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What about your bass playing makes you special?

#61
I guess I would say it is my ability to lock in with a drummer and hold the band together as well as my ability to put in the work outside of rehearsals to learn my parts and be prepared when we get together for rehearsals and gigs. I've received a lot of compliments over the years, but I never really paid much attention to them until here recently. I'm actually starting to feel like I'm pretty dang good at this bass playing thing, but at the same time, I'm not really into having any kind of ego. I just want to play, ya know? I love playing with a band filled with talented folks that aren't afraid to challenge me a little bit.

Edit: Grammar...ugh...too early for me.
 
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#63
Well, my talent is rather limited to be honest so I compensate with the followings :

-Attitude : I play like a punk rock bassist no matter the song and it almost turns a soft blues into a hard rock performance every time, for good or bad……..

-Rythme : Some call me the rythme machine as I'm always perfectly synchronized with the bass drum and snare. So good at it that it compensates for the notes I randomly skip !

-And finally the look : I'm an old fart with a stiff body but again it's all about compensating with something. I now build my own basses and almost play them exclusively and it really attracts people's interest :



So far so good I guess as band mates call me back when they need a bass player. That probably proofs talent isn't everything !
 
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#64
JC BASS 91 said:
I guess I would say it is my ability to lock in with a drummer and hold the band together as well as my ability to put in the work outside of rehearsals to learn my parts and be prepared when we get together for rehearsals and gigs. I've received a lot of compliments over the years, but I never really paid much attention to them until here recently. I'm actually starting to feel like I'm pretty dang good at this bass playing thing, but at the same time, I'm not really into having any kind of ego. I just want to play, ya know? I love playing with a band filled with talented folks that aren't afraid to challenge me a little bit.

Edit: Grammar...ugh...too early for me.
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The first sentence is exactly what it takes to be a good bass player IMO.
 
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#67
The way every bass player plays bass is different. It is just like the hand writing of human beings. No two people write the same way and no two people play the bass the same way.

So, I'd say every bass player's playing is special.

I really focus on the root + 5th, the major and minor triads, major scale, minor scale and blues scale as well as octaves. Leading into and out of chord changes. Pretty simple stuff. Basics. Nothing special.

I love bass!

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#69
bwildt said:
Not flashy, but steady and supportive. I've had a number of musicians-- even drummers tell me that I am the timekeeper and pulse of the bands that I play in.

Let me edit to say that it is really great when you get to play with a drummer where the two of you really think and play the same. There was one guy (RIP) where we just seemed to read each other's minds. We both played with a slightly laid back feel. We could even sense (predict?) each other's fills. I really miss that guy.
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This is my identical response... including the RIP.
 
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#71
I have an extensive knowledge of bass(and other instrument)riffs and lines to plunder, and fashion into something fresh for new material. I'll even out myself…

For instance, on this, what I came up with was a combination of mutations from David Bowie's "Stay", Roxy Music's "Flesh+Blood", some Mick Karn-isms, a little Eberhard Weber, and a vague cello quote from "Within You Without You"…


I was even Fripping balls on one of the Ebow guitars in the intro.
 
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#75
BassHappy said:
OK, so we all have god-given talent in one form or another, but what is it about your bass playing that makes you the ultimate groove merchant? Is it your sense of rhythm, your sense of melody, your work ethic, your ability to improvise, your popping and snapping? What makes you that special player we all should aspire to?

Time to toot your own horn a little...
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I know my material. I'm always on time and prepared and my gear always works and presentable.

My number one goal is to make the other members of the band comfortable and the ability to shine with confidence. Oh, I have my moments within that framework and still be extremely creative. But as an honest self evaluation. I'm a musician/artist way more than a proficient technician. I much prefer solid to flash, playing with good taste as opposed to cramming my virtuosity down everyone's throat.

In other words, I'm not in it for the glory, I'm in it for a job well done. That outlook over my 50+ years of being a working bassist has kept me from ever being fired and never failing an audition.
 
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#78
Gervais Cote said:
Well, my talent is rather limited to be honest so I compensate with the followings :

-Attitude : I play like a punk rock bassist no matter the song and it almost turns a soft blues into a hard rock performance every time, for good or bad……..

-Rythme : Some call me the rythme machine as I'm always perfectly synchronized with the bass drum and snare. So good at it that it compensates for the notes I randomly skip !

-And finally the look : I'm an old fart with a stiff body but again it's all about compensating with something. I now build my own basses and almost play them exclusively and it really attracts people's interest :



So far so good I guess as band mates call me back when they need a bass player. That probably proofs talent isn't everything !
Click to expand...
Nice bass! I'm sure you could get a gig just showing up with it! Seriously, that is a really nice piece of art and I'll bet is play=yes and sounds great!
 

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