Why did you start playing bass?

[Bigjas]

I've played guitar since I was a kid. I went to see Wilko Johnson at The Cellars in Portsmouth about 7 years ago as I love his guitar playing, but ended up watching and listening to Norman Watt-Roy the whole evening. I was mesmerized by his technique and his sound. So a couple of weeks after the gig, I bought my first Bass and started learning/practicing. 6 months later I formed a covers band and have loved every moment of it.

Jas

[Highfox]

Jah Wobble.. Metal box..hooked...

[planer]

I got a classical guitar for Christmas one year; I guess I was 6 or 7 at the time and it was way too big for me to play. That put me right off playing altogether.

Many years later, with a few mates playing guitar, I bought a bass because I just prefer the big, warm, friendly sound they make. Also I like the thought of being part of the foundation of a song, rather than showing off at the front. I've never wanted to stand at the front and be looked at, that's for guitarists and singers, right? I'd much rather be in the shadows (!), holding the band together.

[bassbiscuits]

Soon after we both started getting into music in our early teens, my older brother decided he wanted to play guitar.

I didn't want to be upstaged, so decided bass was the sensible companion to guitar. I found out about 20 years later that he was really annoyed with me for doing it, but i think he's forgiven me now!

Originally I really wanted to be a drummer and had all sorts of brochures with drum kits on my wall, but didn't have the money or the space, so bass it was.

Edited December 18, 2015 by bassbiscuits

[joeystrange]

I wanted to learn to play drums and my dad said "You only want to play drums so you can hide behind the kit." (I never was the most outgoing person) so my reply was "I'll play bass instead then." and that was that.

[BigRedX]

I started learning the guitar when I was 13. I had discovered pop music a couple of years earlier, having previously had almost zero interest in any kind of music, and now I wanted to create some of my own.

For me the act of learning an instrument was always a means to an end - that end being able to write my own songs. It was also never about one specific instrument. From my PoV the more instruments I could play, the more I would understand about how the different instruments worked together in a band and the more able I would be when it came to arranging the music I was writing for whatever band I was playing with.

In my first band everyone played every instrument that we could get our hands on, and instrumental roles were dictated by who could play which part the best for each individual song. I didn't actually get my own bass guitar until I was 20 and I had a bit of disposable cash, however I also bough my first synth later the same year. Over the past 40 years I've been guitarist, bassist and synth player in various bands. I've spent more time in bands playing bass than any of my other instruments but often that has been by default - on several occasions I've auditioned on one instrument but because I play others too I've ended up playing a different instrument in the actual gigging line-up.

For the last 10 years I've only played bass on stage, but I still use my other instruments for songwriting. I suppose I consider myself as a songwriter who also happens to be the bass player in the band.

[oldbass]

We used to pass a big old 'classical'music shop now and again on a naughty detour from middleschool. For some weird reason the shop got in a load of HH gear one of which was that classic 100 watt bass combo...
Will never forget the impact that 15" speaker had on me, it seemed out of this world to a 14 yr old spot riddled oik, incredibly exciting.
A couple of yrs later my best friend turned out to be a very good guitarist so my fate was sealed really.

Edited December 18, 2015 by ians

[icastle]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1450428181' post='2932608']
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
[/quote]

I prefer to look at it as being the path of least resistance.

In the intervening years I've also gigged and recorded as a guitarist as well, but it's a bit like going on holiday - you look forward to being somewhere different, you enjoy being there, but its always nice to get home.

[leschirons]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1450428181' post='2932608']
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
[/quote]

But finding that you want to stick with it and get good does

[chevy-stu]

9 years old, i started learning guitar as my older brother was playing already, and my parents wouldn't get me me drums (too loud/big etc.. ) 6 months on, he's got his first band with school mates and tried their bassists bass out, Precision copy of some kind, but loved it and talked my next birthday/xmas present to being a Satellite short scale bass.... never looked back.... and am still not great on guitar....

[DaytonaRik]

The band I was a vocalist in lost their bass player and as a guitarist I could quickly step in and 'get by' for an upcoming gig - I soon released I was a much better bass player than I was a guitarist!

Edited December 18, 2015 by DaytonaRik

[redbandit599]

Steve Harris

Him and the fact that I always identified with the rhythm section more - guitars and vocals (fabulous as they are ) always seemed like window dressing for the bit that was connecting with me and making the people bounce.

Still love the almost hidden power of the bass - we do a couple of AC/DC covers where it's guitars and drums for quite a bit before I come in. This always makes me smile because at that point, the real heft arrives and kickstarts the heartbeat of the song. And that's me doing that, but I bet most punters don't realise it! (but I don't mind...)

[phil.c60]

[quote name='redbandit599' timestamp='1450438413' post='2932787']
Steve Harris

Him and the fact that I always identified with the rhythm section more - guitars and vocals (fabulous as they are ) always seemed like window dressing for the bit that was connecting with me and making the people bounce.

Still love the almost hidden power of the bass - we do a couple of AC/DC covers where it's guitars and drums for quite a bit before I come in. This always makes me smile because at that point, the real heft arrives and kickstarts the heartbeat of the song. And that's me doing that, but I bet most punters don't realise it! (but I don't mind...)
[/quote]

That's why despite the whole ZZ top thing I like playing La Grange!

[charic]

I was jamming with a bassist and he left a bass at my house for a week (forgot to take it home). I week later I was playing megadeth and really enjoying myself so I bought one of my own

[ezbass]

[quote name='DaytonaRik' timestamp='1450437314' post='2932762'] - I soon realised I was a much better bass player than I was a guitarist!
[/quote]When I'd been playing bass a while, the wife made that very comment to me. I was both very pleased and a little hurt at the same time.

[ribbetingfrog]

My mate bought a guitar and I fell in love with it.
Never realised instruments could look so cool!

Decided right then to buy one but loads of my friends already played guitar so I decided bass would be more sensible as I'd have more chance to get in a band.
Also i've always loved songs with cool bass lines since I first got into music.
I still think I made the right choice, much prefer feeling what you play rumbling through the floor.

[Musashimonkey]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1450428181' post='2932608']
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
[/quote]

+1 here too I'm afraid. My best mate wanted to start a band, all they needed was a bassist. Really glad it happened like this though, may have ended up playing the triangle if not!

[starman]

I was a guitarist until a work colleague brought his bass into work in the late 80's and was playing some funk on it.
It was the coolest thing I had ever heard and I was hooked.

[UngratefulBass]

At some point in my dim and distant yoof I bought a strat copy, learned two chords(Em and Am7) then promptly lost interest. Some time later, whilst at college, I persuaded a friend to buy a bass so that we might form a band and change the 'musical landscape' forever.. The 'band' never got off the ground as we really didn't have a clue, however we still managed to make some money out of the instruments. Whenever we were short of cash we would lug our stuff down to the student bar, plug in, put a row of empty pint glasses in front of us and announce to those present 'Pay Or We'll Play' before launching into a tuneless racket. This would continue until the glasses in front of us were full of beer or money.It worked surprisingly well, until one night we really pushed our luck with a drunken 45min rendition of 'three blind mice' that ended up with a fair bit of stuff been thrown and us ultimately been barred!!
At some point after this I lent my mate a fair bit of money(by student standards) to fix his car and he gave me his bass to hold as collateral. I had no real interest in it, until one day I picked it up and suddenly everything made sense. The few crappy little riffs I had learned on guitar carried weight on bass and sounded almost tuneful.Not only that, but the instrument felt 'right'in my hands. Things flowed rather than were forced. I started to actually listen to music, rather than just hear it, and try and work out what the bass was doing. As unimpressive as it may seem now, learning 'walking on the moon' by ear, was a massive moment for me. I realized that I could actually play proper songs and whilst, quarter of a century later, I've never been in a band that plays that song, it was those three little notes that set me on the righteous path of bass.

[kusee pee]

I started because of Duran Duran. Firstly, the music was so bass driven on the first two albums that I just wanted the instrument that would be most fun to play along with. Secondly, JT was the coolest pop star around and I wanted to emulate him. It all continued from there. It does irk me sometimes that some people think of the bass as the poor man's guitar. But I think it's more fun to play as I love being part of both the rhythm and the song at the same time. I also find it easier to write songs starting with the bass and building everything else on top. The bass is the foundation of most great songs IMO. That said, there are many instruments that are great fun to play and to be in a band with. No instrument is great in isolation, it's about how they all work together to make something special.

[Cameronj279]

I remember the exact moment I decided I want to play bass.

I was scrolling YouTube videos one day and came accross a video of Les Claypool playing and just decided "I want to do that!".

[Alex Tootstick]

There was two guitars and a bass in school. People used to fight over the guitars Bass would just sit in the corner so I used to go to it rather than waiting round for a shot on the guitar. Once I got the hang of it I never looked back.

[The-Ox]

mainly John Entwistle. Other reasons include women, easier to get into a band, and two less strings to worry about

[neepheid]

Tried to play guitar when I was younger, didn't like it/get it. Years later (and mostly through a love of Cream/Jack Bruce) I saw an Epi EB-3 in the local music shop and thought "that's pretty". After years of pottering about, my wife to be basically dared me on stage to play bass in a makeshift band for a birthday party. Joined my first proper band a few months later, got down to the business of actually learning to play because I now had to. The rest is history

[Bobthedog]

Guitarists annoy me, I have fat fingers and having started to learn violin, trumpet and drums in my formative years, there were not too many alternatives that appealed to me. Also there does not appear to be much call in the blues / jazz world for the Cor Anglais or Oboe.