Gord Sinclair's Tips for Aspiring Bass Players (of The Tragically Hip)

I’ve been asked a lot over the years about when I first started playing the bass and if I have any tips for aspiring players to learn the instrument. The first part is easy. Way back in the mid 70’s, when I was in high school, Bobby came over one day to show off the brown Fender Strat his folks had just bought him. He announced that he was starting a rock band and that I was to be the bass player. That weekend I went to Tremblay’s Music on Princess Street in Kingston and bought a Univox Bass, a Traynor bass amp and I was underway. Drafted, and willingly so.

The learning part is a little more challenging. Playing any instrument is a life long pursuit and well worthwhile. I worked on the bass my entire career and I feel like I am still learning now. Being in a band is the best way to learn the instrument and more importantly to learn how to listen to your fellow musicians. As a bass player I was fortunate to play with as great a drummer as Johnny Fay my whole musical life.

If you’re just getting into the bass there are two great records you should get to help you turn on to the nuances of the instrument. The first is John Mayall & the Blues Brothers with Eric Clapton from 1966. Bass player John McVie and drummer Hugh Flint create a rhythm pocket that is hard to beat and incredibly instructive. McVie plays off the drums perfectly, bridging the gap between the beat and the melody like a great bass player should. Sometimes re-enforcing the melodic riff, sometimes simply holding down the fort with his solid, understated playing. McVie is the foundation of every song, allowing Clapton and Mayall the spotlight. There are great walking blues bass lines throughout and if you play along to the tunes as you listen you’ll be well underway in figuring out what the bass is all about. Taste and subtlety.

The second album is the Meters Look-Ka Py Py from 1969. If you listen to what bassist George Porter is laying down you won’t be long learning how to groove. Drummer Zigaboo Modeliste is a master of funk and Porter’s bass lines intertwine perfectly with what he is laying down. Sometimes in sync, more often finding and filling the holes left by his bandmates, George Porter is all feel, hypnotically rifftastic and groovy; always in the pocket.

The bass player is there to serve the song and give it feel; to bridge the musical gaps between bandmates and give them a solid, steady groove.
– GS

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