Why do you play? Who are you playing for?

[Chrisenbacker69]

Forgive me as I wax poetic (poorly) for a few minutes.

I play for the songs and what they mean to me. I play for the high wire act that occurs when you play live and attempt to fuse the minds and souls of a group of musicians through a performance. I play for the little moments. Sometimes these moments are the thunderclap of the bass drum laid down precisely at the exact moment or the quiet perfection of just enough bend in a note at some quiet part of a song. If these things are done well, it doesn't matter what your skill level is or how complex the song might be; if it moves other people, your peers, or even only yourself, it's beautiful. Just in that moment. And everything is right in the universe.

 

[The Deep]

I’m in the playing for myself category as well.

I seem to be attracted to activities that are difficult and have no set finish point. You can keep pushing yourself to learn and develop as long as the desire to do so remains present. I relish the idea that you’re never “done”. Endless possibilities and loads of music to explore. Then there’s theory, sight reading, composition, other instruments, etc. A true lifetime pursuit.

4. Music is the closest I get to spirituality

This really hits the mark for me as well. Playing music is one of the few activities that utilizes both sides of your brain simultaneously. It’s physical, logical, creative, and emotional all at once. When it all comes together it’s as rewarding as it gets.

There is no other activity I do that makes me feel like such a complete human being.

 

[Nobis17]

I read the first post, then saw there were a lot of other post with a lot of words, more than likely written by people smarter and more talented than me. But, to answer the title, I play music to allow for creative release and because I love it, the only person I play for is myself. Things have been born from this creative release that other people like, but in the end it's for my ear.

 

[misterCRUSH]

depending upon the context of the situation, i play for a lot of different people. Primarily i play for me I have schizophrenia, and playing has always been my main refuge from symptoms and delusions. I can hone in on what i'm doing and shut everything else off.
I play for my fiance and our daughter. they love to hear me play and have a great time guessing what tune i'm playing and things like that. it brings me great light to know how close we all are in those moments.
I play for people in jazz trios that i am in. both the audience and the people in the band. those moments, where everything locks together and there is only one of us....that's just about the best feeling ever.

 

[jdthebassman]

I play for myself and enjoy driving the band with feel and expression. I also like to learn new things and challenge myself by playing riffs,songs that I mite never get to do on the gig. I am also into the virtuoso approach of being the best player I can be.

 

[Paulabass]

I think I'm a good bass player in that I have made a living at it, and I'm often first call.
I don't think that good technique made me a good bass player, but being a bass player gave me good technique.
I can play everything I need to play, and I know enough theory that I can explain what's going on while we arrange songs. I'll take a deep groove over high tech anytime.

 

[dalkowski]

Why do I play? To make the butts move.
Who do I play for? The party people in the place to be.

 

[DirtDog]

The Ladies

Same. For the first 20 or 30 years anyways!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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]

Dang! that’s pretty spot on. Agree 100%. I Will say this when it comes to double bass technique, if you don’t got it, nobody is going to pay to hear you play.

What I agree with is technique for me is not entertaining, nor is self indulgence. I’m there to hear the art. Those hung up on seeing great technicians is like going to see a great still life painter, and ooing over his brush stokes, not even looking at the image. I get it.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I definitely relate to that part. The whole YouTube "bass cover" or playalong thing has less than zero entertainment appeal to me in the vast majority of cases. Using it as an educational process is fine, great even, but I don't really even want to ever hear the original artist play it note for note like the record, much less anyone else.

As far as the other parts, I was an audio technician/sound provider before I was a gigging player and I've always enjoyed the production and technical aspects at least as much as being up on stage. I can and have gigged on other instruments perfectly happily, and now that I've retired from gigging I expect and hope to expand that palette a bit further. Bass is cool, so are lots of other things.

If you are hearing an original artist playing a part note for note, odds are they are playing with tracks...lol!

I do like gigging, but what trips my trigger is seeing the project come together to the point we can play it for the paying public, and having a part in that production. The performance? No where near as gratifying.

 

[Ostie]

I’m in it for the money. Last month I bought a new strap. Now I’m saving up for some new strings.

 

[rtslinger]

I live through the instrument. Bass has been a major part of my life since I started taking lesson at 9 years old.
It has taking me places I couldn't have gotten to without it, and it has been by my side through it all. So the quick and dirty answer is I play for me, and my inspiration gets reflected out to others who see me having a great time doing what I do Going to be rock'n 62 this year, so bass and me, good together for 53 years

 

[Pilgrim]

I play because I enjoy it.

And I must be playing for me, because I'd never make a living playing for anyone but me.

And that's all I have to say about that.

 

[zontar]

I play because it's in me & it's got to come out.
& I enjoy it.
I play for myself & as I also sometimes play in a Worship band at church I play for the congregation & for God.

 

[DJ Dru]

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]

I play bass for reasons, they are my reasons and no one else's. That would mean I play the bass for me and my own personal enjoyment I get from it.

 

[fdeck]

Oddly enough, I also play bass because I was asked to play it at school. However, I was playing cello at the time, and it remained my main instrument for a few more years. In the US, it would be quite rare for someone of school age to be studying music without playing an instrument.

I didn't start out having a particular affinity for the bass. Playing it was awkward for me because of the frets, which I soon removed. Then I got an upright after high school. Today, I have no other musical outlet, because I'm no longer good enough to perform on the cello, and I'm not a composer. But I also have an interest in the bass itself, how it's played, how the great players have made it their own, and so forth.

I spend all day being a generalist at my day job, I can spend some time being a specialist at home.

It's easy to say that technique is overrated, after you've already mastered it.

I'm willing to play for myself, or with a few others in the living room, or for an audience of 10 people. All I need is one person who appreciates the music.