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09-25-2005, 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by chaddukes Why couldn't you have learned to play chords on the bass? Or how to play melodically on bass guitar? Why couldn't you learn how to keep a groove on a guitar?
Hey everyones experience is different and if thats how you learn then who am I to knock it. Still, your instrument is simply a tool. Music is music. You can play rhythm on a flute, chords on a bass, and melody on a Tuba.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't learn to play guitar. But I very much doubt that it will improve your bass playing.
Chad | I've played both guitar and bass for years. I pretty much agree with JimmyM: anything you do to improve your overall skills as a musician is likely to help your bass playing, and that includes playing another instrument, such as guitar. Nothing is guaranteed, but I think the chances are good that it will help.
I am absolutely certain that playing guitar has helped my bass playing, and vice versa. Am I saying everybody has to do it? No. Am I saying it's 100% guaranteed? No. I'm saying that IMO it can help, and the odds are very good that it will.
As for other instruments, the cold fact is that not all instruments are equally well suited for all things. Bass is not as amenable to chording as guitar or piano is. (Yes, I know a lot of chords on both instruments, so I'm not just talking through my hat here.) It's harder to play guick complex melodies on the tuba than on the flute. You can't play complex chords on the oboe. And so on. So it is likely (again, not 100% guaranteed) that you can learn somethings more easily and better on a non-bass instrument than you can on a bass, and vice versa.
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09-25-2005, 08:08 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Boston | | | I tried to pickup guitar once and I just decided it really was not for me. But it is a great idea to learn it and be capable of playing it. |
09-25-2005, 08:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: St. Louis, MO, U.S. | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by chaddukes Why couldn't you have learned to play chords on the bass? Or how to play melodically on bass guitar? Why couldn't you learn how to keep a groove on a guitar? | Most certainly I could have. I didn't mean that one must learn to play the guitar to learn the "guitar things" I listed, or that the bass is the only way to get teh groove skillz. But I did get them by playing two different instruments. Is it the only way? No. But is it a way? Yes. I'm taking issue with the belief that learning guitar won't help your bass playing; I'm not saying that you must learn the guitar to play the bass well. I do feel that it's easiest to learn and apply some things on the bass and some on the guitar.
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09-26-2005, 11:36 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: richmond, va | | just wait till i figure out how to sweep-pick on bass (with thumb, not pick) 
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09-26-2005, 11:53 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kent Island, Md. | | | Everything affects everything
I was a percussionist and played for drum and bugle corps and the Marine Corp, from there went on the play in ensembles and orchestras. One day I picked up the bass and found my real instrument. I know have a yamaha flamenco and a set of conga's. All of this effects my bass playing. I read a lesson on line by Anthony Wellington and he had translated the use of a drumming rudiment called a paradiddle to slap technique. My bass instructor noticed that I used my thumb on some passages as if I was playing classical guitar. My drumming and guitar playing keep creeping into my bass playing.
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09-26-2005, 12:34 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Bel Air, MD | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by lemur821 Most certainly I could have. I didn't mean that one must learn to play the guitar to learn the "guitar things" I listed, or that the bass is the only way to get teh groove skillz. But I did get them by playing two different instruments. Is it the only way? No. But is it a way? Yes. I'm taking issue with the belief that learning guitar won't help your bass playing; I'm not saying that you must learn the guitar to play the bass well. I do feel that it's easiest to learn and apply some things on the bass and some on the guitar. | Well, it wouldn't be the first time that I was wrong.
I think part of my problem was that I was looking at playing as being only the technique issues of playing, but of course that isn't the only part of being a bass player. Even separating out the technique issue from the musicianship issue, there are still a number of physical similarities between guitar and bass.
I am certainly not discouraging anyone from experimenting with playing other instruments, and I don't want to tell anyone not to do something that might help them to have increased musicianship. I just know from my own experience that switching from one instrument to the other has really limited my technique. I am a very well rounded musician with some strong musicianship skills, but my technique is not where I think it should be at this point. I attribute that to not sticking with one instrument. I've tackled guitar, bass, piano, and trumpet in the last 8 years and can only play guitar and bass with any degree of competence.
I try to warn people, to be the dissenting voice, that think that they will become better bass players, guitar players, etc. by playing another instrument from doing what I did.
Chad |
09-26-2005, 12:46 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Bel Air, MD | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by chaddukes Why couldn't you have learned to play chords on the bass? Or how to play melodically on bass guitar? Why couldn't you learn how to keep a groove on a guitar? |
Lemur821,
I just realized how snotty that sounded. That was not my intention. Sorry, if any offense was given. |
09-26-2005, 11:01 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: St. Louis, MO, U.S. | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by chaddukes Lemur821,
I just realized how snotty that sounded. That was not my intention. Sorry, if any offense was given. | I was about to say the same thing about my reply. You were fine.  I think I was in a rush when I wrote it (or something) and I came off a bit wrong. But I do think that if you learn both at once it will help you and not hurt you.
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09-26-2005, 11:16 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Yuma, Az | | Learning to play guitar forced me to start using a lighter touch when playing bass--it helped my speed quite a bit, and forced me to learn a bit more theory than I would have otherwise. Other guitarists claim they can still tell I'm a bass player, though, by the fact that I tend to ignore the two highest strings when improvising  . Ah well, I continue to play and practice both. I don't see any downside to learning anything on any instrument ever, personally.
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