Why do you play? Who are you playing for?

[40Hz]

Great another educated but unfeeling vs pig-ignorant but "playing from the heart" thread.

It's actually possible to know what you are doing AND play with feeling.

Yep. The False Dilemma and Excluded Middle logical fallacies are constantly with us in these divisive times.

It doesn't have to be "if this then inevitably that must follow" or "it can only be this or that." Art doesn't work that way.

 

[Jakeman]

1. My own personal satisfaction
2. The audience's satisfaction
3. I have devoted my life to the creation of music and art
4. Music is the closest I get to spirituality
5. What else can I blow my money on now that I don't do hard drugs anymore?

 

[mattj1stc]

I always liked music and playing bass gave me a way to connect more deeply to music. As an instrument (and its role within music), it just seemed to fit me. While I'll never have the most amazing technique or the greatest soloing chops, I'm reasonably good at playing and can fit into a fairly broad range of musical styles and band situations.

Playing with others in a band, especially in front of a crowd, reminds me a lot of when I played sports. Similar to music, I was never going to make it to the NFL (or even be distinguished in college), but there's something about being part of a group that works as one unit and fires up an audience in both cases. Even when rehearsing as a band, there are times when we're really locked in with each other and playing well, better than just the sum of our parts. This is what I really like about playing music. If we happen to do this in front of an audience and they like it, it's even more of an elation.

I also like trying to better understand music and the theory behind it - why some things work and others don't. I always want to get better at creating good bass lines and learn new songs. However, there's something about playing with others that takes the experience to the next level.

 

[grinx]

wankers bore me
writing chart-topping hits that get stuck in your hips and on your lips is why I play....


.....and chix

 

[Pewter camaro]

I used to play because I wanted to be in a band. Now after being a punk and ska band in the 90's, a stoner doom metal band afterwards, and on and off in a blues band Afterwards I stopped liking it as it wasn't fun anymore. these days I play for my own satisfaction and as a hobby.

 

[Samatza]

I've loved bass guitar since the first time I picked one up, that was 47 years ago.

In the early days I wanted to sound like my heroes but as time passed I realised that I was going to sound like me no matter what I did. I realised that the real reward was making people happy, they feel good, I feel good.

It has been such a rewarding journey. Occasionally I see friends I have not seen for 30 years and they are amazed that I'm still at it, that I still have that youthful energy, I guess it keeps me young!

 

[bucephylus]

Don't know where else to put this. A friend who is heavily into avant-garde music sent me this interview with an avant-garde bassist, Simon Fell. A couple of his comments struck me as likely to cause a few heads to explode:

"...I've never really thought of myself as a bass player in a specialised "city & guilds" way – i.e. excessively interested (if not obsessed) with the mechanics of basses and their construction, technical questions, the theory and history of bass lines etc. Essentially, I'm simply interested in all musical questions, all instruments and their potential – I just happen to (mainly) play the double bass. For me technique (on any instrument) is simply a means to an end, i.e. the realisation of something musically worthwhile. The kind of musicians I feel little connection with are those (and there are many) who seem to see music as a potential way of demonstrating technique. Such musicians are often incredibly impressed by other people demonstrating their technique (rather than making interesting music); in fact some musicians sometimes give the impression that they play music mainly for the specific purpose of impressing other musicians. This whole side of music-making is something which I've always found incomprehensible."

As for myself, I enjoy listening to players who have great facility on the instrument; I'm never going to be one of them, and it doesn't seem to matter, anyway. Whatever it is I'm doing when I'm playing, people are entertained enough by it to actually pay me to do it. [Insert Gallic shrug]

A fair question, but pretty philosophical with no particular answer.

I mean, why do we do anything? One answer is either Fear or Greed. But, that doesn't quite capture all human behaviors.

Then, you've got elements like hormones and hunger. That captures a bit more.

Still, there remains more rarefied air, including characteristics somewhat harder to pin down, like ethics, knowledge, emotions, and genetic predispositions.

I guess you can get pretty deep, if you so choose. "I play, therefore, I am," etc. But, I think Jamerson captured the most of the answer to the question when he quipped, "If you don't feel it, don't play it."

 

[getbent]

I play bass as a way of being part of something. Making friends and doing the hang has been a big part of it, but there's something about tapping the skills I have to make a greater whole with other people. I don't have the best ears harmonically and melodically, but I've got a good sense of rhythm, know a ton about music history, production, and business, and am pretty easy going, so I'm usually considered a good asset to have in a group.

I write songs so that I can contribute and help steer whatever band I'm playing with, not because I feel I have some great message to share with the world. I find it's much easier to have the sort of band you want to be in if you're bringing material to the table, otherwise you're at the mercy of the songwriters in the group and the direction they want to go in. Doesn't matter if I'm not a great singer or chordal instrumentalist, as long as I can write and confidently convey the tune, better performers can provide whatever interpretation and delivery is necessary, and then I can play bass the way I want since it's my tune.

 

[Seashore]

I play to write my own stuff. I've been "writing" music in my head since I was a little kid, before I knew how to play an instrument, and I've been writing "songs" and recording ideas since I was a teenager. It's been a huge part of my life ever since and I'm not myself without it. In a different world I'd go to school for composition, but I picked visual art when it came time for higher education, and that's just as important to me. It's super cool getting to share the products of those pursuits with other people, but doing the work is the point in itself.

 

[mambo4]

My first response was "for the audience",
my second response was "for the song",
my third response was "for myself" (realizing I'm currently not gigging)

But really, these are all facets of the same thing.
Just like technique and feel
Just like groove and theory

It's all hajanga

 

[Killing Floor]

Great topic.
I play instruments because playing and singing brings me joy. I hope that when we are able to play again that I can bring some joy to people in attendance. Either because they like what we're doing OR because the see that we are having fun which can be contagious.
I don't play to get paid, don't get me wrong, I dig getting paid but I'd be playing anyway so it's like a fringe benefit. (Note to bookers, don't cut my pay)
Right now I'm playing in my music room / office just like most of us. But my dog seems to like having me around. She likes scale work but I don't think she cares for the fun slap stuff because that's when she usually leaves the room.

 

[Membo]

I play for me, no one else. Over the years I've noticed that I'm a happier person when I'm playing in a band (with as little drama as possible). Originals, covers, whatever. I don't do it for a living, so I have less worries about how the audience likes it and worry more about my own level satisfaction (or not) with each song. Having said that, it is way more satisfactory for me to play with musicians that want to play well and work at it. Not sure how long I'd last in a band that just wanted to drink beer and jam worn out covers until everyone was too drunk to play. That's cool if that is your thing, but it just ain't mine.

 

[Discount Bassy]

I play because I need to.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

The other is made up of friends who also happen to be good at what they do. They all take joy in propping each other up. They all focus on the overall vibe of the song. They all CARE IF THE AUDIENCE IS HAVING A BLAST. And they can musically finish each others' sentences.

I am fortunate in that I am in the latter band.

This is a great way of explaining why I play and why I play with the people that I do.

And because it's fun, so much of my life is of necessity, work, home-care, helping my kids with their "new to them" homes, etc. This is work aimed at fun that is actually fun and I believe we all need some kind of outlet in our lives.

 

[dan1952]

I play for the money. I've made dozens and dozens of dollars over the course of my career...oh, and for world peace, too.

 

[lfmn16]

I play because I need to.

 

[JakobT]

I play music because it's one of the few art forms that allow me to collaborate with others in real time. The feeling of making something great together now is one that's hard to beat.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I play because I love it and I play for me...

 

[Pings Bass]

This comports with how all serious musicians I have known see things. I'm thinking of symphony musicians primarily, for whom technical mastery is compulsory, and their worth as musicians is based more on their expressive capabilities (since anybody at that level has already demonstrated the requisite technical prowess).

I have encountered plenty of guitar wankers who want to show off chops, but I mostly avoid that world. And surely college jazz programs have their share of "higher faster louder" players, encouraged by the weird competitive setting of academic jazz.

But with all the serious musicians I've ever known, technical skills are just tools for musical expression.

 

[Robscott]

Great topic.
I play instruments because playing and singing brings me joy. I hope that when we are able to play again that I can bring some joy to people in attendance. Either because they like what we're doing OR because the see that we are having fun which can be contagious.
I don't play to get paid, don't get me wrong, I dig getting paid but I'd be playing anyway so it's like a fringe benefit. (Note to bookers, don't cut my pay)
Right now I'm playing in my music room / office just like most of us. But my dog seems to like having me around. She likes scale work but I don't think she cares for the fun slap stuff because that's when she usually leaves the room.

Roll the treble off, those upper harmonics are doing her head in!