• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone here a good guitarist?

#2
I VERY rarely pick up a guitar now, but started there years ago before switching to bass "full-time". Funny thing is that even though I hardly play guitar, my bass playing has really develolped my musicianship and I can play better guitar now than ever. I guess I've retained the muscle memory, etc to physically play, now have a bit more knowledge (chord theory, much better ear for progressions and intervals, etc). Occasionally I'll pick up a guitar and jam along or rip out a solo and it surprises people (including me). Can't say if I'm "good", cause that's relative. Compared to Hendrix, SRV, etc I positively stink but I hold my own against other players I jam with.

Funny thing is typically what happens when a guitar player picks up my bass, they have a real tough time knowing where to start. I guess guitar really IS harder than bass... LOL

:hiding:
 
#3
I learned how to play guitar before bass about 6 years ago, so I'm not too bad by now. When you say good enough to shred, it puzzles me because thats entirely a matter of opinion... I think that the best guitarists are those who can move someone, not those who play-so-fast-you-can't-even-tell-what-key-they're-supposed-to-be-in
 
#5
Ive been playing guitar for 15 yrs now, just took up bass 3-4 months back (hardly touched a guitar in that time!) I can play some pretty technical stuff on guitar, ie Vai, Satch, Ynwgie. But dont consider myself that good, 'cos i find some other stuff harder (Robben Ford springs to mind) the less "composed" stuff.
I dont understand what people mean when saying "playing bass like a guitarist" though.
 
#6
You noe what, cause i went to jam with my shredder guitarist just now and he was churning out malmsteen stuff. Then he picked up the bass and played it exactly like a guitar. I know id have a hard time trying to play guitar
 
#7
BrandonBass said:
good enough to shred and stuff...

because one thing i realise is that most guitarist can 'play guitar on bass'. But even the good bass players would be kinda clueless on how to play guitar
Click to expand...
your perception of reality is distorted. jeff
 
#8
Alexander said:
I VERY rarely pick up a guitar now, but started there years ago before switching to bass "full-time". Funny thing is that even though I hardly play guitar, my bass playing has really develolped my musicianship and I can play better guitar now than ever. I guess I've retained the muscle memory, etc to physically play, now have a bit more knowledge (chord theory, much better ear for progressions and intervals, etc). Occasionally I'll pick up a guitar and jam along or rip out a solo and it surprises people (including me). Can't say if I'm "good", cause that's relative. Compared to Hendrix, SRV, etc I positively stink but I hold my own against other players I jam with.

Funny thing is typically what happens when a guitar player picks up my bass, they have a real tough time knowing where to start. I guess guitar really IS harder than bass... LOL

:hiding:
Click to expand...

that's pretty much what I was gonna say. I was a pretty accomplished guitar player before switching to bass, and can still play fairly well, even though I never practice (guitar). And I've gotten comments that playing bass has made me a better guitar player. I think some of that has to do with the fact that playing bass makes me think more about the whole band more than guitar did, not just my part.

But man, those itty-bitty strings are painful!!!
 
#9
FunkSlap89 said:
I learned how to play guitar before bass about 6 years ago, so I'm not too bad by now. When you say good enough to shred, it puzzles me because thats entirely a matter of opinion... I think that the best guitarists are those who can move someone, not those who play-so-fast-you-can't-even-tell-what-key-they're-supposed-to-be-in
Click to expand...
x100000000^10

Give me Neil Young over Yngwie Malmsteen anyday. With one note he can say more that Malmsteen has in his entire career.

I'm a pretty good guitarist. I can kind of shred, or at least fake my way through it. I'm happier playing acoustic though.

Graeme
 
#11
Oh, I can't play a lead like Vai or Eric Johnson, but I think I do okay in the Alex Lifeson/Andy Summers rhythm guitar style. It's mostly those two guys who inspired me to take up guitar in the first place.
 
#15
I started bass lessons 17 years ago and guitar a year after that. I really enjoyed playing bass in a group setting but practicing alone was really, really boring. So I took up guitar because I enjoyed the music when by myself. It turns out I kept both up and I guess it really payed off. After playing bass in a jazz combo in college (and not playing much guitar) I pretty much quit playing bass and went with guitar for 6 years or so (flip-flopper). Then an opportunity came up to gig around with bass and that's been great. I just really enjoy playing bass in public. I can just get into the music in a way that I don't with guitar. But there is no doubt that my abilities on guitar have helped my bass playing. I am and have always been a bassist first but am an equal guitarist. It doesn't hurt to have something else in the repertoire. The thing guitar players get wrong is that most think the guitar is the lead instrument. Clearly it's not, and if it is, it's the wrong kind of music. :smug:
 
#16
By shredding, I suppose you are talking about playing at high speeds. Being able to move between both is not hard. If you are good it isn't hard to be good at the other.

I started by studing classical guitar as a kid and play both bass and guitar now.

Music is universal, and lefthand technique fundamentals apply to both.

On classical guitar/bass playing scales quickly is just a matter of patience and time before you can play 1/16th note scales all over the fingerboard @ high speed fingerstyle with your right hand. I think classical guitar right hand technique is very close to bass technique. (i.e. alternating fingers and rest strokes)

Switching over to pick style and pick-and-fingers is not too hard either. I got up to speed in about a year.

If you are going for Allan Holdworth type legato shredding moving between bass fret spacing and guitar fret spacing is not too bad.

All of this technique talk is meaningless though unless you practice general musicianship (i.e. ear training, theory, etc.)

Generally, you can learn a lot about music by playing other instruments and looking at music with a different perspective.

From a professional standpoint, being able to play both has meant I can get more than just bass gigs or guitar gigs.
 
#17
I play electric guitar on ocassion, and I can do some fast scale-runs and licks, but that's pretty much all. I guess I could be a pretty technical guitar player had I owned one myself, and I will probably buy one in the future, but I have neither time nor money for that right now.
The weirdest thing when playing guitar for me is not having to stretch the fingers of the left hand in order to reach all the 4 frets in low positions :D
 
#18
I don't shred. I suppose I could if I suddenly felt inspired. That style of guitar just doesn't call to me.

Now on the other hand, a reall bluesy, make-the-guitar-moan-and-the-audience-cry style grabs me a lot more, but it;s also a lot harder to pull off.

I have a pretty non-standard style on guitar. I haven't had lessons on guitar except from my Grandpa as a beginner back in the '70's. He was a jazz guy. He had played Western Swing as a youngster with the Lightcrust Doughboys. So he was kind of all about the swing. But he used a bunch of odd chords that didn;t show up in my books. I wish I remembered them now.

I often come up with chords that I don't know the name of...or even if they have a name. I find an interval that sounds good, build a chord around that, and show it to my guitarist while we're working on the final version of the song. It's difficult to do it this way. But I haven't figured out how to play bass and guitar at the same time.

It gets funny when I'll have something that I think of as 'the chord from title of a song', becasue that song was the only one I knew that used it. Then, years later, I'll learn it was a regular chord that just didn't get used a lot. But then I'll also have one that I use a lot, but even my guitarist doesn't know what to call it. And he hates the stretches that I make him do, like on of our songs has for the opening chord, one with (from low E to high e) 5th fret, 7th, 7th, 9th,9th, 9th. Apparently a three string barre with the pinky is not easy for tiny little guitar player hands.
 
#19
Bard2dbone said:
(from low E to high e) 5th fret, 7th, 7th, 9th,9th, 9th. Apparently a three string barre with the pinky is not easy for tiny little guitar player hands.
Click to expand...

E-----9----
B-----9----
G-----9----
D-----7----
A-----7----
E-----5----

AMaj7? Like that?(I think that is how you write it in tabs...)

Why not just play?

E-----9----
B-----9----
G-----9----
D-----7----
A-----0----
E-----(0) or <12>(harmonic) if you really want another E in the chord)

Then he would only have to use two fingers

He could even play

E-----12-----9------
B-----9------9----14
G-----9------9----13
D-----7------7----14
A-----0------7-----0
E-----0------9----12
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back