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28 September 2008

I am Underrated as a Musician

Ok. I was writing a note on facebook (for i have returned to that wretched site-it has mad new facebook prowess) and it was directing me to look up the definitions of my answers to the questions in the note on urbandictionary.com. This website is full of definitions written by regular people, some of which are quite ludicrous, others of which are straight from wikipedia. The definitions are entertaining either way. Anyway, I wrote the note, and afterwards, I decided to continue procrastinating by searching random words on the urban dictionary. I looked over at my bass guitar (I am a bassist through and through) and searched that. There were some decent definitions, though none particularly remarkable. I then noticed one of the related keywords was bassist, so I clicked on that and came across some fabulous material. Some of it speaks of the united oppression of we the bassists, by the bassists, for the bassists. Some of it was just stupid guitarists pretending they have a place in our sacred ground. Don't get me wrong, I love and respect guitarists. Hello Jimi Hendrix. But face it guys, you're guitarists. You will just plain old never feel the way about bass as we do.
Wowza I can get off-topic pretty quick. More on my bass sentiments later.
OK so here is the funny stuff I got from urban dictionary on bassists.


A passive aggresive musician. One who plays the bass guitar, an instrument with more influence than most non-musicians are actually aware of.


they are generally tall, to seem proportionate to their bass (this made me giggle). they usually have a large stance while standing, large hands (yeahhh), and long, skinny, callused fingers.

a person who crosses over from guitar to bass is not a bassist, they are a bass player.

The bass is more or less the instrument that makes the girls shake their booty.

Many bassists are classically trained or inclined (this is true).

That bassist is really groovin'

Bassists like...Les Claypool (Primus) have the ability to outshred and outplay even the best guitarists (props to Les Claypool-I love thee).

Comparative to guitar, a bass is much harder to play because of a wider neck and more pressure needed to be applied to the neck (I gots strong hands!). Those who are impressed by guitar players tapping...don't be. It is much more difficult on bass because it takes strength to sound the notes while you can barely touch the string on a guitar and it will sound the note. No matter what technique used on the bass guitar, it is always interesting to watch a good bass player.


A bass player is a musician, and should be held in the same esteem as all other musicians.

Guitarist: Dude! I am the leader of this band.

Drummer: *obscure mumbling*
Guitarist: What'd he say?
Bassist: He said you're a douche, dude.

Due to simplistic and unimaginative musicians taking over the rock mainstream, the bassist is often looked at as the guy in the background thumping along on the E-string, playing root notes and doubling the rhythm guitar. Anyone who thinks this cannot rightly be blamed; after all, there are so many "I play 4 notes per song and contribute nothing" bassists out there such as Paul Thomas, Brent Wilson, Pete Wentz, and David Desrosiers (to name a few) that the instrument hardly gets any recognition among casual music fans. The aforementioned, however, are actually not bassists but something called "failed guitarists" who had too much trouble with bar chords but decided they wanted to be in a band anyway, and switched to bass. Such "musicians" have no business being in the same category as Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, Flea, and even nu-metalers like Fieldy and Ryan Martinie who gave something to music.


What goes unrealized is how the right bassline, played by a true bassist and not just a failed guitarist, can make an otherwise average song extraordinary. ---props to the guy that wrote that definiton. he pretty much sums it all up while bashing fallout boy simultaneously. bravo.

Many uneducated cretins believe that is 'just like a guitar, but its easier, cus you only have to play one string at a time... drool, slather...etc'.

Anyway. I know that was a lot definitions from a dictionary site that isn't an actual dictionary site, and I don't expect you to have read them all. However, if you will do me the favour of reading the last big, long one and the one after that, you will know how it is.
I like that the uneducated cretin was drooling.
:)