The Bass Is Important

I've read a lot of blogs and forums lately where people have described the bass as an instrument that's "main purpose" is to basically aid the drums. These arguments have ranged from "the best thing to keep in mind while playing bass is to only hit notes timed to the drums" to almost cryptic posts like "the purpose of the bass is to emphasize the drums."

Posts like that are idiotic and a major clue that the person telling you this shit probably has no idea what they're talking about and their own music probably sucks. If the Bass was that limited in it's purpose, it wouldn't be such a major part of rock bands.



Imagine 'A Day in the Life' with a simple little bass line that just followed the drums... It wouldn't sound the same because a major part of the song is the incredible bass line. Another great Beatles song that gains a lot from an amazing bass line is 'Rain'. Try to picture that song without the bass line (if it's even possible)





Sometimes it is a good idea to just use a simple bass line that just repeats the root, but if you get into a habit of doing this on every track you're music is gonna start to sound the same on every song. It's just as important to experiment with the bass as any instrument. Don't be afraid to try something different.