What started you to be a bassist?

[Brian Soto]

For me, the long story short is that I really like rock music then I want to join or start a band and like everybody I wanted to be the star. So first I can't sing and then the other 3 friends wants to play the guitar so a 4 guitarrist band? Nah I looked this strange but cool and big guitar and I wanted it. So cool, 4 strings, bigger and played by fingers or big plectrums. So I learned that is a bass. I loved bast boosted songs like forever so woah nice this is the instrument of low lowsss need it, want it. Then I learn that in rock music nobody hears the bass or they thinks that but it is another story. Anyway still I love it. Now I'm starting to learn keyboard because I'm making music in Ableton and have a fetish for synths but for live music I'm the bassist and I will jump and dance with the singer and move like a Rockstar.

 

[ryco]

Wanted to be a drummer originally in grade school orchestra 4th grade '66. Orch teacher said "I don't need any more Ringos" cuz there was a backline of a dozen drummers. She said "I need some one to play this" holding up a double bass. I played a little bit of guitar and thought 'Well, McCartney plays bass' figuring I could put the two together more or less. Quit orchestra and double bass in 8th grade - WORST decision ever - but by then had a bass guitar, so have played bass ever since. My pappy said "Play bass and you will ALWAYS have a gig." Pretty much true

 

[Tom Bomb]

It was a veiled threat from a couple of seniors. Got a lot out of it, in the end. Still a punk, to a degree.
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[Big Harry Texan]

My best friend and I were talking acoustic guitar lessons. He was a few months ahead of me. Called me up to say he could play... whatever song it was... And he was doing pretty good.

I thought to myself, "If he can do it, I can too!" But I noticed I wasn't hearing the guitar - I was hearing the bass.

A few months later, we went out to buy electric guitars. I decided to buy a bass which matched his 6 string.

That was 40 years ago.

 

[Marko 1]

Much later in life than probably most of you...

A best friend/neighbor got me into it, he had a past in bands, mainly front man/lead singer.

I already had some guitar experience, basic recording gear, wrote songs for fun, and had a nice music room.

He started pushing me to get a drum kit, I kept asking why, he insisted, I got one...

Soon enough, some of his musician buddies came, we started writing/recording original songs, I was the only one who could write lyrics, and I became a bass player.

From there things evolved to playing covers live, I got more PA gear, other bands, etc.

I'm very happy that it all happened, I have a cool retirement band now (same neighbor/buddy, too) and we're having lots of fun.

 

[g-dude]

Got drafted to play double bass for a school concert in middle school.

Enjoyed it but it didn’t stick.

Was into metal years later, loved how cool the Hartke 4x10 looked. Bought a cheap electric bass.

Ended up not really playing it much until it got stolen out of my storage unit.

Years later, I had been playing guitar at church, moved, and my style of guitar wasn’t the style they needed at the church I went to.

Bought a bass and said, “You need a bass?” and I was in.

Thankfully I’ve improved an incalculable amount from that audition.

 

[CallMeAl]

I was a music ed/trumpet major. I just got an electric bass, when we couldn’t find a bass player for the jazz combo. I was like “uh… I’ll do it?” So that was my crash course!

About that time I found the blues brothers movie, and was enamored with what Duck did for the band. I wanted to do that too!

 

[fdeck]

I started on cello. My middle school band teacher asked me to play bass in the school jazz band. I got a used Fender and learned to play it during summer vacation, by working through my cello etude books.

 

[Killing Floor]

Already had 6-7 years of violin and could sight pretty well. Some doofuses handed me a junker bass and told me it had 4 strings like a violin so I should be their bass player. Dumb but you can’t make that up. A few years later I saw the Minutemen and that’s when I started seeing the potential and taking it seriously.

 

[FretlessMainly]

Late Summer, 1980; I'd been playing guitar for just over three years. Some friends came to me (senior year of HS) and said "we need you to play bass for Jesus Christ Superstar."

"I don't play bass nor do I have a bass."

"Not a problem; you can borrow mine and I know you can do this."

"OK."

My sister had a copy of the original release and I asked her if I could borrow it. She told me that I could have it. Wow, what a wonderful new world it was. The late, great Alan Spenner was an absolute monster on bass. It was then that I learned what it meant to woodshed. I spent countless hours copping his riffs as well as I could (I can't claim to have learned them all, but I think that I got pretty close). A few of us got together before official rehearsals started to get on the same page and it was starting to look good. When official rehearsals started, we were already well ahead of the rest of the band, but they were good too, so it soon dropped into place. Much to my chagrin, we were given the pathetic Broadway scores (or perhaps the watered-down Tim Neely movie scores from 1973) that were totally anemic relative to the original LP. Come rehearsal time, I played what I had learned, not the crap in front of me. I've been in a symphony orchestra, and there, I play what's in front of me. In this situation, I played what I thought was better. A few times during rehearsals, the music director asked what I was doing, as it "wasn't what was in front of him."

"Just doing my best!" was my response. I knew I had him over a barrel. Such has been my approach to music ever since. If you like what I'm doing, great. If you don't, let me go (this wasn't a job; it was a HS musical). I'll always land on my feet. If ya ain't pushin' the envelope, you're just goin' through the motions. Rock on everyone.