Your Bass Playing Skills

[zontar]

Kind of somewhere in between some options--but mostly I will be in the lowest frets (So to speak on a fretless)--but I will play higher--I can solo as well-and I do at home.
But with others that's mostly in a worship band maybe once or twice a month--and I don't solo for that--except when I warm up.

 

[Chicory Blue]

I spend most of my playtime soloing above the 12th fret and periodically remember that I am a bass player.

--^@

 

[Killed_by_Death]

my "skills" are so lacking that I didn't even know there should be a correlation between skills & where you play on the neck

 

[Johnny Crab]

What day is this?
"Money 5th fret and below"
"Your skills"
Next, we'll be asked if we toss in chords in a 3 piece setting when the guitarist goes into a solo!

82 shows in 2016, covers and about 2 CD's of originals. Whatever it takes to make folks enjoy themselves(band included, me included) for a few hours at a time.

 

[Roxbororob]

The whole thing. Like Will Lee tying not to overdo it (oops just did).

 

[Funky Ghost]

Last night was a great performance.
Thanks for the front row seats. Here is the video I shot.

I cannot stop watching and chuckling. Damn it BB...



Damn it..

 

[Funky Ghost]

I was born with an undeniable natural affinity to play guitar and bass. I have exactly the skill set I've invested in to have. I, perhaps, should have been much much more accomplished but I had an event that made me very discouraged ( self pity and defeatism at it's very worst I'm ashamed to admit ) that made me drop playing altogether in my mid 20's I didn't have an instrument until 2009 when I bought a bass and started to become familiar with it all over again, with considerably more effort to do what was so easy in my teens. I can't say I enjoy it more because I loved it back then, but I certainly appreciate it more now.

 

[fourtet102]

Hack over here and came to peace with it. I think I'm growing up. BTW - I've been fooling my bandmates for 4 years now that I can play bass - I guess I could make decent politician.

 

[AztecViking]

I was never properly trained as to there being any restrictions on where one might choose to play on the fretboard. But that doesn't mean I don't favor the lower notes.

 

[Montana Matt]

I only play on the third fret. I dominate on songs that are in G minor. Other keys, not so much.

 

[cassanova]

For most covers, I'm typically 12th fret and lower. For the original projects I'm working with, I play where ever I want, as long as it works for the tune.

 

[catcauphonic]

I heavily favor the E & A strings (and occasionally the D) usually up to the 12th fret, but occasionally get adventurous and dink around up to the 15th.

5th -7th position is my fave, and i enjoy breaking up the 1-5 growl with the deeper sounding 8-12th frets when noodling and songwriting with the band. I don't solo other than when other instruments drop out for a few bars while i reinforce the main line.

The 1-5 folks are missing out unless their goal is to do the least amount of shifting per gig.

 

[otp57]

I am curious about the breadth of skills here on Talkbass. Looking at my own evolution as a bass player, I have constructed a set of skills, with only one choice....it will be interesting to see the distribution of skills we have here....

It is the songs and how I feel at the time I play them....Walk or run the neck or play lazy on the neck.

 

[Miker27607]

I use the entire fretboard but I don't play 'solos'. I prefer playing like my idols Geezer Butler or John Paul Jones or Entwistle, who keep a full, melodic bass part going throughout the song. If the bass and drums get really cooking, you don't need to play a solo. But I also love to hear a great bass player who stays in the deep pocket, and I can play that way too, if the song calls for it.

 

[lbbc]

I don't solo in my current band, so supporting the band on the first 12 frets is where I "live". But, I also do 1/2 of all lead vocals and backup vocals on the rest of our songlist.

 

[jjmuckluckjr]

It only took me 40 years to perfect what could generously be called a "ham-fisted sledgehammer" technique. Who cares where you play. I think my primary role is to get people up and moving. It doesn't matter if tango, twerk or slam dance; crowds dancing equals success. Remember, girls don't dance to the lead guitar.

 

[Hand slap]

I think a job most of us probably try to do it to complicate the other band mates, that is one of the most important skill sets I believe we need to keep in mind, boring as that can be sometimes.

 

[Oddly]

I heavily favor the E & A strings (and occasionally the D) usually up to the 12th fret, but occasionally get adventurous and dink around up to the 15th.

5th -7th position is my fave, and i enjoy breaking up the 1-5 growl with the deeper sounding 8-12th frets when noodling and songwriting with the band. I don't solo other than when other instruments drop out for a few bars while i reinforce the main line.

The 1-5 folks are missing out unless their goal is to do the least amount of shifting per gig.

Pretty much this for me too. Also raises the question of which strings get most use. Personally I find I rarely use the G string...

 

[40Hz]

Skill level? Hmm…I play whatever the music requires anywhere within the range the instrument covers. I guess that means I pretty much know what I'm doing.

Technical skills? Following some unexpected medical issues two years ago, mine are somewhere around half of what they were prior to. I'm still adjusting to the minor frustration of no longer automatically being able to play everything I can 'hear' inside my head. That's a new experience for me. But I keep plugging away and remain optimistic.

Instruments? I started as an upright player and played one for a number of years. But these days I'm 100% electric. Doubt I'll go back to doing much upright playing since I don't have access to one anymore, and the cost of getting a decent one to call my own is prohibitive.

Soloing? Yeah…that. For the record, I've never been big on bass solos. Don't really like the way most of them sound. But I definitely enjoy adding in some countermelodies, or doing a little reharmonization from time to time. But that's me.

 

[Stewie]

For the past 5 or 6 months, I have only played upright with my band, mostly in the lower end. When I played Fenders I spent most of my time below the octave. I might do a 4 beat fill, but nobody, I mean nobody, wants to hear a bass solo.