Coz my mom bought me a guitar from Woolworths for Xmas. It was a bass. She didn't know any different.
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why play bass
- Thread starter bass theory
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Why would I want a weekend of dancing and laughing and merriment, when I could be lumping big heavy bass cabinets up icy fire escapes.
Role models. When I was 14 there was a very cool guy on bass at church. Bought a bass joined a band. Band ended up hanging with Genisis(long story) and got me into Jacko - started practicing 24/7. Got to college - no1 bassist there was seeing about eight women at the same time - practiced 34/7. Got a part time job at college that landed me meeting John Paul Jones - forgot what I was studying at college.. it just went on from there.
I naturally focus on the bass part when listening to music, even from before I was old enough to know what instruments were producing it. Later I started jamming with my drummer and guitarist friends in HS, so bass guitar was a natural fit. I rented a short scale P-bass copy and an amp for a month, and never looked back. But mostly, I've always been in love with the function of the bass line in music, how it informs and interacts with the melody and rhythm simultaneously. I'm fascinated by how much power it has to shape the feel of the song. The guitar and drums can play the same simple pattern and the bass can completely change it up 10 different ways.
Oh yea I was bitten by the ego bug early. I played bass but focused more attention on guitar during my teens and 20s, playing bass when needed.
Back then it was difficult for me to stand in the shadows, which in my mind ar the time was what bass players did.
Years of working with some of the best and some of the worst bass players around taught me a lot.
I learned a great deal from the really good ones, and learned I never wanted to be like the bad ones, which were either " guitar players" who felt like they had to play bass, or even some who was a buddy or significant other of a band member who were taught to play enough to skirt by... uhhg I'm glad those times are gone.
When I decided to devote to bass pretty much exclusively I was determined to play everything at the top of my ability, have good technique, and as a result I think I've done pretty well. I enjoyed being the part of the band that makes the rest sound the best it can.
Sometimes I play with a guitarist who feel like swapping and so I still play a bit of guitar, but I don't really care whether I do or not. I'm happy playing bass, singing some lead and back up vocals.
Back then it was difficult for me to stand in the shadows, which in my mind ar the time was what bass players did.
Years of working with some of the best and some of the worst bass players around taught me a lot.
I learned a great deal from the really good ones, and learned I never wanted to be like the bad ones, which were either " guitar players" who felt like they had to play bass, or even some who was a buddy or significant other of a band member who were taught to play enough to skirt by... uhhg I'm glad those times are gone.
When I decided to devote to bass pretty much exclusively I was determined to play everything at the top of my ability, have good technique, and as a result I think I've done pretty well. I enjoyed being the part of the band that makes the rest sound the best it can.
Sometimes I play with a guitarist who feel like swapping and so I still play a bit of guitar, but I don't really care whether I do or not. I'm happy playing bass, singing some lead and back up vocals.
I'll have to think about this one.
See, what got me on the path to bass was during 5th grade when we tried to figure out what instruments best suited us for the school band. I originally wanted to play either drums or trumpet, but ended up playing baritone horn/euphonium because I could actually get a decent sound out of that mouthpiece. Being in the low brass section naturally made me become more attuned to bass lines so whenever my friends and I would fantasize about being rock stars in middle school, I always said I wanted to play bass.
I ended up quitting the school band after my freshman year of high school because I didn't get along with the faculty/staff and wanted to pursue other electives. I still wanted to play music, so during my sophomore year I got myself an after-school job and saved up for a bass and amp. To reward my effort, my dad (RIP) offered to pay half. And I've been a bassist ever since. January 1994 (when I was 15) was when I started taking bass lessons.
I feel that oneness with a bass/stringed instrument that I didn't feel with a wind instrument. I like bass because it's an instrument I kinda "hug." I've tried playing guitar, but the skinny strings spaced close together on twig-esque necks just don't feel right to me. When I'd grab my bass again, it's like getting out of a too-tight tuxedo and getting into my comfy pants.
See, what got me on the path to bass was during 5th grade when we tried to figure out what instruments best suited us for the school band. I originally wanted to play either drums or trumpet, but ended up playing baritone horn/euphonium because I could actually get a decent sound out of that mouthpiece. Being in the low brass section naturally made me become more attuned to bass lines so whenever my friends and I would fantasize about being rock stars in middle school, I always said I wanted to play bass.
I ended up quitting the school band after my freshman year of high school because I didn't get along with the faculty/staff and wanted to pursue other electives. I still wanted to play music, so during my sophomore year I got myself an after-school job and saved up for a bass and amp. To reward my effort, my dad (RIP) offered to pay half. And I've been a bassist ever since. January 1994 (when I was 15) was when I started taking bass lessons.
I feel that oneness with a bass/stringed instrument that I didn't feel with a wind instrument. I like bass because it's an instrument I kinda "hug." I've tried playing guitar, but the skinny strings spaced close together on twig-esque necks just don't feel right to me. When I'd grab my bass again, it's like getting out of a too-tight tuxedo and getting into my comfy pants.
I was in my early 30's when I picked up someone's G&L and just kind of fell in love with it. I played rhythm guitar from my teenage years up, but only once in a band setting. I owned a 7 string and a 6 string guitar, and most of what I played fell on the bass side of the guitar strings. I bought a DanoBlaster off a friend. I couldn't stand it. Then I was with my buddies while they were recording some music and the guy doing the recording had brought his G&L and it was setup real nice, felt great in the hands. And it hit me that my self taught guitar style worked well for bass.
It wasn't long after that I bought the SR500 in my avatar pic. Sold my guitars.. the bass did low-end way better than my 7 string Schecter did. Bought gear.. was in a band 3 months after I started playing bass. I only recently added a guitar to my stable again.. MIM Strat I bought from someone for the cheap. I barely touch it.. but often pick up one of my 3 basses. My 7 string guitars and how I played them, ultimately, were just evidence that I was chasing the low end.
It wasn't long after that I bought the SR500 in my avatar pic. Sold my guitars.. the bass did low-end way better than my 7 string Schecter did. Bought gear.. was in a band 3 months after I started playing bass. I only recently added a guitar to my stable again.. MIM Strat I bought from someone for the cheap. I barely touch it.. but often pick up one of my 3 basses. My 7 string guitars and how I played them, ultimately, were just evidence that I was chasing the low end.
I started plying as a young teenager in the 70's. I come from a family of drummers so I wanted to start there. As I started down that path my father, a drummer, said I should consider an instrument that I could play a song on and not have to rely on other musicians. I reluctantly agreed to learn guitar and started lessons on acoustic guitar. As many others I joined a bunch of my too young peers and started a "band". We did not have a bass player...didn't know what one was so I volunteered to play it. ...my father just shook his head. I developed a love for the instrument and quickly learned of the freedom a bassist has. 45 years later...i've never looked back. I do ocassionally play drums or guitar but would not give up the bass.
I was always drawn to music, but I was drawn to the bass because Steve Harris looked really cool in the "Beast Over Hammersmith" video lol.
I play also drums and guitar. But bass is what I keep getting drawn into.
AND I LOVE IT.
I'm happy to play what's needed, but I actually enjoy playing bass.
It's a very underrated instrument.
"anyone can play it" but only a few can play it well!
AND I LOVE IT.
I'm happy to play what's needed, but I actually enjoy playing bass.
It's a very underrated instrument.
"anyone can play it" but only a few can play it well!
Here's why I picked up bass after trying guitar, keyboard, and harmonica with various poor results:
- First time I picked up a bass, it just felt like home. Did not get that feeling with the other instruments I tried.
- Compared to guitar, if feels relaxing, like driving a tractor instead of some squirrely little sports car. Something about the big strings with wide spacing, and the low tones.
- Bass is unique in that you can get 'good enough' very quickly, but you can also spend a lifetime getting better at it. After 6 months, you can get to a point where your time is steady and don't break the song. Which means that good guitarists will want to play with you, even if you are new. Yet, you can also spend a lifetime getting better, maybe never reaching the level of top players. That combination of 'good enough quickly' and 'keep on learning' is pleasing to me.
- Being a bass player is like being the one kid in high school with a car. You are very popular with other musicians.
- I like how it sounds!
- Jun 30, 2010
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But only if the song is not re-arranged for no-bass, much of So Beautiful or So What was recorded with very little bass (there are other instruments that take over the frequency spectrum, but not all the time). It is definitely noticeable that there isn't a lot of traditional bass playing on it but the record has a really interesting and airy quality to it that I fell in love with right away.
I think if you take away bass from any song that has it, it will sound incomplete - I think the same would go for guitar, drums and keyboard as well. But if you take an element away from a song - and then rearrange the conception of the song to be emboldened by that removal I do think it is possible to make something beautiful.
Also as far as having a room without drywall - or an unfinished basement, I think it is possible to make lo-fi mix choices that also can be interesting from that aesthetic point of view. I mean the Esher demo is almost my favourite Beatles album.
That said - I personally find it hard to cut bass out of my songs, as it is my favourite instrument
Considering "So What" (Miles) - the bass is intrigal as a "call and response" devise. The minimalism of the bass is a deliberate and essential part of the composition, as in - "very little bass" is the essence of only what was needed as bass to satisfy/delver the 'airy' (space respectful) structure. Most likely we agree.
I love the bass line - it is iconic.
I never gave any thought to where Paul Simon got the idea for cutting the bass guitar in his album - but I wouldn't doubt that Miles Davis has been a big influence on him as he is for almost everyone.
For me - over the last 10 years or so I have really gotten over myself as far as how I play, learning to produce and record as well as playing guitar has allowed me to approach bass less on trying to show off how good I can play, and more focus on how what I am playing is working with or affecting the other instruments in the music.
If that means I don't play for a few measures - or I simplify my parts to give the song a little more breathing room, the end result is always a net win.
My Son brought his family to thanksgiving. Everyone was tested for covid-19 and had been quarentined, so it was safe. My eight year old granddaughter discovered my baritone guitar for the first time, and started to play around with it. she couldn't put it down. I swear that if it were possible she would have slept with it. I could see the light in her eyes, and was reminded me of some of the stories here about how many of you just knew when you saw your first bass. She didn't like the short scale bass, she didn't like the acoustic guitar of my wife's, but that strat knockoff baritone sang to her soul. It wasn't that it was a baritone, I could see that. and she quite naturally took to strumming it like a std guitar. She played with different stroke patters, and tried to play the few chords i could teach her, it was the intricacies of it, everything about the guitar struck her. I offered to my son to make her a guitar, but then it hit me, just a guitar wouldn't do. It had to be that guitar. Today i am converting that same guitar she fell in love with, by changing the neck and strings, and setting it up as a 25" strat for a beginner. On her birthday on March 6th that will become her guitar. Who knows if it will ever lead anywhere, But i hope and pray that this home made guitar can be for my granddaughter what the first bass was for some of you in your stories. It is truely awesome to see it happen in front of me.
This post resonates with me! I thought I was the only one who played violin at a young age and then made the totally irrational decision to pick up bass just because it had 4 strings. "It's the same tuning, only backwards" was my thinking. HA! Took a few lessons, learned a few songs, saw a message posted in the music store of a band looking for a bass player. Met the drummer and guitarist and knew I'd made the right decision to play bass. Became lifelong friends with the guitarist, best man in my wedding, yada, yada. Picking up the bass was one of the best decisions I've made. It's helped satiate the need in my life to perform, be on stage, make music, make people happy.
My dad used to sing in bands. One of my earliest memories is from one of his rehearsals. So I wanted to sing, like him. Or play Hammond organ like Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep fame.
Then one night I kept hearing low frequencies during the night, and decided I wanted to play the bass. Since my dad had a semi-acoustic guitar, he told me to learn guitar instead. I did, and took lessons, and never fully took to it, except playing fingerstyle.
Then, when I was 19 I think, after a night of heavy drinking, my friends and I decided to start a band. Since all of us played guitar, I volunteered... To sing. That took all of one rehearsal. The gu who we decided would play bass, never showed up. Mind you, he was learning to play the instrument so it made sense to get him in the band.
Anyway, I bought a bass off a friend of a friend of mine, spent a few weeka learning the songs for "the band" and off we went. Didn't last long, but 6 months later (and a LOT of hours spent woodshedding) I joined my first "real" band.
Can't believe that was over 20 years ago, already... I recently took up ukulele, and it's interesting to have to start from scratch. Once again, I am drawn to fingerstyle playing. Guess it cannot be helped :-D
Then one night I kept hearing low frequencies during the night, and decided I wanted to play the bass. Since my dad had a semi-acoustic guitar, he told me to learn guitar instead. I did, and took lessons, and never fully took to it, except playing fingerstyle.
Then, when I was 19 I think, after a night of heavy drinking, my friends and I decided to start a band. Since all of us played guitar, I volunteered... To sing. That took all of one rehearsal. The gu who we decided would play bass, never showed up. Mind you, he was learning to play the instrument so it made sense to get him in the band.
Anyway, I bought a bass off a friend of a friend of mine, spent a few weeka learning the songs for "the band" and off we went. Didn't last long, but 6 months later (and a LOT of hours spent woodshedding) I joined my first "real" band.
Can't believe that was over 20 years ago, already... I recently took up ukulele, and it's interesting to have to start from scratch. Once again, I am drawn to fingerstyle playing. Guess it cannot be helped :-D
