Years ago, while reading Bass Player magazine, I came across an article which brought up the hypothesis that most bass players are "made" not "born". This idea struck a chord with me. I fall firmly into this category, as I picked the bass mainly because all of my friends who played it were busy. I am mainly a guitarist, so the addition helped me better understand the lower perspective. Therefore, as a bassist, I was made not born.

Where do you fall in these two categories? Was bass your first (perhaps only..) instrument?

Just curious.

~guitdawg~

Posted - 12/22/2009 :  12:46:35  

I think I was born to be a bass player, but it took me 48 years to figure it out.

Meanwhile, my grade school piano lessons, a few years on clarinet in Jr High band, getting serious about guitar the last 5 years, some recent singing in choirs, and learning mandolin and fiddle along with bass over the last two years are all part of me. If you can sing in tune, it will help you play an upright bass in tune. If you can play a triad on a piano or a guitar chord it will help you figure out arpeggios or walking lines on the bass.

I always think it's funny when people ask me "do you practice all those instruments ? " ...like i could just whip out any old instrument at a jam and play it cold? Sure, having some music theory and experience on other instruments helps, but I wasn't born with perfect pitch or a child prodigy. It's mainly been a lot of practice that's got me to a point of reasonable proficiency on the instruments I've played. Building muscles, building muscle memory, building repetoire and training my ear are slowly making me the bass player i want to be.

Final Answer? Both. Right from the start the upright bass felt like the instrument I was born to play and that's motivating me to make myself a better bass player.

Posted - 12/22/2009 :  20:19:36      

Well, I certainly wasn’t born to be a bass player. Truth be told, I’m a work in progress. While I can play the bass (to some extent) I do not consider myself a bass player. I’m still being made! I do enjoy trying though.

Posted - 12/23/2009 :  09:36:40    

I can agree with that assertion, but from a different view. At a young age, the importance of an upright or bass guitar is not evident. As we mature, we realize the value of a [insert underrated role here] in making a standout. Ever heard a good rock band with a bad drummer? The answer should be no, because there's no such band. Ever heard a great rock band with a so-so vocalist? That might be most. Same with a good jazz combo, or bluegrass unit: no such thing without a really good bass player.

So most budding musicians start out on the lead instruments, because that's what we *see* getting all the attention. Later, we figure out what the best bands have, that other's don't, and often times its the less obvious elements. I think the desire to complete a good band/sound, "makes* the good bass players and other roles as well.

Posted - 12/23/2009 :  10:39:36    

I would guess that more bassists are converts or multi-instrumentalists than players of most other instruments. Interesting, though, how the different aspects of bass playing enter into this topic.

I think rhythmic sense may be more or less innate than harmonic wherewithal, which is probably more an environmental aspect. Since some bass playing can be executed very well with very simple harmonic development, a player with simply good rhythmic sense and possessing the requisite physical skill and basic harmonic knowledge might work well with an ensemble.

Edited by - catty on 12/23/2009 10:41:58