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When did you get into bass playing and why?

#122
I was in high school when I first started. This was in the 1960's so rock music and the electric bass were in their first great peak as a cultural force. There was no one influential bass player who stood out as an inspiration to try the instrument, just a constant exposure to music that was more nearly bass driven than most music that had preceded it. I had tried to learn guitar some years earlier without success but I had played clarinet in school bands for years and had learned to sing the bass parts of hymns at church so the bass guitar which can be played one note at time effectively connected to both my singing and clarinet experience. I took it up with a cheap Japanese violin bass that I still have and played around with it for maybe 10 years never doing much with it or achieving any great skill. Then it got lost in the noise of normal life and lay dormant until 4 years ago when I started attending a new church that had a worship band and was asking for more bass players. I had started bicycling again after a similar hiatus a few years before that and in spite of my age I find myself a much stronger cyclist and a much better bassist than I ever was before. I really should have done both much more seriously my whole life!
 
#123
Played guitar for over 15 years but constantly struggled with improving. My brother and I wanted to start a band but we could not find a bass player. So I bought my first bass after borrowing one from a friend for a couple of weeks. That was just over a year ago, September 2014. We played our fist gig with 40 songs (the most I ever learned on guitar from start to finish was like 10. LOL) on December 2014 and I'm completely hooked. Like many of the other members here have said, there is something great about being the foundation and beat behind the band. It seems as if I chose the wrong instrument years ago.

I still play guitar occasionally but I'm 100% a bass player now. :-)
 
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#124
When I was about 15 and realized how boring it was to be just another guitar player... Borrowed a bass from my neighbor, figured I liked it enough to get into it, and that I might have a better chance of getting into a band as a bass player...

It took me a few years to realize that bass is not a down tuned guitar, that I have a different role now... It coincided with me discovering funk and other groovy music styles... I think that's when I truly started becoming a bassist
 
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#126
I started playing guitar when i was 12-13 and was terrible. After a year or so, I was at a buddies' house jammin. His friend bought his p-bass and 810. I knew what a bass guitar was before then, but that was the first time I ever really FELT a bass. I switched to bass shortly after. Now, at 29, I play bass semi-professionally and started tinkering around with guitar again.
 
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#127
I was 15. My best friends had the starts of a band, but no bassist. I started learning notes on a guitar and 3 months later we had our first show with me as a bassist. I had to use our Middle Schools bass because I didn't have one. Bought one right after that and have never looked back. almost 36 years ago now. I love playing bass now even more than I did then.
 
#128
When: when I was 15 (last year)
Why: Pink Floyd made me want to start playing music and The Who and The Stranglers decided that I would play bass. Also a few friends of mine were in a band and needed a bass player so I saved up enough and got a squier P-bass and joined my first band a week after starting playing.
 
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#130
I've been playing electric guitar for about 30 years, and owned one bass to record with but never played it much other than to make demos.

I was asked to join a band to play bass a little over two years ago. I was with them for just shy of two years before I quit.

I got pretty good from rehearsing regularly.

I've always appreciated bass, but it took playing it for real in a band situation to really get me into it. Now when I hear a song, I automatically zero in on the bass and drum patterns rather than guitar riffs...
 
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#132
Like 18 or 19, i was a drummer and was really into drum and bass music, still am. My buddy was my guitarist and moved away so i bought a bass. Ive always had a thing for the essentials of music like back up vocals, drums and bass. Almost never play my drums anymore but everyone says im best at drums.
 
#133
Farseer said:
I just turned 43 this year and started playing. I've always wanted to play bass and thought why not now. How long did it take you to be comfortable to play in a band setting?
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Well, about a year and a half after picking up the bass, I decided to look for a drummer to play with. Turned out, the ad I answered was a drummer and rhythm gut player looking to start a band. I honestly went in thinking I wouldn't get the spot, but I followed some TB advice going into the audition: 1) it's better to play fewer notes correctly than more that don't sound perfect, 2) don't play too loud, 3) don't be an A-hole ;). Turned out they called me by the time I got home from the audition, offering me the spot :bassist:
 
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#134
catcauphonic said:
Well, about a year and a half after picking up the bass, I decided to look for a drummer to play with. Turned out, the ad I answered was a drummer and rhythm gut player looking to start a band. I honestly went in thinking I wouldn't get the spot, but I followed some TB advice going into the audition: 1) it's better to play fewer notes correctly than more that don't sound perfect, 2) don't play too loud, 3) don't be an A-hole ;). Turned out they called me by the time I got home from the audition, offering me the spot :bassist:
Click to expand...
Very cool. After 6 months of playing I was asked to sit in with a "beatles" band. I went even though I do not play or even really like much beatles music. I did the same. Played fewer notes and didn't play too loud. I thought I totally sucked. They were cool and treated me well. The next day the guitarist called me and asked me to come back and sit in with them again. That was a month ago. I haven't told him yes or no. I think I will go again just for the experience.
 
#135
Farseer said:
Very cool. After 6 months of playing I was asked to sit in with a "beatles" band. I went even though I do not play or even really like much beatles music. I did the same. Played fewer notes and didn't play too loud. I thought I totally sucked. They were cool and treated me well. The next day the guitarist called me and asked me to come back and sit in with them again. That was a month ago. I haven't told him yes or no. I think I will go again just for the experience.
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Personality goes a long way in an audition. Later the drummer told me they didn't want people that would being drama more than anything else. Playing on the band setting has upped my game more in 3 months, than the year and a half I was playing on my own before that. Go for it!
 
#138
As a kid, I played cello, and was generally into music. But there was no school string program. The middle school band teacher asked me to join the jazz band on bass. I tried all of the school basses, and they were unplayable, so I got a Fender.

So I played electric bass in jazz band, from middle school through college, while cello eventually prepared me to pick up the upright bass as well.
 
#139
For some reason, I was drawn to the bass in bands like Queen & Led Zeppelin when I was very young. I thought Deacon & Jones were the coolest members of those bands. Later on I got into Metal and even though there wasn't much audible bass (except for Iron Maiden) I was still really drawn to the bass. Part of the appeal was that most kids seemed to be into guitar so I wanted to play something else. So I started playing bass when I was 17. My meager skills were in high demand at the time.

cliffburtono said:
I 'rediscovered' early Metallica when I saw a gag pic with Cliff Burton captioned "Should've been Lars" and decided to look further into it.
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LOL!!!
 
#140
I'll play again.
I had always wanted to play guitar as long as I could remember, and after a detour through piano I started guitar lessons.
After a couple of years of taking lessons on classical guitar my teacher stopped teaching and I got a new one and an electric guitar.
The music school had a band program and it required guitar students to also learn bass.
So while I never played bass in those bands, I took lessons.
I got an EB 3 copy & was a reluctant bass student at first, but eventually I decided it was fun & while I still play guitar than bass, I have playing a lot more bass the last few years and especially the almost 2 years since I got my fretless.
So it was a desire to be in a band & play guitar, not a specific bass player.
 

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