Delima

It needs to be fun. Good luck!!!!

Leear

This sounds like a classic case of Artistic Differences and my advice
would be to move on ASAP. You say the other people in the band are
friends and if you continue your frustration will only grow and harm
that friendship. You could offer service as Interim Bassist for now
until they find someone else but be sure they are actually looking
or you will get stuck.

I've lost good friends because of band situations
gone bad and this could happen if you continue.

Start your own band remain friends and maybe in the
future you can play some double bills together.

Just my thoughts

John

leear: This one sounds too familiar. I started playing bass because I was always winding up with musicians (other guitarist) needing a bass player. I got a fretless bass and got good at it. Moved and played bass in a few bands, which I always enjoyed. I'm still asked about playing bass in bands, but the answer is no. I found that playing bass, for me, became more of a subordinate position. Not that I wanted to be the lead guitarist for the bands for a change, and it wasn't like my musical tastes had changed, it was more like it was too much work to get all that equipment together and go through all that practice and performance just to appease the other members in the band. Going to "X's" house and playing "X's" music for "X's" enjoyment. So I primarily play/record solo guitar through lots of effects and do this ambient/electronic/psychedelic/avante-garde thing now. It gets absolutely none of the attention that my bass playing in bands got me, but it gives me more satisfaction than before. I would LOVE to be in an ensemble now, but it would have to be something I enjoy. That's the way you got to look at it. ENJOYMENT. If you want to play guitar in a band, you probably know enough people to get something else going. I never could figure out why bands are considered to be "breaking up" as if it was some sort of emotional relationship. Like if you meet up with other musicians and try out something new, you have this "adultrous" aire about you. I've been there, I know. I now look at it all as artistic projects. It's alot more comfortable. 8)

Which reminds me. Is anyone here around Tallahassee, FL?

The problem seems to be you signed on to the group as the bass player. Have you talked to your friends and explained how much you'd prefer to play guitar? They may not know how much you want it.

Denny

Well, you know Paul MacCartney originally played guitar but switched to bass. And Jimmy Page played bass for the Yardbirds.

I played bass for about one year with a group and was just starting to get pretty good at it. I guess everybody is different, but I didn't see it as an inferior instrument in any way at all, I found it extremely challanging. I have lots of respect for bass players from that experience. Bass is a lot more than just playing the root note. :D

I loved the bass because without the bass the music has no feeling. It is the power of the music.

It's your choice, but I would play bass for the fun and experience. You will always be able to play guitar in other groups.

My 2 cents.

All too familiar story with me too...More than once I have been "drafted" into a position, because the group needed a "fill-in" on a particular instrument. I would usually stay & play, but I would let them know that I was looking for another band in the meantime. As a prev. poster mentioned, these guys are your friends, so if you want to maintain the friendship, you should probably address the situation soon, rather than letting "bad blood" come between you guys. It is very difficult to play when everyone is "grumpy"! :D

Hmmm ...... Myself, I was just thinking today about serously taking up the bass. My son is a bass player and they seem to be more in demand. That said, Joe Bouchard of my beloved Blue Oyster Cult has a degree in music and can play every instrument and he was relegated to bass as that is the spot that was open. He filled that roll for approximately 16 years. He did however leave to do his own stuff because he wanted to play other instruments. Hmmmmm...... The guy that has been playing bass for them turns out has a masters in music also. He is now playing keys and guitar while another bass player was recruited. Seems to me like you are capable but you should play the instrument your heart tells you to play and that might not happen with this group of people.

Bass playing isn't that bad job. If you like the type of music the band is playing, keep hanging on. I don't have a bass and I keep thinking of being a bass player someday...

ok no bass playing is not a bad job. but this style of music is not me on a bass. i can play old country and funky soul music like tower of power.

this is classic rock and new country rock.

i play bass all the time for different people but its my style.... the style we are playing i want to rock out on guitar. Which by no means i'm not saying the other guitar player needs to leave i want to share the stage with him pretty much play rythm for him but we always trade off we've jammed together before and between the two of us we are an unstopable guitar sensation.

as far as my friends. well we graduated together and started playing music in high school whenever we play we always call each other... its more than just a musical friendship. we all know how good each one of us is... and if we ever make it big we wouldn't go without the rest.

we formed a christian rock group in 2004 with a friend from my college. we been playing since and we are a tight group i play lead in it.

It just irritates me the other 2 can play bass too but they get to play their main instrument why can't i. but i think i may have found a bass player my old roomate from college said he semi interested so we'll see.

As a bass player I can hear old country and funky bass lines, but this style is more of just driving bass can't run it much just sit around the root note and it bores me i almost fall asleep sometimes when i run it they say keep it simple and last night i told them if i HAVE to play bass i'm playing it like a darn well want to.

That said, Joe Bouchard of my beloved Blue Oyster Cult has a degree in music and can play every instrument and he was relegated to bass as that is the spot that was open.

Not to change the subject, but Joe Bouchard lives in my town and has a band called Tree Top Blues. I have seen him many times. He plays guitar and does most of the singing, but has a female vocalist too. The first time I saw Joe was about 7-8 years ago. I went to see him and was very disappointed. He was ok on guitar, but nothing special. I was expecting greatness. And his vocals were very poor. That said, I saw him about a year ago and he sang very well and played guitar great, he has really improved. He played the solo for Don't Fear the Reaper note for note. He did have his guitar a little too loud though, kinda drowned everybody else out. His female vocalist was great, but he played so loud you could barely hear her.

Not trying to be down on the guy, just telling it how it was. His band hasn't played in quite awhile now, not sure what's going on there.

Thats cool Wes, he's from 2 small towns down the road from where I live. :lol: Sorry to hear his performance was sub par though. Least he improved. Wonder how much of that was rust? Getting back on track, I guess people get the jobs they do in their band for a reason then huh? Like, you'll never see me singing unless every one else absolutely can not sing at all. :lol: I was once asked if I would mind playing acoustic instead of electric and refused, but I'm a terrible acoustic player and can only play a few songs before my fingers strat to really hurt. (I'll leave the typo, think it's a freudian slip) I prefer electric and was the best lead player. It was only a jam band, but still. The other guys were all doctors and were used to bossing me around. :P They mostly wanted acoustic because 2 elecrtics was way too loud. That was not my fault by the way, the other guy had a tube amp and needed to crank it to get "the" sound. In summation ... I guess I'm stubborn too ..... even though I posted earlier I wouldn't mind playin bass. Hmmmm ..... :?

It just irritates me the other 2 can play bass too but they get to play their main instrument why can't i. but i think i may have found a bass player my old roomate from college said he semi interested so we'll see.

As a bass player I can hear old country and funky bass lines, but this style is more of just driving bass can't run it much just sit around the root note and it bores me i almost fall asleep sometimes when i run it they say keep it simple and last night i told them if i HAVE to play bass i'm playing it like a darn well want to.

That's just how I felt. I got to where I would show up for practices, eat dinner (fast food) and study (I was in college) while practicing. The guitar player later said he wanted to strangle me. I would only miss notes if I had to turn the page of the book I was reading. Interesting thing about bass playing is that you can have so much control of the overall emotion within the music. The problem is that if you feel that you have no control yourself in what's going on, the music itself will suffer. If the situation in the band irritates you, GET OUT! Politely, but get out. As far as "signed up for" or agreed upon, the previous post is right, but the poit is that if you're at the point of being irritated now, just think of how things will be when you get around to playing gigs.

The last time I played bass in a band, I ended up screaming at everyone, and leaving in a monstrous fury. Don't let yourself get to that point.

"Keep it simple", sh*t!

I (as apparently have many others) have played bass in a band. I too sympathise with your situation.
From my experiences playing bass sucks. I'm not just saying this because I'm not very talented, because I am. The whole reason I was in the band was because I was the best around. I'm also not saying this because I wanted more attention. At gigs I often was praised more than the other bandmates. The problem I think is that the band members themselves don't appreciate good bass players. I was very rarely told about band practices and when I was there was hardly any notice. That lasted maybe 2 years. Then the band gradually unravelled. Good job it did because I didn't have the heart to leave.
My advice would be, if you're that unhappy quit. You can still stand in for a couple of weeks while they find a new bassist.