Quote:
Originally Posted by Tannin
As a bass player, you have one job: make the singer sound good. That's it. Nothing else. Make the singer sound good. Your job is to make people say "Great band!" or "Wow! I love the singer!"
Most people won't notice how good you are. If you don't like that, don't play bass.
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I like this, though it's a bit absolute: nobody ever accused Jaco of ruining Joni's songs. Bassists can be collaborators, like any other instrumentalist, and remarkable chops can add remarkable things to the mix. But I think Tannin's point is that the bass player is never the "star" nor should try to be. Leave showing off to the soloist.
But I don't know if that's what bassists mean when they say, "don't play bass like a guitar." Playing too many notes, trying to step out front at inappropriate times, or trying to draw attention to yourself - these aren't things good guitarists do either, is it?