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Can you also play guitar?

#21
I started out on guitar originally, but switched to bass when I realized everybody and their brother was a guitarist. I played bass and vocals for a while until we kicked the lead guitarist out, then I switched to rhythm and vocals while the rhythm player switched to bass. Eventually I regained my sanity and stayed on bass.

That being said, I believe myself to be a pretty good rhythm guitarist and enjoy songwriting on the six string. I wish I was David Gilmour on the lead side of things, but I'll settle for being David Gilmour on the bass.
 
#22
Super_Freak said:
I was working on what some would consider the simplest song around, Smoke on the Water, yesterday.

My wrist is in pain when I reach out for the F note on the E string, which I find strange, since bass guitars are longer still than guitars.
the second phrase in that song is a simple arpeggio of a power chord, but I just can't make the transition from 3rd position to 1st & back again fast enough.
I am too slow to be a lead guitarist, or perhaps even a rhythm guitarist.
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EDIT: Removed due to StewMac typo.
 

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#24
I am self taught on bass, guitar and keys. I am primarily a bass player but play all three well enough to gig and do studio work. Guitar can be a challenge because unlike bass where you are used to stretching between frets, many guitar chords require you to keep your fingers closer together. Muting can be a problem. I find that I can play my Les Paul more easily than a Strat because the Les Paul neck is fatter and a little wider. I find it even easier to play my Martin 12 string acoustic because the neck is wider than a 6 string.
 
#30
I play guitar like a bass player - lots of rhythm and power chords. My sad attempts at playing lead let me know that I need to stick to bass. I basically just do it for demos, where I can punch in those crazy chords I can't play smoothly.
 
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#31
Bass_Poet said:
I have tried learning to play guitar and I can't seem to get my short fat fingers angled enough to not mute strings. I have watched every video and tried every method. But! I can pick up a bass and play just fine. It was mostly the reason I went with bass. It is the physically most comfortable of guitar and piano. I was wondering what you guys thought, are you just bassist or also multi talented?
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That's exactly the problem I have. Basic power chords are fine, but with any "real" chords, I feel super clumsy and that I'm dragging my hands all over the wrong places. The bigger strings and bigger spacing on a bass let me move around more easily, but my stumpy hands have trouble with some techniques.
I haven't put anywhere near enough serious effort into learning the guitar to judge what I can do. Like any rock and roll fan, I love the sound of a gnarly, distorted guitar, but I don't know if I have the proper mind set to do something like solos. Beyond the physicality of it, I don't get how someone remembers all those notes.
 
#33
Misfit Wookiee said:
I started out on guitar originally, but switched to bass when I realized everybody and their brother was a guitarist. I played bass and vocals for a while until we kicked the lead guitarist out, then I switched to rhythm and vocals while the rhythm player switched to bass. Eventually I regained my sanity and stayed on bass.

That being said, I believe myself to be a pretty good rhythm guitarist and enjoy songwriting on the six string. I wish I was David Gilmour on the lead side of things, but I'll settle for being David Gilmour on the bass.
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Real bass players, not third guitarists or roadies that half @$$ it, are in higher demand than guitarists. That has always worked to my advantage as a guy that is mostly focused on bass. But in the quiet darkness of an empty room I might admit that it pisses me off how much easier it is to be a guitarist. They have 2 to 3 times the equipment in music shops, its easy for the audience to hear you and you aren't trying to find way to poke out past the other instruments, and the fact that people actually pay attention to the guitarists, while the bass player is often the guy that isn't the singer, guitarist, or drummer. In the hierarchy of bands we are only above keyboardists and roadies.
 
#36
I started playing guitar shortly after I started playing bass, because I found it more gratifying and musical to play solo guitar than bass and loved playing it at parties, the campfire, etc. However, I've never approached guitar with the same intensity I did bass and have always considered myself a bassist first and guitarist second. I play a good rhythm and have been complemented by guitar players for that, but I've never bothered to learn any lead licks.
 
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#37
I play acoustic and electric guitars, acoustic and electric mandolins, fretted, fretless and upright basses professionally in a 1/2 dozen different bands.

Started guitar at 11. Bass at 15. Mandolin at 20. Double Bass at 40. Fretless Bass at 45. I'm 51.

I have made the most money playing mandolin.
I have had the most fun - (but with the least actual gigging time) playing electric bass alongside a good drummer in a rock band.
As a bass player I am most actively a bluegrasser who plays a '54 Kay upright.
 

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