What do you think about when you play bass?

[xI Jonathan Ix]

Stage:
"Which round are we on?"
"Crap crap crap, oh there's that fill, cool, the bridge is next"
"Jump around part coming up"
"Dang, she's cute" **
"Seriously? Who just yelled 'Freebird'??"
"Complicated part coming, must focus"
"Alright, this part jams, time to close my eyes and let the rock gods take over my soul"
"Cheeseburgers do sound good right now"

Home practice:
"What the heck is my kid destroying now and where is my other half??"
-pauses song and deals with broken stuff-
"Oooh, this part could have a sweet fill, lemme work that out"

Rehearsal:
"Does my singer ever shut up?"

** = My wife is exceptional and encourages my stageflirting with showgoers, even lets me take off my ring. Bassists get the best spouses.

@rtslinger, Sweet look man, I dig it.

 

[Paulabass]

You forgot- Cute girl in the front row.

 

[mrcbass]

Depends.

At a gig, I have to focus on not being a statue. It's much easier when there's a fun crowd, but I still have to think about moving - while I keep track of the song.

At rehearsal, I'm focused on what my bandmates are doing an what I need to do to support them and listening for areas that we need to work on.

At home, working on specific tracks, I'm focused on learning the song - the fingerboard, the groove, the theory, the BG vox and moving (yes I practice moving at home!).

At home, just playing for fun, I focus on having fun!

 

[thetragichero]

church i play bass at has a really tight team, plays to a click track through in ears. generally I'm not thinking about anything and I'm lost in the moment. it's wonderful

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Mostly, I'm watching everybody else in the band. Lot of drummer eye-contact. (My life as a "pocket player" right there.) Sometimes I'm just watching the crowd. Some ladies can really dance! And there are nights when I spend a portion of the last set wondering how long it will take to load out so I can get home by 2 am.

 

[Siggy]

I'm counting the time to the difficult passage that the guitar player doesn't know and won't take the time to learn.

 

[velascorp]

I ..... V..... I Repeat !!

 

[brocket]

Closest I could think of was to vote for boredom and terror. If I get into the music too much I'll typically forget what I'm doing. If I think about what I'm doing too hard, I'll draw a blank. If I go on autopilot, my mind will start to wander and I'll lose track of what I'm doing. If I play a bad note it's an "oh shoot" moment and I need to check my response so I don't mess up again while reacting to the initial mess up.

 

[DeepThoughts]

Maybe you guys are extra skilled ...but I have to think about the song, as music.
So the melody is what I am thinking about or I am singing the bass line in my head.
Whether it is Giant Steps or Johnny B Good the form is what I'm trying to keep in my head.

 

[Mechanical]

Or learning how to sight read or play off sheet music. That was a tough lesson for me, but besides not needing to look at the fretboard anymore (or at least not as much), the note positions on the fretboard have become firmly ingrained in my brain... Two birds, one stone.

Yeah, you should never look at the fretboard like this guy...

 

[Biggbass]

I basically think about my financial situation. I count every beat that I play when I play, and I figure how many notes I give in into the space you know ...Out into space for how much I'm gettin paid and I am workin' cheap.

 

[grinx]

Usually someone's mom ...

or tacos...

or how deaf everyone else in my band seems to be when playing live

 

[mexicant]

I like to remember the old saying "if your thinking your stinking" except I always remember to smile! I try to live in the moment and not over analyze, somehow this works for me.

 

[Skybone]

What comes next?

 

[Nevada Pete]

Music is memorised so I can play on autopilot. I sing BVs too so knowing the bass lines cold is a massive advantage. Ear and theory help too, but repetition is central to memorisation.

Turn the lights out when you practise - it's the BEST way to break the habit of staring at your bass' neck (fretted or Fretless).

Wow! Never thought of that! Interesting.

I'd probably groove out, trip on something and break my #$%$#, though.

 

[arbiterusa]

One thing I do that I really need to watch is that, if we're playing in a bar (majority of our gigs) and there's some form of sportsball game on that I like (happens a lot this time of year) I'll catch myself watching it. I'm not going to blow it, go out of intonation or lose my spot; I've been doing this for too long. But I AM afraid someone in the audience is going to catch me doing it.

At least I'm not staring at my shoes and it looks, most time, like I'm just staring out at the audience. But still. Not exactly professional.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Lindsey Duncan. Sometimes, Lucy Worsley.

 

[Freight Train]

None of the above. I think about what I'm always thinking about. That which these days cannot be named.

 

[Nevada Pete]

Why do we have cheeseburgers as an option, but not sex?

Because guys always think about sex all the time anyway no matter what they're doing, so it's not on the list?

 

[corinpills]

Cheese pranish.