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We bassist are so under appreciated!
- Thread starter Eric Albany
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and guess who's most known between Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith and John Frusciante?
duh!
bass players tend to be more in the background... mostly because they chose to be. It's up to you if you want to be on the front!
On another side: the frequencies of the bass puts it more in the background for human ears. If you want to be in the spotlight, it would make more sense to play another instrument, but it is possible with the bass, you just have to think of something more interesting that pumping the root for a whole song.
duh!
bass players tend to be more in the background... mostly because they chose to be. It's up to you if you want to be on the front!
On another side: the frequencies of the bass puts it more in the background for human ears. If you want to be in the spotlight, it would make more sense to play another instrument, but it is possible with the bass, you just have to think of something more interesting that pumping the root for a whole song.
Or Geddy Lee or Cliff Burton or Flea or Chris Squire or Paul McCartney or Sting or.....
Ah just get a guitar already.
McCartney and Sting are not fair examples. They were frontmen first, and the bass was secondary or no factor in their public appreciation.
Ok, so what we are concluding;
If you are a bass player, who is not a singer (Paul McCartney, etc) nor a songwriter (Sting, Cliff Burton, etc), nor a soloist (Flea), nor an amazing rhythm sectionist (Geddy Lee, John Paul Jones), nor a showman (Sid Vicious), nor just... good (Chris Squire), then you may find yourself being unappreciated which is especially sad if you are an amazing metal god one man band who headlines nightly in his bedroom to an audience of... 0.
I guess in those circumstances you'd be better off being a guitar player??? Ahhh, well no guitar player that I would ever want to play with.
Being a engineer/sound guy aka 'the guy nobody notices unless the sound is horrid' taught me that it's more fulfilling to know I did my job and had fun than for someone that probably has no clue what they're talking about anyway to pat my back.
Try piano, drums, tenor (alto/sop./clarie/) or a few brass pieces (trumpet, bone etc), with your bass. NO GUITAR WANTED or NEEDED!! Then your complex might be eliminated, the bass is a powerfull part of any of my groups and the bassists have all been mild mannered and extremely confident individuals. Kinda goes with the instrument. Doc.
Wow. If you've never paid any attention to the 80's Metallica, you don't really know who Metallica are.
They have sucked since about the mid-90's.
Nope. In both of the churches I play, they value my bass input and really encourage me to grow my abilities. In the bluegrass group, the bass is considered essential.
None of the musicians I work with or hang out with mistreat me for being a percussionist or bassist -- mandolinist, guitarist, fiddler, tinwhistler, pianist, balalakaist(?), um, yeah, I got bored just know how to play on one or two instruments.
Eric, maybe you need to find some more mature musicians with which to make music.
Regarding Metallica, a friend of mine for whom Head Banger's Ball was the great moments of television one could experience, is of the opinion that Metallica stopped being metal years ago, now they are just 'lica.
Seriously? Man, I've learnt something today
My feeling is that this thread is much like some of the other threads I have read that you have either started or been a part of. You don't have much of an idea of what you're talking about, you're very young, you're trying to impress the community here seeing as you've recently joined, and when you ask a question that turns out to be a stupid question, you try to justify it.
Your question was who has heard of (insert Guns n Roses musicians). It is fairly obvious that your intent was to say "yeah I bet you know Axl and Slash, but the others, so under appreciated." Well, for one thing, you're in the wrong place to be asking "who has heard of the bassist from Guns n Roses?" When someone said "yes I have heard of all of them", you covered up your stupid question with a fairly obvious statement "they're all members of Guns n Roses". Remember you're asking this question on a discussion board that consists of people of all ages, even ones who were alive when Guns n Roses were! I don't mean to be patronising, but this thread makes no sense.
I suggest you think about things before you type. Like I said earlier, I have read many of your posts in the last few days, every single one of them sounds like you're giving an uninformed opinion, or you're searching for acceptance.
If you feel under appreciated, get a gig. You won't get recognition from your bedroom playing to no one. If your lament is for all the bassists in famous bands who you feel don't get the recognition they deserve, I really don't think they care. They're doing their job, getting paid for it, and loving it, most likely. What does it matter if the audience doesn't know who the bassist is, they can hear him/her and what (s)he contributes to the sound.
You should either play a different instrument, try and be Jaco, or quickly realise that your instrument has a role. Don't get me wrong, you can challenge its role, that's been done repeatedly, from Jimmy Blanton to Michael Manring and everyone in between. That's what I meant by 'try and be Jaco'. If you aren't cut out for that, 99% aren't, then get yourself a guitar, or get to walking that bass. It takes maturity and time to gain the knowledge that you're in a supportive role. I strongly suggest you get about acquiring some of that.
Sorry if any of my sentences are hard to read. In a bit of a hurry for meticulous grammar.
Peace,
Slim
So was I.
They couldn't really be considered "pro" until after Master Of Puppets.
They didn't even headline a show whilst Burton was alive.
Oh and one more thing to note: All mature bassists, as stated earlier, are aware of their role. Perhaps you would feel more important if you realised the importance of the instrument you play. You mentioned jazz earlier. I'm a huge jazz listener and it is obvious that the bass plays a crucial role in jazz. Just as it does in blues, rock n roll and many other music forms. Once you have realised the importance of your role, further maturity will help you realise that does not, and should not, translate to self importance. There is far too much of that in music and musicians.
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