FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Play Bass Guitar

Question:
Let me preface this by saying that I'm a multi-instrumentalist with a pretty good ear and a seemingly natural aptitude for figuring out how to get good tone out of different musical instruments. If they have strings and frets, I can generally figure them out....

Answer:
Guitarists rarely have the ability to visualize their place in the band dynamic and so they play like....well..guitarists. They don't grok the role as being a synergistic bridge between the drummer and the rest of the band. Bass solos are pointless exercises in sonic masturbation invented by marginal guitarists who drew the short straw when the band needed a bass player. *Real* bass players know better than to engage in such guitaristic wanking. A guitarist stuck playing bass has a wireless rig and likes to strut with the lead guitarist upstage; *real* bassists are so hooked up with the drummer that the audience and even the rest of the band are superfluous. At one gig when the guitarist, keyboard player and singer were a bit slow returning from sparking a doob during break the drummer and I packed the dance floor with pared down version of What Is Hip? With the right drummer, a *real* bassist can sell it better than a guitarist and vocalist alone. As Todd Snider said, Their eyes may be glued to the star but there butts are all shakin' to the bass guitar.