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Why did you pick up the bass?

Why did you pick up the bass?

  • All my friends were guitarists, and needed a bassist.

    Votes: 22 15.5%

  • I was a guitarist, but switched to bass, because all my buddies played guitar.

    Votes: 10 7.0%

  • I was a guitarist, but switched to bass, because I liked it better.

    Votes: 20 14.1%

  • It was the first instrument I picked up, and have been with it since.

    Votes: 25 17.6%

  • I've always wanted to play the bass.

    Votes: 44 31.0%

  • I had no interest in bass until I saw someone make it shine.

    Votes: 21 14.8%

  • None of the above.

    Votes: 29 20.4%
  • Total voters
    142
  • Poll closed .
#61
So I played guitar in high school - good enough to play at lame school dances, but my real axe was the trombone, and I was pretty busy with a local semi-pro band for which I'd pulled together a horn section (early '70's - Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, and horn charts for non-horn tunes).

My first bass experience was with that horn band...playing bass with a "traditional" accordion-driven band with whom we were alternating sets at a wedding. Our bass player was asked to help out, but he didn't want to deal. I volunteered, and got my butt kicked on first exposure to all of those ii-V-I and I-vi-ii-V structures that underlie the "modern american songbook," circa whenever...but I was game, and dug the role of the axe.

Several years later, sort-of in college while starting to play trombone professionally, the college "B" jazz band is hung for a bass player - I borrow an axe, read the charts and help out for a concert. Later that Spring, I borrow the same axe to help out with a country-rock aggregation preparing for a one-shot concert.

Several years later, on the road as a trombonist on an R&B gig, I win a P-bass in a poker game - our bassist got behind, and I ended up with his back-up axe. Proceeded to play it with college friends in a garage band - not great musicians, but great people, with some strong original songs, and I have blast, especially as the drummer is strong.

Several years later, I play in a law-school garage band (went to law school after studio dates as a trombonist evaporated due to cheap sampling synthesizers), and for a year after that, with another garage band in the town where I'm clerking for a judge.

Several years later, about two years of play with some friends, in very loose circumstances.

Four years ago, my kid starts playing upright and electric. He doesn't stick with it, but it inspires me to recognize that this is the perfect hobby instrument for me at this time of life. I dare you to regain trombone chops when working long hours and you can't practice after 10 p.m. But I can play bass whenever, via headphones or just playing acoustically.

I've now taken a few lessons, have pretty much sorted out equipment choices after being too fussy for words, and get to play with decent people based on overall musical comprehension, notwithstanding my technical limitations.

This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and I'm so very pleased to be able to to do this. And kudos to Talkbass for catalyzing a community that is both informative and supportive.
 
#62
well, lets see, my story started exactly 4 years ago after my younger brother had already been playing guitar for a year. I was 13 at the time and I thought out loud "If I had to play in a band, I would play bass." My parents turned around in the car and said "okay, lets go get you one." and thats what they did. I didn't know what a bass was at the time. All I knew was, it had 4 strings and it did not require a pick. I basically chose the instrument because it wasn't as flashy as a guitar and the bassist usually doesn't get the most attention or recognition (I was listening to Paramore, All Time Low and other alternative bands at the time). So, to make a long story short, I picked up the bass and fell in love. I have upgraded all my starter gear as of a month ago and I have no regrets.
 
#63
I have long liked the bass parts when playing the piano, and just love the bass in reggae songs. What got me started playing on bass was the desire to take up another instrument. I wanted to see if someone 50 years old could learn the fretboard. Also, I wanted an instrument that would allow me to take a break from polyrhythms. There are waaay too many guitarists out there and the world doesn't need another one, the strings are too close on a guitar, and I didn't like the idea of pressing my fingertips into such thin wires. My main regret is not starting years ago. I don't ever intend to play in a band. It's just for my amusement only, like all the piano pieces I have come up with.
 
#64
waidonchasaisew said:
well, lets see, my story started exactly 4 years ago after my younger brother had already been playing guitar for a year. I was 13 at the time and I thought out loud "If I had to play in a band, I would play bass." My parents turned around in the car and said "okay, lets go get you one." and thats what they did. I didn't know what a bass was at the time. All I knew was, it had 4 strings and it did not require a pick. I basically chose the instrument because it wasn't as flashy as a guitar and the bassist usually doesn't get the most attention or recognition (I was listening to Paramore, All Time Low and other alternative bands at the time). So, to make a long story short, I picked up the bass and fell in love. I have upgraded all my starter gear as of a month ago and I have no regrets.
Click to expand...

Your parents rule the freakin' school! I remember as a 10 year old seeing Tim Gaines play bass in Stryper. That intrigued me, and I asked my folks for a bass. My mom laughed at me, said, "no", and handed me an old crutch to "play".

If my kid ever said, "Daddy, I want to play the ____." I would be like, "Get your shoes on. We're going shopping!"

Great story!
 
#65
When i was 18 a friend was absolutely broke and asked if i would buy his washburn bass and practice amp from him for $50... I had $50 so i said "sure"..... 2 weeks later I saw this awesome experimental/art band in my town with a friends older brother in it.... they didnt have a bassist and i kept hearing cool basslines for their stuff... after the show i went up to them and said that they need a bass player and i happened to know one. They told me to come to practice saturday at 11.. I showed up without a CLUE as to how to play and spent the whole day asking the guitarist where the notes were as I hummed it to him.... by the end of the day i knew 6 or 7 songs and played with those guys for 19 years now in different projects!... cant thank em enough for their patience!
Just goes to show that with the right attitude ANYONE can be a good musical partner.
 
#67
I sort of inherited an MTI-era SVT (I loaned the money to our bassist to buy it and he quit the band two weeks later) and it seemed a shame to let it just sit there. Then a friend recruited me for a theater project where he needed a bass player, so I bought a little Yamaha P/J bass and it was off down the well-known slippery slope of GAS!
 
#68
At 11 I picked up the guitar. Took about a month of lessons, gave up.

At 13, I had my first music lessons at school. I though "Hmmm, I don't want to play trumpet/saxophone/flute/clarinet/piano/trombone, and I could carry on from the tiny bit I know and play guitar". Closest they had was a bass, so I became a bassist.
 
#69
the poll is closed, but anyway.
My friends in highschool needed a bass player. They were a couple of guitarists and a drummer. They even had the ax. So one day they said, XigXag you're an artist, and we know you got soul, hold this, and play these root notes in time.
Many years later I may not be the greatest in the world, but I can hold my own on that machine.
Now oil paint, Ill shred you like cabbage.
 
#70
Back in 2nd/3rd Grade, I decided I wanted to follow in my big brother's footsteps and play the trumpet. My parents did to me the same thing to me that they ahd done to my brother. If I wanted to play an instrument, I had to take a year of piano, first. I did. Back then, you had to wait till 5th Grade to learn band instruments in school.

When I reached 5th Grade, I took band, starting on the trumpet. After a short time, the band director/teacher came to me and told me I was not going to be any good on the trumpet and that I needed to switch to the tuba. I did and ended up playing it through college. Based on discussions with some of my past directors, I was very good. I was Bass Captain/1st Chair in both High School and College.

So, with that bit of history behind us, on to now. My wife suggested I take up the bass guitar. I had been talking about taking guitar lessons for a couple years. She pointed out that I when I listen to music, I tend to hear the bass line, moreso than the melody.

So, now this old tuba player plays the bass guitar.
 
#71
My first instrument was the cello, and that was waayy back in 3rd grade. I played it for 4 years before switching to the piano. I played that for 2 years. I lost interest in musical instruments for a while and then, around age 14, I started playing guitar.
I couldn't get the hang of it; partially because my hands were big and kinda clumsy on such a small neck, and partially because I was into it for the wrong reasons. I wanted to be a rock star, I just thought the guitar was cool. My brother played the bass so I was always exposed to that as an alternative and slowly started playing that too. After a few weeks of paying both guitar and bass, I made up my mind that the bass was for me.
 
#72
It just feels so much better to me than a guitar. I tried learning guitar for a few months, and I was slowly progressing, but I just wasn't really...feeling it. So I tried a bass out at a music shop, and I fell in love with the size of the strings, spacing, neck, and overall size of the bass. It felt so much more comfortable to me than a regular guitar. I also was not having a lot of fun having to use a pick, and even finger picking on a guitar was a huge pain. Playing fingerstyle on a bass just came naturally for me, for some odd reason. I was able to pick it up very easily.

So yeah...I've just been playing bass ever since, and I absolutely love it. I also just love the low tones you can get out of the bass, especially that growling kinda stuff in metal.
 
#73
I had piano lessons as a kid for years. Then my Dad married my step mom and my step brother was a bass player, so I started playing his DB and BG.

When I left school aged 15, I really wanted to be in a band. I think I wanted to be Keith Emerson or Jon Lord! But even a pretty basic KB setup would have cost me about £1500. So I bought a bass for £84 and a combo for £150 and that was that. I did my first gig on bass about 6 months later.

Funny how keyboards prices have come way, way, way down since then, but bass prices haven't really changed. Of course, that means in real terms, basses are also much cheaper than they were, but not as drastically as keys.
 
#74
I was already a tuba player and had sung in church choir before that.

A guitarist friend and myself were going to start a band and I was going to be the singer.We had a pretty good drummer lined up,but our bassist,no matter what the bass part was,would play a 1/5 power chord of whatever chord the guitarist was playing.


After 2 or 3 practices,my guitarist bud says,"Hey man,you play a bass wind instrument,just get a bass.You'll be able to do it."

Less than a year later,we were playing at friends parties and in our highschool's talent show,with me singing mostly backups.
 
#75
I may be wrong but I dont think anyone has mentioned girls. I was about 11 and noticied that guys who played in bands seemed to get girls. There was a "guitar band that used a spare music room to practice during breaks at school so I walked in and asked them if I could join. They asked me if I had an instument and I said that I could borrow my dads electric. I had'nt asked him but he never played it anyway, it was only an immaculate early sixties 335 style, Framus, cherry to black sunburst with ivory binding and more chrome than Elvis's caddi, what did i know I was only 11. So imagine my disapointment when I arrived with this really cool instument that no babe could possibly resist, only to be told that they had changed their minds and needed a bass player. They let me play "bass" on the framus for a couple of months untill I had saved enough from a paper round and sat job to buy a Shaftsbury EB3 copy and an odd, no name amp/ cab rig (a single 18") from an old guy(probably about 25years old) who was giving up to get married for 38 pounds. Played for a few years and heard a band called Japan with an awsome (i still think so) fretless player called Mick Karn. That was it hooked. when I was 17 session player friend explained that I was getting pretty good and really needed a decent bass, he showed me his basses, made by this guy he knew called John Diggins. I got an older guitarist friend to stand surety for a bank loan (my dad wouldnt) and spent three years working to pay for my baby a cherry Jay Dee Supernatural later to become the Mark King sig model. That was in 1983-4, I still have the bass and it is still my main bass, played two gigs this weekend with it, great advice from a pro, priceless. My dad nearly had heart failure when he saw a old photo years later with me and his guitar, he never Knew I was stealing it every morning and putting it back at night.
So a combo of girls, and every one else played guitar was the reason i picked up bass.
 
#78
Well, I joined a band at the age of 13 as a percussionist but I was learning how to play guitar and eventually started playing guitar in the band. Since I was the second guitarist, when the bass player quit, I was automatically elected to teach myself how to play bass. That was the best move I ever made and I have never been out of work since and that was 40 years ago.
 
#80
I was in 7th grade. Mid 1960's. Midwest. No musicians in my family. I loved top 40 music-all of it. Wasn't really focused on individual instruments, just liked the music on the radio. I saw 2 guitars hanging on the wall at a local Woolworths. (dept store) Both were japanese made inexpensive instruments, a guitar and a bass. Maybe there was 3 total, but only one bass. The bass was bigger and had only 4 strings so it visually stuck-out. Can't recall the brand. I liked the way it looked and figured 4 strings would be easier to play than 6. It cost $40, no case. I saved 1/2 from my paper route and my dad kicked in the rest. It had a neck like a baseball bat and the strings were 4" off the fretboard (OK, I'm exaggerating.., 3") I didn't own an amp till years later, a transistor Heathkit w/one 15" speaker that my dad and I assembled. The tone sucked. I didn't know much back then, but I knew that much. How I cleared all these hurtles I'll never know, because I've played electric bass (and some upright) my whole life and either I 'became' a bass player or it was fate. Doesn't much matter.
 

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