Great job @sfadams I enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for contributing.
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Just a bit confused on this @PamPurrs Pam….
I agree with you on following the chord progressions and throwing in some fills on a lot of songs and all, but… What would be considered “the rest”? What would be the difference between “Self Serving” and “Song Serving”?
Sometimes,…. Less is best,… and… sometimes it isn’t…. Sometimes the bass can be used to “ride the song”, and sometimes it can be used to “drive the song”….
Typically when anyone (especially vocalists or lead guitarists (and yes, sometimes bassists) say that they want other accompanying musician to (keep things simple, or use few notes) means that “They” want all focus on what they want to highlight in a song (typically their own talents),…. to me,… “that” is self serving and we hear it all the time in not only in entire songs, but also in solo” sections of songs…. Hell, there’s plenty of songs out there where even the bassist has a solo and gets to do their thing…
Some songs kinda require more notes,… Some don’t. It’s all about the music and how all the musicians feel it should be composed given whatever mood they’re all in at the time….
And sometimes it’s really cool to listen to a good bassists do some really cool shit on the instrument…. “Self serving”?? Not so sure I agree with that statement….
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Less is more. “Serve the tune”, is what my bass coach always told me. Every song is different, some call for more fills than others. At the end of the day the artist has to ask herself (himself), “did I serve the tune, or did I serve myself”.
That’s all I’m saying.
Sorry @Lanny Lanny.
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Step 1. Learn the rules
Step 2. Learn when to break the rules
Step 3. Realize there are no rules
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Yeah so I wasn’t going to say anything, but I completely disagree with the “Thats the job of the bassist” sentiment.
Completely.
But to each their own. It’s certainly not true for the bass-forward genres I prefer. It’s genre-specific obviously, maybe that’s how classic rock or soft rock works? No idea, don’t really listen to them much.
Good example would be post-punk/darkwave, where often the bass is the song, with the guitars in for some melody or filling role.
Or most electronica, a lot of punk, some metal, some post-rock/metal, etc etc. Lots of genres, bass plays a much more major role, and often leads.
Exactly zero of the bassists I really look up to just follow along chord progressions and “play few notes”; most would have walked out of the studio at that advice. Most of them “serve the song” by leading and driving it, and a few of them literally are the song more often than not.
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There are a lot of fairly minimalist drummers too, like Ringo so one could say the same thing about drummers… Which I don’t think many would 
Even OS jazz bassists were wailing away on upright for some great solos back in the day.
I know what the statement is meant to suggest though… it’s saying never play a bass line which although it might be great on its own, does not fit the song and make the song better/stronger. A lot of bass players, especially if they come from guitar, are prone to everplaying and unlike brass/woodwind, you never have to stop and breathe so many bass players will not consider their phrasing. It’s like the rule of thirds in photography which basically says don’t put things in the middle… But sometimes you DO want things in the middle if you want to take advantage of symmetry.
Stanley Clarke plays some great solos on upright, Garry Willis plays amazing technical stuff and his version of Norwegian Wood is one of my favourite bass pieces.
You only need 4 strings and a 4 piece kit 
Blanket statements are always wrong
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As a drummer I’m offended. The purpose of everyone in the band is to march to my beat! Also know as " the tempo is what I say it is! Lol
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Yeah, and I think a “no showboating wankfests” ethic is fine, though I doubt most guitarists would agree 
But “STFU and follow me, bass peon!” is even more silly IMO.
Always!
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Lol Reminds me of the story when the Stones were on tour once. Apparently Mick (Jagger) came back late to the hotel one night drunk and was in reception demanding to know where his drummer was. Charlie (watts) came down and thumped him and shouted “I’m not your f$%ing drummer - you’re my f$%$ing singer!”
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Great work @sfadams solid as a rock! How do you do get everything in black and white except the Santa hat btw?
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Hooky has opinions 
“They tried telling me once, asking if I could just follow the root,” laughs Hooky. “I said, ‘No - how about you fuckin’ follow me?’
That’s the spirit
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Yeah - deep down for me the bass is an accompanying instrument. Although I guess in a band scenario all the instruments should serve the tune. Kinga Głyk is a major culprit who totally overplays
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Thanks @Ed ! (And everyone else 
).
For the video colors, take a look at the following video (especially if you use Adobe Premiere Pro):
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I reckon I could forgive her.
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You live and you learn!
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