Wait, do you strum the bass?I tend to play it like it's a 6-string guitar, and well... it's not.
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....