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"You look like a bass player"

I have also been called out for looking (acting or having the swagger of?) a bass player... Here's a shot of my band, can you tell who the bass player is?
DSC_0351_zpsf1d36258.jpg

I do think that bass players carry themselves a little differently.

Ok, here's a hint.
DSC_0349_zps19a7c2d7.jpg

-John
 
well I am 5"8 freakishly small hands and feet, about 190-200 depending on the day (not really fat , but have been described as being built like a fire plug) play a bass almost bigger than I am, sport a soul patch, bald head and usually wear a leather beanie or leather doo rag on stage. I have been more often mistaken as a roadie or sound man. I have even had chicks surprised after a set , they thought I was running the board but came out and played the set with the band , such is the lot in life I guess
 
I look like a typical long-haired construction worker.
But most folks can at least tag me as a musician.

Usually find that the bassists are more....technically oriented,
so we get to do the PA stuff,
or at least fix it when the drummer screws it up.

Hot Chick: So, you the guitar player?
Me: Nope, I play bass
Hot chick: yeah that's what I said. guitar player.
Me: OK sure, guitar player. Wanna go get a room?
 
Everyone is talking about physical features, but what if it is social ones?

I've personally noticed (mostly judging from blues and rock) that the bassist tends to be the quietest person there, and is quite happy to just listen to the conversation, while the loudest people there will be the drummer and the guitarist.

As for the physical, I'm 6 foot 7, and weigh 68kg, no weird hat, but I do usually have a curly afro.

how?

no, really.

How?
 
I've had this happen once or twice.
I'm 5'8" and normal build with normally proportioned hands.
I remember once, a group of us from work were talking about playing instruments and I mentioned that I used to be in a band. (I was new to the company) Before someone even finished asking "what did you play?" this girl just said emphatically "bass. definitely."
I asked how she knew and she just said "It's obvious."
Very mysterious.
Got it. I was getting nowhere on figuring this out until I read your post. I have a theory. You were one in the group of people talking who did not go first, talk most, brag at all, turn into "that guy" who unloads all their information and so forth. You spoke up eventually and said you used to be in a band. She got it. Bass.

They say you "look" like a bass player because they are misnaming their intuitive/inductive process (which is actually a perception, but they're not especially sharp-witted or precise) and simply say "look". It's a misnomer from a strict definitional sense, but it carries the basic idea with proper grammar so no one notices, and we all are left as bassists on a Forum trying to figure out how we "look" different.

Get it?

:hiding:
 
Got it. I was getting nowhere on figuring this out until I read your post. I have a theory. You were one in the group of people talking who did not go first, talk most, brag at all, turn into "that guy" who unloads all their information and so forth. You spoke up eventually and said you used to be in a band. She got it. Bass.

They say you "look" like a bass player because they are misnaming their intuitive/inductive process (which is actually a perception, but they're not especially sharp-witted or precise) and simply say "look". It's a misnomer from a strict definitional sense, but it carries the basic idea with proper grammar so no one notices, and we all are left as bassists on a Forum trying to figure out how we "look" different.

Get it?

:hiding:

"A poet is someone that can make something very simple sound very complicated" - Charles Bukowski
 
Got it. I was getting nowhere on figuring this out until I read your post. I have a theory. You were one in the group of people talking who did not go first, talk most, brag at all, turn into "that guy" who unloads all their information and so forth. You spoke up eventually and said you used to be in a band. She got it. Bass.

They say you "look" like a bass player because they are misnaming their intuitive/inductive process (which is actually a perception, but they're not especially sharp-witted or precise) and simply say "look". It's a misnomer from a strict definitional sense, but it carries the basic idea with proper grammar so no one notices, and we all are left as bassists on a Forum trying to figure out how we "look" different.

Get it?

:hiding:

Damn thats some deep chit there. You must be a bass player!;)
 
In other words; they say 'Look', they mean 'general impression'. Yeah, I'll go with that.

It'd be interesting to see how much it works the other way around too. I mean, how your bassplaying influences the way you carry yourself in life.
As a typical bassplayer you play a more supporting role, it's more about giving the singer and guitarist a solid backing. Which means you have to listen to others well, give them room to do their thing, avoid being 'allupinyoface' and don't claim the spotlight relentlessly. Putting yourself in that frame of mind, day in day out, might very well have an effect on your conduct in social situations.