Female Bass Players

[lownote]

Dea Matrona.  Not genius, maybe,  but waaaayy competent.  And the band members alternate playing bass and guitar, which isn't super easy.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by lownote

[haruki]

.. and  how about Mikyung  Sung.... (one of a  number of great female classical double bass players)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_DFlW_AnkY&ab_channel=MikyungSung

 

[Crusoe]

19 minutes ago, lownote said:

Dea Matrona.  Not genius, maybe,  but waaaayy competent.  And the band members alternative bass and guitar.

 

 

They come from near me. I've seen them busking in Belfast. They are very good.

[MacDaddy]

1 hour ago, obbm said:

Those of us of a certain age will remember Megan Davies of The Applejacks who had hits in 1963 and 1964. She was the first female bass player that I was aware of in the UK.

 

My Dad wasn't in The Applejacks 😃

I'm sure many Basschaters Dad's were also not in The Applejack's, but mine was once out with them, and when fans started to ask for autographs they asked him too, and the band told him to sign them 😂

[Nail Soup]

1 hour ago, Emiiliaa said:

There are actually hundreds of lady bass players in well-known bands or known in their own right. Not many among classic rock or funk bands I see but loads in alt-rock or indie bands, not just in all-female groups but also in mostly men bands. And Julia Hofer is the best.

Agree about Alt-rock or Indie. 

I just looked at my gig list this year, and about 50% of the headliner( or co-headliner) had a female bassist:

• Grandma's House (All female)
• Panic Shack (All female, plus male drummer not in official line up)
• The Bug Club (one female, two male)
• Porridge Radio (three female, one male)
• Los Bitchos (all female, plus on male guitar not in official line up)

There would have been two more, but these Japanese bands delayed till 2023 due to Covid: Shonen Knife, Otokebe Beaver.

3 of the bands without a female bassist had a female somewhere (singer, singer/guitar, violin)

 

[Misdee]

All my favourite female players have already been mentioned  in this thread many times, so I won't reiterate that.

 

Regarding why female bass players are not that numerous, if you look with a critical eye then contemporary music is just another example of an area where work roles still have a tendency to divide along gender lines. In the music business you are still far more likely to find a woman singer, (or backing singer) than drummer or bass player. There's no real reason for that except that social convention deems some roles as feminine and others as masculine. I don't think it's a conspiracy, more a persistent prejudice. Just like you still are more likely to encounter a male roofing contractor and a female nurse.

 

A larger physical stature is a definite advantage in playing the bass, but not essential by any means. I'm a man of fairly slight build and it has never held me back my playing particularly. That said, since I got my first short scale bass a couple of years ago and  enjoying how easy it is to play, it has occurred to me that that me playing that bass must be like a bigger bloke than me playing a long scale bass.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Misdee

[Adey]

On 12/10/2022 at 13:28, TheRev said:

I think there's plenty of female bassists out there, but maybe they're just not interested in online discussion forums? 

A good point. Many guitar focused forums are overly "blokey" and downright sexist.

 

I wouldn't be joining discussions on them of I were a girl / woman.

[Adey]

There are some fantastic skinny string players too amongst the girls.

 

I saw Nita Strauss with Alice Cooper recently. Wow! She is a fantastic musician!

[PaulThePlug]

...and Orianthi before Nina...

I think Kane Roberts is now back... good, but not as female...

Edited October 13, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[MacDaddy]

"The bítch on Bass" Rockbitch.

Played a fretless and did an amazing slap bass solo on it.

I'd post a picture but I don't want Rockbitch on my search history at work! 😂

Edited October 13, 2022 by MacDaddy
Rockbitch is fine but b1tch on it's own is not!

[BreadBin]

38 minutes ago, Adey said:

There are some fantastic skinny string players too amongst the girls.

 

I saw Nita Strauss with Alice Cooper recently. Wow! She is a fantastic musician!

I recently discovered Minnie Marks - she plays guitar and foot drums and has an amazing voice too.

 

[SteveXFR]

This discussion reminded me I haven't listened to Savages in ages. They've been blasting out loud all day. 

[beely]

I had the good fortune to see Evanescence in Oslo earlier this year.

Fantastic bass playing (and singing) from Emma Anzai of Australian band, Sick Puppies.

[Skybone]

Kira Roesler - Black Flag

Jennifer Finch - L7

Annette Zilinskas - The Bangles

Kathy Valentine - The Go-Go's

Micki Steele - The Runaways

Tracey Lamb - Girlschool

Dee O'Malley - Rock Goddess

Heather McKay - The Amorettes

Lzi Hayes - The Hot Damn!

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Skybone said:

Kira Roesler - Black Flag

Jennifer Finch - L7

Annette Zilinskas - The Bangles

Kathy Valentine - The Go-Go's

Micki Steele - The Runaways

Tracey Lamb - Girlschool

Dee O'Malley - Rock Goddess

Heather McKay - The Amorettes

Lzi Hayes - The Hot Damn!

Kathy Valentine, great bassist, really nice inventive lines

[nekomatic]

Unless I've missed it we need a shout out for Kim Clarke of Defunkt

 

 

and also Ruth Goller of Melt Yourself Down and (very differently) SKYLLA

[BreadBin]

46 minutes ago, nekomatic said:

 

and also Ruth Goller of Melt Yourself Down and (very differently) SKYLLA

Melt Yourself Down have some very bass driven tunes. Excellent stuff 👍

[sammybee]

There are loads and loads of them up and coming (some very good) on YouTube... I definitely don't think there is a shortage of female Bass Players in 2022

[tegs07]

My daughter has recently shown an interest in playing bass. After a couple of lessons using a Fender Jazz it became quite obvious that this was an instrument designed with a male player in mind. I have a Sandberg Cali and the dimensions and neck profile are far more comfortable for her to play. It’s lighter and  more ergonomic.

 

It may just be a matter of ladies hunting down a more ergonomic bass as a lot of the more common models are definitely heavy and not a great fit for the female form.

Edited October 14, 2022 by tegs07

[Rich]

On 12/10/2022 at 14:52, CookPassBabtridge said:

Was mentioned earlier but Rhonda Smith is one of my faves, played for Prince and her tone was amazing. She was always right in the pocket. In fact, this discussion has prompted me to go and listen to her again! 

 

Oh good lord. 💜

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Rich

[MacDaddy]

Favourite female bass player?

 

 

[Geek99]

On 13/10/2022 at 12:12, Emiiliaa said:

There are actually hundreds of lady bass players in well-known bands or known in their own right. Not many among classic rock or funk bands I see but loads in alt-rock or indie bands, not just in all-female groups but also in mostly men bands. And Julia Hofer is the best.

Let’s see, she can play bass whilst riding a unicycle. Yup that qualifies as better than best. Awesome lady 

[Geek99]

13 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Kathy Valentine, great bassist, really nice inventive lines

I mentioned her on about page 2. And Michael Steele (F)

Edited October 14, 2022 by Geek99

[SteveXFR]

No mention of D'Arcy Wertzky yet? Sadly not much talent these days but part of Smashing Pumpkins when they were good. 

 

[dmc79]

2 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

No mention of D'Arcy Wertzky yet? Sadly not much talent these days but part of Smashing Pumpkins when they were good. 

 

I mentioned her! Loved them until their 2000 split. Not paid much attention since