How should a guitarist play bass?

[Rasta420]

Hello all! I am new to this forum, so I apologize if I missed a thread about this topic.

I play drums, so I know almost nothing about bass guitar. I play in a band with two guitarists (one classical and one electric), me, and a vocalist. We are in desperate need of a bass player. While finding a skilled bass player would be ideal, we have had a very hard time locating one.

It is to the degree, that one of the guitarists is thinking about playing bass for the band (as he ownes one).

The problem is, when he plays bass, it sounds just like he is playing low guitar.

Does anyone have any tips for how a guitarists can play bass like a bass instead of playing it like a guitar?

The only real method we try to utilize is to have the bass rhythm follow the bass drum's , and playing complementory harmony with the guitar.

Hope I expalained myself well.

Thanks in advance!

[ogrossman]

I'm mostly self taught so you can take this with a grain of salt. I learned most of what I know by listening to, and trying my best to copy the masters. In my case that would be the likes of John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce, Berry Oakley, etc. Your choice of players to model will probably be different but you get the idea. It's worked pretty well for me.

[GreyBeard]

This is what I would do. Tell him to play the root note of each chord (G7 play G etc. doh). Whatever bass drum pattern you play tell him to play the same thing. Tell him/her start listening to the bass part of songs. Guitar players are bad about not listening to anything but the guitar part. After a while he/she will start to think like a bass player and start thinking bottom and groove instead of well, thinking like a guitar player.

[Matthew Bryson]

Originally Posted by Rasta420

The problem is, when he plays bass, it sounds just like he is playing low guitar.

What exactly do you mean by this? Is he playing all chords and double stops (two note "chords") I've seen guitarists do that. If so, tell him to knock it off. Use his knowledge of chord theory to play only the root of the chord or to play the arpeggio of the chord. Bass players don't strum chords with a pick (much).

[Rasta420]

Originally Posted by ogrossman

I'm mostly self taught so you can take this with a grain of salt. I learned most of what I know by listening to, and trying my best to copy the masters. In my case that would be the likes of John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce, Berry Oakley, etc. Your choice of players to model will probably be different but you get the idea. It's worked pretty well for me.

Thanks for the advice. Hey man! You're from my hometown! I live in Bloomington now, but was born in MPLS! You currently play in a band?

[Rasta420]

Originally Posted by GreyBeard

This is what I would do. Tell him to play the root note of each chord (G7 play G etc. doh). Whatever bass drum pattern you play tell him to play the same thing. Tell him/her start listening to the bass part of songs. Guitar players are bad about not listening to anything but the guitar part. After a while he/she will start to think like a bass player and start thinking bottom and groove instead of well, thinking like a guitar player.

Thanks man! Will do.

[Caca de Kick]

Originally Posted by Rasta420

The problem is, when he plays bass, it sounds just like he is playing low guitar.

The only real method we try to utilize is to have the bass rhythm follow the bass drum's, and playing complementory harmony with the guitar.

Well yes, he should be following the rhythm of the drums...you guys already figured that out. Concentrate on the kick and snare, accent the cymbals. Now he needs to start feeling it. And tell him to stop noodling between notes. Create a foundation and lock into it solid.

[Bass Mule]

Hey, three MN bassists in one forum. Nice.
Anyways, I've been playing bass for a little under 10 years now, and prior to that, I was a guitar player. I even played bass like a guitar player for a while. I'd like to think I'm a lot better now. I officially consider myself a bassist first and foremost, and a multi-instrumentalist second. It took time. Listening to a lot of different music and different bass players definitely opened my ears up. If your guitarist isn't feeling it, and doesn't really want to be a bass player, he'll never develop into a good one. JMHO.

[Peter H. Boer]

Tell him to listen to the bass in songs, so he finds what the instrument is all about.

IMHO It is meant to glue the rhythm to the harmony (drums to guitar/piano if you like).

This can be done with rootnotes, however this does not mean that it should be always be the root note of the guitar.
The bass dictates the tonality of the piece (the guitar can play Cmajor all he likes, as soon as the bass centers around the A, everybody will asume the guitar is playing in Aminor ) So in above example you can play the C, which would be most common, but done correctly an A will do

Also re. the Rhythm you can follow the kick and snare, but you don't have to (listen f.i. to Chris Squire for basslines that follow their own path, while it most definitely is Bass).

Big story simple answer, he has to start thinking like a bassplayer.

Peter

[Rasta420]

Originally Posted by Matthew Bryson

What exactly do you mean by this? Is he playing all chords and double stops (two note "chords") I've seen guitarists do that. If so, tell him to knock it off. Use his knowledge of chord theory to play only the root of the chord or to play the arpeggio of the chord. Bass players don't strum chords with a pick (much).

It's not so much strumming as it is overplaying perhaps. (?) Since we have had trouble finding a bassist, the guitarist has taken it upon himself to write bass parts out for other less experienced guitarist friends of ours in hopes that they will pick up bass.

All of the bass parts he writes are essentially his guitar parts simplified to a degree.

The guitarist is perhaps the most knowledable of our band as far as music theory is concerned, though by no means an expert.

I know it sounds wrong, but I can't think of a solution. In which case, the opinion is useually relagated to the back burner.

[Phalex]

Boy, that's a crap shoot! I've had guitar playing friends that made pretty good bass players, and I've had guitar playing friends that just didn't get it. I'm not sure if you can fix it if he doesn't get it, but just try to get him to groove with a nice easy drum beat.

[BillySid]

He shouldn't...

[prattguy]

Don´t listen to TROLLS

[Rasta420]

Originally Posted by Bass Mule

Hey, three MN bassists in one forum. Nice.
Anyways, I've been playing bass for a little under 10 years now, and prior to that, I was a guitar player. I even played bass like a guitar player for a while. I'd like to think I'm a lot better now. I officially consider myself a bassist first and foremost, and a multi-instrumentalist second. It took time. Listening to a lot of different music and different bass players definitely opened my ears up. If your guitarist isn't feeling it, and doesn't really want to be a bass player, he'll never develop into a good one. JMHO.

Sweet! You playin with anyone now? I'm always lookin to hear more locals.

Anyways, the part about if he isn't feeling it, and doesn't want to be a bass payer, he won't become a good one. I think this part is really true. He loves to play guitar. He loves to be very active with his parts. His desire to play bass is for the sake of the band, and not his passion for bass.

This, I believe, presents some challenges, as his ADD self will not like playing less, and find it boreing. Which will inherantly affect the feel of the music.

[elpelotero]

I played guitar (and still do) for several years before being asked to learn bass for my current band. At first, all I did was pick and play it like a guitar. I would even palm mute the strings and everything.

Evenetually, I began LISTENING to the bass lines in my favorite songs. Most rock radio music today is very simplified and the bassists mostly just do the root notes. While this is an OK way to start, it's not the best way to be considered a bassist.

After 2-3 years on bass, what I do know is wait for the guitar line to be written. Then I come in and fill in the spots with a groove. You want to make the people in the audience bounce to the music. They tap their foot to the drums, but they sway to your groove while keeping their eyes on the singer and guitarist (unfortunately, lol).

As mentioned, it's very important to listen to great bass players to see how they fill in the music. Most importantly, do not be afraid to harmonize the guitar line. A guitarist typically hits a chord for several bars before moving to the next. You have an entire scale within that chord to work with for those few bars.

Almost forgot! One of the best things is to harmonize the VOCAL melody! Let the guitar do it's own thing and you create a melody around the vocals.

All of this is difficult at first and I used to be really annoyed that I couldn't play guitar, but now I really enjoy it. It truly makes you a more well rounded musician. One of my favorite bands to listen to is old Incubus...their style of music really enables for the bass and guitar to do separate things while still being in key.

[luknfur]

For a quick fix borrow/hire a bass player from a decent 3 piece band to sit in (guitar player sit out), record it, copy it.

And keep looking for a bass player. Maybe the guitar player will get the hang maybe he won't or maybe it's all temporary anyway. Playing bass in a 3 piece is not like playing bass in a 4 piece unless the guitar player is exceptional. Your guy is probably trying to fill holes that wouldn't be there in a 4 piece band, trying fill the role of bass and the missing guitar.

Vocalist learning some ryhthm guitar probably would be a thought as well. Not hard to sing and play ryhthm as it is bass and you've got a rhythm player teach him/her. That would simplify the bass part and fill out the sound.

[chaosMK]

Guitarists who think they can "be a bassist" easily crack me up.

[washtub_bass]

guitar players should know chord structure, just tell the guy NOT to riff, stay away from scales as much as he can, and play the notes that make up a chord instead of riffing up and down the neck. I've played with a guitarists on bass that were fun. Some of the most interesting local bass playing i've seen has been from drummers playing bass.

[John Wentzien]

This exact thing happened to someone we all know....
Paul McCartney.......

[ALiP BoB]

I don't know man, bass isn't as easy as guitar.