Tommy Ramone Quotes

Bass guitar is the engine of the band.

The bass player's function, along with the drums, is to be the engine that drives the car... everything else is merely colours.

I tend to think of the organ as part of the rhythm section, rather than a frontline voice.

The bass, no matter what kind of music you're playing, it just enhances the sound and makes everything sound more beautiful and full. When the bass stops, the bottom kind of drops out of everything.

The bass should be the note of the bass drum, and then you've got the engine of the band that everything else builds on. Everything else, the guitar, the keyboards, is a colour.

I really pay attention to the bass in the music I listen to, and that's what I tend to write toward.

It's really important for the bass and the drums to somehow blend.

I don't want to be a lead player. I don't want to shred and play fast licks. I just want to be the best rhythm section ever.

And I like messing around in the engine room of music. Seeing what happens in the rhythm section area.

A good bassist determines the direction of any band.

I'm a little more of a lead instrument in the Meatbats.

I always felt as a horn player, a jam session wasn't satisfying enough for me. I should have been a rhythm section player, actually.

I've never been a big soloist; I just put in what needs to be there. I'm more of a rhythm player who plays lead - or tries to play lead.

The heart of a music is its rhythm. The heart of rhythm section music is the rhythm.

I can always tell if a band has a British rhythm section due to the gritty production.

When you listen to a symphony orchestra, and the basses don't - there's no bass part, there's not that much depth. That's why I'm attracted to the instrument, the bass. It brings depth. It's like playing in a rainforest.

It's always been my dream to have a monster rhythm section that's just all groove and pocket.

If you don't have a good rhythm section, your band is toast; you're a bar band. Good rhythm section, you've got a chance to get out of the bar.

I always thought of myself as more of a rhythm player than a big soloist.

There's something about rhythm and bass sections generally, how the bass and drums interact, that's basically the soul of any song.

The core of all the music I love is a good bass line and a good rhythm.

Traditionally, the role of the bass player was just to keep things simple and solid, so it's really a special thing when you can get a player that can actually bring in a lot of presence and also a visual presence, too.

Being a bass player in a band without a drummer for seven, eight years has been kind of weird.

A band is as solid as its drummer is.

As a bassist he could never really be a sideman. He was always the anchor. He drove the beat. even if it was behind Miles Davis'a horn.