Jazzman Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 I've been playing bass along with the other instruments that I have in the studio. I grew up on drums at the age of 7. Started to play bass years later, then keys, and 6 string guitar last. I remember that I always loved the nice feeling of being the low end of a song. If the bass player stopped it seemed that everything was lifted up in the air. Because the bass followed the drummer most of the time it was in my mind an extension of the drummer. I used to follow the bass player and he with me. I watched a good bass player in a night club once and wanted soo bad to just play that instrument. The bass player was a tall guy and seemed like he never watched his fingering. Man was I impressed. So when I had an opportunity, I started at a friends home with an older 6 string guitar de-tuned an octave lower. We taped music(stuff back then really sucked). I played the drums he played 6 string guitar, then I played the bass parts while he played the lead parts. I love the bass and its role in music, really holds down a tune where it needs to be. So what was the reason for you suddenly picking up the bass guitar.......thought it was an easy instrument to play, or just wanted to help out songs that needed that real low end.....or thought it was just plain cool to do! Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustybass6 Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 my buddy found a crummy guitar in his neighbors garbage can (we called the gibson from k-mart). My dad had a '76 Kramer with the Al neck, so I picked it up and my buddy and I started jamming. I love just being able to sit back and let the lead guy do his thing while I hold down the groove with the drums. Then I heard Stanley Clarke and found that bass could impress people as well. So fun this music stuff. "...it might be a quarter-life crisis" John Mayer, Why Georgia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 It probably had something to do with plate tectonic motion, but I can't be 100% certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73 P Bass Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 To me bass represents the lowest common denominator; It drives the rhythm and the melody. It can do this simply and direct, or in a more ornate fashion. And it sounds the coolest. "Start listening to music!". -Jeremy C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebrownbass Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 It had fewer buttons and knobs than those guitars. "Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread. Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFLA Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 A combination of things - Growing up in Motown and hearing all those great bass parts, and opportunity. I had always liked bass, but had never played any instrument. In the summer of '73 (just after HS graduation), I was listening to a band at a local club, and during the break I asked the bass player about the cost of his bass. He asked if I was thinking about buying one - he had 2 for sale. The next night, he brought them to the club - a '64 Jazz, and a '63 P-bass. I bought the Precision for $125. College was postponed for almost 20 years... I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't taken that opportunity... JBFLA Jim Confirmed RoscoeHead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 As my grandmother from the old country would say, "What's not to like?" Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Lyons Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 I'm a pretty quiet person, laid back, minding my own business...not to say that I run from trouble. I'm subtle yet supportive (like a good bra) and prefer to keep the song alive without much attention. That has since changed but my love of the instrument has not faded...instead I play bass as much as I can to the front and show the guitarists that I'm better than them \m/ Timothy Lyons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talk Box Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 I started playing bass because I was already playing cello for 2 years at the time, and I didnt want to learn a new clef. Also, I always loved to listen to jazz. I thought that the bass player was having the most fun when (s)he was walking.So i picked up my first bass....play guitar too (wich I have been lately doing more than bass) but bass is my first love If I was talking to the ice cream, I would be eating you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzman Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 Playing bass guitar has given me the ability to change the style of music, tones, slap, or just being on the low end of the song. I don't play out now but lay out some bass lines in the studio in my own compositions. Like everything else I do by ear I was able to copy bass runs, and chops from listening to other songs. My bass player gets a kick out of my playing. He just shakes his head, and wonders how I can pick this stuff up and play it. ( sometimes I wonder too). I think I have an advantage in that when I play by ear, anything goes with practice. But because I didn't take lessons or learn how to read I have a loss in picking up and repeating things the same way twice. Sounds good, but like lightning never hit the same place twice. I've made some real blunders playing that way. I used to play out years ago to fill in on the bass for some groups but the rest of the players always had a hard time with me. Now I take my time and do what I need to in the studio, and my best friend gives me a few pointers now and again. It is amazing how different a song can be between he and I. I'm thinking about playing one way while he was thinking of a different way. And the changes are dramatic. I sometimes play bass on the keys and he tries to figure out if I was playing a real bass or the keys. Makes me feel good in a way. I love bass playing. My fade-out........... Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bisgit Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 I was sick of playing flute and the band I wanted to join already had 2 guitar players. you can make stumbling blocks, or stepping stones out of the same things, what have you built? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jode Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 I was a guitar player, getting nowhere, and I took a piece of good advice and picked up the bass. I felt at first like a guitarist who didn't make the cut and got demoted, and then I heard "Force Ten" by Rush, with its smoking parallel-fifths opening line. I said to myself, "Oh, you mean people actually PLAY these things?" and I was off and running. "I had to have something, and it wasn't there. I couldn't go down the street and buy it, so I built it." Les Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpcat Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 I started on guitar, mainly rhythm because I had no real interest in guitar solos. I played in a few bands as a teenager, but I was always itching to play the bass cause the sound was so much cooler. I got turned on to Les Claypool and Primus, and got really into them. Then finally, after seeing Flea and the RHCP play a show in 1989 ('90?), I decided I just had to do it. So I went to the pawn shop and bought a $150 Japanese J-Bass copy. I played it through my guitar amp for a year or so before I got a proper bass rig and joined a band as a real live bassist. I still play guitar, but not publicly. -Matt M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibescotty Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Boom rumble rumble slap pop twang!!! I like that!! Swing it!! Double Posting since March 2002 Random Post Generator #26797 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jreed Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Mine's is a simple reason, Primus. I heard them when I was 15 or so and was just so impressed with how the bass sounded and how Mr. Claypool took lead of the band. jreed jreed00@dcemail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 As my grandmother from the old country would say, "What's not to like?" OY. Your grandmother sounds like mine. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibescotty Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Actually your Grandmother sounds like my Bubbie. Double Posting since March 2002 Random Post Generator #26797 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigiVoices Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 i started playing the bass after listening to a friend slap. i've never heard another instrument sound that cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 There are funky guitarists. There are funky horn players. There are funky keyboardists. There are definitely funky drummers ("Give the funky drummer some!"). BUT, when you want real, honest-to-goodness, rump-rousing, booty-shakin', stanky FUNK...it's all about the bass, baby. Gotta love it; gotta play it. Bring it low and loud, bass brethren! Peace, --Willie spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibescotty Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Originally posted by Sweet Willie: Bring it low and loud, bass brethren! Can I get a Hit Me!! Double Posting since March 2002 Random Post Generator #26797 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxofunk Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Whatever made me play like bass? The first seven notes of the "Night Court" theme... but I just picked up bass 2 years ago (been spending all this time playing sax). I was also impressed by one of my life-long best friends who played since Jr High, in fact the Acoustic 140 & 402 rig I use now was bought from him. Keith Emerson's appearance on Letterman made me want to play keyboards. Tower of Power's appearance on Letterman convinced me to stick with sax. Keep in Mind, Letterman has had a late night show for many years... some of remember his daytime show. - Matt W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gord -B Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 The reason i first picked up a bass was becuase no-one else in my school played the instrument. This meant i got loads of oppurtunities for shows and bands cos i was the only bass-player about. It was either bass or drums cos funky drummers are still heroes. - Gord Derek Smalls: It's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water. http://www.myspace.com/gordonbache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emo_joe Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 A few reasons: 1) I love rock music, and i've always wanted to be in a band, but i'dve always had a slight coordination problem as a kid and I didn't think I could play guitar well enough. (I've since leared to play guitar and proved myself wrong on that, as well as my preconception that bass is like guitar but easier to play) 2) I already knew people who played guitar - It's much harder to get into a band if there's already 10 people who play the same instrument better than you, and it's more fun to jam along if you play something else. 3) The bass solo at the start of Stuart and the Avenue by Green Day Joe Dreams are made winding through my head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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