Could this be a paranoia?

[Lunardecay]

Hello guys, Chris here.

Now, Ive been thinking about starting up a new band where Id play guitar, keyboard and sing....
Id find a bassist (I play bass, its just I dont like the hassle of teaching guitarists my guitar parts when I can just play them myself) with another guitarist, a friend of mine who shares an allmost identical music vision.
Now, although I am better at guitar than bass (impossible!) when I sing, I feel naked without it being me plucking away at the low end... I usually end up being the main "composer" in my musical groups, and playing an instrument with a less supportive and more 'foreground' type role, helps in the songwriting... I feel I am stuck in a bind....
I either keep on playing bass, which is limited in its songwriting ability, but makes me feel less naked; or guitar, something I am much better on and write the majority of my songs on.....
Also, I know its usually okay to have Piano in the absence of guitar.....but what about the absence of bass?
I mean, guitar and paino are sorta in the same field, but wouldnt it be wierd without anything supporting the low end?
Eek! Both cases give me a wierd stomache feeling!
Why cant I just do both?

[PalaNIN]

Looks like you need to grow another two hands mister!

You have to sacrifice something, basically. If you feel naked without the bass, then play the bass and teach someone the guitar parts. If you really don't want to teach someone else the guitar, then the other option is replacing the guitar and bass with piano; it can cover both bases if you do it right.

[Lunardecay]

Okay....well, Ill have to see how it all works out...
How the hell did Geddy Lee manage that?

[Mickey Shane]

Try to find a bassist that's twice as good as you are.

You'll lose your urge to have a bass in your hands quickly.

[Koushaku]

Why not try doubling all the instruments in the band that you play?

In my new band, I've moved over from the bass (admittedly my primary instrument) in order to lead the group by playing lead guitar, singing lead, and I've even mounted a small midi controller (a Yamaha MU-5) to my guitar (with velcro) which I run through my laptop with virtural synths.

On top of all this, I have a second guitarist who sings backup, and a dedicated keyboardist, and of course, someone to play bass, who even though she doesn't have a lot of experience yet, with two layers of guitars and two layers of keyboard, she only need play the basics.

The important thing is getting a group in place, over time you can slowly get everybody to play better. And even now, with only a couple months of once a week practices, my drummer wants to invite a guy he met at his college to jam with us who is a guitarist, and supposedly really good...so I have many possible options now.

I could play bass, or keyboard, or just sing.

I don't know if that helps, but it's an idea.

[hartke20g]

have you ever heard of Muse? watch some of their live stuff where matt plays keys and guitar in 1 song (different times of course). it can be done. you could also to a lot of hammer-ons with one hand and they keys with the other.

[Pruitt]

The members of Gentle Giant also regularly traded off instruments. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Best of Luck and Have Fun!!

[tplyons]

Dispatch traded instruments as well. That's what happens when you have a band full of guitar players.

I write on guitar, but I only perform on bass.

[Dkerwood]

I once was sitting down with a veteran touring drummer. I was playing him some of my home recording stuff and asked his opinion. His first comment was, "Get a real drummer."

Now, my first instrument was drums, and I had played the drum track myself, and I pointed that out to him. His reply? "It doesn't matter," he told me. "You're obviously a guitar player. It's not a bad thing. You just think like a guitar player, and that comes through on the drums. You need somebody who thinks like a drummer."

It really helped me to realize that I DO think like a guitarist idiomatically. It comes through on bass, on keys, and even on drums. The revelation has helped me to erase some of that and focus on the instrument in my hands, but I still do notice that a dedicated drummer seems to do far better than I can.

So my advice to you is this - figure out what you are. Are you a bassist? Then play the bass. You'll be better off finding a guitarist who's far better than you are. If you're a guitarist, get yourself a great bassist. In the end, it will certainly be worth it.

[pklima]

I say let things sort themselves out naturally.

Just look for musicians, then see what your options really are. The decision may well become obvious. You'll probably find it a lot easier to find a decent guitarist than to find any bassist so the laws of supply and demand will probably end up putting you on bass or keyboards. Or you may find some multi-instrumentalists and have plenty of options...

[Demon]

Just asking, what does this have to do with paranoia:P?

[Lunardecay]

Well, I think like a guitarist/singer in the fact that the vocal melody allways plays the biggest role in a song that I write.
After that I generally make the guitar part (more often then not I do both at the same time) because in our style of music, the guitar is the second most prominent instrument (true with many bands, in my opinion.) and then I work out the bass, and then sometimes even the drums.
Now, I am technically a pretty good bass player (although I usualy keep things semi-simple to makes singing easier) and a pretty accomplished guitarist...
I have a friend who is just about as good as I am at guitar, and so I figured he would play guitar with me, and when I wouldnt, Id do keys or just lead singing by itself.
We have another bassist, who was in my friends band, who is a few levels better than Sid Vicious, meaning, while he isnt fancy, he gets by on roots. I plan on taking him under my wing, and teaching the whole band (even our drummer) some theory... but really, I do feel like a guitarist...
I mean, I love the sound of bass, the nice warm lows...
And I love the uniqueness of a good bassist/singer, but I dunno. I feel like it allmost holds back the creative process because I hate having to wait for guitarists to learn their parts (taking up to more than a month, for a very simple song) just to be able to show it to the band, and; being the only one who really knows any theory, I feel that Id just have a whole lot more to offer on guitar.

[superjesus]

I think that if showing another musician what to play is such a chore, you should stick to guitar. Otherwise, i'd seriously consider looking for higher caliber of musicians who will be willing and able to play what you show them..