From Guitar To Bass

[Twilkes]

Hi folks,

I transferred to bass from guitar last year (via drums, long story) and it finally feels like I'm 'home'. A guitar seems like a toy instrument to me now. 8o)

I've brought some of my guitar techniques across though, and I'm wondering whether they're appropriate for bass.

I play with my thumb, partly through years of downpicking/clawpicking and partly because I prefer that thicker sound - over an inch of horizontal thumb making contact with the string, rather than half an inch of vertical finger. However it does mean that whenever I use a finger for octaves, string skipping etc the sound is much thinner. Is this something I can work on, or do I just have to accept it?

Also, I play a lot of slides and hammer/pull-offs, and am wondering whether this will be shown up in a recording studio - e.g. inconsistent levels between notes. Watching most finger players, they seem to pick every note almost as a matter of pride.

I've got a recording so you can hear what I'm talking about - i.e. I can identify every note that I slurred or played with a finger, not least because half of them weren't sounded properly! I also probably wouldn't play this many notes with a band, but hot damn it's fun to do in the bedroom. 8o)

http://www.lyingdown.co.uk/yougotitmixed.mp3
http://www.lyingdown.co.uk/yougotitnaked.mp3

Any pointers would be greatly received.

Cheers,

Tony

[Floyd Eye]

With practice you can get even volume and tone using all your fingers. You could use a pick. Lots of guys look down on pick playing bassists, but most of those guys are nowhere as good as Paul McCartney or Chris Squire so......

[Minotauros]

I got my first bass last Christmas but I still play guitar. I plan on doing both. Why not? Someone can play sax and keyboard; keyboard and bass; bass and trumpet. All different instruments. Bass and guitar are different instruments too. Right or wrong, the only thing I carried over from guitar to bass is sliding. Sliding is just plain fun.

[EricF]

I made the switch from guitar to bass about 5 years ago and, like you said, I finally felt like I was "home".

One thing I did right from the start was to force myself to play the bass "properly". That meant stepping away from the familiarity of a pick and the fingerpicking styles used for guitar, and learn how to pluck consistant, even, controlled notes with two fingers. Although there are lots of different ways to extract sound from a bass, the "standard" fingerstyle technique is a standard because it works really well.

One of the exercises I used early on was to practice playing 8th-notes (even the same not over and over) as evenly and consistantly as possible - same attack, same volume, same note duration, same timing. This was the start to having control of each note, which is the magic to being able to create a strong groove for the music you're playing. Whether you're playing driving 8th-note rock song, or bouncy funk, or low-down dub, having control of the notes is the critical aspect to doing it competently. Even something as seemingly simple as laying down whole notes becomes a bit more complex when you're trying to drop that note exactly - perfectly - so it sounds as one with the thump of the kick drum.

It wasn't until I became fairly proficient at playing fingerstyle that I went back to the familiar feeling of a pick (a perfectly valid technique, and a useful skill for many music styles).

As for your left hand technique, fretting notes cleanly and accurately is just as important as being in control with your right hand technique. If you can work pull-offs/hammer-ons, and slides into your playing without distrupting the groove of the song, that's perfectly fine, but never sacrifice playing the notes cleanly.

As someone who came from guitar, the biggest thing I was able to bring with me was a knowledge of notes on the fretboard, scales, and chord structures. Technique-wise, the bass is a vastly different animal, and should be approached as such. Keep in mind that (for most situations) the bass is part of the rhythm section - groove is everything.

[guitardefector]

Congrats!! I made the same switch on Xmas 2008 and yes I feel like I've come back home.

First and foremost, it might be shaped like a guitar and have the EADG and all that, but...it's not a guitar: it's a BASS. Same as an accordion is not a piano. I had to get out of guitar mode by the second month because I was treating it like a Les Paul and wasn't improving

Start by thinking like Jaco and not Jimmy Page. Best of luck!!

[Twilkes]

Thanks for the advice, it all makes a lot of sense. I made a concerted effort to play with fingers, and actually made a fair bit of progress in a few days, which I'll stick with, but I keep coming back to thumb and first finger because they do a fairly solid job, and I dont seem to need a lot else for the stuff I play.

I'm also finding that knowledge of scales and chords is really helping, especially that I can bounce a pentatonic line all round the fretboard; with a few bends and open strings here and there it sounds like the bass is made of elastic! I mainly do it over a static chord, so it's more hopping bass than walking bass.

I also thought about the 'bass is easier than guitar' thing, and it's not really like that - it's like saying rugby is easier than football (soccer). With football you can almost run/kick/pass the ball anywhere, but with rugby your choices are pretty much running forward, passing left or right, or kicking. With bass there are some restrictions on what you can do without leaving the song high and dry - e.g. it's usually a good idea to call in on the root every once in a while - but whatever notes you choose you have to be solid else you'll get battered by a 20-stone Kiwi and end up with no teeth and mud on your face.

But at least you're not a drummer.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by Twilkes

I'm also finding that knowledge of scales and chords is really helping, especially that I can bounce a pentatonic line all round the fretboard

That's what I found when I made the transition from guitar to bass. Even now, three years later, my playing can be still quite "busy", I figure that'll be my style, and it's probably not going to change. Maybe that's why I prefer "busier" bassists, like Geddy Lee or John Entwistle. I just have to remember a little saying I came up with - guitar is all about gear, riffs, chords, solos, showmanship,etc, but bass is all about the music, period.

[Minotauros]

Originally Posted by Twilkes

I also thought about the 'bass is easier than guitar' thing, and it's not really like that ... With bass there are some restrictions on what you can do without leaving the song high and dry - e.g. it's usually a good idea to call in on the root every once in a while ...

Yep, bass and guitar are two completely different animals. Hence the ignorance of the comment in my signature by my friend. He may as well have said "You can't even play sitar and you want to play piano?"

Depending on the song, you could stay on the root pretty much all the way through. Look at published sheet music for Night Moves and My Sweet Lord, and that's pretty much what you'll find. It's the rhythm that makes it.