Aside from any pre-existing affinity with the bass-guitar, there are very good reasons for songwriters and for aspiring band-leaders to become singing-bassists.

Hey Songwriter !?! :

1. Are you exasperated by repeated attempts at forming a band, thwarted by unavailability of suitable musicians? Have you found it difficult to recruit bass-guitarists and drummers for even the most rudimentary trio?
    

   the seemingly perpetual search for talent…. (credit: Svadilfari licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)	White Stripes? Still looking for a bassist! (credit: notto86 licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

2. Maybe you already have a band, but the rehearsals are dominated by internecine warfare between you and the instrumentalists. Maybe you yearn to be the true director of the music in your band, navigating the band through all of the changes of the songs you write, without burning through valuable rehearsal time in discussion.
    
3. Do you have a band in which the bass-player feels under-utilized or disenchanted? Is the bass-player slot in your band a rotating hot-seat? Is your band plagued by repeated and incessant line-up changes?
    

   Bassist Nr. 1 (1992-1998) (credit: dwhartwig licensed under CC BY 2.0)	Bassist Nr. 2 (1998-2001) (credit: dwhartwig licensed under CC BY 2.0)	Bassist Nr. 3 (2001-2009) (credit: dwhartwig licensed under CC BY 2.0)

A songwriting, singing-bassist will always form a band quicker than singing, songwriting guitar-strumming band-seekers because the singing-bassist fulfills two roles in one player, and because the rarity of a singing-songwriting-bassist attracts more interest in a world where seemingly everyone is a “musician”.

A songwriting, singing-bassist, joins together the drums and the guitars, and holds a finger on the change-button in the band. He is conducting the orchestra, and not by verbal threat or by commando, but simply by the fact that, as Steve Kilbey states, “You can’t argue with the bass! A guitar can’t argue with the bass!”. Just as it is unfathomable that a singer-songwriter not play an instrument in his band, it is infinitely easier if the singer-songwriter communicates and implements his songs on the bass and with his voice. The bass-guitar communicates in a dominating frequency which should belong to the band’s songwriter.

The band-members in the band of a songwriting, singing-bassist are automatically more satisfied than band-members in other band-configurations because everyone’s slice of pie is larger in the singing-bassist’s band. The guitarists and/or keys occupy a certain frequency bandwidth, the drummer percusses and the singing-bassist orchestrates. The songwriter needn’t dictate to the bassist what he has to play, which is always a source of friction.

Songwriters who experience problems forming and keeping a band should become singing-bassists, the rapid and politically smooth way to becoming a band-leader.

More references and reasons:

1. The dynamics within various band-configurations
2. A collection of quotes of various Singing-Bassists regarding their motivation to sing and play

Do you have other suggestions for why singing and playing bass is great? Subscribe or Email!