Bass-ically Useless: The Sad State of Bass in Modern Music

It’s time to face the music, folks. The bass guitar has become the red-headed stepchild of the pop music world. Once a proud and essential member of every band, the bass has been relegated to the background, reduced to nothing more than a low-end thump to support the rest of the band.

Gone are the days when the bass was a melodic instrument in its own right, with legendary bassists like Chris Squire and Geddy Lee crafting complex and intricate bass lines that added depth and richness to their songs. Even Danny Partridge, the fictional bassist from the Partridge Family, could teach today’s bass players a thing or two about melodic bass lines.

Nowadays, it seems like anyone with a pulse can play bass. In fact, there are some so-called “bass players” who don’t even use a bass guitar! They just use a keyboard and play the bass parts with one finger. One finger! That’s not playing bass; that’s just pressing a button.

And don’t even get me started on the lack of great bass lines in modern music. Sure, there are a few exceptions like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thundercat, but for the most part, modern bass lines are forgettable at best. They’re just there to fill out the low end and give the drummer something to play along with.

It’s time for a bass revolution, people. We need to bring back the glory days of the bass guitar when bassists were gods among men, and the bass was a melodic instrument in its own right. We need to demand more from our bass players and demand that they bring the funk and the groove back to music.

So the next time you’re listening to a song, and you hear the bass player just thumping away in the background, take a stand. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Demand more from your bass players. And if they can’t deliver, kick them to the curb and find someone who can. The bass deserves better than this, and so do we.