Bassists

Artwork done by Neil Hamilton.

Many of you know that I play the bass guitar. Music is something that I have always loved to listen to and play as well. I started taking guitar lessons with my cousin AJ when I was about 14 or 15. We started by learning a little bit about theory and expanding to how (and why) chords are made. I also took a guitar class in high school. Due to myself being in a huge punk rock phase, it was a total waste. I basically learned how to play a bunch of power chords. Which to musicians are basically signs of someone who doesn't know what they are doing because of the ease and lack of finger ability needed for said chords. In this same guitar class, I had my guitar resting on a chair about 15 feet away from where I was sitting and chatting with my friends when some dude bumps the chair and my acoustic guitar hits the ground with a sound that would make any guitarist cringe with an ill feeling in their stomach. The neck broke and I was out a guitar.

A few months later a friend asks if I wanted to play his bass that he just got for $50. I loved the thing and ended up buying it for $50. It wasn't a good bass. Four bass guitars later, I am where I am. I never took any bass lessons (something I would love to do), and have pretty much played worship songs and a few band attempts here and there. And I always have and now more than ever, want to learn more. So I have been expanding my listening ears to pick out bass lines in music that I don't really listen to.

Stu Hamm is what got me started really enjoying playing bass. Then there's people like Victor Wooten who makes me question why I am playing at all. I have mainly been influenced and listen to Rock bassists like John Myung of Dream Theatre, and Billy Sheahan of Mr. Big and some stuff with Van Halen, and Geddy Lee of Rush...etc. But these are all bassists who can easily have a solo career just playing their bass...not my style. My favorite thing to play is something easy, maybe with a little hook, and sitting right in with the pocket of the bass kick. So I wanted to listen to bassists that have this quality and listen and learn from them. So yesterday I started (for pretty much the first time...on purpose anyway) listened to the bass lines of funk and r&b. I listened to EWF's (earth wind and fire) Verdine White. Who many say is a boring bassist because of his lack of soloing skills, but he is right in the pocket and writes great bass lines that become hooks for the song. I also listened to Bootsy Collins. Bootsy Collins...enough said. The man has skill. I would also consider Cake bass lines to be quite funky.

So does anyone have an opinion on great bass lines or great bassists in history? I'm probably not going to get any feed back because nobody really notices the bass lines in songs they normally listen to, but if you have any opinions, let em' fly.