Bass guitar to stand up bass

[riprorin]

How hard is it to make the transition? My sons teacher wants him to learn to play stand up and he's resisting.

[PhiDeck]

Does your son play fretted or fretless BG?

[riprorin]

He plays fretted.

He's 14 and plays in the pep, jazz and pit bands at school and the worship band at church. He's new to bass but started playing guitar at 8.

[Andrew McGregor]

Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth doing? Absolutely.

The only real things the two instruments have in common is the tuning and the 'bass' in the name. Upright is a much more physical instrument, and therefore more rewarding in some ways.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

It's difficult. I switched to upright last spring after 20 years of serious electric bass playing, and I struggle. Why does the band teacher want him to switch, and will the school be providing the instrument? Decent basses are not cheap, and can be expensive to maintain.

[OmnitzGarima]

Originally Posted by Andrew McGregor

Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth doing? Absolutely.

Yep.

[solutionbassist]

It's harder if you have really light gauge strings on your bass guitar and then you switch to a really crappy upright. If you decide to rent one, make sure the bridge is the right size or it will kill your hands.

[MrLenny1]

Physically much harder. Intonation will be the biggest obstacle.

[riprorin]

Originally Posted by KUNGfuSHERIFF

It's difficult. I switched to upright last spring after 20 years of serious electric bass playing, and I struggle. Why does the band teacher want him to switch, and will the school be providing the instrument? Decent basses are not cheap, and can be expensive to maintain.

The school will provide the bass. I haven't spoken with the band teacher at his school so I'm not sure why she wants him to learn stand up. I assume it's because he has some musical ability and she wants to challenge him.

[Slackerprince]

Originally Posted by riprorin

The school will provide the bass. I haven't spoken with the band teacher at his school so I'm not sure why she wants him to learn stand up. I assume it's because he has some musical ability and she wants to challenge him.

Almost sounds like it's for the teacher's gratification.
Sounds like your son is happy doing what he's doing.
Also sounds like a good way to spread-out (dilute) his
practice time, therefore, diminishing what he's doing now.
Just my opinion.

S

[RandyMolson]

Double bass is more physically demanding, and it is less convenient in the obvious ways. Like a work out routine, you have to practice regularly to build up the finger strength. To me, a double bass is a more satisfying instrument to play (as long as I have been keeping up with it). Just the sheer acoustic power of the double bass is thrilling.

[RandyMolson]

Originally Posted by Slackerprince

Almost sounds like it's for the teacher's gratification.
Sounds like your son is happy doing what he's doing.
Also sounds like a good way to spread-out (dilute) his
practice time, therefore, diminishing what he's doing now.
Just my opinion.

S

+1

If your son never tried one, he should at least experience it because he might find it cool. But if he has tried it and is meh, then I would drop it.

[trayner1]

My transition from BG to upright was a very grueling hour-long session, by myself. No experience whatsoever, it was pretty easy to figure out. Except my fingers actually bled once I was done. The hard part is intonation, and even if it's a 3/4 size, your son might still have trouble if he has small hands. But it is very rewarding.

[jmattbassplaya]

It's much harder, but it's definitely worth learning. I personally prefer playing double bass over bass guitar, but unfortunately I don't own one

[Sartori]

It's an awesome instrument, but very difficult. Especially depending on one's left hand technique. However, learning upright did improve my electric playing as well.

[fryBASS]

Originally Posted by riprorin

The school will provide the bass. I haven't spoken with the band teacher at his school so I'm not sure why she wants him to learn stand up. I assume it's because he has some musical ability and she wants to challenge him.

It could be that she wants him to play in the orchestra. You can't play bass guitar in the orchestra.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by riprorin

How hard is it to make the transition? My sons teacher wants him to learn to play stand up and he's resisting.

It's extremely hard to make the transition. It's not something you take lightly or do because someone wants you to do it. Your son has to really want it in order to stay motivated to improve and get the finger strength for it. If he's resisting, then the teacher is probably a moron for pressing him into learning a completely new and different instrument.

edit: oh it's a school band teacher? Then he's not an idiot, he just needs to fill out orchestra sections. If that's the case, maybe your son should try and step up to the plate.

[riprorin]

The kid is really talented but he has no passion for music. The only things he's particularly interested in these days is PC video games.

[riprorin]

Originally Posted by Snarf

It's extremely hard to make the transition. It's not something you take lightly or do because someone wants you to do it. Your son has to really want it in order to stay motivated to improve and get the finger strength for it. If he's resisting, then the teacher is probably a moron for pressing him into learning a completely new and different instrument.

edit: oh it's a school band teacher? Then he's not an idiot, he just needs to fill out orchestra sections. If that's the case, maybe your son should try and step up to the plate.

There's only 180 kids in the HS and there's only one other kid that plays bass and he's not very good. For a small school, the band is actually pretty decent.

[emblymouse]

Good comments here, but none of it matters if the desire does not come from him. If he wants it it will come much easier.