Bass Class and Thoughts on the Bassists Role

I was the only person who showed up to class, which is awkward. He reviewed reggae and played a bunch of cds of different styles...ska/punk, soul, funk. I was reminded that I probably ought to get a Sly and the Family Stone disk...or maybe a Stax compilation. I like that stuff.

He showed a bunch of stuff on his bass...but since he didn't have me do it myself...it was lost on me.

He did explain palm muting and slap bass to me...two things I've always wondered about.

We cut class a half hour early because it was just too painful. Then he tried to convince me to take private lessons from him...which seemed ironic since we couldn't stand to be alone in a room together for an entire class. I told him what I believe to be true...that until I learn the fretboard for myself, lessons and classes like this one won't be of much value.

It's like the last time I took drum lessons before the current stint. I wasn't ready. They didn't help me. I hadn't dedicated myself yet. It wasn't until I became committed to playing that lessons were of any use to me. It's the same with the bass.

Last night after rehearsal I had an interesting conversation with RS. He basically told me that he's had trouble with bass players in bands in the past because they wanted to play lead guitar essentially. They didn't lay down a consistent bass part. He said that he likes the root note based bass parts because "that's what pop music is."

Pretty much my experience with the bass has been to take whatever the guitar chords being played are...and play the root, 3rd, or 5th. That's why the Pixies parts came so easily, because that's essentially all that Kim Deal is doing (that and the fact that most of her parts are available in tab online). I don't yet feel like I can really call myself a bass player because this seems like a lame, overly simplistic, way to play. That said, though, I hate when a bass player tries to be a lead guitar player. I don't feel like that's their role. So somewhere in there...there is a balance.

I've been reading lots about Kim Deal and so many people say that her bass parts are awesome. This combined with RS's comments last night makes me think that maybe I'm not so far away from where I need to be afterall. Yes...I need to learn the fretboard better. But maybe I don't need to learn some complicated way of playing. Maybe the role of the bass...as I see it...is simple. Support the rest of the band. Help the drummer. Give things a bottom. Maybe that's okay. Maybe that's a legitimate way of playing bass. Maybe that's something that lots of bands are looking for.