Well I always wanted to sing but I can't. When I start to sing babies start crying. I guess I could swap my bass skills for vocal skills, but I still wouldn't be able to sing, so......
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Would you trade your bass competencies for something else?
- Thread starter 3bc
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I would trade my Bass playing for the ability to be a great vocalist, like Jackie Wilson, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, James Brown.
If I could holla like those cats, I would of spent less time developing my instrumental skills. But in reality I don't have pipes like them.
If I could holla like those cats, I would of spent less time developing my instrumental skills. But in reality I don't have pipes like them.
Nothings says you can't pursue all of them. I'm a good bass player and I'm competent at singing and playing guitar. I also dabble on drums, piano, saxophone, and harmonica. I get paid to play, but I'm not a professional musician. I have a family and a fulltime job and my obligations to both come before music, yet I've still found time to pursue what interests me.
I've pretty much less-than-half-assed every instrument I've tried except bass (which I've five-eighths-assed). If we're keeping this to music I would probably go back and commit to piano. I love playing bass, especially when it makes butts move. But I so admire the people who can sit down at a piano anywhere, anytime and play something beautiful just like a-ringin' a bell.
If we're expanding beyond music I'd go back and learn trig and calc (thanks for nothing, Dad) so I could work with sound in some technical capacity.
Being an ugly but halfway competent bass player ain't all it's cracked up to be.I would trade my incredible good looks to be an ugly but halfway competent bass player.
I just wish I would've have been more serious when I was younger. I'm a pretty damn good player now but I hit my peak long ago.
I feel like and have been told I'm a pretty good bass player. But at the same time I see where some other people are with it and wish I had practiced and really developed more in my 20's.
My primary gig is as a key player now. This has come about in the last 6 months since the side project band I was playing bass for decided to just kill the project and absorb me into the main band as keys/utility/backup bass for songs where the frontman wants to put his bass down and just sing. 95% of the time it is keys though.
My first instrument was piano starting at the age of 5 until I dropped it after picking up saxophone at 12 or so. Now I'm back on keys and it feels so natural. I would say that in that short time I am probably as good on the keys now as I am on the bass. I realize some of my current ability comes from theory I've picked up over the 33 years in between. I also believe that each new instrument you learn adds some degree of understanding to all the others. Still, when I do my daily practice now I find myself thinking "D$%# I wish I had spent all those years practicing and honing my skill on the piano." Of course I could have kept practicing it all this time as well as the other instruments. But I really do feel like it is "home" as an instrument and wish I had focused on it a long time ago.
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What an interesting question. I started playing drums in HS and played drums in bands up to ~15 months ago. I am good. I also play guitar (intermediate but I can play what I like to hear) and a tiny bit of keys. But I feel I've really found myself on bass. I always thought bass was cool and bought a bass in 1996, and taught myself by listening to songs and playing along. I play in multiple bands on bass. IMO I am as good or better on bass than I am on drums. But drums come very naturally; bass does not, I need to practice.
I cannot think of another life skill I would ever trade for bass - it completes me. (But yeah I wish I could write code...but it seemed like such a boring job...)
I cannot think of another life skill I would ever trade for bass - it completes me. (But yeah I wish I could write code...but it seemed like such a boring job...)
I would trade it to be a good sketch artist.
Drawing talent is supremely portable and almost universally appreciated.
I am currently at stick figure proficiency
This is actually what I did with my life. I was playing in a worship band, because that was the only gig available at the time. The people in the band were great, but this repetitive music strangled my love and creativity to the point to where I put down the instrument. I got into drawing because it’s something one can do without other people, largely. It’s much more portable, as someone mentioned. I started putting all of my music time into drawing time, not deliberately, it just happened on its own. Within the last year, the bass has been calling me again, however.
