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Bass guitar = classical guitar, right?
- Thread starter Greenman72
- Start date
If you have a high degree of Right Hand thumb independency from your other fingers and like to play chords, you may have a chance at classical guitar.
I've done some of both. They are very different. They are both very fun and engaging.
If you have driven a car, you sorta know the road rules enough to use a motorcycle. But the actual driving skills don't really transfer.
Same deal with this. Similar motor skills. Many guitarists become bassists. But it takes time and practice still
Same deal with this. Similar motor skills. Many guitarists become bassists. But it takes time and practice still
They're only similar in that you pluck with your fingers and they have strings and frets.
For classical, you often have long fingernails or cheat and use finger picks. Most bass players keep their nails short.
On classical guitar, you're often playing melodies, countermelodies, and/or harmonies overlapping. Bass tends to just play one, maybe two notes at a time.
Just look at the sheet music for classical pieces versus the sheet music for popular bass lines and you'll start to understand how different they are.
Somehow compared it to driving a car and flying a helicopter. I think it's more like driving a car and driving an 18 wheel semi-truck; yeah, they're vehicles that drive over the road and a lot of the rules are the same, but the techniques and outcomes are vastly different.
For classical, you often have long fingernails or cheat and use finger picks. Most bass players keep their nails short.
On classical guitar, you're often playing melodies, countermelodies, and/or harmonies overlapping. Bass tends to just play one, maybe two notes at a time.
Just look at the sheet music for classical pieces versus the sheet music for popular bass lines and you'll start to understand how different they are.
Somehow compared it to driving a car and flying a helicopter. I think it's more like driving a car and driving an 18 wheel semi-truck; yeah, they're vehicles that drive over the road and a lot of the rules are the same, but the techniques and outcomes are vastly different.
But if you can drive a cement truck can't you also drive a limo?
The cement truck stands for the bass, in case it's not obvious.
Agree plus I feel like even the fretting hand technique is quite different.
It's totally different non-fretting hand positions/techniques for me....so I don't think the feel (paired with string count and scale difference) will make it an easy learning curve for most people. YMMV, I chose "Kinda False" as my answer
If you know nothing of either you will "play" both dismally. Only in this way are they equal
Other way around.
If you can play classical guitar proficiently, picking up bass guitar will be time consuming, but fine.
If your only instrument has been bass guitar and you’re proficient in it, getting anywhere doing classical guitar is a long hard road. Same with strummy strummy guitar to classical or weedly weedly blooz solos electric guitar to classical- it’s tough.
If you can play classical guitar proficiently, picking up bass guitar will be time consuming, but fine.
If your only instrument has been bass guitar and you’re proficient in it, getting anywhere doing classical guitar is a long hard road. Same with strummy strummy guitar to classical or weedly weedly blooz solos electric guitar to classical- it’s tough.
Just because you can play bass is not necessarily an indicator of one’s potential skills playing Classical Guitar music. It is an indicator that you can understand the movement of the “bass part” which a part of classical music played on the guitar. That said, there is a lot more to it musically and technically you will have to master before you can get much of a run out of it.
However, if you put the time, dedication, and the hard work it takes to be proficient, the world will be a much better place. Best wishes!
Which isn't that common in playing bass but think how magnificent that technique would be on a 12 string bass played with 3 finger picks through a massive stereo rig.
Playing one doesn’t mean you can play the other.
However, you can learn to play both.
However, you can learn to play both.
Let’s be honest about this. Playing guitar well is way harder than playing bass.
