Why Choosing to Be a Bass Player is Brown: Embracing the Underdog of Music
By Michael Kelman Portney
In the world of music, every instrument has its personality. The guitar? Flashy, upfront, the show-stealer. The drums? Loud, wild, the backbone of rhythm. The bass? Quietly lurking in the background, holding everything together without demanding attention. It’s the heartbeat, the soul, and the solid foundation that grounds the chaos of a song. Choosing to be a bass player is a decision that taps into something unique, something that can only be described as “Brown.”
In this article, we’re diving into what it means to make the bass your weapon of choice and why the bass player, often overlooked and underappreciated, embodies the spirit of “Brown”—the weird, the authentic, the radically honest side of life.
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1. Bass as the Unsung Hero: A Brown Attitude
If guitarists and singers are the rock stars, the bass player is the anti-rock star. They’re essential to the sound, but they don’t clamor for the spotlight. Choosing to play bass is an act of defiance against the traditional allure of fame and ego. In the music industry, where recognition is often tied to who’s center stage, bass players embrace the role of the underdog. It’s a choice to support rather than dominate, to add depth rather than flash.
This mindset is quintessentially Brown. It’s about rejecting the superficiality of fame and embracing the raw, unpolished role that keeps the music together. Being a bass player is about doing the work without needing the praise, taking satisfaction in knowing that the song would fall apart without you—even if no one else recognizes it. It’s a role that’s all substance, no pretense.
2. Feeling the Groove: Connecting to the Core
The bass isn’t about playing a melody that gets stuck in someone’s head; it’s about making them feel something. Bass notes vibrate through the floor and into the body, grounding listeners and players alike in a visceral, almost primal way. This is music that doesn’t just speak to the ears—it speaks to the gut.
Bass players are tuned into that earthy, grounded energy, capturing the essence of “Brown” by creating a groove that feels alive, even if it goes unnoticed. It’s an intimate connection between the musician and the music, one that doesn’t rely on fancy solos or shredding. Instead, it’s about embodying the heartbeat of the song, making it pulse with energy. To play bass is to choose depth over surface, rhythm over spectacle—a Brown choice through and through.
3. Radical Humility: Playing for the Band, Not for the Ego
Bass players understand the beauty of restraint. While other musicians might jump at the chance for a solo or spotlight moment, the bass player knows that their job is to hold back, to add texture and depth without overpowering. In a world obsessed with individual achievement, bass players find satisfaction in a different form of success: making everyone else sound good.
This is where bassists channel radical humility, a core part of the Brown philosophy. There’s an honesty in playing bass that other instruments don’t require—the willingness to serve the music rather than the self. This doesn’t mean the bass player lacks skill or creativity; it means they’ve embraced a role that prioritizes harmony over attention. They understand that greatness can come from elevating the whole instead of standing out as a solo act.
4. Embracing Weirdness and Subtlety
Bass lines are often where the weirdness of a song lives. In jazz, funk, rock, and beyond, the bass line is the space where musicians can play with rhythm, experiment with dissonance, and bring in subtle complexities that make a song memorable. Unlike the guitar, which often needs to be front and center with a catchy riff, the bass can get weird without demanding to be noticed.
This love for subtle, strange grooves is where the bass player really embodies Brownness. Bass players know how to add nuance to a song, creating a foundation that’s both stable and experimental. It’s the perfect balance of reliability and unpredictability—Brown is about the willingness to get weird while still keeping it real, to find beauty in what’s often overlooked. A bass player lives in this space, turning down the volume on ego to play with the raw, unpolished corners of sound.
5. Standing Out by Staying Grounded
Choosing bass is choosing a kind of invisibility, a path that almost guarantees you’ll be overshadowed by the flashier, louder instruments. But that’s the irony: by choosing to stay grounded, bass players often end up standing out to those who truly listen. People who understand music know that without the bass, a song feels empty, like it’s missing its soul.
Being a bass player means being comfortable in a role that isn’t immediately visible, which is as Brown as it gets. There’s a pride in knowing that, while you may not be in the spotlight, you’re the one holding the song down. You’re the glue, the pulse, the force that keeps the music from drifting into chaos. You don’t need anyone to recognize it—you know it. That self-assurance, that independence from validation, is the core of Brownness.
6. The Bass as a Statement Against Conformity
Finally, there’s a certain rebellious spirit to choosing bass—an implicit rejection of convention. When most people pick up an instrument, they’re drawn to the guitar, the vocals, or the drums—the roles that get the most attention. But choosing the bass is like choosing to take the road less traveled. It’s a choice that says, “I’m here to do things my own way.”
This spirit of independence, of defining success by your own standards, is what makes bass players so Brown. They’re not playing the instrument that screams for attention; they’re playing the one that feels right, the one that resonates. This willingness to go against the grain, to find joy in the role that others overlook, is the ultimate Brown move. It’s about finding meaning in unexpected places, in the rhythm that underpins the music rather than the spotlight that floats above it.
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Conclusion: Choosing Bass as a Brown Path to Meaning
Being a bass player isn’t for everyone. It requires a unique mix of humility, confidence, and a love for the subtle, often-unseen work that gives a song its heart. It’s a choice that resonates with those who are unafraid to be the foundation rather than the face, the groove rather than the glory.
Choosing the bass is about embracing the Brown way of life: a life that’s rooted in reality, that values honesty over ego, and that finds power in the weird, the quiet, and the unappreciated. For those who walk this path, bass isn’t just an instrument—it’s a philosophy, a statement, and a way of moving through the world with a grounded authenticity. So here’s to the bass players, the unsung heroes, the keepers of groove, the ones who keep it Brown.
