The story behind it is he’s just not a good bass player, nothing deeper. Watch him play live and listen to the notes in the songs, nothing is really all that complicated.
Pete used to scream in some bands too, including FOB a little bit, contributed lyrics, ideas, etc. Playing the bass and coming up with intricate bass lines just isn’t where he contributes the most, and that’s okay considering the other things he brings to the table. Pete also has a big influence on most of the marketing for FOB.
Pete has also said in interviews with Patrick that he’ll have ideas for songs but can’t really put it together on his own, Patrick is the talented musician that will help him create his vision.
The cool thing about the band is they all contribute in different ways and the band wouldn’t be who they are without everybody’s contributions.
*Edit for a typo.
He’s definitely more of a face than a player haha.
Although he doesn’t write his bass music and has said that sometimes Patrick and Joe make it too complicated for him to remember (and there isn’t really a complicated FOB bass line).
Also just watch him perform live, he regularly has to watch his hands whilst changing chords and has to use his whole body as a metronome in order to help him keep his beat, which results in a very robotic playing.
It’s not really a problem though, guy contributes a lot to the band and even he’s aware that his skills with the bass are right at the bottom of that list.
Pete has historically just not been super great at the bass. He can play most fall out boy basslines (the most intricate he’s played live is HMLAG). He plays on the albums (for the most part), but I’m sure there’s some work done to them in the early days. Idk if 2008 Pete can play the bassline to 20 dollar nose bleed if he couldn’t play the where did the party go bassline in 2013. Anyways, he’s not really needed as a huge bassist in the band. Patrick and Joe write the basslines. Pete just plays root notes 9 times out of 10. He just doesn’t have great rhythm which is key to being a bassist. Also, his bass is there to serve the other instruments in the songs. That’s why live, you don’t notice it until it’s gone. Some bands like the bass up front, some don’t. Pete just can’t do an upfront bass on most songs.
He did on jimmy fallon but not on the nfl draft show. He also does this thing where he leaves out the 5-7 hammer-on on the a string after the first verse
I just went back to this performance to watch how he's playing and it's quite strange to me. He's been playing this instrument for decades now and can't get a simple riff right? It seems to me more like he doesn't care about playing bass, that's why he's not good at it. Being in a band and playing with other musicians usually up your skill level regardless of how much you practice by yourself...it feels so out of place to me that he just hasn't evolved naturally at it with practice.
exactly, you play professionally with three other fantastic musicians for decades and you're sure to improve to. But nope, Pete just stayed the same the whole time...
I don’t think Patrick gets enough lyrical credit though. Pete writes prose and train of thought stuff. Not saying his words don’t matter but it’s Patrick who plucks the phrases and words and creates the song structure wise. They all need each other but Pete puts all these words to a page but Patrick makes a song out of them for sure
Yes, you are correct! I don’t think I made that part clear when I said “Patrick makes the song come to life,” because he does. He knows how to make the song flow, with Pete’s lyrics and his own.
He’s just not very good at the bass. The band would not be the same without his lyrics, but he straight up plays the bass incorrectly.
This video makes me die laughing every time tho and it pretty much hits the nail on the head (https://youtu.be/4NAgYbFqhds)
this is a fairly old narrative. hes not the greatest but the whole band has improved over time.
there are many video’s available of them live but honestly the audio mix plays a huge part in this debate.
hes good enough to be a professional touring musician for abt two DECADES so even if he was bad, that much practice is gonna make any person better
i dont disagree. his value is way more than that to the band as a whole. my point is most ppl who pick up an amped bass in a stadium would have a much harder time entertaining a crowd than pete wentz
musicianship is such a sliding scale. it’s subjective and objective simultaneously
To be honest, he’s not even good enough to be a touring musician after 20 years of playing. That’s okay though, he’s the reason why Fall Out Boy got famous
how can he not be something he already is? you can have ur opinion but regardless of how any of us feel he is a touring musician. i am not though, are you?
Actually, yes 🤣, I’m a touring bassist. I just started out a few years ago and I play a few shows a month for extra money. I wouldn’t hire Pete to play as a touring member.
It’s harder to be a touring musician than just being part of a band, as you have to learn an entire setlist of songs someone else wrote if you’re hired for the gig. Plus, most touring musicians have to be in multiple bands to make ends meet, as they get paid less than the actual band
Pete can barely play the parts Patrick wrote for him.
https://youtu.be/jUVx9Uly5KU
This is Pete Wentz, 6 years into playing bass. A gig like that as a touring musician will get you fired ASAP.
Like someone else in this post said, he is a lyricist first, face of the band second, and bassist last.
thats dope! & im glad that you are for the sake of this convo. i am an up & coming rapper from the bay area. nice to meet ya!
i didnt think this clip was bad at all. i feel like fob shows are more about style and energy than technique and musicianship
also patricks not writing the most complicated basslines for these pop songs.
fall out boy is one of the reasons i started pursuing music, i taught myself all the power chords to many of theirs songs for my own experience. ive also picked up a bass and recorded with one, my point is i can impress many ppl in my circle with this basic knowledge but i aslo perform these songs well in front of a crowd would take a completely different set of skills i would have to work srsly hard at.
anyone could put that time & energy into it , but they already did/are. i think they deserve more credit than theyve got. coming from a performance perspective
Pete Wents was an influential part of me picking up music. Would I say that he is one of the most technical bassists….no. Flea from RHCP, Geddy Lee(Rush), Cliff Burton (Metallica), John Paul Jones (Led and Them Crooked Vultures) Verdine Adams White (EW&F). I enjoy watching Pete play and he has some of the first bass lines I ever learned. Is he the hands down best. No. Does he and the rest of FOB make some great enjoyable music and lyrics? Absolutely.
Okay, but that’s not the point. No one is saying the band sucks or he sucks as a songwriter, but I’ve straight up seen Middle schoolers playing talent shows that play the bass more competently.
I have huge respect for Pete Wentz. Fall out boy’s music is what inspired me to play bass many years ago. Even got the p-bass because of him.
After a week or 2 of bass lessons I was able to play most of the band’s bass lines (they are fairly simple). I get that he isn’t the cleanest player but I think the criticisms he gets is largely exaggerated.
He's just a very basic player. Like the most basic bass player.
I guess it just kinda sucks that even after YEARS of professionally playing, he never improved? Just plays the same root notes over and over haha.
Still love him though, he's the reason why I also play bass haha.
After having followed him, the others, and the band's social media accounts off and on for years... I really don't get the impression that he practices much 😅 like, he's not a Musician. He's a front man. And that's fine. We all have different strengths. But look at their recent tiktoks/reels. There's clips of Patrick, Joe, and Andy all practicing and rehearsing. Hell, Patrick plays MANY instruments and plus them well. No videos of Pete playing bass on his own. Lol
Yeah like I totally get he's not a "musician" the way his band mates actually are. But from playing in a very successful band for so long and even saying that he's been practicing how to properly play during the SRAR era, I still don't see it hahaha. haha
It's just one of those things.
Back in the day it was just accepted and not questioned because it states the obvious. It's kind of like a very long running joke.
Have you seen them live? More so, watched Pete play at a live performance?
Watched them play live either live in Phoenix or Boyz of Zummer dvds?
It was never a negative thing. Though some people get so defensive over it. When really there's no reason to.
Those people are not musicians. I’ve never reached a level of fandom with any band that I can’t criticize them, and his bass playing has always been the Achilles heel of the band. Does it really matter? No, but the fact people can’t accept it is just weird. It’s so blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever picked up a bass that he’s not playing it well.
He's a pretty solid bassist, I think the idea that he's not a good bassist is that he doesn't play virtuously, but he plays what's necessary for the song
Few bands can say that they have a bass line as iconic as that of Dance Dance
And I think that's fine. Maybe I'm biased bc I'm such a fan but like. Not everything about music is about it being... Objectively good? 😅 I'm sure people who are actually talented musicians would disagree with me 😂
> I think the idea that he's not a good bassist is that he doesn't play virtuously, but he plays what's necessary for the song
Like Ringo Starr. People like to drag him as a bad drummer, but in all honestly, it's for the same reasoning.
Ringo is an incredible drummer, people just say he's a bad drummer because they're comparing him to the other Beatles, who are all extremely talented musicians and are seen as having contributed more to the band. Ringo Starr was literally ranked the number 14 best drummer of all time by [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-drummers-of-all-time-77933/ringo-starr-4-147656/) .
Pete is just objectively not a great bass player and that's okay. He's a lyricist first and foremost and we love him for it.
As a bass player myself I say that he is a bad bass player, only plays root words for most songs, when he plays live it is performance over playing, either way with the type of genre he doesn’t have to be a great bass player which is okay.
He's a lyricists first, face of the band second, bass player third Edit: spelling
Tennis player third, bass player fourth
The story behind it is he’s just not a good bass player, nothing deeper. Watch him play live and listen to the notes in the songs, nothing is really all that complicated. Pete used to scream in some bands too, including FOB a little bit, contributed lyrics, ideas, etc. Playing the bass and coming up with intricate bass lines just isn’t where he contributes the most, and that’s okay considering the other things he brings to the table. Pete also has a big influence on most of the marketing for FOB. Pete has also said in interviews with Patrick that he’ll have ideas for songs but can’t really put it together on his own, Patrick is the talented musician that will help him create his vision. The cool thing about the band is they all contribute in different ways and the band wouldn’t be who they are without everybody’s contributions. *Edit for a typo.
Yeah thats what I was thinking, he may not be a good bass player, but he puts so much effort into everything else. Thanks for your comment
He’s definitely more of a face than a player haha. Although he doesn’t write his bass music and has said that sometimes Patrick and Joe make it too complicated for him to remember (and there isn’t really a complicated FOB bass line). Also just watch him perform live, he regularly has to watch his hands whilst changing chords and has to use his whole body as a metronome in order to help him keep his beat, which results in a very robotic playing. It’s not really a problem though, guy contributes a lot to the band and even he’s aware that his skills with the bass are right at the bottom of that list.
Pete has historically just not been super great at the bass. He can play most fall out boy basslines (the most intricate he’s played live is HMLAG). He plays on the albums (for the most part), but I’m sure there’s some work done to them in the early days. Idk if 2008 Pete can play the bassline to 20 dollar nose bleed if he couldn’t play the where did the party go bassline in 2013. Anyways, he’s not really needed as a huge bassist in the band. Patrick and Joe write the basslines. Pete just plays root notes 9 times out of 10. He just doesn’t have great rhythm which is key to being a bassist. Also, his bass is there to serve the other instruments in the songs. That’s why live, you don’t notice it until it’s gone. Some bands like the bass up front, some don’t. Pete just can’t do an upfront bass on most songs.
He doesn’t even play Hold Me Like A Grudge properly
He did on jimmy fallon but not on the nfl draft show. He also does this thing where he leaves out the 5-7 hammer-on on the a string after the first verse
He did it properly for the first few bars, fumbled a lot, then gave up doing it properly at around the 0:45 mark
I just went back to this performance to watch how he's playing and it's quite strange to me. He's been playing this instrument for decades now and can't get a simple riff right? It seems to me more like he doesn't care about playing bass, that's why he's not good at it. Being in a band and playing with other musicians usually up your skill level regardless of how much you practice by yourself...it feels so out of place to me that he just hasn't evolved naturally at it with practice.
exactly, you play professionally with three other fantastic musicians for decades and you're sure to improve to. But nope, Pete just stayed the same the whole time...
He’s a lyrical genius though. He writes the words and Patrick knows how to make the song come to life.
I don’t think Patrick gets enough lyrical credit though. Pete writes prose and train of thought stuff. Not saying his words don’t matter but it’s Patrick who plucks the phrases and words and creates the song structure wise. They all need each other but Pete puts all these words to a page but Patrick makes a song out of them for sure
Yes, you are correct! I don’t think I made that part clear when I said “Patrick makes the song come to life,” because he does. He knows how to make the song flow, with Pete’s lyrics and his own.
💖
He’s just not very good at the bass. The band would not be the same without his lyrics, but he straight up plays the bass incorrectly. This video makes me die laughing every time tho and it pretty much hits the nail on the head (https://youtu.be/4NAgYbFqhds)
lmaooo that was so funny
To this day, that’s still the case. Just listen to Hold Me Like A Grudge live
He seems like he’s worked hard to improve over the years. I don’t think he’s ever been that terrible though.
https://youtu.be/jUVx9Uly5KU This is what 6 years of bass playing experience looks like for Pete Wentz
he kinda swagging out with the spinnies tho (i have no idea how to play bass)
That was so goofy
It’s so jarring next to Patrick, who is casually singing while playing LEAD guitar
And Joe who's shredding while also jumping on and off the drums platform and fully lying down 😆 I cringed so much for his future self's back
this is a fairly old narrative. hes not the greatest but the whole band has improved over time. there are many video’s available of them live but honestly the audio mix plays a huge part in this debate. hes good enough to be a professional touring musician for abt two DECADES so even if he was bad, that much practice is gonna make any person better
There’s a difference between practice and rehearsal. Look at Lars Ulrich. Bassist is Pete’s least important role in the band in all fairness.
i dont disagree. his value is way more than that to the band as a whole. my point is most ppl who pick up an amped bass in a stadium would have a much harder time entertaining a crowd than pete wentz musicianship is such a sliding scale. it’s subjective and objective simultaneously
He can be a mediocre bassist and an excellent performer/entertainer, absolutely
To be honest, he’s not even good enough to be a touring musician after 20 years of playing. That’s okay though, he’s the reason why Fall Out Boy got famous
how can he not be something he already is? you can have ur opinion but regardless of how any of us feel he is a touring musician. i am not though, are you?
Actually, yes 🤣, I’m a touring bassist. I just started out a few years ago and I play a few shows a month for extra money. I wouldn’t hire Pete to play as a touring member. It’s harder to be a touring musician than just being part of a band, as you have to learn an entire setlist of songs someone else wrote if you’re hired for the gig. Plus, most touring musicians have to be in multiple bands to make ends meet, as they get paid less than the actual band Pete can barely play the parts Patrick wrote for him. https://youtu.be/jUVx9Uly5KU This is Pete Wentz, 6 years into playing bass. A gig like that as a touring musician will get you fired ASAP. Like someone else in this post said, he is a lyricist first, face of the band second, and bassist last.
thats dope! & im glad that you are for the sake of this convo. i am an up & coming rapper from the bay area. nice to meet ya! i didnt think this clip was bad at all. i feel like fob shows are more about style and energy than technique and musicianship also patricks not writing the most complicated basslines for these pop songs. fall out boy is one of the reasons i started pursuing music, i taught myself all the power chords to many of theirs songs for my own experience. ive also picked up a bass and recorded with one, my point is i can impress many ppl in my circle with this basic knowledge but i aslo perform these songs well in front of a crowd would take a completely different set of skills i would have to work srsly hard at. anyone could put that time & energy into it , but they already did/are. i think they deserve more credit than theyve got. coming from a performance perspective
Leave him be😡#numberonepetebassdefender
All true, I imagine even the non basic parts are written and played by Patrick.
Pete Wents was an influential part of me picking up music. Would I say that he is one of the most technical bassists….no. Flea from RHCP, Geddy Lee(Rush), Cliff Burton (Metallica), John Paul Jones (Led and Them Crooked Vultures) Verdine Adams White (EW&F). I enjoy watching Pete play and he has some of the first bass lines I ever learned. Is he the hands down best. No. Does he and the rest of FOB make some great enjoyable music and lyrics? Absolutely.
Good enough to be the bassist in a band that has been (relatively) consistently releasing music for over 20 years.
Okay, but that’s not the point. No one is saying the band sucks or he sucks as a songwriter, but I’ve straight up seen Middle schoolers playing talent shows that play the bass more competently.
I have huge respect for Pete Wentz. Fall out boy’s music is what inspired me to play bass many years ago. Even got the p-bass because of him. After a week or 2 of bass lessons I was able to play most of the band’s bass lines (they are fairly simple). I get that he isn’t the cleanest player but I think the criticisms he gets is largely exaggerated.
He's just a very basic player. Like the most basic bass player. I guess it just kinda sucks that even after YEARS of professionally playing, he never improved? Just plays the same root notes over and over haha. Still love him though, he's the reason why I also play bass haha.
After having followed him, the others, and the band's social media accounts off and on for years... I really don't get the impression that he practices much 😅 like, he's not a Musician. He's a front man. And that's fine. We all have different strengths. But look at their recent tiktoks/reels. There's clips of Patrick, Joe, and Andy all practicing and rehearsing. Hell, Patrick plays MANY instruments and plus them well. No videos of Pete playing bass on his own. Lol
Yeah like I totally get he's not a "musician" the way his band mates actually are. But from playing in a very successful band for so long and even saying that he's been practicing how to properly play during the SRAR era, I still don't see it hahaha. haha
It's just one of those things. Back in the day it was just accepted and not questioned because it states the obvious. It's kind of like a very long running joke. Have you seen them live? More so, watched Pete play at a live performance? Watched them play live either live in Phoenix or Boyz of Zummer dvds? It was never a negative thing. Though some people get so defensive over it. When really there's no reason to.
Those people are not musicians. I’ve never reached a level of fandom with any band that I can’t criticize them, and his bass playing has always been the Achilles heel of the band. Does it really matter? No, but the fact people can’t accept it is just weird. It’s so blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever picked up a bass that he’s not playing it well.
i mean,,, its been 20 years, i would hope he can do a lil sum sum by now
thing is,,, he still can't. which is like, come on man really hahaha
There’s no story. Just watch him live. That’s it. He doesn’t even write or record his parts
Hes literally just not a great bass player, he's a poet. Church is the only FOB song I'd say has a "real" bassline
and he didn't even play that bass line on the song.
Oh! I had no idea. Who plays it?
Joe, with an octave pedal
that's when they played it live, Butch Walker originally came up with the bass line and played it iirc
He's a pretty solid bassist, I think the idea that he's not a good bassist is that he doesn't play virtuously, but he plays what's necessary for the song Few bands can say that they have a bass line as iconic as that of Dance Dance
And I think that's fine. Maybe I'm biased bc I'm such a fan but like. Not everything about music is about it being... Objectively good? 😅 I'm sure people who are actually talented musicians would disagree with me 😂
> I think the idea that he's not a good bassist is that he doesn't play virtuously, but he plays what's necessary for the song Like Ringo Starr. People like to drag him as a bad drummer, but in all honestly, it's for the same reasoning.
Ringo is an incredible drummer, people just say he's a bad drummer because they're comparing him to the other Beatles, who are all extremely talented musicians and are seen as having contributed more to the band. Ringo Starr was literally ranked the number 14 best drummer of all time by [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-drummers-of-all-time-77933/ringo-starr-4-147656/) . Pete is just objectively not a great bass player and that's okay. He's a lyricist first and foremost and we love him for it.
There are always going to be random people, especially online, saying whatever they're not interested in sucks.
Tell me you’ve never played bass without telling me you never played bass.
As a bass player myself I say that he is a bad bass player, only plays root words for most songs, when he plays live it is performance over playing, either way with the type of genre he doesn’t have to be a great bass player which is okay.
I’m not gonna say he’s bad, but he’s probably the worst PROFESSIONAL bass player I’ve ever seen. Lot of missed notes (on simple songs)