Bass Boosters Wanted
I’m intrigued as to why, more often than not, the worst guitar player or drummer gets to fill the bassist’s role in a band. Is the bass considered to be a less ‘fancy’ instrument whose role in the overall sound is largely nominal? Any one who’s listened to either Led Zeppelin or the Dave Mathews Band, to name a couple, will violently claim otherwise. You do actually need someone who can play more than the root note on the bass to make credible music. The most obvious drawback for the bassist, I feel, is that he’s not playing a stand-alone instrument in the sense that not many people would want to be serenaded by a lone bassist. But then again, a competent enough bass player can always strum out on the acoustic if need be.
So why aren’t there enough bassists? Also can anyone venture a guess as to whether this holds just for the Maldives or whether it is part of a general and wider trend?
December 8th, 2005 at 13:37
Hmmm… I guess this is my department.
I guess that playing the root, third and fifth comes from the role of the upright bass in its history. The electric bass assimilated its role with the onset of amplified sound. So, even the early jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and rock had basic bass lines.
However, the electric bass also paved the way for a new sound. For example, Larry Graham was the pioneer of the slap technique. From then on, the role of the bass has been more upfront with bassists like Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius & John Patitucci to name a few.
I think there are a couple of reasons why bassists are an endangered species!
1. This trend has already existed in the past
2. Because of (1), less information is commonly available
3. It is not an instrument attached with readily available fame
4. Even in a band setting, the bass is the odd-one out, the others have more to share amongst them
5. The ‘how to play bass’ has got its own secrets
6. Comparatively, everything from the instrument to strings to amplifiers, etc., are more expensive (due to the low volume)
On a positive note, I think that more musicians are appreciating the role of the bass more and more.
February 14th, 2006 at 14:05
Maybe its because the guitarist or the vocalist always gets all the glory of the band, the bassist dosent do anythin notcable (in most bands) like solo’s and finally the bassist never gets the chicks