My inner sense of rhythm and natural inclination towards drums and percussions .. plus, tone-wise, Chris Squire’s bass intro on “Heart of the Sunrise”, best hi-fi woofer test tune!
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Why do you play bass ??
- Thread starter loie1987
- Start date
I play bass for the same reason I play guitar and drums. They are the three main instruments in all of the music I love.
Many of my high school friends were in bands and I wanted to learn to play an instrument so I could join them, especially since they had lots of girls following them around. I went to see a friend’s band at a roller rink around 1981 or 82 and the song they opened with was Iron Maiden’s Ides of March/Wrathchild. I had never heard of Iron Maiden, and barely knew what a bass was, but I clearly remember the Antigua Fender Jazz the bass player was playing and how awesome the bass intro to Wrathchild sounded, and I decided right then and there that bass was going to be the instrument I was going to learn how to play. So, Steve Harris was my first Bass influence before I even knew who he was, or what band he was in.
I am also hard of hearing - essentially deaf in my left ear for as long as I can remember, except for very low frequencies. It still is not clear if I actually hear them in my left ear or if the sound is travelling through my skull to my other ear. Anyway, I'm a bass player, not a bass guitarist. I hardly played bass guitar (I can also play guitar) until about 10 years ago when I started having durability issues with longer gigs on upright. Until I was in college I mainly played in the symphony.
Because, as a kid, I mostly listened to music with headphones (much better than my folks' crappy stereo) I could actually hear the bass lines clearly and just fell in love with the idea that no band sounds decent without it. Over the years I have learned that just having a good bass line isn't enough - the bass and the drums actually make or break just about every song - and band.
I had a cheap acoustic guitar as most of us probably had as kids, and learned the typical cowboy chords. I started learning songs later, then trying to pick out easy leads when I was 11 or 12. Wasn't great, wasn't crappy. I always liked listening to the bass on most pop/rock music back then, like The Beatles, Grass Roots, Stones, etc. I few years later, Alice Cooper band got me noticing bass lines a bit more. Then KISS, Yes, BTO, Judas Priest and Rush. So, I kind of paid more attention to that and then me, my brother and 2 friends that were also into the same music created our first garage band and the rest is history lol I HAD to have a 4001 and was lucky to obtain one only a couple of years old in mint condition with the case for $325. I love the undercurrent of the bass lines and in the hands of the masters, the awesome accentuation and counterpoint they create. I'm still a hack, but I am still learning and simply love playing along with songs on the computer and occasionally, I get to jam with my bro and friends again when I go back to my ancestral home to visit. YT and other sites has educated me more in the last 5-7 years than the 30 years prior. Mostly, because I am more serious in becoming better.
Maybe someone answered this but it's great laying a framework and listening to the guitarist/soloist building on it. When it works, it's heaven.
We’re at the halfway point! I was a guitar player from age 10. Because the Beatles. 35 years later I picked up a bass to play along with a band I was in and BAM, I knew I wanted to keep doing THAT. I stand out front, sing leads and harmonies, and rock with the singer and guitars and keys, but also hold it down with the drummer. I play bass because bass is the shizzle. And I get to hang out with you guys. Most of my life I thought I was John but all along I was Paul.
Ok, A short history of what led me to love the bass...Back in 1981, I wanted to play guitar, so I started lessons. I quickly became good enough to play with other people, and was able to sit in with my classmates band. About a year or so later, one of those classmates was in a different band that had just lost their bass player. I worked with borrowed bass equipment, and didn't really know what I was doing, it was stick to the root notes and go with it. It was a good experience, but I didn't jive with it, so when that band ended, and I went back to guitar, which I soon quit soon after. Fast forward to the mid 2000's, I got the bug again and got back into the guitar game. I kept up with it this time, playing in a fairly successful local band along the way. I was always just an average player though, so in 2021, I decided to buy bass and learn to play it properly, with the idea that it would make me a better guitar player. This time it stuck with me, I loved the new challenges it brought me, and I haven't really touched my guitar since. I still have a lot of growing to do, but I do feel that I'm at a spot that I can officially call myself a bass player.
You are my spirit animal.Because playing bass poorly is less abrasive to the ears than poor guitar playing. I was never gonna be good at any instrument, so I figured I might as well pick the one that I was least terrible at.
