I have to admit, I love that my kids are bass players!
Every dad hopes to be able to give their kid part of themselves, and yes, it’s just extra. You love them no matter what and take pride in all that they do. But when they follow your footsteps, well it’s kinda cool. I never wanted to push any of my kids into anything that they didnt want to be in. When I was a kid, I played football and baseball, but I was playing for all the wrong reasons. When I finally broke with sports and found my voice in music and art, it felt great. So I aways wanted my kids to find their own voice. Early on my oldest boy took to music and unfortunately for me, he was a drummer, ugh… I love drummers, but it can be hard to live with. But he got better and better and was really figuring it out. Along the way he learned a little guitar, and since I had basses hanging on the wall, he picked it up. But he never wanted me to help him learn. On day, his friend called up and asked him to play bass in a band. I told him he could have one of my old basses and I’d help him get a handle on playing bass. That afternoon, we worked on the basics, before dinner I showed him how to read tab and how to best search YouTube to learn songs as he had a deadline, a school talent show coming up in under a week. Tabs and YouTube clicked with him… He stayed up all night and learned 6 songs. He obviously had a knack for the bass! He and I get together and trade licks and he loves to show off his progress. Now he’s hitting me up to help book his band. He’s 17 and ready to take on the world.
Then comes my little girl. She stands on the side of my bass and helps me play while she sings “All About Dat Bass” But she want to play piano and write songs. I’m cool with that, but she kinda looks like Esperanza Spaulding, so I’m going to have to keep putting the bass back in her hands.
Lastly, the monster. My 2 year old. He calls all guitars “bass!” He has a strange connection with the upright bass. I was at my desk one day and I looked around my computer monitor to see him standing on a chair playing my upright.
