Favorite Genre

[The Coachman]

Well, I've been playing bass for about 3 years now, and i've tried almost every genre of music, and i have to say that classic rock is my favorite, and i was wondering what are your favorite genres?

[ABGBrian]

You're a genre.

[jeremy c]

In three years you've learned how to play bebop, fusion, Afro-Cuban music, Brazilian music, classic rock, country, progressive rock, punk, metal, funk, r&b, hip-hop, and a few other things?

 

Wow, I'm impressed!

 

And you like classic rock the best! Cool!

 

(Sorry, there's no smiley for dripping with satire)

 

This probably isn't the best welcome you could have had to the forum. But maybe it's an initiation.

 

Don't worry, you'll get used to us and we'll get used to us.

 

Stick around and join the fun.

 

Oops, I left out reggae the first time.

Might as well add soca, rai and zouk while I'm here.

[Switch hitter]

Yes we arnt mean here. We are just very sarcastic. I constantly go through phases. Sometimes I like classical, sometimes my favorite is punk. Right now Im in love with reggea/dub bass lines. The Gorillaz has some really good Dub bass lines. The Clash too. Robbie Shakespear three.

[slap-pop-karl]

I have a few. I like funk (hard stuff) because it challenges me and has most appeal to me kinda makes me bop my head. I like punk because it is easy and quick to learn so it stops me losing interest and i like grunge so i can play something a bit heavier just for a laugh to annoy my parents and neighbors.

[DavidMPires]

I like dumb music

 

Karl you are a bop

[Paul K]

Wow...Jeremy, that's pretty harsh. Are you OK?? "The Man" got you down? Something you want to talk about?

 

Me? I like to play a funky kind of R&B, like Average White Band. Is AWB considered R&B? I like to play jazz, but sometimes hate listening to it. My latin chops are severly lacking in spite of my time spent playing with Rey Ramirez's tumboa book.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Peace

Paul K

[yourlord]

Metal.. The heavy kind.

 

I find it fun to play many different styles, but favorite is definitely metal, both playing and listening.

[Max Valentino]

I cannot say that I have a favorite genre. I love music. I have been fortunate enough to make my living playing music, and as such have played in a great number of styles and genres( and with some very top shelf artists and producers)yes, J.C. this would include:

Calypso, soca, zouk, highlife, salsa, mbanqua, various musics of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Central and South America, reggae, ska,r&b, funk, soul,rock(with all the sub-genres) classic rock (and all its' derivatives), jazz, swing, Texas Swing, dixieland, Celtic, show tunes, Orchestral (modern), Orchestral (classical), bluegrass, country, ...oh this list goes on and on.

 

I am now playing in a professional band of such high calibre we will honor any audience request (from country to disco to reggae to kids' songs...), and have well over 2000 titles in our "book" in a wide range of styles. Ostensibly a country band (the house band at Buck Owens; Crystal Palace in Bakersfield Ca.), we can throw covers of classic rock, a pop ballads at the drop of a note.....

 

Forgive out sarcasm, but three years hardly seems enough time to even make a superficial study of any of the genres which have been listed.

 

Music is a lifelong study. we are always learning. I have been playing since I was 7....which has been a very, very long time. I am still learning (and still taking lessons, in fact).

 

One important thing I have learned along the way is to learn a style or genre one must really study it. When I began playing country for Buck Owens two years ago, I thought it was gonna be one easy gig (root/fives all night). Upon really studying the music I learned there is a myriad of nuance and complexity which had totally escaped me. With out these "details", country bass is shallow, simple and boring....and it applies all these qualities to the music as a whole. The details, and amongst priority there would be beat placement and note duration, are quite complex and highly evolved, and has taken some quite intense study to "get". The reward has been a exponential growth as a musician.

 

I have to stress that even (especially) within the genres you find most desirable, to really learn the idiosyncrasies and details of that style. Learn where they have derived from (for instance in classic rock, Aerosmith's "walk this way" is derived from what rhythmic style?). It is much, much more than merely playing the notes. Anyone can be shown which notes to play (that being said, getting the notes in the right order is important as well....so is playing them at the right time...). A musician is someone who can put life, substance and meaning, into those notes; making the intangible tangible.

 

There are a gazillion bands playing, for instance, "classic rock", and for the most part they merely put forth new standards of mediocrity. They play the notes, they play the riffs, they play the beats, but they do not play the music. Playing music, and especially to play music well, is a deep commitment. It requires a LOT of work. It is a careful, and absolute, balance of the visceral, intellectual, technical and emotional disciplines. It takes time, patience and commitment. It don't come easy, nor quickly.

 

I have spent much of my "free" time over the past six months intensely learning Pachelbel's Canon in D and three Bach Cello suites which I am playing solo at my brother-in-law's wedding in October. The music has been challenging, yet moreso is learning why the music moves, tenses, releases....why the composer chose to use certain harmonic or rhythmic devices at certain points, as well as reading historical texts and bios of the composers specifically about the times when they composed these pieces...is short, getting "inside" the music. This is learning about a given "style" or "genre".

 

Having "favorites" is normal, but as musicians I don't think we should limit ourselves. It is well worth investigating and learning as many styles and genres as you can. The "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" syndrome really does not play in. The music for which you have an emotional gravity--your "favorites"--becomes only richer due to your learning of music which is not. And the discipline gained in learning music which you are unfamiliar with makes the learning of your "faves" again more rewarding.

 

so...a little more than just my $.02, but something to mull over.

[jeremy c]

Max said it more politely and eloquently than I did.

 

I too have spent a lifetime playing huge variety of music and would have to say that my favorite kind of music is always the kind of music I am playing right at the moment.

 

And when I am cranky maybe I will say that my favorite kind of music is anything except what I am playing at the moment.

[moot]

Now, there's a tough post to follow. Well said Max.

 

Mostly prog here. I know, you're all SHOCKED.

DT, Planet X, Dregs type stuff. It is a challenge and I need that musically.

I absolutly love big band and swing though I don't play it.

I play classic rock with one band though I don't particularly consider it a favorite - more of a job really.

[Rocky McDougall]

I would guess, that a new player will enjoy playing what he plays best. As we progress as players we see the challange to try someting new. We all have our favorite stuff and often it is what we played early in our quest. Your taste will change with time and you may start playing music you, at one time, could not stand to listen to.

Rocky

[Max Valentino]

"my favorite kind of music is always the kind of music I am playing right at the moment. "

 

Now....that is pure eloquece.

 

A point I am trying to make, and this is something I stress to my students all of the time, is to contiually ask yourself the question "why?". Why does this particulat rhythm work, or not, with this particualr riff? Why do they split the solo into the pre-chorus? Why do the cellos modulate in thirds?

Why does funk make me bop my head?

 

and...again, ask "why" things don't work. Question and investigate. Learn how things go together...then learn how they don't. Yes, it is fine to "break the rules", but first one must know what the rules are.

 

Playing without reason and intent is just noise (read: sound).

 

And, to all you young guns, humble yourself. Don't brag about all the knowledge and experience you have gained in the 3 or so yrs you have been playing. We do not suffer fools lightly around here, and there are some old hands who can shoot you down in flames in the most impolite ways.

 

Max

 

[Switch hitter]

wow... that pretty much summed up what I want to become as a musician.... Note to self, do all those things max said... *copy and pastes all the music styles he mentioned and googles them all*

 

I actually do just that. I love figuring out how a certain melody works or why this chord progression makes me think of cheesy horror movies, or what would happen if I combine the drums of death metal, coltraine matrix chorch progressions, and synth keyboards. I would LOVE to go to a good college for music stuff like this. Unfortunately I can only try to learn on my own since I dont have enough money

[mondoray]

80's metal hair band days were best for me.

Followed Maiden&n.w.o.b.h.m from '79. Through to Thrash ,

death metal , occasional funk metal (primus , faith no more, early chilli's).

Through to Grunge! Hair got shorter in mid 90's and the gigging slowed down a little bit . Wore the dodgy gear , but not spandex!

[tnb]

What day of the week is it?

 

I can guarantee that unless you have a few different "favorite" genres to draw from, you are simply not bringing much to the table.

[yourlord]

Just out of curiosity, am I the only guy here who tries to figure out the bass lines for the songs played during shows like American Idol, etc? I annoy my wife like that..

[tnb]

I used to do that during the late '70s. CHiPs, Barney Miller, Sanford and Son, Good Times, etc.

[Paul K]

Sanford and Son

 

Ooohhhhh...That tune is Soooooo funky!!! I think it's Chuck Rainey.