Anything to Bass?

[Dakatsu]

I am probably going to get owned in a second by someone somehow, but to me ALOT of rock bands just use the single note from the power chords. To me it seems like a piece of cake to be a bassist and earn lots of money. If most bass players just have to play something this simple... isn't this an easy job to do?

This IS excluding stuff that requires anything like slapping or popping, or even like Green Day, how they have those cool little tidbits of bass that differs from the guitar track. I am just SOLELY talking about songs that have the same bassline as the major note in the power chords.

I am sure I am going to be proven wrong, I just want to know how I am going to be proven wrong.

[fliptw]

if they really only play a single note, they can get a machine to do it for free.

you need to go play some rock band.

[roid]

hehe, yeah such simple bass lines can piss one off. anyoen can do that - it's like playing the triangle. But sometimes that's what the song calls for - and every Bass needs a pretty face behind it rather than a machine .

Thus - the band has a bass player. Not all songs are so simple though, on some of them the bass stretches her fingers and earns her keep. Playing music is more fun than anything anyway, i've stood there playing single notes feeling in total rapsody about how the simplest noises in the world make me feel.

[Flabby Chick]

It all depends on what you're playing, of course. There are bassists out there that put lead guitarists to shame.

On a similar note (heh!) i was reading about the \"Amen Break\" the other day, give it a google, it's very enlightening.

[Firewheel]

Even though I'm a guitarist, I love songs with good bass parts. I've never been a huge fan of show-off stuff, though - I tend to enjoy really melodic bass playing the most.

Lots of progressive rock bands have had prominent bass parts, like Yes (this is a cover, but I chose it because you can clearly hear the bass):



Or Rush:

[DCrazy]

Just off the top of my head, listen to PDA by Interpol. The bass line alternates between a hook and the roots of the guitar line.

[Testiculese]

You'll hear this sort of thing mostly with today's \"rock bands\". Go back a few years, when people actually learned music, not just a few frets, and you'll find that the bass is just as dynamic and difficult as a guitar.

[Wheeze87]

John Entwistle from the who, anyone got the DVD at the albert hall.... UN-FREAKING-BELEIVBLE

R.I.P.

[WillyP]

Entwistle would certainly make most Bassist's top ten list...

Bass can be a very difficult part to play, you really need to know your ★■◆● to back a good guitarist.


Other bassists of note... (no pun intended... Jaco Pastorius(RIP), Mel Schacter, Ian Gillan, Stanley Clark, Geddy Lee... search these names on you-tube. There are some very interesting interviews with Jaco, and Vic Wooten has some tutorial vids up there.

John Wetton w/ King Crimson

Noel Redding w/ Jimi Hendrix

For more recent bands, try Particle or The Breakfast.

And here's Bootsy Collins

[hyperhedron]

how could you miss les claypool?





bass is tricky, and i play it myself. it is very easy to pick up, but VERY difficult to master.

[WillyP]

how could you miss les claypool?

OMG... how could I have done such a thing. Primus sucks, but Les is an awesome bass player! But really, there are many that I left off.

bass is tricky, and i play it myself. it is very easy to pick up, but VERY difficult to master.

Word! Playing bass well in a band... a good band... requires a comprehensive knowledge of music. Playing the bass is like building the foundation for a house, all the other players havwe to build on top of what you've laid down.