Audiences

Hello!

I havent blogged for a while, as I have been very very busy with various projects and things. I have a little bit of time now, so I thought I would write a short blog about audiences, and how this relates to Bass playing (or performing anything on an instrument actually).

As a professional live performer who performs in front of thousands each and every month, I have learned a few things. When I was kid, I would spend hours and hours and hours learning very complex techniques. In fact, it was more like years and years. Complicated two-handed tapping stuff, super-fast licks etc. I did my first gig when I was 15 years old, in a nightclub. I started doing all these super-fast things, and you know what? No one really battered an eye-lid. There I was, showing off this lick and that lick, and not getting the reaction I thought I would get. When I hung back and played a rock solid groove in time with the drummer, people would smile…..Anyway, suffice it to say – I ignored this indicator. I had spent years learning all this stuff ! Someone, somewhere must appreciate it.

Fast forward 10 years. I am still gigging, playing lots. I am utterly convinced that playing like a demon is the way forward. Then it started to happen!’Hey man! You got some cool chops!… I play bass too..how ya do that?’
‘Great show! You played your ass off. I’m a bass player too!’

At this point, I was starting to see a trend. Only bass players noticed. And they were few and far between. The ordinary, run of the mill guy did not.

This finally, finally hit home this week. Why, I do not know. I was playing in a Theatre, it was packed…and suddenly it just hit me.

No one cares how fast you play, or how you do it. The only thing they like is good, decent songs and a rock solid groove. Only other bass players care about what you do.

I mean, this really hit home. The general public, they like to sing, dance..they don’t give a damn about your two handed 16th note cross handed run that took 2 months to figure out. Not one iota. They want to feel a song, be entertained. So why bother sitting in your bedroom spending years on things only other bass players appreciate? Because its fun ? Well, it is..however, if you want to work, eat, provide for a family as musician or a bass player I would not recommend it AT ALL. I would say, learn songs…write songs, and keep your timing good. That way, you wont have to work in a DIY store. Or a bank. You can do what you love.

I wish that someone would have told me this 20 years ago. But they did not. So, I am telling you now…this is the way forward for you, and this is what I am going to be teaching to my pupils. Sure, I will teach them all the complicated techniques in the world if they ask for it.

But I wont push it. Not anymore.

Peace and success

Chris Malin

What is the Bass Guitar?

Hello!
Welcome to my new Blog.
I am going to be posting many things on here about music, life, bass, guitar, experiences I have had or are currently having,anything unusual, amusing and interesting that relates to the above (don’t yawn).

I think it’s fitting, especially as a bass player and for my friends and pupils and fellow musicians, that I explain a little from my viewpoint what the Bass is, and it’s role. Now – it’s really funny – or maybe not so funny if you’ve playing since your were 12 – that the sheer amount of people who don’t know what this 4 string beast is or what it does is truly mind boggling. “But it’s just a normal guitar, isn’t it !?” er……. Nope. It isn’t.
“oh”
Yes. Oh.
So what is it, and what does it do?
Well, I can tell you what it isn’t ….it is not “that annoying thing in the corner of the dining room that takes up all that space..so annoying”……
I’m not going to bore your curious mind with lots of pertinent facts about the design, technical data or anything else like that. Though – I could. To be totally honest, it bores me stupid too. This article is intended for those who know nothing about the instrument, or for those interested in my take on this whole thing. I will start with the first section, which is for those who know nothing about it, which seems to me to be the majority of the music listening general public. No joke.

Sound is composed of certain qualities, of which we call frequencies. Every sound has a frequency, and quality of frequency. Bored yet ? Ok. Simply put, the Bass is lower register of these frequencies. Those frequencies you can feel in your body and chest when at a club for example are the bass frequencies. Now, usual band set up is guitar, bass vocals and drums. The guitar is the upper part of the sound, the bass the lower part that you can’t always hear but feel, drums are the pulse and vocals the melody. Simple ? Yes, it is. Without the lower bass frequency, music sounds dull, lifeless, and seriously boring. Something is obviously lacking without it. Therefore, the bass guitar makes music sound brighter, full of life, and interesting – and you can always feel it’s presence, even though you can’t always hear it.

What it means to me personally, is quite a big deal. There is nothing like standing on a stage and hitting those low notes and feeling the low frequency go up your body. It feels reassuring, warm, homely even. This is what I like about it – it makes me feel at home.
Maybe one day, it will make you feel at home too.