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Why did you start playing bass?

#81
My motivation to play bass was kind of odd....

I had been playing guitar for several years already and just kept getting frustrated with it. I never really was very good with it and bounced back between playing acoustic and electric guitar, for some reason it just never felt right to me. So I bought a bass thinking that it was just a guitar that would be easier to play, with only 4 strings, lol. Tried to learn on my own for a while, that didn't work out too well, so I started taking lessons with a bass instructor. So I've been playing bass for almost 2 1/2 years now, just got into my first band and I'm loving every moment of it. Still think it would be cool to pickup a guitar every now and then, but for the overall enjoyment of music and the band perspective I think bass is a better fit for me--I always was into the lower notes more than anything else, love that low B on my new five string bass.

David.
 
#82
I have always wanted to play bass, and my parents have known this for...for a long time, you know?

Me and my family were in Arizona visiting my grandad (moms dad) and he had a electric guitar, so I got interested in it and tried fooling around (this wasnt long ago..) so, this christmas i got an electric guitar and played around on it and got frustrated with it, so I gave up and we went to a couple of stores looking for bass guitars about...what...3, mabye 4 weeks go, and here i am! Happy as a clam and im starting lessons this week on wednsday! SOO EXCITED!!

Oh, Geddy Lee inspired me mostly (he is my main inspiration for bass and all things!)...along with Chris Squire!
 
#83
I've told this story elsewhere, but bass is the only instrument I EVER had any interest playing. When I was a kid in the mid 70s, I used to take my brother's UFO albums (yes, vinyl) out of his room and play them through headphones on the family stereo with only the channel containing Pete Way's bass coming through. I particularly remember playing "Highway Lady" over and over. I hated guitars - it was all about the bass... THE BASS!

Then in college, I heard Bruce Foxton of the Jam with that Ric, and, as they say: "that's all she wrote." :bassist:
 
#85
i've always loved the low end and one of the things that was really magnetic about the bass is that it drives so many styles of music...the old motown songs have such musical basslines, and that's what i always hum after hearing those songs

i've played guitar for going on 13 years now, and oddly enough, i've practically put it down in favor of the bass--right about the time that i was moving over a plateau and getting a lot better than i'd been, understanding music more

i'm in love with the range of the instrument, the expressiveness of the finger-to-string contact, i love the way i can lock in with my drummer even better than guitar

i suppose that from the first time i ever held a bass i knew i wanted to play, but i was already a budding guitar player, so i kept myself away until one day, for no real reason, i just woke up, got dressed and went to buy a bass and bass rig


i'm keeping my les paul, my marshall, my tele and so forth--but it's for posterity:)
 
#88
i got into bass for two reasons:
1. i loved the earth shaking sound of bass since i was a small child and thought bassist were the coolest, meaning they never were to flash or stupid.
2. my brother decided to buy a bass but never got round to playing it so when he went away to uni i played it secretly. then i made him an offer for the bass and he accepted whilst wondering why i knew more bout a bass than a first time player should!
 
#89
I started out playing piano as a kid. After that I wanted to be a drummer but drums were too expensive and a cheap bass was alot easier on my parents pocket. (They bought me my first bass).

It's funny because I didn't even really know anything about bass, I just thought it looked cooler than guitar. I later learned how to play guitar, and I mess around with a variety of other instruments, but my main sqeeze is the bass. I LOVE IT!!!!
 
#90
I always loved the heartbeat of a song that was the bass. In third grade (1969)
All my friends were trying out for the school music band.
I told them I wanted to play stand up.
I was told I was too small and my hands were too small.
I didn’t take no for an answer.
 
#92
i picked up the piano for half a year but was never really into it. i was curious and wanted to try other instruments, so i tried my friend's guitar, but wasnt a big fan. I picked up his bass, and i actually liked it. i remember when i was younger i never thought id be playing the bass, my reasoning was "you can't really hear it." So i borrowed my friend's bass, got my own for christmas, and never turned back
 
#93
I still consider myself a guitarist primarily, because that's what I have the most skill/training at. At first I picked up a bass for variety, and because I thought it'd increase my chances of playing in a band. I played it on and off, but never really focused on it.

Then, one day, I picked up a Yamaha fretless. Wow! I actually could play it semi-reasonably off the bat, and that beautious tone! I knew it was an expressive instrument, and it was only $280. Since I got it, I've been focusing more and more energy on bass.

I always dug the bass lines to things. Also, I think, in a band setting, being the bassist can be more satisfying than being the guitarist. You get to lock with the drummer, and are often given freedom to write at least moderately interesting lines. While playing rhythm guitar certainly can be interesting, a lot of rock rhythm guitar is pretty boring. Also, most bands don't seem to have the arrangement skill to make effective use of lead guitarists, so they just give them boring solos that often aren't thought out, compositionally. Usually it's "okay, we need a guitar solo. Let's play the changes and you can rip over them, or whatever!"

I also am interested in bass as a solo instrument. I'm trying to learn some of the solo Jaco stuff right now, and I've been making threats to write a a duet for fretless bass and classical harp for me and my friend for months. I'll do it, I swear! :)
 
#94
leswith6string.jpg


I started playing because of this guy. :)
 
#95
hey i just started bass about 9 months ago....and at first it was hard but now it's getting abit easyer, i find it hard to learn a full song...becasue i like to play songs w/ cords.., how do you guysa think i can inprove quickly..becasue i got a band waiting on me...my friends want me in there's...but i don't know how to follow yet...so can anyone help me out?

Thx
Justin:hyper:
 
#99
I was a drummer...but at one time...i didn't touch the drums for a few years or so because i was bz...Then My frend wanted to start a band...and i was like 'ok, i got dibs on drums'...Thinking i still got it...Then When i sat down on the drum stool i was like...'how do u play dis again?' Completely lost it...

Then they told me to play bass...
Dats okay wif me cause to me,Guitars looked too hard, the string spacing is way too little for my clumsy hands and besides..pple were starting to play it to look cool...

I started to research on bass...The More i knew abt the instrument, the more i liked it...Cliff Burton is my Idol and always will be...

There are songs that have groovy basslines...When u hear it, makes u proud to be a Bassist, guitars are too common...

But Now...
I practice my bass on a cheap Acoustic guitar since i couldent afford a bass...
Then When i try to transfer what i practiced to the actual bass guitar...everything fell apart... Strings seem too far apart, frets are too big...Inlays are different then the one i used to...Makes Me feel like Quitting...I started bass late...when im 15, now im 16...many KIDS can play better then me...Really Feel like Quitting...Morales Low...

HELP TBERS!!! I NEED ADVICE!!!!
 
#100
Because a guitar neck and strings felt too whimpy :p

Seriously, because a bunch of friends were trying to start a band. I had been playing guitar for about a month (I was 14) and was asked to switch to bass. So I sold my mini-bike and bought an Ibanez X Series (Destroyer Shape). It was the 80’s man :bassist:

Wish I still had that bass for nostalgia purposes.
 

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