Oct 30, 2013

There Will Be Thud

Dear Ask A Punk
Does a band have to have a bass player? I play guitar with my friend who drums and we like it just the way it is and I know a lot of bands I could name who only have 2 people in them but we practice at the drummers garage and his dad says we're not a real band. I think the bass part is boring anyway and we like the way we sound. - two only.

Dear Two Only
Some people think you can't have a "real" band without an accordion, or maybe a banjo, or clarinet, or, well, name any other instrument and someone, somewhere will think it is essential for a band to have one. 

So, yeah, your friend's dad is wrong, but I also think that, as you learn more about music and get a better handle on how you want to connect with your audience, you'll find that you'll want to add some more low-end. This might come in the form of you just playing more low notes on your guitar or, you might eventually realize that having a bass line running through one of your songs just might make the song even better. I'm not saying you have to have a bass player. I'm just saying that you should stay opened-minded and not rule anything out.

It is a lot of fun to blast distortion and screech out high-pitched riffs but, very often the people who aren't actually playing the music need to FEEL it in a way that only low frequencies can provide. The human ear can hear a wide range of audible frequencies... don't rule any of them out - but of course, don't let a lack of a bass player stop you from making the music that currently sounds so good to you. 

The world is full of people who are going to tell you things that they think are "facts" when they're really just opinions, and often not even well-informed opinions. The trick is to learn to tell the difference and be true to yourself. So, if some dad says "you need a bass player" feel free to ignore that free advice, but if you find your music isn't connecting with people the way you want it to, then you have to look at your own "opinions" about things like how boring a bass line might or might not be. In the meantime - keep playing they way you want to play.

Good luck.