New guy with some questions....

schaaf · #1 06-04-2005, 09:05 PM

Hey everyone... I recently decided to get back into doing creative things, and at one point wanted to play either the bass or an acoustic guitar... I bought an acoustic guitar and am having a real hard time making chords because i have shorter fingers. My question for everyone is: Do you use chords when playing the bass guitar, and if so how far would you have to stretch your fingers out? I have a hard time with the, i think, C chord the one where your first finger is on the first string first fret and the second is on the third string second fret and third is on the sixth string third fret.....(just as an example..) I have spent most of my down time with the guitar playing DMB bass tabs.... seems more fun
anyway
thanks everyone
ryan

Jazzin' · #2 06-04-2005, 10:07 PM

When playing chords on bass, one usualy does them above the first octave, so notes/frets aren't far apart. The chords are also alot easier to hear when they are an octave higher. Personally, I would never play a chord lower than maybe the 10th fret.

schaaf · #3 06-04-2005, 10:32 PM

poutine.... frenchfries with cheese curds and gravy right? I have a canadian friend... kraft dinner and catsup on everything...

So are there formed chords like A C D and all that or is it just notes...?
sorry im just new to the whole music thing.

thanks
ryan

kilgoja · #4 06-04-2005, 10:47 PM

that's the beauty of the bass....you can play one note to go along with your guitar players difficult chord...i've only played one part of one song in 10 years that had a chord on the bass....wasn't even that good of a song either...there's like one song flea plays chords on ...i think it's on the californication album...it's good...i think he just does it a little if i remember correctly

Tash · #5 06-05-2005, 05:43 AM

Lots of people play chords on bass. Even if you don't play chords its certainly very useful to know how to construct them, because as a bassist your job is to support the chords being played by the other instruments. You can't do that if you have no clue what notes make up a certain chord.

Try reading the various theory stickies on this forum, they will give you some good info to start with.

PS: A C and D is either a D dominant or Dm7 in second inversion (5th on the bottom) without the 3rd (which would be F or F#).

burntgorilla · #6 06-05-2005, 06:21 AM

It's more common to play chords arpeggiated, though, which means playing each note in the chord separately (is that spelt right, separate always looks odd to me), which means that you don't really have to do so much streching.

kilgoja - Don't Forget Me?

Joe Nerve · #7 06-05-2005, 07:10 AM

More importantly than the fact that you don't have to play chords on bass is the fact that the size of your fingers will NOT limit what you can do on a guitar OR bass. Drill that into your head because it's true, and the only thing that's going to limit you is the IDEA that it can or will limit you. I know guys with stubs for fingers that would frighten you with what they could do with a guitar. When you just stat playing it's difficult, even impossible, to do certain things - like play the C chord you mentioned. It doesn't mean you can't - it means your hand is just not in the condition yet to do that kind of stuff. Trust me on this one. My hands are pretty small and thankfully nobody ever told me any bull about it limiting me - so it never did. I played guitar for 10 yrs. before bass.