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Double Bass Why do you play?
- Thread starter Ilzhoefer
- Start date
I play because it was my calling in life. I honestly had dreams of playing bass before I knew what a bass was!
It isnt about the money for me at all, it makes me happy to play
It isnt about the money for me at all, it makes me happy to play
Freekmagnet
Commercial User
The pleasure of making music.
EDIT: On second thought, that might not be specific enough. One doesn't have to play DB to make music. I played electric bass for several years before I ever touched upright, and electric bass is certainly capable enough of making music....I suppose I play upright specifically because I love the tone, the challenge, the tradition, and the nobility of the instrument.
EDIT: On second thought, that might not be specific enough. One doesn't have to play DB to make music. I played electric bass for several years before I ever touched upright, and electric bass is certainly capable enough of making music....I suppose I play upright specifically because I love the tone, the challenge, the tradition, and the nobility of the instrument.
Because fifteen years into EB playing I bought a 1942 Kay OM100B because I thought it was cool, and the first thing I did was have Ronnie Brendle set it up for me. That was a very good decision. 
Thanks Ronnie.
Then I got hired to play DB in a bluegrass band and then a tuxedo standards band and learned pretty quick how to do it fairly well, and made good money doing it, and played little else bass-wise for about a a dozen years.
It was a "Forrest Gump" induction into it for me, but it worked out well.
Thanks Ronnie.Then I got hired to play DB in a bluegrass band and then a tuxedo standards band and learned pretty quick how to do it fairly well, and made good money doing it, and played little else bass-wise for about a a dozen years.
It was a "Forrest Gump" induction into it for me, but it worked out well.
I think it's fun to do things that are hard work and that you get better at over time.
I can do all kinds of crap with my time and that's fine, but five years ago I was working on the bass and five years from now I'll still be at it. It's always just as fun. Something about it gets deeper and deeper as I go.
I can do all kinds of crap with my time and that's fine, but five years ago I was working on the bass and five years from now I'll still be at it. It's always just as fun. Something about it gets deeper and deeper as I go.
It's the only way to say some kinds of things that left unsaid the world becomes a joyless place for me.
First, why do you ask?
Second, I play because I love making music. The simple act of making organized noise over time makes me happy. My emotional well-being - stress, etc - is much better after I've practiced. I settled on UB because while at first I was curious, the more I worked at it, the more I enjoyed the challenge of it and its intrinsic voices, both pizz and arco, and I appreciated how much better it made my musicianship - I find I can't play a note in tune if I can hear it in my mind's ear before I go to finger the note - that makes my playing purposeful and intended rather than spastic noise making - shredding. The difference between a cogent speaker and a nervous teenager during an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. I play guitar pretty well too, but I haven't fully developed my own voice with it yet and I won't focus on it again until after I've mastered the UB. I'm still working on refining my UB voice with more sophisticated note choices and techniques.
Lastly, I love how powerful the UB can be in a band. If I lay down the groove solidly and articulate the harmony the way I hear it, the band should respond to my statement. If I decide that that E7 is going to be a Bm11 on bar 2, the other players best recognize that that's what I've done lest they sound totally un-hip and reveal their lack of musicianship. Similarly, where I place the beat will make good players change their relationship with the beat. This last part is just about bass and could be achieved with a fretted BG, but I love the depth of tone I get from my upright and I no longer play BG at all, mostly because I don't have the bandwidth to try to play two very different instruments well.
Second, I play because I love making music. The simple act of making organized noise over time makes me happy. My emotional well-being - stress, etc - is much better after I've practiced. I settled on UB because while at first I was curious, the more I worked at it, the more I enjoyed the challenge of it and its intrinsic voices, both pizz and arco, and I appreciated how much better it made my musicianship - I find I can't play a note in tune if I can hear it in my mind's ear before I go to finger the note - that makes my playing purposeful and intended rather than spastic noise making - shredding. The difference between a cogent speaker and a nervous teenager during an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. I play guitar pretty well too, but I haven't fully developed my own voice with it yet and I won't focus on it again until after I've mastered the UB. I'm still working on refining my UB voice with more sophisticated note choices and techniques.
Lastly, I love how powerful the UB can be in a band. If I lay down the groove solidly and articulate the harmony the way I hear it, the band should respond to my statement. If I decide that that E7 is going to be a Bm11 on bar 2, the other players best recognize that that's what I've done lest they sound totally un-hip and reveal their lack of musicianship. Similarly, where I place the beat will make good players change their relationship with the beat. This last part is just about bass and could be achieved with a fretted BG, but I love the depth of tone I get from my upright and I no longer play BG at all, mostly because I don't have the bandwidth to try to play two very different instruments well.
The reason I ask, is someone asked me why I wanted to learn to play, and I told them that I love the groove or walking baseline that the artist can create in blues/jazz/dixieland.
The person asked me about other genres of music and I told him those genres just don't (hit my backbone or excite me as much) as the other genres of music do.
He then told me why do I want to limit myself to those types of music?
So this is why I asked everyone, "Why do you play"?
Its great to see all the responses.
The person asked me about other genres of music and I told him those genres just don't (hit my backbone or excite me as much) as the other genres of music do.
He then told me why do I want to limit myself to those types of music?
So this is why I asked everyone, "Why do you play"?
Its great to see all the responses.
- Dec 13, 1999
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- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
It's the sound that coalesces meaning from chaos for me.
I just did an image search for "Double Bass = Chick Magnet" and this was one of the first hits.
I'm not sure what it means but it feels somehow........significant.
I'm not sure what it means but it feels somehow........significant.
We make people tap their feet. We can make the soloist sound great. These two alone are reason enough for me.
Best
Sidecar
Best
Sidecar
The 2 most frequently asked questions at the Isetta dealer are:I just did an image search for "Double Bass = Chick Magnet" and this was one of the first hits.
I'm not sure what it means but it feels somehow........significant.
1. "What gas mileage can I expect?"
2. "Will this car make my ass look big?"
Answers:
1. "You can expect to get about 60mpg"
2. "Yes".
Thanks.
don kasper
Hmmm. I initially started playing because I loved to sing, and I noticed that the more you could do in a band, the greater the demand would be for your particular talents and abilities. So I started learning and playing upright bass while I sang, bought a PA, quit hunting and fishing to devote more time to playing and eventually learned that music in general and the bass in particular had insinuated itself thoroughly into the part of me that registers "happy"! I've known forever that I wasn't talented enough or pretty enough to be a "star", but I'm perfectly blissful making good music with others that makes people smile and tap their feet. When you're playing and the group is hitting all cylinders, the crowd is smiling, toes tapping, some singing along, and occasionally you hit a part poignant enough to moisten eyes throughout the crowd....well, that's a drug you can't put down evidently.
I think the bass chose me in on a lot of levels. I always wanted to be a guitarist (and still work hard at it...ugghh..) and fought a natural bond with the bass that I neglected for many many years. I find a deep connection and means of expressions with upright bass that I can't get out of any other instrument; the double bass is such a journey for me and albeit sometimes more humbling than rewarding, I look forward to a life time of study.
