I want to write songs...Is bass the appropriate insturment for me?

[bassmasta05]

^Yep I cant spell

Ok I've been playing bass for 3 years now, I know some good basic theory.

Ive been trying to get in some bands, but long story short, I live in the country and my high school doesnt have many musicians, so I've resorted to writing my own music as of right now(still trying to find a band)

Ive always wanted to write my own music, and I have... but while searching through youtube, Ive noticed that very, VERY FEW people have wrote songs(sang and played) on bass. I understand that the guitar is the ideal instrument to write and sing songs with, but can this be done with bass or is it unnecessary? Am I better off learning guitars? To give you some background info, Im mainly just writing catchy, pop like tunes.

I guess what I am asking is, SHOULD I be writing songs on the bass, or should I be learning guitar instead? I mean, the bass isnt really used as much harmonically, its used more melodically, while the guitar is generally used more harmonically, thus the guitar is more ideal to use when singing/writing songs. Plus, when I write and sing songs on bass, I tend to play more harmonically (just root notes--laying out the chord progression like a rhythm guitar would do, no walking around)

Ok Im going to stop trying to further explain my situation lol, but is it going to be worth my time to try writing songs on bass(singing too) and look like an idiot(would I look like an idiot?), or start LEARNING GUITAR and create songs like you are supposed to.

Am I better off learning guitar?

--confused about writing music

O yea if anyone can find any good videos of people playing songs they have wrote, and singing, on bass, that be great!!! primarily catchy pop, rock kind of tunes...havent found a single video yet Well Seth Horan's Something Pretty is a great video, but other than that, none!

[RCCollins]

Charles Mingus is one of the best composers ever and his primary instrument was contrabass.

Then again now that I think of it, he composed mostly on piano.

You can write a song as a bass player though -plenty have done it. But depending on how you "arrange" or chart out the song, you mioght have to put up with guitarists "interpreting" your chord changes in unexpected directions. Which could be good or bad...

[BigOldHarry]

Piano. Hate to say it, but Piano.

[Jim Carr]

IMHO, guitar is good for song writing, so is piano. Ask John and Paul?

[Stumbo]

When you get in a band, how are you going to tell the other members what to play if you have only used your bass to compose your songs? Kinda hard to do a C9 or a Cm7 on the bass.

Get a small keyboard w/drum machine and an acoustic guitar to compose with. Then record your stuff on a small multi-track recorder so you can play/sing all the parts.

[Pissinger]

I do most of my writing on bass, it is a great instrument for writing riffs, for chord progression's though I'd use guitar or piano. I know how it is, I live out in the sticks as well and I'm lucky enough to have a guitarist, but a drummer, its's been four years and we're still working on that. Also I am the singer, once you can get singing and playing Good Morning Little School Girl and In-a-gadda-da-vida down then you can play complicated walks and sing too. My advice is that if people tell you your not supposed to write on a certain instrument, you tell them to screw off, its rock and roll you don't have to follow the rules.

[DudeistMonk]

Typically a bass line in pop won't really lay out enough song information (not that it doesn't do a lot for the song). You can lay down notes that correspond to chords but without hearing the chords it will be hard to compose the structure.

If I where you I would write melodies on the bass then harmonize on a keyboard (a lot easier to learn chords on a keyboard), you could even use a USB controller and do this all on your computer if you can't proficiently play the keys. Then move the melody to a different instrument/vocals and write a bass line and drum line.

Its all preference but you will need some way to hear the chords...if you want to sing your songs under a tree to chicks get a guitar, if you want to write and record full tunes in your basement then get a keyboard.

[CapnSev]

Geddy Lee and Willie Dixon both write/wrote on the bass. It can be done very easy.

I always start by getting a general idea in my head, and then figuring it on the bass and building around that.

[bad_andy]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

When you get in a band, how are you going to tell the other members what to play if you have only used your bass to compose your songs? Kinda hard to do a C9 or a Cm7 on the bass.

*sigh* No it's not. One of our brethren already did the heavy lifting: http://www.bryanrtylermusic.com/chor...ingcharts.html

Now, is it worth it to learn another instrument? Absolutely. I just don't accept the idea that you have to in order to write songs.

[EADG mx]

In a word, no.

ymmv

[jollygiantchris]

For the style of music you want to write you should play guitar (or piano) IMHO

[DogPlaysBass]

if you are asking if you will look stupid if you just sing and play bass, that just depends on how you feel. if you own your style, people will like it. if you think you suck, people will probably think so too. so just rock it... maybe someone who sees you play will think you would sound better if they played with you and BAM you are in a band.

also, if you want to write, i would suggest getting some digital software. If you get Reason you can have drums and every synth imaginable plus a lot of surprisingly realistic samples. Especially if you want to do pop, you could program drum parts that would fool most drummers. Then, you just load those tracks onto an mp3 player and play it through the PA. works great. if you have a computer you can bring on stage you can play higher quality sound files.

OR

you could get something like Ableton Live, and bring a computer on stage with you and arrange the songs live every time you play. Explore computers, the possibilities are endless. You think you would look stupid? Look at Kid Beyond. He gets up there by himself with NO INSTRUMENTS and using Ableton Live he records all the sounds of various instruments with just his voice and it kicks ass. I saw him on tour the place was packed and the crowd loved it.

If you don't want to mess with software... you ever listen to Charlie Hunter? he plays some instrument that is like a guitar and a bass combined into one. if you got your hands on something like that you could play the bass lines and chords at the same time.

one last thing. you can definitely do it on bass, but if you get a guitar it is a lot easier. however, i think the fact that you cant find anyone doing what you want to do on the internet is amazing. when was the last time someone said they couldnt find something on the internet? obviously you are onto something here, singing and playing bass could be something very special i say go for it.

[Deacon_Blues]

Why does images of two-hand tapping on 6+ -string basses with bright roundwounds pop up in my mind...?


To the subject - I'd recommend picking up a guitar, and with the help of chord charts and your own theory knowledge, learn as many chord types as possible, and learn different ways of playing them. Piano is good too, but it takes more effort to learn it well enough to do the same thing and play fluently in any key. IMO.

[JNowiski]

piano is the best. but there are some bass players that write stuff. i can't remember his name right off, i think its Nate something, but he plays bass and sings his own songs. and there's a chick on youtube that sings and plays bass (great bass player too) but she usually is doing cover songs.

[FireArm]

Steve Harris wrote almost every Iron Maiden song on the bass so it can be done (granted he doesnt sing at the same time) i think writing songs on the bass requires a little more imagination thats all.

[JimmyM]

I've written songs on bass, but for rock/pop, I find it easier to write on guitar. Piano's cool, but since most songs I write are based around the guitar, I use guitar most of the time. It certainly doesn't hurt your bass playing to be able to play other instruments, though.

[fullrangebass]

I mainly compose on the bass. Compositions range from Latin Blues and Jazz to Prog. Pop and Heavy. First instrument I add are the drums and then it's guitar. I can think up to three instruments in my head, at the very same time (that's my limit really). After that I start laying down the rest of the tracks

[kraigo]

I tend to think a song needs a melody. To me the voice is the natural instrument for melody. It's a lot easier to sing over guitar or piano than it is to bass because of the additional harmonic information that they provide you, the fact that the octave they're typically in is about where your voice probably lands and that typically the rhythm lies easier with guitar/keyboards and voice.

What's really nice is to be able to move around between various instruments. When you reach a sticking point on one instrument, switching to another often unsticks you.

Sting says that live he likes playing bass and singing because he has better control over the band. I think singing and playing bass is very, very cool.

I'd recommend starting with guitar but having as many instruments as you can around.

KO

[bad_andy]

What is your ultimate goal? If it's to write songs, then you have everything you need with just the bass and your voice. If it's to be a well rounded musician, then you should consider the piano as it's considered the typewriter for western harmony. If it's serious composition, then get a computer involved with tools like multi-tracking software, notation software and Band-in-a-Box for getting feedback for chord progressions.

[nickonbass]

I write using bass, guitar and sometimes drums. They all give different results - or put me on different tracks. Bass is great to write on but I would suggest learn some guitar chords as well to put on top of it and like others have said - get a multi-track recorder - they are great.