Why Bass??

For me, it was a similar thing to Dman. I never thought much of bass, or music at all for that matter, sure, I listened to a heap of it, but never really appreciated.
It all started when I was 15, I was heavily into rap/hip hop [it was what was cool] and a friend came over. Before that day, I never thought ANY instrument could be interesting. He then showed me 'The Trooper' by iron Maiden, and suddenly, I became hooked on music. At first i thought bass was the easy instrument and it just played root notes, or followed the rhythm guitar, then, after a while, I heard a song called 'Dig' by Mudvayne. and I kept wondering what was making those awesome sounds in the background! I thought it must have been electronic or something. Then one day, I was scrounging around youtube, and found 7sloth's cover of said song,. dig. And I had never felt more exhilerated by an instrument. What I was hearing was actually slapping and popping on a bass [Having been listening to metal, I was unaware of slap/pop ] Then I thought, well, I could never play bass, it looks too difficult, icame across Dman and he explained it so clearly. That week. I got a bass =DBut due to really slow internet, I didnt take it seriously for about 2 months, it was mostly the Crazy Train intro and such. Then I found a way to download off youtube [with my internet, downloading was never a good idea!] and I just played and played and played and played and played =D

Also, like alot of people, Guitar Hero gave me a good appreciation cause you could turn it up in the mix!

So, Ive really been playing 4-5 months, but I only count it as 2-3 as The first months were not productive, or anything, really.

I didnt know it was slap n pop in Dig christ. all the better i guess!

Well, we've been playing for about the same amount of time, i guess. But as i see it, and that includes your video, i think you've outraced me, skillwise

To my defence, it does take its toll on practise-hours when you move together with a girlfriend

I've played a few different instruments in my time, but it was when I started arranging music as part of the GCSEs and IB music courses that I really began to properly appreciate the intricacies and importance of rhythm section. Picked up a bass, and found that it suited me really well - I've got a great rhythm sense, born out of years of jazz improvisation, but my ear was too weak to really be a constant lead musician.

Why bass for me? Loved the sound of it, and I was really intrigued by the "unexplored" vibe it's always given me. I remembered people talking about how "easy" the bass was, but I believed that the reason the bass was so simple in so much music was because of the players themselves who decided to stay root monkeys and not explore the possibilities of the instrument they were playing. I thought, "It's freaking music! How can you tell someone what or what not to do in music?"

So two years later here I am, haha.

EDIT: Also, a few weeks ago my church's guitarist was reforming a group and they needed a bass player. So I've got my first gig now! My practice has apparently paid off.

Gotta learn 12 songs by June 6 though(which is about 3 and a half weeks from now), but hey I'm up to it!

@ Lassepetri

Lol, It is VERY slap and pop.
Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz-oxs90X6Y&feature=PlayList&p=19C2BEBFD7991F91&index=0&playnext=1
Thats youtube. and a guy covering Dig.
And its like
I think Id prefer to have moved in with the girlfriend then be trying to live at both houses!
At least youre home all the time, Im home half the time LOL!
As for the video. I dont think I did too well. But you feel like a better player after. If you post the video on the forum we would all be happy to talk about your playing, like we did with me =D

so we all agree bass > every other instrument, except tim's ukulele

Woo!
Go my Ukelele =D
Just the right amount of strings, too

But yeah, as if anyone but bassists have a defining moment in life where they go 'Oh my god, I didnt know you could... i dunno, PICK with a guitar! =O!'
lol

Imagine life if Bassists were the stereotypically arrogant ones, and guitars got mixed out..

Drakon7 wrote:
Imagine life if Bassists were the stereotypically arrogant ones, and guitars got mixed out..

But would we still be playing bass (for how the instrument feels), or playing guitars instead ("ooh! Mystical underatted instrument...")?

Im saying it would be a great thing if basslines stayed how they were kinda [obviously, if they were a lead instrument everywhere it would be much cooler sounding then some of the horrible root notes you are forced to play </3
The entire world of bass would change.
Gutiars would be learning to play chords at the root note of OUR playing *evil laugh*
Oh well, I guess bass had its time to shine [funk etc] I guess its just the gutiar era now =[
Maybe the bass will make a comeback

Maybe someone on this forum will be THAT guy that does something that makes everyone go "OMFG I LOVE BASS"

I dunno, really, though.

Maybe our egos would overtake us and we would become horrible people

And bassists are the most friends musicians around [I Think]

I dunno maximo, I just dont know
But it keeps me awake at night
lol, not really.

Fuzzydice45 wrote:so we all agree bass > every other instrument, except tim's ukulele

I've to disagree here. That 1 Guy with his magic pipe is just as good as bass, and so is piano.
Just my humble opinion

I dislike those root-note-only-songs too. For example, the band I play in. We play a song called 'My Hero' by the Foo Fighters. I play 7 different notes throughout the piece. And all of it is in eights except for a lick which we play 3 times or so. Yeah, how fun
I generally dislike modern bassline making. Most of it is just damn root bashing >.> That can be fun sometimes, when you're just playing fast and loud (metal is your friend, not your enemy ), but most of the time it's just because the bass player was too lazy to make up a good bassline, or the other players told him to.

Drakon, That vid gave me a new appreciation for Mudvayne, I liked em back in my younger days but kinda feel out lumping them in with the rest of the Faux Metalcore bands, but I think i might dig (ho ho!) up and album of theirs.

*edit*
And Three letter, I completely agree, Laziness is the bane of the Bass guitar, its to easy for musicians to fade into the background and become complacient with playing the same chord progression over and over and over. Really the Instrument has more diversity than the guitar but so many people refuse to see it, hell my roommate plays the guitar and constantly badgers me about how her instrument is the one that requires more "Talent", needless to say Ive learned to tune her out whenever im practicing Dani California or Deliverance (Opeth).

Why?Well because i fell in love with the bass on fisrt sight... (ooops)
I meant on first smell!(oooooooooooooops)
On first hearing.Even though in the start i thought many sounds that makes the guitar were produced by bass but i never changed my mind about starting to play bass.It'a great instrument from end to start...
But the real story started...

I was cycling to the beach one day hearing led zeppelin - dazed and confused and i thought what was making the soun at the start...i saw a live of led zeppelin on 'tube and i was amazed...I was aware of the bass but never too excited...The irony was that in one month i was going to buy a guitar!So i had a choice to make...The everywhere known and beloved guitar,or the amazing low-profile friendly bass?It seems low profile fits me...lol

Also when i had made my choice i made a topic on rocking.gr so i could be sure about what i'm doing...And there i was absolutely sure what i wanted just by my answer...

Man:Just think you guy, would it bethe same to play fear of the dark n guitar or on the bass?(meaning i should go for the guitar)
The love for iron maiden and the three guitars...AHHHHHHHHH,but there was the leader,lyricist and bassist steve harris!And i said...

Heroic me:NO.I STAND BEFORE THEE YOU LORD MAN AND I ANSWER!(LOL,not really)
heroic me again:No.It won't be the same.It would be a lot greater playing it with bass!

You'll have the chance to hear me when i upload my band's songs on myspace and youtube,and when my cousin gives me the videos he recorded,of me playing the rock jam along with dman and the bass i wrote for scooby's song(one of dman's songs)

Drakon7 wrote:Im saying it would be a great thing if basslines stayed how they were kinda [obviously, if they were a lead instrument everywhere it would be much cooler sounding then some of the horrible root notes you are forced to play </3
The entire world of bass would change.
Gutiars would be learning to play chords at the root note of OUR playing *evil laugh*
Oh well, I guess bass had its time to shine [funk etc] I guess its just the gutiar era now =[
Maybe the bass will make a comeback

I played the leads in most of my old jam band's songs.

Nevermind. When I first heard Nevermind, the basslines were just so cool and upfront and I just wanted to do that. Plus at the time my younger brother was learning to play guitar at the time and he had a few months on me so I didn't want to start out on guitar and not be as good. So I started learning bass and now many many years later, I'm still playing bass and his guitar is gathering dust somewhere lol

MY Dad Brought Me A VERY VERY Bad Condition Squier J-Bass Home 2 Years Ago. I Started Messing Around On That Then 6 Months Later I Got My Ibanez GSR200 And Little Amp LOL, And Now Here I Am

I've always wanted to be in a band, since when I was in third grade. Back then I was taking piano lessons, and then by fifth grade I was playing trumpet as well. But no, the two of those weren't good enough for me. I wanted to learn how to play bass because I have a good friend who plays guitar and we've been working towards being in a band together for a long time. However, I hit a roadblock when I first approached my parents about playing bass. My mom insisted that I learn how to play guitar first because she insisted that the guitar is an instrument that is "independent" unlike the bass that was "dependent" on other instruments. I found this very cruel towards all bass players and the instrument itself. But I had to follow along with this plan because I was broke and there was no way I'd be able to afford a bass on my own (though I began saving right then and there). I asked my brother if I could borrow his old cheap fender guitar and he dropped it off. The thing was a wreck. It was missing several strings entirely and undoubtedly hadn't been played in years. Worse yet, I realized after my first few lessons with the guitar teacher that the neck of the guitar had warped and the strings were far too high off of the neck. The poor guitar had undergone terrible treatment in my brother's care. He said that the guitar had been lying in damp basements and his roommates had strummed with no remorse on the thing.

That was my first turnoff. The thing was a distasteful, painful wreck.

I kept up with playing the thing though, for about 6 months. Finally, my parents got me a bass. A sweet, sweet bass. And I've been hooked ever since. It's such a wonderful instrument and there are so many different styles and ways to play it. I didn't go back to get formal lessons with a bass teacher because I wanted the bass to be my instrument. I can choose what I practice, when I practice, and what direction I want to head towards.

In a short summary, I guess I've had a bad experience with formal teachers. My piano teacher made me cry when I was young because I could never play the parts right. My trumpet teacher gave me these awful exercises that just made me want to put down the trumpet and never pick it up again. And my guitar teacher focused far too much on the theory of music, he made it so complicated and hard to understand because he had so many systems of numbers that would correspond to different things regarding just a simple song or chord. The bass is my one chance for me to guide my technique, playing, and style. In many ways playing bass will change my life...forever.

cuz it seems everyone plays guitar.

I find the ratio of guitarists to bassists is roughly 8 to 1.

I picked bass pretty much because both of my older brothers, who have been playing for probably 4-5 years now, had basically already mastered the instruments they play (my oldest bro plays drums and the other plays guitar), and I would've just looked stupid trying to get better than them at either of those.
I also already played trombone, so a bass instrument was something I was familiar with anyways.

And one day (a couple weeks ago actually) they called me down to the basement while they were jamming to try and get me to play bass with them.
I just mindlessly plucked the notes they told me to play then, but after that I vowed that I would master the bass just like they'd mastered their instruments.


The next day I tried to look up bass lessons on youtube and eventually found dman, and here I am now. =D

I've always loved music... it started when I was younger (I'm 22 now). I have been exposed to a great deal of different varieties of music. Having been born in 1986 I feel I'm on the outside edge of great era of music. I was raised on Led Zepplin, Foreigner, Boston, Bob Seger, Pink Floyd, Rolling stones and so many other greats of the 60's 70's and 80's.

I knew instantly that the music from those parts of time were my favorite and nothing would ever replace them for me. I also listened to a lot of other stuff. My mother was big into country and my dad listened to a lot of the same stuff I do. My friends were into rap so I had some deal of exposure to that there and while some of it was good it just didn't do for me what classic rock did.

So I got big into the guitar hero games because they all used a good deal of the music that I love. I was so bad at first I couldn't use my pinky to save my life... then the hand slide brick walled me. After a few months I went from failing on easy to rockin on expert. Then I noticed one day you could play the "bass" part of the game. After doing that I realized it was this wonderful instrument that was driving and powering the rock and roll that I loved so much. It gave the music that mood changing electrifying feeling. It had been hiding in the music all this time and I never even knew there was such a thing as a bass guitar.

All that came about around my 10th or 11th grade year in highschool. So that was around 7 years ago for me. All during that time I had kicked around the idea of buying a bass and learning to play it. A friend of mine had taught himself to play a six string electric guitar and is very good at it now. I tried to play his guitar but immediately I was turned off of it.... none of it was right for me.

So I finally decided about two months ago that it was time to order the bass. If I didn't get the ball rolling now it might not ever roll and it was something I wanted to experience. I ordered a Fender Squire Jazz bass combo pack off of musciansfriend and started off with the dvd it came with. It covered what the guitar was, the parts, how to care for it, change strings and the such. It also went into a little of the music theory, strings, scales, chords.

Then I decided to try playing on my own with some tabs. That went ok but only really simple songs... the first two riffs I learned were "Rock you like a hurricane" and "Sunshine of your love". Then I ran into some "trouble tabs"... Pink Floyds money was the first one. It didn't sound like it should even though i was in theory playing the right notes.

So I thought to myself "You should probably learn to do this with a little guidance"... thinking that it would be easier on me, faster and I wouldn't fall into any bad habbits that might take a long time to undo. And here I am learning more and more every day

Drakon7 wrote:I find the ratio of guitarists to bassists is roughly 8 to 1.

In my personal circle, it's like 12 to 1. I'm the only freaking bass player But it makes me special

ThreeLetterSyndrom wrote:

Drakon7 wrote:I find the ratio of guitarists to bassists is roughly 8 to 1.

In my personal circle, it's like 12 to 1. I'm the only freaking bass player But it makes me special

In my town 6.000 people,it's only me and another one that plays bass,while there must be a hundred or two that play guitar,and 10 or something that play drums

Haha ^^
No wonder people are always looking for us

ThreeLetterSyndrom wrote:Haha ^^
No wonder people are always looking for us

Unfortunately there are very few bands in my town,but i was reading metal hammer and there were 4 bands asking for a bassist!

I just loved listening to music and wanted to be part of it, i was deciding what to play and I picked bass because guitar players r a dime a dozen a there arent many bass players around so I thought why not?

This also coincided with a friend asking me to play bass (as he plays drums) with him, found dman on youtube when I was waiting for my bass to arrive and just carried on playing ^^