Silly Question?

Whatever purpose you want from a bassist, be creative. There are no rules!

The bassist is a part of the rhythm section of a band. (Along with drums, percussion and rhythm guitar.) The purpose of a bassist, I suppose, is to help to maintain the rhythm while adding depth to the music.

IMHO

what is the real purpose of a basist?

Make people shake their rumps!

If you think of a band as a mini-orchestra, then the bass covers the roles of the cello in the string section...or you could equate it with the tuba in the horn section....

Bass is sort of half-way between rhythm guitar and drums....helps the drummer to keep the tempo, rhythm guitarist looks to the bassist for the root notes....I know, that's a bit simplistic, but could you imagine any rock band without a bass player?

Led Zep? The Who? The Stones?

it's far easier to notice the absence of a bass guitarist than it is to actually define what they do....

I've recorded a few songs of my own that I've added bass to - they seem to have a fuller sound, I'd describe my role in my one-man-band as bassist to drive the song along....to add a little depth - to flesh the sound out a little - even on some occasions, to add melody.....

Bass can be whatever you want it to be - the fun thing is, you can start with just playing root notes, and it'll sound OK....but there's so much more you can do with it....

I've been at it about a year or so now, and I really enjoy the bass....gettting to the stage now where I'm writing my own bass-lines, I never thought I'd be able to do that....

So pick up that 4-string and start jamming.....

:D :D :D

Vic