Do you agree with this statement.

kuuri · #1 07-09-2011, 05:18 AM

Bass is easier to learn then guitar, but bass is harder to master.

agree disagree? im looking to make a quote to tell all my guitar friends cause they are preaching bass is too easy to learn.

Explaination: Guitars you have to learn serveral notes like g or what ever cordes is it? ( obviously im not a guitarist xD ) As well as playing fast, hammer ons and pull offs and a whole bunch ov crazy stuff. But after that then what? Nothing else to learn or master. With bass you have to keep a groove. and the groove is what I think seperates the Bassists and the good bassists. What are your thoughts?

~Kuuri

AltGrendel · #2 07-09-2011, 05:22 AM

No, bass is just as hard as any instrument to learn, especially trumpet.

kuuri · #3 07-09-2011, 05:49 AM

That seems simple enought might if I say them to them?

AltGrendel · #4 07-09-2011, 05:53 AM

Not at all.

...and if they say "Why trumpet" simply say "Just try it sometime".

PrietoBass · #5 07-09-2011, 05:55 AM

Basketball is easy to learn... just shoot the ball to the hoop. Does that make you a basketball player?

Golf is easy as well. Hit the tiny ball with a club and make it fall into a cup. Does that make you a golf player?

All the non-bassist guitar players I have ever heard saying "bass is easy", whenever I saw/heard them playing around with a bass, they all sucked. Big time. The sound just wasn't there. They had no concept of groove. All they could do was pluck the root, and do it wrong.

The similarities between bass and guitar end with the fact that they both have strings. Bass is an entirely different instrument, and requires a different approach.

"Ah, but you only pluck one note at a time"... We all have heard that one too. You can play chords on the bass (if you know how) and do countless other techniques (not that I know how to do them myself).

"The guitar has 6 strings, while the bass has only 4." I have a 5er, will get a 6er at some point, and there are basses with more than 6 strings.

Mastery? That's another debate... You could learn to just strum chords on a guitar, and learn that fairly quickly. "Ah no, but guitar playing is more than that!" Well, there's more to bass playing than just plucking the root. Heck, there's more to bass playing than just fingerstyle... we've all read the long debate threads on slapping and why some people hate it, etc, etc. Tapping. Double-thumping. You get the idea. All the pros and better players on this forum can provide much better feedback than I can.

To me it's all a moot point. Next time your guitar friends comes up with that argument just hand them your bass, sit back and relax, and enjoy the fireworks...

Febs · #6 07-09-2011, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuuri

Explaination: Guitars you have to learn serveral notes like g or what ever cordes is it? ( obviously im not a guitarist xD ) As well as playing fast, hammer ons and pull offs and a whole bunch ov crazy stuff. But after that then what? Nothing else to learn or master.

Do you really believe that?

dakpluto · #7 07-09-2011, 06:11 AM

ok, without a doubt some instruments are easier than others to learn the "basics" Bassoon = hard, tin whistle = easy. But any instrument, regardless of complexity, is very hard to be good at, or reach a level that people would call "mastery" And that's because music itself is hard to play good and to master. There is a reason it's called talent and that some people can do it and some can't.

Are the "basics" of bass easy? I'd say yes. I'd argue the basics of any fretted instrument are easy. But like all instruments, getting past the basics will never end. There is always more you can improve and master.

dancehallclasher · #8 07-09-2011, 06:20 AM

No. Guitar is just as hard if not harder. Look, if your friends are saying dumb stuff about bass, the best thing you can do is become the best bassist you can, and let them try to do the stuff you're doing. Prove them wrong.

progrmr · #9 07-09-2011, 06:22 AM

IMO, Bass is easy to play but difficult to master. I like to compare it guitar since they are both stringed instruments.

Bass is easier to play than a guitar for example because sometimes just forming chords on the guitar is a PITA lol! Yes bass players CAN play chords but it's not typical for 95% of bassists out there.

Bass though - not only do you have to know a bit more than a guitarist to get by (IE a guitarist can play a chord shape and have no idea of the notes involved - a bass player must know the notes in a chord to outline it during a bass line) but the bass player must also bring "the groove" to the table.

A bass player needs to know quite a bit of theory that most guitarist can get by without and get the booties shakin' with a catchy rhythm applied to the harmony he/she is providing.

Very difficult to play bass well. If you want to move beyond just playing the songs of other people it becomes more difficult. I guess most instruments are like that. I find the search for the "groove" to be fun (sometimes

) and challenging. And if/when a bassist finds themselves "in the groove" - well, that's something that no guitar experience has ever provided me.

Basshoofd · #10 07-09-2011, 06:32 AM

Bass is difficult to master. Guitar is difficult to master. It's not about the instrument, it's about how good you are as a musician.

SantiagoGT15 · #11 07-09-2011, 07:18 AM

Ok first things first, bass is bass guitar is guitar (pretty obvious right?) guitar you learn to do all this stuff that can't be done in most songs IE divebombs, crazy whammy, slides bends, artificial harmonics etc etc ..., stuff you end up just knowing and maybe using once or twice in your playing career, but BASS is actually interesting that you can do almost whatever you want and it will still sound good, you can slap on a slow song, go fretless ftw! Play chords, root-5th, and I can go all day listing the techniques and styles you can play on bass....

If your bandmate tells you anything about bass being easy ask him to stop playing powerchords and do the real deal!

kuuri · #12 07-09-2011, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs

Do you really believe that?

I dont really care about the guitar past I like its sound, so I just pointed out the obvious stuff

staindbass · #13 07-09-2011, 07:47 AM

any one can hold a string on a fret, and hit a note. thats how any bassist can play guitar, its easy. its harder to play a bass with out string noises and unwanted sounds than a guitar. notice a guitarist playing a bass does not sound as good as a real bassist. ask your guitarist to play a solo with no distortion (like we play with no distortion) notice all the slop,notes being uneven in volume, noises, unclear notes ? guitarists hide the sloppiness with distortion. we cant. thats why they pretend to claim be superior. another question- why do guitarists take so LONG in the studio ? they play messy and have to do a take 25 times lol.

MikeBC · #14 07-09-2011, 08:26 AM

Well, this what I say ...

YouTube - ‪Jethro Tull -Nothing Is Easy‬&rlm;

Problemchild · #15 07-09-2011, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuuri

Bass is easier to learn then guitar, but bass is harder to master.

agree disagree? im looking to make a quote to tell all my guitar friends cause they are preaching bass is too easy to learn.

Explaination: Guitars you have to learn serveral notes like g or what ever cordes is it? ( obviously im not a guitarist xD ) As well as playing fast, hammer ons and pull offs and a whole bunch ov crazy stuff. But after that then what? Nothing else to learn or master. With bass you have to keep a groove. and the groove is what I think seperates the Bassists and the good bassists. What are your thoughts?

~Kuuri

It is all the same, it is the composition that is easy or hard !

PC

MadMark5 · #16 07-09-2011, 08:34 AM

You cant teach groove, the things a bass player is responsible for in a band setting, a guitarist can fake his way through, while if a bass player cant lock in with a drummer and/or keep the time well, we stick out.

kreider204 · #17 07-09-2011, 08:37 AM

There are no easy instruments - there are only easy songs.

Bass seems easier to some people because the bass parts on many songs are easier than the guitar parts on many songs, especially in music that gets played on the radio. But "Flight of the Bumblebees" is damn hard on any instrument.

Any instrument is just as easy or hard as you want it to be.

Papa Dangerous · #18 07-09-2011, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrietoBass

Golf is easy as well. Hit the tiny ball with a club and make it fall into a cup. Does that make you a golf player?

To me it's all a moot point. Next time your guitar friends comes up with that argument just hand them your bass, sit back and relax, and enjoy the fireworks...

That ball is pretty damn tiny.. I do not how many times I have to stroke before I hit it..... hmmm.. Did I just really?..

That is the best point I have read in this thread. Just hand them the bass and see what they can do with it. If they play the guitar line to Smoke on the Water.. laugh and take your bass back. If they insist on still ridiculing.. two things can be added.. first just show them a performance of a great bassist.. wooten, flea, bootsy, graham, etc. Then if they continue, just insult their knowledge of music, and how important the bass truly is, in any given situation. The guitarist can play every single A C E note on the fretboard at once using 3 1/2 of his hands, but all you gotta do is play a single F note to change the A minor into a F7 (compositionally speaking) He can then suck on a bag of eggs

bolophonic · #19 07-09-2011, 08:53 AM

Don't get involved in one-upmanship contests with band mates. Just be a great bass player and ignore what the guitarists say. Bass guitar is a unique instrument. Bass players should rise above such comparisons.

cnltb · #20 07-09-2011, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuuri

Bass is easier to learn then guitar, but bass is harder to master.

agree disagree? im looking to make a quote to tell all my guitar friends cause they are preaching bass is too easy to learn.

Explaination: Guitars you have to learn serveral notes like g or what ever cordes is it? ( obviously im not a guitarist xD ) As well as playing fast, hammer ons and pull offs and a whole bunch ov crazy stuff. But after that then what? Nothing else to learn or master. With bass you have to keep a groove. and the groove is what I think seperates the Bassists and the good bassists. What are your thoughts?

~Kuuri

That's a funny statement...
Thanks very much!