Hopefully.

Anyway today when me and a friend were waiting for all the other guys to show up, we were chatting about music (as you do). And he said something that really intrigued me, he said that I'm at a disadvantage learning bass because in most bands I like the musicians are of a much higher calibre, in general the bassists of yore were much more talented than those of today, and because I don't like all this Scouting For Girls bollocks and that I have a steeper climb on the mountain of Bass-dom.

I was just wondering what everyone here thought; Have the standards for bassists declined? Have they even improved? If they've declined, will they improve with our generation (the Dman generation )? Does it make a blind bit of difference?

I think that the standard for music in general has declined dramatically. As far as musicianship the standards are different depending on what genre you are most attuned to. As for popular rock and metal in this day in age, I say yes. What kids love nowadays is for every note or chord to be in sync with an intricate double bass drum rudiment. That's it. You can play the same note through the whole song as long as it's the lowest note on the instrument and it's heavy. There are some exceptions, but generally this is true. It just seems to have happened suddenly.

But, Jazz musicians have been raising the bar since the birth of Jazz in the early 1900s. That's why I'm more inclined to play Jazz as opposed to anything else. I'm more likely to push myself harder in order to reach Pastorious stature.

It all depends what kind of music you go for but as DTL said music and bands in general have declined in their ability to play complex stuff and do it well.

I remember reading a letter written to Bass Player a couple of months ago. They interviewed Jeff Berlin regarding his career, both in teaching and in playing. This guy wrote in, and basically said:

"I think you're setting your teaching standards far too high, and that no one would be interested. Todays bassists don't want to learn about the advanced theory related to bass, just how to play etc. Don't you think you should come down from your 'you must learn everything' point of view to appeal to todays bassists?"

Bass Player gave him a chance to write back, in which he responded:

"No - people should be aiming for learning as much as they can, reaching their potential and setting the highest standards. Not making low standards the acceptable norm!"

(Something along those lines...)

And I thought, you know what? He's right. With the internet, and the quality of lessons & material out there, plus with how much skill isn't required to be in a big band these days, bass playing standards are declining. He shouldn't have to stoop down to meet todays bassists - they should step up and realise what can be achieved.

As for the original post question, todays bassists vs. yesterdays bassist? Us young'ns hear the best of the past, in which most of the bassists were fantastic. Currently, we hear everything. But in 10 - 20 years time, when we look back on this era of music, will we still hear all the average bassists, or will we just hear the cream of the crop, like we hear from the 70s etc?

Man, I love this place. People agreeing with me; not only that, but on a regular basis! This unfamiliar feeling... is this joy?

Anyway, yeah. About all the advanced stuff and that... For example, Dman's lessons are second to none when it comes to the fundamentals, the basics, the minimum knowledge (and then some) you need to be a good bassist. Second to none. But when Dman isn't shining a light into the inky blackness of the caves of Mt. Fourstrings, I'll use my own little flashlight to read some of the inscriptions on the walls.

I hope that makes as much sense to you all as it does to me... it's 26 minutes past midnight, 28 minutes past the time deemed acceptable by Iron Maiden