Marching to the beat of a different drum

[alembic1989]

Like many of us on this forum, my first love was/is bass, and like most of us, have played so many different types of music with many bands over the decades. But it wasn't until after nearly 25 years of playing, that I discovered my own personal path as a bassist and musician.

It took me that long to realise that holding it down, playing under chords was something I didn't really want to do, and also to realise that my path was melody and rhythm, as opposed to harmony and counterpoint. My background is Indian, and for the last 20 years I've been going my own way, making music with the bass / acoustic guitar as a melodic instrument, accompanied by a tabla player this fits, and satisfies my love of soloing and improvisation. I still love all styles of bass playing, but no longer want to be a bassist in a conventional band.

Anybody here have a similar tale ?

[Dan Dare]

I've moved in the opposite direction. Played the fiddle for may years (still do), but these days I get more satisfaction out of creating the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of a piece of music than from playing melody/solo lines over the top of it. 

[scalpy]

I trained as a trumpet player, and have my own theories about why so many brass players end up playing bass (not cash or spelling errors) Eventually it was the realisation the bass player is completely in charge that put paid to the trumpet for me. Laying down a bassline means you’re in control of the dynamic, the excitement level, the harmony- it’s blinking ace.

[Barking Spiders]

 I  like playing in bands , mainly cos of the company, but my problem is I generally don't like rock, pop , folk, soul or jazz which is what 99% of bands out there seem to be playing. I'm mostly into electronic/dance/synth stuff and so am adapting my way of playing bass to fit, using different effects. I can use Ableton and the like pretty well but I do like the  actual feel of playing the bass