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Why be a bassist?

#21
I can play a few chords, given a simple riff I can play OK and I can play a fairly naff bluesey solo on guitar... I keep meaning to get one becasue it would be good to learn/play on. I think it's good to have an understanding of lots of intruments... but there just isn't enough time! :)
 
#23
I think bass chose me....ever since I was like 5 I though bass was the coolest thing. I never got into the shredding solos or anything, but when I heard Coffee Shop, I was like, wow. Sometimes I wonder why I don't play guitar, because I like the attention it grabs, but I figure if I'm a rocking bassist, I'll get enough attention.
 
#24
in the words of marcus miller :


"In 1971, the bass guitar was the coolest instrument in music."

another quote :

"The piano is what? 300 years old? There aren't any new ways to play a piano. You might've think you've discovered something new, but there's a good chance some Austrain cat figured it out on harpsichord a couple of hundrew years ago."
 
#26
I've actually been playing drums for 10 years, I just (very recently) picked up a bass because I wanted to do something different and get out from behind the kit. Guitar players are a dime a dozen but bass players are very hard to find, so I wanted to do something that would be a little more "in demand."
 
#28
reasons I play bass:
+My fingers are too stubby to play anything but a basic power chord on a 6-string.

+Bass lines are more inclusive than guitar riffs. when you hear a guitar solo, you have to stand back and say a faint "wow". When you hear a bass solo, it makes you move your body a little bit and maybe hum it.

+Being able to hold the band together makes me more enthusiastic during performance. It's like Richard Simmons amongst all those fat-asses

+No stompboxes nessasary (but I admit to using an EQ pedal and E.H.-Bassballs.)

+RickenBackers

+EB-3's

+In a punk band, you're most likely to be the most talented.

+In any other band, you're likely to be the lesser of an *******.

Anyways, the main reason I play bass is it's just a part of me, much like my penis. I have a penis, I play with it. I have a bass, I play with it.

BTW, lets all agree that we can't say bass is the best instrument "period". Besides, what's a bassist without a guitarist and a drummer? The missing member of the White Stripes?
 
#30
Harmony is what draws me to music and since I can't sing and I'd rather play a gig with my eyes closed, I think I made the right choice with bass. Bass allows me all the creative freedom of the guitar but I get to hide in the shadows, instead of having to fling my hair around.

And, at the end of the day, I just look more like a bass player. :cool:
 
#32
I started out a violinist as a kid, but as soon as I got out from under my parents roof, I tossed those years of painful practice away and took up guitar. Played it for fun and to get the women all warmed up for for the next several years. I then got a gig as the rhythm guitarist in a contemporary church praise band. I initially thought that being the guitarist was da bomb and didn't even notice the bass player behind me most of the time. One day that bass player moved away with his job. Since we had wannabe guitar players coming out of our ears, I decided I would learn just enough bass to play the roots until a replacement player could be found. I bought the cheapest bass I could find on a Thursday night, crammed for 2 days, and played that Sunday. After just ONE TIME playing bass on stage, I was hooked for life. I have no interest in returning to rhythm guitar and have told the music leader that he will get my bass away from me over my dead body! The guitar was fun, but THE BASS is really da bomb!! I'm into my third month at it now and I just cannot get enough! The new guitar player hardly notices me back there though.... ;)

Cheers.
Joe
 
#33
I played guitar for 23 years. I noticed that in the past few years I started listening songs and noticing the bass alot more. There's something cool about being laid back, doing your job, and being great at it while the font-people (singers and lead guitar players) get most of the attention. Don't get me wrong, I think that fronting a band is a real tanent, I just appreciate the rythm and melody that you can discover in a song, and that's always sort of in the background.
 
#36
My creepy long, spidery fingers drop picks and don't have enough room to stretch out on the git-fiddle's short neck.

The guitar goes higher, the bass goes lower. When you hit the guitar's highest notes at loud volumes, people scream and cover their ears, then throw things at you. When you hit to low notes on bass at high volumes, people levitate off the floor.

Git-fiddle strings break way too easily.

When writing a song, no one ever takes the guitar riff, shows it to me, and says "Just powerchord that out this entire song."
 
#37
Because bass is cooler than the rest.

It sounds better, looks better, feels better. It fulfills the need to be funky. No bass = no groove and if it doesn't groove, you might as well not play at all.

I'm the bass player........that's all.
 
#40
I can play guitar, but I'm not cocky enough to be a full-time guitarist.

When I mention I've been in bands, people say "Do you play bass? You look like a bass player."

My drummer and I have the advantage when auditioning guitarists because there's short supply of bassists and drummers, while guitarists and vocalists are a dime a dozen.
 

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