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Why did you start playing bass?

#101
dumbassist said:
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!!!!
Click to expand...

Ok, advice; quit being so self-critical. Change your screen name to something positive, serously - you aren't stupid and you know it. You didn't start too late - "Man, by the time I'm really good I'll be 20". You'll be 20 anyway. The rest - you already know what to do - practice your ass off on a decent bass that you work hard at MacDonalds (or where ever) to get - problem solved.

Skel
 
#102
i started playing bass because me and my friends were starting a band and we had 3 guitarists, a drummer and a bass player. the 3rd guitarist wanted to play guitar, so now, i had no instrument to play because we didnt want 3 guitars in the band. so now i had to find another instrument. i tried out keyboard, but i sucked at it and the current bass player was pretty talented at piano, so i offered to play bass and him play piano. he took up the offer and then i started playing bass. it was much more enjoyable than any other insturment i had ever played so i of course, fell in love with it and stll play it today. this happend about 2 years ago.
so that is my story on how i started playing bass.
 
#103
I started playing bass because it was a very "The Instrument less played kinda things". Also I got a hold of some System Of A Down (their early stuff) and I heard a mini-bass solo by Shavo Odadjian and was blown away. I thought that a band was a singer, 2 guitarists, and drums. Well I was mistaken. My mom then got me into Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and classic rock in general. The bassline she really pointed out was the Dazed and Confused bassline. Also, I wanted to start a band. We ran through 3 bass players and their schedules would never let a band come in the way. So I started bass. I've been playing a few months now. I know you guys are thinkin' "awww man we have a newbie who doesn't know crap about how to play or the nature of bass" Well I think I'm an acceptionally good player for a few months. But My main inspiration was this guy:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

and the other my favorite bass player of all time:
systemofadown03.jpg


So thats why I play bass
 
#105
I wanted to be a guitar playing rockstar when I was little, just like a bunch of other kids.
My brother had already been playing bass for like 3 years when I started playing guitar (I was 14 at the time).
After a few guitar lessons, I realized that trying to use my hands on a guitar was like trying to apply nail polish with a sledge hammer. My hands were too big and I couldn't coordinate them.
So I started messing with my brothers bass, I learned some simple Metallica songs first. Once I learned the beginning of "Anesthesia", I was hooked.
 
#106
HOw do You Change ur Nick anyway??
I didn'y put the name dumbassist cause i was putting myself down...
Its sorta a joke when i called pple dumbass...
and i realised theres a BASS in DumBASS...:D
Kinda Corny...

The only time i can get a bass is in NOV...Dats so far away!!!!
 
#109
slipknotz said:
I know you guys are thinkin' "awww man we have a newbie who doesn't know crap about how to play or the nature of bass"
Click to expand...
Nah, you won't get much of that here. I've only been playing a year and I joined up with TB pretty early on... they were really patient with me then as they are today (even though I'm still clueless :) ).

And I've seen things like a drummer (meaning only, "someone who doesn't even play bass) joining up and asking for help on what to buy for a starter bass and rig because of wanting to learn. Really, most folks here are pretty cool and want to help.

Welcome aboard!

'rick
 
#112
I originally played guitar and had been doing so off and on for about 30 years. I tried bass once before, maybe 10 years ago and never really got into it. I decided to try again 4 years ago just for something new to do. A drummer friend of mine got me hooked up with a band jamming in town which needed a bass player. After playing bass for about a month I worked up the courage to go over and play with those guys. All I remember was sweating my ass off and finding out the guitar player was a really nice guy, we're best of friends now. As it turns out lots of people are looking for decent bass players. I'm constantly playing bass and new friendships continue to evolve. I wish I started playing bass sooner!!
 
#113
I think that my name says it all. I started because of Cliff Burton. I could not belieive that his solo, Anesthesia was bass. Also, until I was told otherwise, I thought that the beginning solo of For Whom the Bell Tolls was guitar. This opened my eyes to the extremes of bass guitar. Also, Geddy Lee (of which I play the Fender Geddy Lee Signature) and Paul McCartney and various others that can thump on some killer bass grooves.
 
#114
Well, i started out playing the double bass when I was 17, in 1965, and my heroes were Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Scott LaFaro and Mingus....
Later on, I'd never really paid attention to rock and roll, strange as it may be, until I caught Cream's gig in madison sqaure garden, in 68...it was, I believe, their farewell tour, and a very strange gig, on a revolving stage. However, what caught my attention was Jack Bruce, and his bass playing.. He played bass almost like lead guitar, and the famous EB-3 through the marshall stacks gave the greatest sounds i'd ever heard coming from an electric bass...

After that, i saved some money and got myself a p-bass...because there were no more gibsons where i went to get my bass.. In 1973, after playing a few gigs with my P-bass, i moved to Australia, and joined a band as bassist. My jazz playing helped a lot, and believe it or not, we were playing in a power trio formation, and our material was mostly cream... In early 1976, my P-bass fell off the Band van (the guitarrist forgot to actually close the back door of the van, and the case slid right into the road, opened up and disaster struck)...It seemed to be destiny's call, when we arrived in melbourne (coming from a gig in a small hotel about 30 mins away) and I discovered my bass was about 60 miles back... I got extremely mad at the guitarrist, who was a very big man, compared to me, but as I went to get myself a new bass the next day, I found a 1970 slotted headstock EB-3 for sale, just like Jack Bruce's...After that I was happier than ever...(i had to sell the eb-3 in 99...still regret it)

jack bruce had a HUUUUGE influence on my playing, since he too started with the double bass.. His bass licks were definitely out of this world, and I still learn listening to his work today...
 
#115
I mentioned to my wife that I might want to learn to play the drums after a car accident left one of my hands pretty messed up. She wisely (self preservation I think) suggested the bass instead since I had earlier played the gu***r from the other side. Goes to show why she is the smarter of the two of us. She actually says she likes to hear me practice on the bass as she finds the sound of it quite soothing. Go figure...
 
#117
Maverick Blues said:
Nah, you won't get much of that here. I've only been playing a year and I joined up with TB pretty early on... they were really patient with me then as they are today (even though I'm still clueless :) ).

And I've seen things like a drummer (meaning only, "someone who doesn't even play bass) joining up and asking for help on what to buy for a starter bass and rig because of wanting to learn. Really, most folks here are pretty cool and want to help.

Welcome aboard!

'rick
Click to expand...

Well I look at it this way i'm smarter than guitarists! ;)
 
#118
I just turned to bass in the last couple of months, but it was mainly cause I met a guy in my schools jazz band who was a sax player like me. He played sax but really didn't know why, his real talent was that he could shred on blues guitar. I wanted to accompany him somehow, and I wanted to be a guitarist. This will sound pathetic, but I turned to bass because I thought guitars strings were too close together for me. :hiding:

At the same time, I started listening to more music and came across guys like Cliff and Geddy. Not only that, but Matt (the guitarist, who also sold me my bass I recently posted) shared some of his favorites which I came to like, guys like Bruce, Entwhistle and JPJ.
 
#119
My friend started playing the guitar, and told me to play the bass, "it only has 4 strings". It all made sense...back in my high school days, as embarrassed as I am to admit it, I had 4 pioneer 10's in the back of my 85 firebird, and "doggystyle", "the chronic", and "murder was the case" soundtrack could be heard rumbling out of my car. I always loved the sound of bass, whether it be flea-esque funk (although back then I didn't realize those weird sounds were from the bass), some gangsta rap grooves, or some rock bassist dropping down to d and going to town. Then the same friend decided I needed to find out what rock was, and took me to my first Manson concert...that's when i saw the epitome of a rock concert...and a kick ass bass player, Jeordie White. So naturally when my friend suggested to play the bass, I thought of Twiggy, bought one, and still play to this day, and plan on playing until I die...
 
#120
I wanted to play some kind of instrument, so the music teacher at our school gave me a try of a few. He brang out a trumpet first and some other brass instrument. I tried them I completely sucked though (couldn't get the blowing thing right). He told me there was one instrument that I would be able to play (and seeing as I have big hands he thought it would be the thing for me). So he went and got me a bass, I was pretty happy with it as it looked like a very cool instrument, I started playing it. It wasn't until about 6 months later I realised how much you can do on a bass and how important it really is. From then on I was really serious about playing and I got a bass for christmas (and an amp the christmas after). It has been some 2 and a half years (since I started) and I am starting a band with a drummer and 2 guitarist mates from school.
I am happy that I suck at playing brass and woodwind instruments though, since that is the thing that led me to the bass.
 

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