When some BCers say they're not much cop at bass.....

[asingardenof]

I like to think I can play the stuff I can play pretty well, and can learn new songs within my capability pretty well, but I'm rubbish at improvising and composing, so it's the covers band life for me!

[Paul S]

At 66 I've reached the point where I am the best bass player that I can be - aspiration for improvement becomes inexorably balanced against increasing decrepitude.  Does that make me a good bass player?  Not really, I don't have the chops or theory.  But am I good enough for what I do?  I believe so.  I might not do much but what I do is OK.  

[ead]

On 25/10/2023 at 11:21, Dad3353 said:

I can't see that there's much to compare to. We all play different stuff, for different reasons, on different occasions. Victor Wooten also plays root-five when it's called for, so many players here are, in those circumstances, just as good as him (other virtuoso musicians are available...). 

 

What's this "five" stuff after the root?

[Dad3353]

4 minutes ago, ead said:

What's this "five" stuff after the root?

 

Dunno, mate; I play drums. 

[Mickyk]

I have three Bass Guitars ATM ,A Yamaha BB424x,a Sire V4 Marcus Miller Jazz with a Roasted neck in that lovely Green Colour(the best by far) and A Fender Mex P with Fender 1963 vintage p/ups and i can honestly say that most players would Play and sound better with all of these  than I will ever will do.

[chris_b]

Knowledge is always a good thing, but we don't have to be brilliant technicians to be good bass players.

 

We just have to put the right notes in the right places and make them flow.

 

Do that and you've already made the band better. The rest is the icing on the cake.

Edited October 26, 2023 by chris_b

[Clarky]

Being the bassist in a band requires so much more than ability on the instrument - enthusiasm, learning parts for rehearsals, practice before gigs, maintaining communication with band mates, turning up on time reliably etc. I am a very basic, untechnical bass player but pretty good at the other stuff.

[musicbassman]

8 minutes ago, Clarky said:

enthusiasm, learning parts for rehearsals, practice before gigs, maintaining communication with band mates, turning up on time reliably etc.

 

In covers bands, it's band members not learning parts prior to rehearsal that has always bugged me the most.

Hey, let's all hang around in an expensive rehearsal studio for a good 20 minutes while the guitarist listens to the song for the first time........... 🥺👎

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, musicbassman said:

Hey, let's all hang around in an expensive rehearsal studio for a good 20 minutes while the guitarist listens to the song for the first time........... 🥺👎

 

20 minutes? luxury.

[cetera]

I'm 'average to good', I'd say.

Don't read music but understand patterns on the fretboard and can play the right note when required 99% of the time.

I can groove, syncopate, provide dynamics or just plod an 8th note when needed...

I learn my parts, turn up on time, do my homework and 'bring it' live.

Not sure I'm improving anymore but I have the skills for what I enjoy doing. Would be nice to slap a little better (for my own enjoyment) but never needed to....

[asingardenof]

2 hours ago, musicbassman said:

 

In covers bands, it's band members not learning parts prior to rehearsal that has always bugged me the most.

Hey, let's all hang around in an expensive rehearsal studio for a good 20 minutes while the guitarist listens to the song for the first time........... 🥺👎

 

Sounds familiar

[AndyTravis]

3 hours ago, musicbassman said:

 

In covers bands, it's band members not learning parts prior to rehearsal that has always bugged me the most.

Hey, let's all hang around in an expensive rehearsal studio for a good 20 minutes while the guitarist listens to the song for the first time........... 🥺👎

This used to drive me absolutely mental. Cannot stand people who do this.

 

A guitarist who said “yeah, I was just gonna busk this” - if it hadn’t have been 2 days before the gig, I would’ve laughed.

[Cliff Edge]

On 25/10/2023 at 11:54, Lozz196 said:

In the last few years I`ve discovered that I`m better than what I thought I was, this realisation came when learning some classic rock basslines from bands such as Rainbow, Led Zep, Dio, Whitesnake, Kansas etc, stuff that five years ago I would have thought was way beyond me. I`ve always thought I was good at what I did (root note punky stuff) but thought my limitations were much lower than what they actually are. 

Similar to me. Moving out of a long established comfort zone and made to play stuff I would never have considered playing has made me realise I am a reasonable bass player. Well more reasonable than I thought. 

[toneknob]

I don't sound anything like Victor Wooten when I play. 

Thankfully the opposite is true as well 

[Wolverinebass]

Such things depend on what your definition of "good" is and what the comparison made between yourself and this standard is. 

 

I mean, it's just personality for the most part. What does your playing when you feel you're at the top of your game say about you as a person? Does it make you happy? Are you constantly in a state of despair because Mark King can hit triplets so fast it sounds like cutlery being emptied from a dishwasher? 

 

Ultimately, we choose our own style based on lots of different reasons. I very much doubt anyone on this thread is anywhere near as bad or mediocre as they think.

 

I know what I do well and what I can't do as well. I'm sure everyone else does too. Whether that be being solid for the band, being flashy or just making the band sound full. Not everyone aspires to technical greatness and isn't it good that we're all different? 

 

I look upon seeing other people play as an opportunity to learn something, not as a source of physical and existential pain where I go home, smash up my basses and pack it in because I think I'm not as good as them.

 

Whatever level you're at is irrelevant if it makes you feel good.

[TimR]

I suffered for several years wondering why I struggled to play material at rehearsal that I could play perfectly at home. Then we got a dep drummer in and realised where the actual problem was.

 

I left the band soon after and haven't looked back since.

[Dan Dare]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

I suffered for several years wondering why I struggled to play material at rehearsal that I could play perfectly at home. Then we got a dep drummer in and realised where the actual problem was.

 

I left the band soon after and haven't looked back since.

 

 I feel your pain. The thing I really can't stand is drummists who add kick drum beats in the cracks all the time. They think it's clever, when in reality, it just bucks up the feat (to quote Dr Spooner).

[lozkerr]

3 hours ago, Wolverinebass said:

Such things depend on what your definition of "good" is and what the comparison made between yourself and this standard is. 

I'm kinda conflicted about this. On the one hand, I'm still beating myself up because I haven't mastered Paradise By The Dashboard Light after months of trying. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I should be able to do it, but the rhythm changes keep tripping me up. Every time I go through it, I end up convinced that I'm seriously sh!t as a bass player and I should take up binge-watching reality telly instead.

 

But OTOH, when I finished our last gigs with my 80s covers band and my punk band, I felt as if I was walking on air. The atmosphere was great, people were dancing and I felt like I was where I always should have been.

 

It might be that I'm pushing myself a bit too hard. But after finding the bass late in life, I feel like I have a lot of catching-up to do.

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, lozkerr said:

It might be that I'm pushing myself a bit too hard. But after finding the bass late in life, I feel like I have a lot of catching-up to do.

 

I hear that.  Imposter syndrome out the wazoo from time to time.

[tauzero]

Anybody worse at bass than me is incompetent. Anyone better at bass than me is an exhibitionist.

[Downunderwonder]

25 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Anybody worse at bass than me is incompetent. Anyone better at bass than me is an exhibitionist.

I like the sentiment but I would put a thick layer of super competent players between me and the exhibitionists.

[Nicko]

12 hours ago, Wolverinebass said:

I very much doubt anyone on this thread is anywhere near as bad or mediocre as they think.

I very much doubt you have seen me playing then.

[Marky L]

When you get that look after having thus described yourself "I usually play in the pocket but with the odd fiddle about up the dusty end" and you realise they're not a bass player 😁

[Jackroadkill]

11 hours ago, lozkerr said:

after finding the bass late in life, I feel like I have a lot of catching-up to do.

 

I know the feeling well.  I suppose the trick is to try not to worry about how long it took to find the bass and to just enjoy the experience in the moment.

[PaulWarning]

I like to think I'm adequate, but like @Phil StarrI've got an awful ear, takes me ages to figure out a bass line in a song, I usually get there with the help of  Googling tabs (some of them are awful too) and Audacity (slowing down and moving up an octave).

Our guitarist makes me sick, he figures out a song by just listening to the record a few times and knows instantly when I've got it wrong 😡.

I'm trying to learn Blister in the Sun at the moment and really struggling with the phrasing and speed

edit, oh yeah, the thought of jamming along fills me with dread

Edited October 28, 2023 by PaulWarning