Before you start playing bass…
So you want to start learning the bass – this is a very exciting time! If you haven’t already, check out the Why Play Guitar page, as all of that is relevant to playing the bass as well.
In this brief article, I’ll be covering some more bass-centric topics.
What is the role of the bass?
To many people, the bass guitar is seen as a lesser instrument to guitar. This is 100% incorrect!
When you listen to music, you are hearing instruments create sound across the entire frequency spectrum from 20hz-20000hz (very low pitch sounds to very high pitch sounds). The bass guitar provides the low end of that spectrum. Without the bass, music sounds quite empty and lack-lustre in most cases, especially in genres where drums are present. When combined with the kick drum, the bass and drums provide the ‘heartbeat’ of music, and they give everything else a sonic background/context to lay on – like a big comfy bed.
For this reason, bass is used in many more settings and genres where guitar may not be needed.
Employability!
There are less bass players than guitar players in the world, so if you choose to make a profession out of it, you will find there is much more demand for good bass players than Guitar players. Guitar players are more abundant in supply and also share chordal duties with piano, which further reduces the amount of gigs that are available to a guitarist. This is not a problem for the irreplacable bass guitar, as there are no other instruments that can cover the low end frequencies (other than organ and the tuba, but you won’t see that happen often)
The right attitude:
– I want to challenge myself and become a good bassist.
– Music theory is my friend.
– I just love everything to do with bass and music.
– I’m happy to work hard to become better.
– I have a place where I can focus on practise without being distracted.
– I know that the bass is one of the most important instruments in the majority of musical settings.
– Other people might knock the bass, but they are not in ‘the know’.
The wrong attitude:
– I want to play bass because it’s easy.
– Bass players aren’t in the spotlight so they aren’t important.
– “Who is your favorite bass player?” I dont really listen to the bass when I listen to music.
– I don’t care about music theory, it’s boring.
Bass is the glue that holds everything together
If you want to be that glue, then the bass is for you. It’s an amazing sound when played well, and deserves as much attention and glorification (if not more) than any other instrument.
Here are some bass players you definitely need to check out:
Paul McCartney, Pino Palladino, Rocco Pallodino, Victor Wooten, Flea, Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, Bootsy Collins, Stanley Clarke, Charles Mingus (double bass), Esperanza Spalding, Thundercat, Louis Johnson, Carol Kaye, Ron Carter (double bass), Michael Manring, Marcus Miller, Larry Graham, Richard Bona, John Patitucci.
Comping (accompanying) is an act of love, of friendship.
~ Richard Bona