Bass Playing from a woman's perspective

I have the privilege of being in a small crowd- I am a bass player who happens to be female. Yep, a woman. To me, this is no big deal-I play bass. Judging from some of the reactions I get from audience members though, some people find it a big deal! One of the first questions I always get is, How long have you been playing? Right now the answer is a little over 5 years.

Once they get over that, the next question is usually "how did you get started?". Well, I'm originally a percussionist. I attended college on a partial music scholarship. I played marimba, bells, xylo, vibes, cymbals, snare, harp, aux, bass drum, you name it. Ok, well the harp wasn't percussion but it was something I found I liked one year. Fast forward, out of college, wrote down some lyrics. Showed them to a friend who happened to be a really good bass player. Was told I wrote like a drummer, all rhythm no melody. So I asked him, "How do I fix that?". He said to learn a melodic instrument. Soooooo I said ok, teach me bass! Few months later I'm hanging out at a blues jam he was the house bass player for and I get tossed up on stage. Whoooooo talk about deer in the headlights! Best thing ever..I joined a cover band and when that fizzled joined another and now I'm a "real" bass player :).

Being a female bass player has it's good points, aside from the obvious one of you don't have to worry (as much) about the women hitting on you on breaks. Most of em play it straight (so to speak) so they'll go after the male band members :).

Ohhhhhhh where to begin with the good.

My three favorite things about being a bass player in general are:
1. Less equipment to set up.
2. You get to shake the room with a single note.
3. It sounds really empty without you.

Less equipment-if all I have to set up is my bass equipment, I simply roll my combo cab up, set up my bass stand, get my bass out and tune it, grab a cable and plug it in, put in the custom earplugs, put the tuner where I can grab it, and viola! Ready to go! Sound check takes all of 10 seconds if I've played the place before.

Shake the room with a single note-a guitar player has to play many many notes (or at least they think they do) to make a dent in any kind of sonic space. I, however, can strike fear in windows everywhere just by plucking anything on my B string or most of my E string. Bwahahahahahaa!

When a bass player is playing, a lot of people don't even notice (unless you're of the Flea persuasion). But drop out for a note and ears prick up.....stay out for a measure and heads turn......don't bother coming back in and you'll get the attention of the whole room! Ok, at least in my mind.....but it's a good thought!

Three good things about being a woman bass player are

1. Easier to get help with equipment
2. You can keep unwanted attention away if you position yourself well
3. Easier to get noticed (if you like the spotlight)

If it's 2am and you've got to load your 90lb bass rig back into your truck, it's easier to get help from bandmates as a woman (sorry guys!). Or maybe it's just that women aren't afraid to ask for help when something weighs way more than half of what they do? Either way, the rig gets loaded.

Bass necks are nice and long so if someone (male OR female.....doesn't seem to matter by 11pm and a few beers) starts getting a little too close, a strategic placement of the headstock can keep them at least an arms length away. Compare that to the short little guitar neck, and those few inches make a big difference. Plus, in an emergency a bass makes a better "keep away" than a microphone would (sorry singers!) to use on potential problems.

If you're a person who likes attention, bass isn't always the instrument for you. However, as a female bass player, you'll get more than a male bass player just because you're usually a novelty. If you like that sort of thing, wear a tight shirt, padded bra if you need one (low cut shirt if you don't), add jewelry and a big smile and viola! Attention! Warning: may cause conflict with the singers' ego (sorry singers, seen it happen). :)

Bass does have a few downer angles to it I"m afraid.

1. The equipment
2. First ones to get blamed for volume levels.
3. Hard to get solo gigs.

Even though there is less equipment than say a drumset.....it makes up for it in sheer weight. If you play a 5 stringer like I do, forget anything that weighs less than 50 lbs. If you have to be heard over a ham fisted drummer, raise that to 75-90 lbs. Oh my aching back! Side note: Don't let casters run over toes. 90lbs hurts!

When the police show up at the door, guess who gets blamed for the noise? Everyone eyes the bass player! The guitarist seems to forget their amp is on 9 (and yours is on 2), the drummer is already deaf and has no clue how loud drums are, and the singer has to keep turning up to be heard over the other two. There is some truth in that bass does carry far. I once had a gig where the police showed up due to a complaint......from 3 miles away across a river! Even the officer was in disbelief :). It was kind of good though, friends of ours found the gig by following my bass.

My bass teacher had a great story for me when I was griping about being turned down so low the amp wouldn't play if I turn down any more (there does need to be a certain amount of signal!). He was playing a gig and got tired of being told he was too loud so he finally unplugged but kept playing as though he was still plugged in. When the griping person told him he was STILL too loud, he simply swung the end of the unplugged cable from his hand while silently staring at them............I would have loved to have seen that! Turns out it was the EQ on the PA and the guitars were actually too loud. If you keep getting blamed, sneak over to PA and roll the bass back on the guitarist (if you control your own sound). A tiny notch may mean the difference between an arguement or a fun gig.

As for solo bass gig, forget it. You can get a solo guitar gig, espically if you sing. Solo bass gigs are like drummers with sensitive ears....few and far between. If you want a solo gig, you either have to play a 6-7 string bass (and need a large set of paws) or you need another gimmick. However, not having a solo gig means you don't have to buy a PA !

My top two pet peeves about being a woman that plays bass:

1. Equipment not shaped for a female body
2. Having your bass playing ignored in favor of your gender

Unless you are flatter than a pancake, sooner or later a woman bass player is going to run into a bass that just isn't comfortable. Bass makers don't take into account the fact that the "girls" are going to get squished with certain shapes. I find anything other than a "traditional" double cutaway shape (Ibanez, Peavey, etc) to be uncomfortable at times. Some of the boutique basses flat out squash the left girl under the horn while the right girl gets in the way. Not to mention that sometimes even with the normal shaped basses I've managed to smash myself between arm and bass.......NOT fun! Straps have to be at the perfect height to avoid squashing. Oh, and forget trying to practice in a comfortable way (i.e. no support) because you get squished. Sheesh! Not to mention you already have one strap on your shoulder, if you've also got on a cami and a shirt and then your bass that's a lot of straps in one area while playing!

Being ignored as a bass player in favor of being oogled as a woman. Really guys? (and some girls). Enough said.

Being a bass player in general doesn't have any really "ugly" points, most of the harder things to deal with (underappreciated/overlooked) come with the territory.

Being a female bass player does have one ugly point that sometimes turns into a problem-sometimes people don't believe you are in the band!

I've had a few times where I had to explain to an owner that yes, seriously, I am with the band and I need you to unlock the back door. I learned to bring a piece of a equipment with me (a stand works well) to get through the "really?!" stage.

I've talked to a couple of other women bass players who live in areas where there are doormen/security to get through to get to the stage and they had a hard time getting back in after having to leave for whatever reason (usually to grab something out of the car)! Seems that it's a good idea to get stamped/wristbanded when you arrive for soundcheck in those places. Either that or don't dress up nicely :).

So doormen: yes there ARE female bass players. Let her back in! And girls, if you live in a city that has security at gigs.....either make sure you intro yourself to the doorman or have a bandmate stand point (if you aren't back in 5, come looking!).

Personally, my most dissapointing reaction was when I was helping set up the PA for a private party. A guy was chatting with me, chit chat of the usual audience type. I finished setting up and needed to check my bass so I managed to get to it...when I started tuning he comes over to me and says, "You play bass?! I thought you were the singers' roadie!"

*insert dumfounded pause*. What?! Whatever look I had on my face must've really been incredulous because I then was at the tail end of a million apologies and him grabbing every buddy he had and telling them how there was a female bassist.... Roadie? *sigh* Everyone ended up being great tippers and I even got after the show apologies so it's all good. Guess I need to pull out the bass first next time!

Being between bands showed me a new "ugly"......people looking at my gender and judging. Not all women musicians are prima dona flakes that PMS at every gig and refuse to lift a finger! I found out at least one ad I've responded to has not bothered to answer because "we don't want a woman in the group". I can understand group dynamics, and that several times having a woman in a group has led to the groups' demise. Then again, so has drinking, drugs, jobs, family, finances, and fights over who ate all the cheetos. To me, I'm a bass player first. The other parts are just there. What bothers me is the not even bothering to email a "sorry, we're not interested" reply.....like I'm never going to see the group out and about and remember that. The gigging world is a small one and usually you end up knowing the guitar player who knows the drummer who heard something.....

So if you're looking for a bass player....passing up a female bass player because she's a girl means you're not looking for a bass player. You're looking for a buddy-which is cool if you say that. And I have seen ads that say that, and I respect the honesty! And if you're a female bass player looking for your next band...keep in mind the ones that are turning you down without even talking to you are probably not groups you want to be in anyway :).

One question I've run across is "Don't you have trouble playing bass with your little woman's hands?"

I do have small hands. My wrist size dumbfounds a lot of people. When I was first learning to play, I couldn't quuuuuuite reach all the frets (my teacher taught me one finger per fret). It took a few months to limber up my fingers, and I also make use of my pinky on the lower frets instead of trying to stretch my third finger all the way out. I've seen people with longer fingers do the same :).

When I switched to playing a 5 string, someone made the comment to me that I would have a hard time with it. I never had a problem reaching! Playing a 5 also forced me to relax my hands and watch my wrist positions so I didn't wear out quickly.

Playing a 6 or 7 string bass is out of the question for me (at least at this point), the fretboards on the ones I tried out are wider than my whole hand! So if I wanted to play a 7 string bass then yes, my small hands would be a problem. Or if I decide to play upright bass, I'm going to have to really build up my muscles!

Some women use a short scale bass because they find it easier to reach-I learned on a long/normal scaled bass so a short scale feels uncomfortable and I overreach. If I practiced on it, I'd get used to it-but normal scale basses are easier to find.

One thing I have noticed about my "small" hands is that three of my friends who are geniuses on guitar have almost the exact same sized hand! That might be an interesting study, to see how many musicians have the same sized hands.

If you're a woman and someone tries to discourage you from bass because of your hand size.....ignore them. You can work with it :).

******************
A reader asked me if I had any suggestions on excercises to limber small hands. Since each person is different, I'll explain what I did and perhaps some of this will help you!

I started with looking at what I do with my hands all day and what position my fingers are in. Most of it involves the fingers being close together, like handling the inventory gun at my day job. Driving , my hands are usually clumped together at the bottom (sorry but 10 and 2 makes my arms fall asleep!). That sort of thing. I then asked myself if I could alter those positions to stretch the fingers apart more. Lets look at the inventory gun. It's a small brick shaped gun, held in one hand. I usually kept all my fingers next to each other together when holding it. I decided to consciously start holding it in more of a splayed fingers position, slowly stretching a little further each time. Then I'd curl my little finger to the side against the side of the gun so it was further apart from the third finger. This was mostly my left hand since it needed to stretch further. Overtime, I could see it helping.

Now, the steering wheel. I figured out that I could stretch my fingers apart and rest them alongside the wheel on the left hand. I used to pile all my fingers in the joint area of where the airbag meets the round wheel, now I keep half on one side and half on the other (stretching them out). If this is hard to visualize, go get in your car :). Try resting your fingers stretched out along the round part of the wheel instead of keeping them curled around it. Whatever you do, make sure you have full control of your car!!! Don't try this on both hands at once and keep em both on the wheel!

For strength, those little squeeze balls (or even a "stress" ball) have a lot to recommend them. Squeeze, hold a few seconds, relax. I tried the spring type finger excercisers but got bored-however they are great for doing individual fingers! Me I just used individual fingers on a squeeze ball I kept in my pocked. Index finger, squeeeeeeeeeeze. Ok, pinkie's turn squeeeeeeeeeeeze.....so on and so on. Take the ball out of your pocket if you start getting funny looks to prove why your hand is in your pocket !

The best excercise is to simply play scales though. Since I have a day job my play time was limited so I came up with the other stretches to use during the day. Scales let you use each finger in turn and help learn the neck and fretboard spacings. If you have to move your wrist to reach that fret, do so ! One finger per fret, no cheating on scales. Run them over and over........go up the neck and back down. Don't forget the minors to keep it varied!

Now, when it comes to live playing, I will cheat. Lets say you have three notes in a row, fret one two three alllll the way at the bottom. When you place your hand on the neck, to grab the third fret with your third finger requires a bit of stretching. But look, Mr. Pinky is already there! Sitting right next to the fret ........so I use him. It does mean my pinky usually ends up doing more work than my third finger, but that's ok. Octaves, I usually use my pinky (whereas one friend always uses the third finger) just because its an easier reach.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

When doing any kind of stretching or limbering, do NOT over do it! If you pull a tendon you will regret it. Stretch to the point of resistance and give it a teeensy bit more. You want to do a little bit of streching a lot of times, not the other way around or you can end up hurt. If you look at your hands, theres really not much there so its easy to hurt. Easy does it! It took months for me to reach some of the notes, and some of them I shift hand position rather than stretching myself weird.

Heck, I've been known to grab a note from the other side of the neck. In other words, I want to hit the octave of the B string (I play a five) at the 12th fret. Rather than killing my wrist trying to reach it from the bottom, I lay my fingers on it from the top (so palm is facing the top of the neck rather than being under it). Makes it look like you're not playing too! I can reach the B, E, and A strings pretty easily from the top. I'll do this if it's been a long week and my wrists are aching too to give them a bit of a break.

In the end, it doesn't matter how or what you use to hit the notes. As long as you are playing the notes, you can use any fingering or position you like that's comfortable to you. If you're at a rock gig and an audience member wants to harass you about your hand position, smile and remember YOU got paid to be there and they didn't. (If you didn't get paid to be there and you aren't in an original band, well, that's a different problem). You are the one on stage............just play :)

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