Why we love playing bass.

[Wallace320]

I use'em always. With bass and/or guitar (not many tho', but, still, always) and, back in time, I used multifx (... always...)

And I drag instruments everytime I can... Could it be me?

Cheers,
Wallace

 

[DigitalMan]

I started on guitar when I was twelve, and my best friend started bass at the same time.

We traded about a week later and never looked back.

 

[coyote1]

Yep. Every kid played guitar or drums. Very few played bass, and fewer still played keyboards. The good bassists, even back in 8th grade, were in demand. So even though I was a better drummer and guitarist than lots of the kids out there I took up bass, and eventually keyboards too. Along with many other instruments.

The payoff has been a really solid grasp of what makes a band work. I can sit in with a typical rock/pop band on a number of instruments and contribute to the musicality, and can also do that with jazz to some extent.

Aside from that, I just dig the feel and sound of the bass.

Like a lot of us, it was the lack of bassists around when I first started to play. I do play guitar as well but the bass tends to pay off better because there still a lack of competent bassists around, especially those who can sing and front a band. You can usually find work if you want it.

 

[BartmanPDX]

Rick James (Bustin' out of L7) , Bootsy Collins, Louis Johnson (from Brothers Johnson), St. James Jamerson, Larry Graham, ... and Don Cornelius!

This. I grew up on Soul Train. The bass players were clearly the coolest in the group. I also just plain like the way the bass sounds.

I also am more drawn to the way a bass line can operate separately from the melody but still support it. I remember listening to Boston and mainly focussing on the bass line.

 

[jamsk]

Drums make you tap your hands.

Guitars make you bop your head.

Bass makes your whole body move.

'Nuff said.

 

[icecycle66]

I like the feel of the strings.

I like the feel of the notes. Sometimes I lay on the floor and play my bass, unpluged, with its neck resting on my forehead. It gets rid of milkd headachs and mild stomach aches.

Sometimes I lay down with my speakers cranked and laying against the floor and feel the vibrations of the earth that I cause.

I like the sound of the notes. Compared ot a guitar, the same note at the same pitch played on bass is stronger, more throaty, and communicates greater power.

 

[Biggbass]

Sgt Peppers - With a Little Help From My Friends.

 

[gadela]

as a guitarist for 12 years i am seriously considering switching to bass completely. i recently picked it up and i was doing a little jam-along with some old James Jamerson motown. i found myself smiling more that i was playing the bass line then when i would do the guitar lines.

there's something special about being the backbone of a song. musically, i love being the support where all the other musicians build upon.

 

[Auguste]

When my heart and bass beat and play in sync

 

[ksandvik]

Easy way to make money for purchasing synth gear -- long time ago.