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Thunderbird Club

#327,801
JJR58 said:
Related/unrelated.

I also wanted to learn guitar.
My brother was a better guitar player then I’ll ever be a bass player.
And he learned quickly.
It was second nature to him.

After years of practicing, it was bass that I knew was my thing.

But my brother……
Would pick up my bass and play stuff that I was like, how can you do that?!
Click to expand...
The natural-born/talented players can wow people right out of the box, but many times (and I'm not talking about your brother ;)) they don't fully capitalize on their talent for various reasons so only go so far. I've know those people. Less natural-born players with a passion to learn and get better at their craft can achieve their goals with hard work. I know I'm in that category. I was gifted with a good ear, but have always worked hard to be the player I am. Playing bass (since 1966) has always been my #1 goal as a musician.
 
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#327,804
Chucky Stiletti said:
yeah, but that feels more accepted for some reason.....the other way seems like taboo....
Click to expand...

Some may think that bass is easier because there are less strings but it takes a certain talent to comp or play counterpoint to a vocal melody, guitar part, creating the foundation for a piece of music, or play somewhere in the middle with enigmatic fills and accents-
 
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#327,805
JJR58 said:
Related/unrelated.

I also wanted to learn guitar.
My brother was a better guitar player then I’ll ever be a bass player.
And he learned quickly.
It was second nature to him.

After years of practicing, it was bass that I knew was my thing.

But my brother……
Would pick up my bass and play stuff that I was like, how can you do that?!
Click to expand...
I started on piano, then switched to guitar, then when I got to college, there were a million guitarists. All of them were better than me. So I picked up bass guitar. It was like coming home. My fingers just kinda knew how it all worked in a way that they didn't on any other instrument. Funny how that works. And there are musicians who are far better than me who put my bass playing to shame. But they don't want to play bass, so I'm ok with it.
 
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#327,808
ectoflanger said:
Some may think that bass is easier because there are less strings but it takes a certain talent to comp or play counterpoint to a vocal melody, guitar part, creating the foundation for a piece of music, or play somewhere in the middle with enigmatic fills and accents-
Click to expand...
Being fairly clueless as a 13yr old in 1966, (definitely different than 13yr olds today) I did choose a bass because it had only four strings and was visually bigger than a guitar. (I was already tall at 13) Regardless, I never felt it was 'easy'. There's many approaches to one's end-game and many reasons why one path is taken over another, but in retrospect I know that I was meant to be a bass-player.
 
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#327,810
ectoflanger said:
A while back I was talking to Mike "Smitty" Smythe of MJS Custom Pickups about making some pickups for my black 1985 Aria Pro II ZZB, and they're being based in Missassagua, Ontario, I asked him if he ever ran across fellow Canadian Kim Mitchell.

"As a matter office, he stopped by just the other day," was his reply.

Here are a couple of Kim Mitchell songs who have some cool production and bass comping-

I love how the bass line comps the vocal melody in this one- its from the "Shakin' Like A Human Being" album



Another I discovered from the late-80's -

Click to expand...




The Kim Mitchell I know.

 
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#327,811
JIO said:
Being fairly clueless as a 13yr old in 1966, (definitely different than 13yr olds today) I did choose a bass because it had only four strings and was visually bigger than a guitar. (I was already tall at 13) Regardless, I never felt it was 'easy'. There's many approaches to one's end-game and many reasons why one path is taken over another, but in retrospect I know that I was meant to be a bass-player.
Click to expand...
Myself when I was 13 in 1975 didn't have a clue about bass, did not know anyone who played one or any teachers- not exactly a promoted instrument in the mid-70's. No ambassadors from that isle-

A lot of music in that day kept the bass low in the mix or lost in the bass drum- but one would still miss the bass if it weren't there- Kind of like the middle harmony of a three part vocal harmony. It's there but you don't really hear it-

What eventually got me interested in bass were various pop songs in the late-70's and finding that over time, most songs that I liked, had a bass line that caught my attention.

Like with this song by Ian Gomm from 1979-



Then by the mid-80's melodic bass lines were much more common. It was the fretless work by Guy Pratt with Icehouse and Dan K. Brown with the Fixx, and whoever it was who did the fretless work on Icehouses' "The Kingdom" that sealed the deal for me.

Also the cool counterpoint and lovely melodic outro by Mark Heyward-Chaplin on Thomas Dolby's "Airwaves"-

 
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#327,816
Happy Thunderbird Thursday!
IMG_9360.jpeg
 
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#327,820
Chucky Stiletti said:
if I sent you a ticket, can you fly out, be a Good Samaritan and cover one of the two?....
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Me sitting in for you would be another one of those regrets you could add to your list! Not to mention that band would ask you, "What in the....were you thinking? Keep that dude away from us." :laugh:
 
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