Playing the bass. I really enjoy playing, but I'm not very good. I tend to play it like it's a 6-string guitar, and well... it's not. I really admire actual bass players like T-Dog, coffeesp00ns and BLOB_CASTLE. There are so many posers out there pretending to be bassists, when in actuality they're just guys that weren't good enough to be the guitarist. Real bass players study their instrument, learn how to play in the pocket etc. -I have a ways to go. I played tonight and the result was pretty weak. I probably enjoy playing the bass as much or more than any other instrument. I think this is because I'm noticeably getting better at it still. It's familiar enough that I can quickly learn, but challenging enough that I still have a LONG way to go.
It's only since I've graduated that I'v been paying more attention to HOW I play be bass. When I was in school (getting a jazz studies degree on upright bass) I focused so much on harmony and not so much the other elements of music (to get a good grasp of them, I HIGHLY recommend The Music Lesson. Bass is a lot of fun. One of my favorite ways to conceptualize playing bass is as follows:
You don't walk into a building and say "my what a nice foundation this building has." But if the foundation is off, everyone notices. Bass playing is setting up that foundations. Really getting into that groove. As quoted in Dance to the Music, "I'm gunna add some bottom so there's a dancer that just can't hide."
Have you been playing a lot these days? If so, are you playing upright or do you tend to play electric bass these days?
Living in rural Oregon doesn't provide too many opportunities to play. But I play at the (singular) bar in town with my roommate on guitar the third Thursdays of the month, and occasionally at the Elk's Lodge in the neighboring town. Primarily upright. The only time I played electric recently was when I was under the weather and didn't have the energy for upright.
Dude, you should get in on our original music club now that you have time! We have a backlog of songs that could use some base. Check them out #hubskioriginalmusicclub
Is there a way to see which songs need which instrumentation?
Here, check this one out. The lyrics are by Humanodon, it has drums and no bass. Might be a good place to start: What do you think?
I can't get this one to play for whatever reason. Can I get the link again?
Oh sweet. Yeah I already recorded bass for it however SoundCloud isn't allowing me to upload it. Maybe pm me your email and I can send it your way?
Not really, I can go real quickly and take a glance and find one that I know needs bass. Give me a bit
No, but I play it melodically, like I would a guitar for accent parts. Need to learn some bass chops
Bass chops are a good thing to have, I think every musician should learn bass the same way everyone should learn a little piano, a little guitar, etc. The thing about bass is that we have a lot more to be mindful of than most other instruments. Playing like you would play a guitar is a really common issue for guitarists that take up bass, but that's not to say it's totally out of place as a technique. One thing I've been working on internalizing lately is knowing when to be rhythmic, when to be melodic, when to stand out, and when to blend in. They all have their place, and practically every song should be a combination of all four. think about someone like a horn player - they spend all their time learning scales and fancy licks so they can solo and generally sound cool. Bassists are mostly concerned with harmony, but also have to be constantly thinking about those same "flashy" elements so we can move from one chord to the next in a way that both makes sense and is interesting. I started off thinking purely rhythmically, so things like solos are still really hard for me and I'm not great at adding flair a lot of the time. So don't abandon your instinct to accent! It'll definitely come in handy once you're able to do that while still keeping the music grounded.
Yeah, that's what I'm going with. I like the sound of that. You know, I always forget that you're a bass player. You should get some recording gear, a simple set-up to record bass and get in on these hubski collaborations. I remember "jamming" with you in my basement. I may have recorded that....