Why did you start playing bass?

[timmo]

An Illness

[dincz]

Who, me? I'm not that bad.

[Subbeh]

Mates and myself decided we should start a band, wan't really into six strings, shifting drums seemed like a ball ache so bass
was what I went with. It was a great decision

[Japhet]

I think it suits my character. I'm not a 'look at me' type at all and would rather lurk at the back but make a valid contribution. The others are more than welcome to show off and strut about but it's not for me. I remember hearing basslines like Leland Sklar on Stratus by Billy Cobham and thinking it was the absolute essence of a powerful piece of music and wanting to be able to play it.

[Norris]

I was supposed to be the keyboard player in my first school band having learnt piano. I'd also done a lot of stuff on bass trombone. I didn't have a keyboard, the band didn't have a bass player and was considered more important than keys. A bass was easily available (another Kay SG plank of crap) from my then music teacher for a couple of quid and a bassist was born

[bassace]

1. I was the worst of three trombone players so I had to find another instrument.
2. We had a double bass at school.
3. I liked it.
4. A lot.

And now 55 years later.................

[Roger2611]

I wanted to be Sid Vicious....for some strange reason back then!

[40hz]

Stuart Zender's bass breakdown in the song ' Travelling Without Moving'. I wanted to make that sound.

[Rich]

Because of what I heard this man doing.

[BILL POSTERS]

This.

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[rogerstodge]

Jean Jaqcues Burnel 1980 Hammersmith Odeon,
2 days later I'm plonking away on a Columbus P Bass copy, now look at me, still plonking away 30 odd yrs later.

[Jazzneck]

Played guitar in a school beat group with three guitarists in the early 1960s.
Nobody wanted to play bass so I took 2 strings off my Framus and tuned down a bit to fill the bottom end.
Went back to guitar for a couple of years and then somehow was asked to play bass at a mates band rehearsal whilst he went downstairs to get the drinks.
He came back up and said the band sounded great.
The guitarist/singer and he had a conflab outside then asked if I wanted to play in this blues band on bass instead of my mate.
My mate graciously sold me his Hofner bass for a fiver and I was away.
What a guy...

[kodiakblair]

@Naetharu

It was some Japanese semi hollow with 3 rusty strings,the controls were mounted on a plywood plate nailed to the body (big hole where they were originally)
pickup was held in by nails too.The tuner pegs were missing so I used pliers to tune it.

For £1 it was a bargain. Played it through the music centre. Downgraded to the tulip shaped Kay, was a mistake that

[Doctor J]

I went to see Megadeth as an impressionable youth in 1988. They used to do a cover of These Boots Are Made For Walking and, live, played it with an extended bass intro. I had never really considered playing an instrument up to that point, but right then I knew I was going to be a bass player. A few years after that I taught myself guitar and drums too, they're handy to be able to play, but bass was first and still is the instrument I identify with.

[interpol52]

Iron Maiden - Live After Death the video.

[chriswareham]

When I was a teenager, no one wanted a keyboard player since everyone wanted to do guitar bands. Most people wanted to be a singer or guitarist, and since a drum kit wasn't a practical proposition I took up bass.

[Hobbayne]

Crazy Little thing Called Love by Queen. I used to love that little run down when everything stops dead and the bass is the only instrument playing. I always thought it was just a regular guitar.
A few months later I heard Pretty Green by The Jam and I had to do a bit of research on this low guitar.

[RhysP]

I really wanted to play synthesisers but they were much too expensive in the late 70s.
Bass was cheaper.

[alyctes]

I played cello as a teenager, so the low end felt like home.
My mate wanted a bass player; it felt like a fit; I thought I'd try it.

Edit: Also my dad played double bass.

Edited December 17, 2015 by alyctes

[icastle]

It was the usual 'bunch of mates' thing with me.
Everyone wanted to play guitar so I chose bass, primarily as there were no arguments attached.

When the fascination died off, as it often inevitably does at that age when the realisation finally hits home that there's more to being a succesful musician than just preening, posturing and self promotion, they all stopped playing and... I just never got around to it.

That was 35+ years ago and I've been lucky enough to have filled those years playing with some fabulous musicians and loved every day of it.

[paul_5]

I played guitar and keyboards in my teens, but couldn't figure out what was missing from the music I was playing and writing. Then, on the recommendation of a friend I bought [i]A Show of Hands[/i] by Rush and heard the bass break on the final track (side 4 if, like me, you had it on vinyl) - Closer to the heart.

BOOM

A week later I bought a bass and have played it ever since.

[xgsjx]

I class myself as a musician as I don't just play bass. I started on keys (still love synth tweaking), took up tenor horn, then guitar & then bass. Basslines are my favourite part of the music, so it made sense to be a bassist, but I've been a guitarist & keys player probably as much as a bassist.

[Bastav]

I was kind of a late bloomer, started off making hiphop beats when i was 17 but i never could find samples to fit the bass sounds i was hearing in my head. Bought a bass when i was about 20. In time i traded all of the samples for genuine instruments, buying drums, saxophones, flutes etc but the bass came first.

[leschirons]

In my teens, I started out as a drummer. As a kid I'd been in the school orchestra on violin. I then picked up guitar in my late 20's and in my 30's, the usual thing happened when mates decided to form a band and no-one else wanted to play bass so I thought I'd have a go. Still play gigs on the other instruments but generally call myself a bass player these days as it's my first choice.

[CamdenRob]

So the majority of us took up bass because it was the only instrument left in our first bands?

... doesn't say much about our instruments appeal does it