i realy want to learn an instrument i have tried guitar in the past but i have a lack of cordination. is the bass easier?

nope.

not if you lack coordination.

sorry.

From a non-teachers perspective...

In the sense of fretting the strings yes, bass is easier than guitar once you learn to do it (it's harder at first, being a bigger instrument).

Also, with mainly playing single notes on bass against the chord instruments it's often "easier" complimenting them in a jam in some respects. It's also easier to notice bassists mistakes too, a lot of the time. ;)

But in the sense of how complex you want your music to be, or how you choose to express it, or how accurately you cover someone elses song, then no it's not. Learning any instrument from a musical standpoint is as easy or difficult as your ability to absorb and convert the information, and what level you wish to achieve, and the work you put in to achieve it.

And in the sense of place in a band no I do not feel bass is easier than guitar. In that regard I think it's more important to understand and respect the various instrument roles than judge complexity in thier learning...

One example, I still struggle to learn and play the bassline to Layla (Eric Clapton), yet was blown away with the ease of the opening guitar riff after mentioning it must also be difficult! So that must mean bass is harder ;)

All instruments are equally easy to learn. The only things that can impede one's excelling at playing a musical instrument are a physical handicap that limits one's ability to play a certain instrument, desire, or commitment.

For example, if one has a skin allergy to certain metals used in guitar strings another instrument would be a better choice. Along the same lines the trumpet is usually a poor choice for an asthmatic. Most often there is nothing to be done about a physical handicap other than to choose a different instrument.

The second handicap is desire, or more specifically the lack of desire. If one does not fervently desire to become proficient then it will never happen. The desire to play an instrument is not passing fancy. It is a consuming preoccupation, sometimes to the exclusion of many other things. Sometimes desire alone will overcome physical limitations.

No matter how much one desires to become a player none of it will happen without commitment. One may have all the tools and desire necessary to succeed but without commitment to the hours of practice it will never happen. The first commitment one must make is a commitment to time. Every day they have their instrument in their hands for a certain amount of time. The second commitment comes later when the new player finds the reason to play and commits to excellence. At that point the initial commitment to time becomes meaningless. The student now practices for as long as it takes to get to their goal of perfection.

When all of these things exist together the student may achieve mastery of the instrument.

All instruments are equally easy to learn. The only things that can impede your excelling are a physical handicap that limits one's ability to play a certain instrument are handicap, desire or commitment.

For example, if one has a skin allergy to certain metals used in guitar strings another instrument would be a better choice. Along the same lines the trumpet is usually a poor choice for an asthmatic. Most often there is nothing to be done about a physical handicap other than to choose a different instrument.

The second handicap is desire, or more specifically the lack of desire. If one does not fervently desire to become proficient then it will never happen. The desire to play an instrument is not passing fancy. It is a consuming preoccupation, sometimes to the exclusion of many other things. Sometimes desire alone will overcome physical limitations.

No matter how much one desires to become a player none of it will happen without commitment. One may have all the tools and desire necessary to succeed but without commitment to the hours of practice it will never happen. The first commitment one must make is a commitment to time. Every day they have their instrument in their hands for a certain amount of time. The second commitment comes later when the new player finds the reason to play and commits to excellence. At that point the initial commitment to time becomes meaningless. The student now practices for as long as it takes to get to their goal of perfection.

When all of these things exist together the student may achieve mastery of the instrument.


+1

Very well said.

If you spend alot of time learning the basics and making reading music a part of your practice, you will become a better player with more understanding. You may also want to get with a teacher for a few lessons to prevent any bad habits right from the start. The coordination will come with practice. Identify your goals. Good Luck

No its not easier than guitar,its probably harder from the aspect you have to tie together everything that everyone else is playing and still want to make people dance and groove.Just because a bass has 4 strings doesnt make it easier than guitar.Try riding a unicycle it must be easier than riding a regular bike cuz it only has one wheel instead of two!!:rollno:

From a non-teachers perspective...

In the sense of fretting the strings yes, bass is easier than guitar once you learn to do it (it's harder at first, being a bigger instrument).

Also, with mainly playing single notes on bass against the chord instruments it's often "easier" complimenting them in a jam in some respects. It's also easier to notice bassists mistakes too, a lot of the time. ;)

But in the sense of how complex you want your music to be, or how you choose to express it, or how accurately you cover someone elses song, then no it's not. Learning any instrument from a musical standpoint is as easy or difficult as your ability to absorb and convert the information, and what level you wish to achieve, and the work you put in to achieve it.

And in the sense of place in a band no I do not feel bass is easier than guitar. In that regard I think it's more important to understand and respect the various instrument roles than judge complexity in thier learning...

One example, I still struggle to learn and play the bassline to Layla (Eric Clapton), yet was blown away with the ease of the opening guitar riff after mentioning it must also be difficult! So that must mean bass is harder ;)

QFT

Most people really like the idea of getting up on stage and performing, or playing with a band. But you aren't going to do very well if you don't really love to practice (that is, you and axe all by yourself working out the technique). If you wake up in the morning knowing when and what you are going to practice, and looking forward to it, you'll be just fine.

As Ellington put it, "Music is my Mistress". And you gotta spend the time to keep her happy.

i realy want to learn an instrument i have tried guitar in the past but i have a lack of cordination. is the bass easier?

Depends on your goal. Do you want to be a good bass player who really knows his stuff and can hold it down or play some flashy techniques?

Or do you just want to play some songs and be needed by a band but not really get any kudos for being the star and upfront.

The thing about bass is, as long as you have some internal meter, you can just plunk the root notes and back up the rest of the band. some bands want that, and often if you are in a 2 guitar band with wailing distortion you wouldn't be able to get anything fancy heard anyway. Most people can play at this level, using tabs, well within a month.


The thing I liked about bass when I started was that I could start off on it very basic and not piss anyone off as long as I was playing the right notes and in time with the drummer. But, then as I got more skill I could add some new techniques to my basic playing.

coordination builds quickly if you keep practiceing.

I wouldn't look at it as, "how long to learn, or how hard to learn." Just keep practicing, no point in even starting if you don't enjoy it from the get go. You won't magically one day go yaaa I'm decent now its fun.

Most of the players that I know, that get good and enjoy their instrument, have a mindset like it's video game to beat and master and enjoy the process of mastering it. They aren't thinking of the end result constantly, they enjoy getting down hard pieces and the feeling of making them simple to play.

IMO at a begginers level bass is easier, past being a beginner it's not as easy. I know a lot of guitar players that are good, but when filling in on bass don't play any better than a noob on bass.

I think the best thing you can do is learn some songs at first to make it fun. I made the mistake of first trying to learn scales and theory and I almost put it down because they bored me all to hell.

It's all about desire if you really want to play music you will take the time and effort to do it. As the saying goes.... The Journey is the reward.

I agree 100% with Depthcharge and Ric1312. I disagree with 202dys first paragrah. I'd really like to know what "QFT" means. And sorry to say I agree with Mon. You may have jumped the gun on saying you lack coordination though. May just be a chord playing thing - which ya don't have to do on bass. :)

don't let these people ******** you. they're just digging around trying to convince themselves. full of **** anyway.

yeah, it's easy to learn. and you can get far with very basic theory and all that ****. and guitar and drums are much, much more difficult, especially drums. and because of that it's very fun to play when you're in a band (original, not cover! covers aren't for real musicians).

so yeah it's a good instrument to pick up dude. definitely go for it.

and guitar and drums are much, much more difficult, especially drums.
I can't agree with that. I play guitar and bass well, and the drums to some degree, and I'd put them all at about the same level. You want a hard instrument, try out the brass family or the bowed strings.

Kaj,

I couldn't play guitar either when I 1st started, because I thought I didn't have the muscle memory required to play the chords, nor did it feel comfortable to play/practice.

Well, the truth is this: you must have finger calluses to play either guitar or bass, and it takes time to learn either.
But, really, the things that make the two differen is the THINKING/UNDERSTANDING behind the function of both instruments It's totally different.
It's like the difference between piano and tuba.

So pick one.

Guitar will get you more chicks, but guitar players are a penny a hundred. And most are bad.

Disregard the verbosity above. I've played for thirty-six years. Is bass easier? Duh.

People think my signature (below) is a joke. The joke's on them.

The answer to your question is yes.

It's easy in the sense that you can get a useable sound out of a (fretted) bass guitar immediately and don't need much technical proficiency to play bass parts for most pop and rock tunes.

That said, if you don't have a somewhat decent sense of time, I'd recommend steering clear of bass and drums entirely. As I've discovered, in some people, this sense of time can be trained and developed; in others, it can't.

Easy enough that you should start right away. And hard enough to last you the rest of your life, so you should start right away.

Have fun!
Chas

Like anything else, bass can be learnt as slowly or as quickly as you want to learn it. The more practice you put in, the sooner it will become easier.
It took me quite a few years to finally grasp it all, but on the same note, I was happy plugging away at the tunes I could work out straight away because I didn't want to practice. But, that didn't stop me playing in 'garage' bands. I could barely hold a song together, luckily the drunker people got, the better it sounded. And if I wasn't confident with a song, I'd turn the volume down a bit so the drums would drown me out, to an extent.
But, back to the point, if you are determined to learn, and practice, bass is an instrument that will keep challenging you til you die.
chasfr said it well "Easy enough that you should start right away. And hard enough to last you the rest of your life, so you should start right away."

QFT

I agree 100% with Depthcharge and Ric1312. I disagree with 202dys first paragrah. I'd really like to know what "QFT" means. And sorry to say I agree with Mon. You may have jumped the gun on saying you lack coordination though. May just be a chord playing thing - which ya don't have to do on bass. :)
I had to look QFT up myself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QFT

I'm siding with Quoted For Truth :D

And there's a saying in BJJ - just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy ;)

QFT BBG LOL KMG KJU HGF FFF and IUY!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO

And I agree 100% with peekstar.

The basic of bass is easy, no big drama. Just practice that you can do it. But im talking about the basic...

Why would you want to learn bass, there really isn't anything to learn, because it is so easy you can just pick one up and play anything on it that you want to. Just like the drums, that's just hitting things with sticks, drummers can't be even considered musicians. Guitar on the other hand is probably the most difficult instrument in the world. It has 6 strings, the fingers on one hand aren't even enough to count all the strings on that thing!

I'm easy.

How hard can it be, Kaj... it's "just" music... only 1 string is really "required" if you can't work it out with 2, 4, 5, 6, 19, etc strings... no worries... just play, it's really pretty easy.

Now if you want to make music with it.. that's a whole nuther story... don't look for the "easy" instrument - look for the one you connect with. I played guitar for almost 20 years before I switched to bass and when I switched I knew I was home and haven't looked back.

Good luck~!

Cmon, its only got 4 strings.. How hard can it be?

Cmon, its only got 4 strings.. How hard can it be?

If bass is too hard can always become a drummer. Bam, bam, ba-ba-bam. :rollno:

don't let these people ******** you. they're just digging around trying to convince themselves. full of **** anyway.

yeah, it's easy to learn. and you can get far with very basic theory and all that ****. and guitar and drums are much, much more difficult, especially drums. and because of that it's very fun to play when you're in a band (original, not cover! covers aren't for real musicians).

so yeah it's a good instrument to pick up dude. definitely go for it.

Covers aren't for real musicians.......lol your a twit.

don't let these people ******** you. they're just digging around trying to convince themselves. full of **** anyway.

yeah, it's easy to learn. and you can get far with very basic theory and all that ****. and guitar and drums are much, much more difficult, especially drums. and because of that it's very fun to play when you're in a band (original, not cover! covers aren't for real musicians).

so yeah it's a good instrument to pick up dude. definitely go for it.

Hey, look at that! The site filtered out all his "intelligence" :(
How unfortunate!

You've had several articulate, well thought-out responses to your post and you've had egotistical, basic answers. Just evaluate them and see what you think. The "basics" of bass are quite basic. So is playing a G-C-D progression on guitar. Play what you like and get as good as you can! Either one will end up being all the challenge you'll ever need to master. Besides, where's the sense of accomplishment and pride if you just want something that's "easy"?

i realy want to learn an instrument i have tried guitar in the past but i have a lack of cordination. is the bass easier?

I would assume that your motivationg desire is simply to play in a band and you want to make a decision whichinstrument to learn to get you into a band. May I suggest that you abandon the question of 'which instrument is easiest to learn' and instead figure out 'which instrument suits my personality'.

The bass is an instument that sits in the band in a different area than the guitar and it interacts with the percussion and rhythm instruments differently. It requires a more conservative and deliberate mental attitude to play properly and many guitar players who switch to bass play the bass poorly because they don't posess the right musical philosophy. A good bass player is always selfless and thinking in terms of what's best for the entire band's sonic image and maintaining the groove.

If this philosophy of making music suits you, grasshopper, then go for it:bassist:

Think about it this way.

How hard is it to learn now to sing. Well, it's pretty easy. Just open your mouth and yell. That's different than learning to sing well

The question you want answered is "how hard is it to play bass [insert one of the following] (well | good enough to be in a band | good enough to make a career out of it | etc...)

Here's the real deal. Learning to play bass is similar to learning to sing in that there is a low barrier to entry. It doesn't take long to be able to make sounds and learn some simple songs. At that point (maybe a few months of steady practicing) you are pretty much a bass player and can start playing in amateur rock/punk type bands.

The hard part is when you want to become a good bass player. There is a lot of nuance to playing the bass that isn't evident on the surface.

There is also a different mindset that bass players need to have. Generally we operate under a stricter set of rules than other instrumentalists. These rules make it difficult to be seen as an exceptional player because, for example, we still are (usually) expected to hit the root note on 1, no matter what else we are doing. Whereas a so-so guitarist can learn a few 'tricks' and sound amazing to someone who doesn't know better, a bassist REALLY has to stand out to an uninformed observer to be recognized. You just have to hope you get to play with good musicians who recognize you for your importance and skill and be satisfied with that.

example.

I can play some guitar. I know a bunch of chords and have some 'tricks' (arpegiated chords, trills, etc...) I could play you a song that I just made up on the spot and throw in some fancy sounding 'tricks' and you might think that I'm a decent guitarist (I'm not), but It would have been full of flubs, and crashed strings and missed beats and broken tempo and etc... but you probably wouldn't notice that much in the context of all the sounds I was making.

Then I could play (ok, well maybe not me...) an exceptionally clean walking bass line full of dynamics and feel, with metronomic tempo and just absolute virtuosity, but you might no-hum it because a) it's really just a string of quarter notes, and b) you don't hear it in the context of the rest of the song and c) even if you did hear it in the context of the song, you probably are paying attention to the melody and only subconsciously hearing the rhythm and harmony. But, that's what bass is all about, rhythm and harmony.

So basically what I'm saying is, yeah, bass is easy... you can get away with half-assing it. But in reality, you can get away with half-assing guitar too. The problem is that if you make a mistake as a bassist, everyone is going to notice... do the same on guitar, well then you're 'just improvising'.

Yeh, bass is easy when you start, and then it gets hard enough to have to practice the rest of your life, an instrument, any one, is as hard as you make it

Do yourself a favor and look up Victor Wooten on youtube. He will answer your question.

I did read something pretty accurate- The bass is the easiest to pick up and play, but it is one of the hardest to master.

If you want to learn simple stuff real fast, go buy a book (something like Basses Loaded volume 2) and you will be playing simple rock songs pretty quickly.

Don't be discouraged either. If you can type with two hands, you should have enough coordination to play simple bass lines.

Some songs are as simple as playing 4 different notes. But others are extremely fast and require extreme dexterity.

From a teacher's perspective...

You can learn nearly any instrument that you truely want to learn. You may never be good/great at it...but you could learn it.

If you start with the very basics and go slow, then you should be fine.

don't let these people ******** you. they're just digging around trying to convince themselves. full of **** anyway.

yeah, it's easy to learn. and you can get far with very basic theory and all that ****. and guitar and drums are much, much more difficult, especially drums. and because of that it's very fun to play when you're in a band (original, not cover! covers aren't for real musicians).

so yeah it's a good instrument to pick up dude. definitely go for it.

So classical musicians are not "real" musicians because they play "covers" ?!? :rollno:

here's my experience.. all my life i wanted to play drums... no matter how hard i try, i could never get my feet and hands to move in unison...my second choice was an acoustic guitar, because at the time, EVERYONE at church was playing it, and i just wanted to be "in"... but that phase passed because i couldn't ever find the chords and whatnot... the other night, at practice (i wasn't in the band, just screwing around)... i was sitting at the drums, doing the best drumming i could muster which consisted of the snare and whatever the thing is that has 2 cymbals moving up and down... so one of the band members was like "here try this" and strapped me up to a bass.. i had thought about playing before, but money issues always stopped me... so the lead guitarist/singer was like "put your finger here and pick a few times, here, pick a few more times, and here.....well you know how it goes... anyway, after the practice, they were all pretty much impressed at how well i played.. am i a natural at bass? heck no! am i good even? i don't think so... can i play a bass "just to get by"? sure why not!

anyway, here's my point... drums aren't for me because of the hand/foot coordination, guitar because my fingers couldn't find the frets well enough for a clear chord/note... plus my strumming was inconsistent... well, i may be able to "get by" for now, but i can't wait until i start giving it flair... also, for once, i found the instrument that i'm willing to practice on every day... even though i physically can't because i don't have my own.. but in the time that i'm not practicing, i'm thinking about how i could make it sound nice, or watching videos on youtube, or typing to my heart's consent on TB, trying to gather as much info as i can...

If Kaj isn't phishing, he's certainly done a passable job of phaking it.

Myself, I have little over a year of experience when it comes to the bass. I have absolutely know knowledge of music theory other than being able to cover a staff in first position.

I started on the bass, but dabbled about as much with the guitar (a younger and less ambitious brother's squier-strat). I can say there's about no difference in difficulty, depending on what style of music you're going for.

Bass is the only instrument where you can play root notes with a pick, and be dubbed "teh best". Personally, I find it a compliment when someone says "you're no Pete Wents".

I personally haven't found the bass difficult by any means. But then again, that was when Shavo Odadijian was my idol.

All in all, the instrument is only difficult as the style of music you're trying to learn. If you're doing rock, it's not hard at all. However, you'll find techniques like slap, pop, and double-tapping difficult at first.

Another thing, learn to play with your fingers. Using a pick is cool and easy, but hell, you got fingers. Use the damn things. It's pretty sweet when you can use all the appendages of your hand to play.

I've been playing since 5-6 years ago and I still have a long way to go.

This question is pretty stupid. :rollno:

Bass is easier than guitar, but only if you`re simply looking to play 4/4 rock songs.

Cmon, its only got 4 strings.. How hard can it be?
+1000 I mean ,Come on really.

OK i'm going to put it as simple as possible

Bass is easier to learn than Guitar but harder to get good at.

Maybe "easier" to master is a better term.

OK i'm going to put it as simple as possible

Bass is easier to learn than Guitar but harder to get good at.

One is no harder than the other if you really want to do it right. I've played both off and on all my life. At different times I considered myself a guitar player or a bass player. Which ever one I was the other had to be a distance second, because the mindset for each is totally different. I started back playing again a few years ago and full on bass player now. I still play guitar some, but because my piano playing is almost non-exisitant. So with guitar I can lay down rhythm tracks to practice with and try out chord subsitution ideas that would be harder to hear on bass.

I was at a bass clinic yesterday and one of the comments kind of fits this topic. Norm Stockton was playing this real simple two note bass line. He said if you don't enjoy laying down a simple groove like that, them maybe you should play guitar, sax or something else. Bass is mainly about laying down the groove.

There is a lot of truth in the statement, it is something to think about.

just a matter of opinion.....

if you are just wanna know how to play a few notes, then bass is easier. Cause with guitars, when they say play G, you play the chord. But with bass, when they say play G, you play the note. But I guess the easyness depends on what material you`re playing, and what a certain song requires.

I feel its about equal to guitar. People think holding chords on a guitar is so tuff hold an A or cowboy chords all day but try just some 5ths on the bass...ouch! I think with bass the tuff part is after the muscle memory in the fingers and getting use to the physical end...then.
Ear training , chord structure and knowledge, how to groove , how to rock, how to play in the pocket,Walk, solo all the tuff stuff comes afterwords...one tip get with others and play with them ASAP !# way to learn....good or bad.

The bass is an instument that sits in the band in a different area than the guitar and it interacts with the percussion and rhythm instruments differently. It requires a more conservative and deliberate mental attitude to play properly and many guitar players who switch to bass play the bass poorly because they don't posess the right musical philosophy. A good bass player is always selfless and thinking in terms of what's best for the entire band's sonic image and maintaining the groove.

:

This is so true. Like almost everyone else I first got a guitar when I got curious about playing music at 16. I have no idea now, nor did I likely then, why I chose to get a bass guitar two years later. No regrets thirty years later. I love the role of the bass, I love to play it, and it suits my personality - all described above very nicely.

I would say that you learn music with the instrument. I failed to learn music with drums as a teenager. But now having had some success with bass, I reckon I'd do much better on a drum kit now. Plato says the instrument should "essentially be simple" and I agree with this notion: with a little xylophone I gave to my 5year old niece last xmas she is now playing twinkle twinkle little star on.

yes
it's simple

Well I play bass, guitar, keys and horns....and none of them are any easier to "learn" than the others. Drums can be considered a little bit harder to learn initially, only because you have to synchronize your hands and feet, while with most other instruments you're only synchronizing your two hands. However, the musical expression you can get out of a string instrument is, for the most part, going to be greater than that of the drums simply because you have so many more options in front of you. As has been said already, pick the instrument that speaks to you...I prefer the bowel vibrating power of the bass to the melodic voice of the guitar...but that's just my personal preference...I like being able to groove and not have to worry about coming up with extreme solos to show people how good I am. Don't get me wrong, playing guitar...both rhythm and lead...is extremely fun and rewarding, but I prefer the low end. Learning open chords on a guitar should take about as much time as learning a couple of scales on the bass...so just wank around with all of the instruments that you can and pick the one that you like the most....unless you're just trying to get laid, in which case....grow your hair long and pick up that strat.

Here's another example: harp. A simple diatonic harmonica is not just easy, it's probably THE easiest melodic instrument once you learn the physical part which takes a week at most.

But heck, try playing blues riffs with all those bends cleanly!

And if that isn't enough, there is always a chromatic harmonica. My neighbor is a professional composer with prefect pitch etc and after 5 years of playing that thing he still considers himself a very mediocre player at best.

So yeah, simple punk/rock lines are easy. Try playing jazz on a fretless in tune and in time!

Bass is an acquired taste. If you like its sound then its for you. If you think that guitar is "cooler" or sounds better then you may want to reconsider. However, once you start to learn the bass you will slowly start appreciate the bass and bass players in bands more and more.

As for whether it is easier than guitar, that is an unanswerable question. This is mainly due to the fact that everybody is an individual with different strengths, weaknesses and personality traits. For example, I know a guitarist who is great at guitar but sadly lacks the co-ordination to play the bass (guitarists seem to think its easy to play). On the flipside to this I know an amazing bass player who can do great things with guitar as well.

So the truth is we can't really help you decide, my best advice is to try it out. If you like it you can persevere and if you don't learn the trumpet or something. :)

I had to look QFT up myself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QFT

I'm siding with Quoted For Truth :D

And there's a saying in BJJ - just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy ;)

i think he meant 'quantum field theory' :scowl: