loved one of the group.


YMMV

T$
 
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#10
I would like to posit that none of this is actually true anymore. Bass players are very appreciated now, at least among the younger generations. I'm 33, been playing since I was 16, and have always felt very appreciated by my bandmates and audiences. I'm probably given more respect than I ought to be honestly. If anything, my entire band gets ignored, not just me as the bass player lol. I've never heard anyone disrespect or downplay the importance of bass players in my life, and the only way I know about it at all is Talkbass. I get loads of comments about "slappin da bass" and what have you from random people. Even in high school, a time of utterly savage disregard for human kindness, I still never felt like I was "less than" for playing bass. Far from it in fact. I'm sorry for all you veteran guys who have never felt the love, but I hope you know that your struggle was not in vain. You seem to have succeeded in gaining widespread respect and appreciation for our instrument and craft, even if you have not enjoyed much of it yourselves. So I guess what I'm saying ultimately is thank you! We younger players owe you that.
 
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#13
Bands are always backwards: They'll kill themselves to round up some hotshot guitar player and/or frontman, then get anybody for bass and drums, when actually, if you've got no rhythm section, ya got nothing.

This may as well be nuclear physics in some obscure language to most musicians, can NOT get them to wrap their head around it.

Or as the old saying goes, 'if you want a friend, buy a dog'.
 
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#14
I've played solo guitar forever, Getting proficient in Chord Melody style is apparently my life's work?.. In a band setting however it's all the bass, I have little/no interest playing guitar in a band.

Many folks I've worked with have no idea that I play guitar and are dumbfounded when I do play something on one, It's always " Duh.. Why do you play bass?.." & the simple answer is the same it was 40 something years ago. I like to work!
(& nothing beats the warm tone of one)
 
#15
Kipp Harrington said:
I understand that I am preaching to the choir with this post. After a few Skrewball Peanut Butter Bourbons, I was alone with my thoughts and thought I would share.

For the most part, bass players are not recognized for the responsibilities and magnitude they offer and provide to music (and I am totally fine with this). They do not play music to get recognition from the populous or their peers. They genuinely know their responsibility in an ensemble and provide what is necessary to make the song musically meaningful.

When the public goes to see a band, they recognize a good guitar player, a good drummer, a good singer, but rarely will they recognize the importance and genius behind what a bass player offers to a song. I guess the same can be said for keyboardists.

I played guitar for over 30 years in bands and always enjoyed playing. However, once I started playing bass, I realized how important and wonderful an instrument it is. I guess I always realized that from a young age because I was so enamored with the bass when I heard it in songs. It was the one instrument that I could always identify with.

It is so nice to belong to a bass community like TB! I have learned so much from being a part of this community. So many knowledgeable people offering insight into various areas of bass playing. I have only been playing bass for two years and have so much to learn. It has truly been a Renaissance moment for me in my musical journey.

Ok, I'm off my soap box...lol. just had this inspiration to share my thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has helped me and guided me through discovering this wonderful instrument.
Click to expand...

I think there is a big missing piece in this which is the history of the common usage of bass.

Without trying to be mean, a sizable percentage of the non-musician public don't even know the difference between a bass and a guitar. Two similar objects with, eh some number of strings.

As a bass player, I've played in groups where I had really prominent bass parts, think a little overdrive, the main melodic and rhythmic part while guitar was more doing lead or noise parts. Comments from the audience after the set were often about how they liked this or that about my 'guitar playing.'

I have also played in groups where I played a real subtle bass role. There I was also the lead singer and all audience comments were pretty well about my singing.

My bass playing was good from a musician perspective in both cases. But one was an out front of the mix part and one was more felt than noticed.

I've also gigged on banjo, electric upright, upright, accordion. Many attractive women that have wanted to talk to me after gigs didn't know what these instruments were called.

But even those that know the instruments, would they know what a 'power trio' was? Nope. They don't have a vocabulary for the particular musical ensembles because that is minutia of the dedicated musicians.

For a lot of styles of modern music and music of my youth, the subtle bass part was dominant.

But there is no reason that is inherently so. Tons of electronic music modernly has the bass as a the main melodic/rhythmic focus. While much of that is synth bass, again, not inherent. Nothing is stopping you from having a drums, bass, synth group where the bass serves the role of the main driving instrument, the cake of the cake, while the synth does the icing, and the drums are the plate and sometimes the decoration.

Rather than anything inherent in bass, the biggest barrier is musician policing what is the proper role of bass. That is a mental rut. Art evolves.

The audience won't frankly be as phased as the musician as long as you flesh things out in an ensemble in a way that covers frequencies, rhythmic elements, and melody. They aren't as set on 'the correct way to do things,' some of them don't even know what damn instrument you're playing, the rest are not wedded to particular ensemble structures, they don't even know what those are.

And bass guitar is a young instrument, merely a few generations of people have played them. All its sensible placements in ensembles haven't been explored.

[insert comments about proper narrow role of bass here]
 
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#16
I get a lot of compliments mostly from guys, but our female lead singing is very good so she gets a lot of attention, one of our previous guitar players was very good and got noticed a lot. I would say our drummer is overlooked, but he his great, plays the part, doesn't overplay, fluent and steady time, doesn't play loud, he's the BL and does most of the bookings. When it comes to drummers some in the audience will notice somebody who is flashy, but it could be at the detriment to the overall sound and groove of the band.
 
#17
People tend to “listen” with their eyes. They usually gravitate to the singer and then anyone that gets a solo or a feature. Bass players with few exceptions are not featured. The person that goes into the crowd to play a solo gets attention. The guy standing in the background not as much.
 
#19
I'd go so far as to say that even in the case of bassists who perform way out in front -- McCartney, Flea, Sting, Geddy Lee, Larry Graham -- many audience members think of them as "guitarists", because they can't discern the difference, don't understand the instruments' roles and/or assume that the out front people are always guitarists.
 
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#20
hmmmm....i love TB, but the "bass player gets no respect" meme just doesn't register/resonate with my experience nor any of my bass-player friends. i've learned to accept/expect that specific take in these pages, but it's hardly the norm/truth out in the real world where audiences appreciate the music they hear and that they're willing to patronize. some members seem to rely on this 'false modesty' thing instead of putting in the hard work and dedication...it's self-fulfilling --- what a shame!

on a twist of mccartney's line ("and in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give") i'd suggest that if more bass players did the work of becoming musicians, and presented with something special = there would be less sniveling about lack of attention and more attestations of appreciation! ;)

less whining, more practicing = greater recognition and job satisfaction. (true for everything else: bass players are no exception!)

i think you need more than luck to be appreciated as a musician, but good luck to those of you who suffer from a deficit of proper recognition...and happy new year! :thumbsup:
 
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