Does anyone think guitar is harder than bass?

[Rich600]

To me, guitar is harder because Im a natural bass player, in my main band I play guitar and sing, but i really struggle when I sit at home to play some guitar, I just cant be assed, then ill pick up my bass and get lost for hours. It's not about which is harder generally, but which I find to be more satisfying and more of a challenge, in which case that would be bass, im constantly learning new styles and techniques and to ME makes bass harder. I think it's more of a personal preference, not some silly generalisation where musicians can fight over who's better.

 

[flatwoundfender]

I think the real reason this got started is because back in the day you could hand the guitar player and upright and he would have trouble. Then the fender bass came out, but guitar players still would have some trouble playing, those guys used big strings and kept higher action. Then people started using light guage strings and low action so the guitar players had no trouble at all. I know when I switch out with my guitar player I don't really have trouble with his guitar, but he has trouble playing my bass.

If you suck at guitar, you still have a good chance at being a decent bass player - if you suck on bass you don't stand a chance as a guitarist.

As for this, if you suck at guitar you probably won't be able to be a decent bass player, because people who suck at guitar generally don't have rhythm.


My first statement is mainly humorous, not too serious, but think about it.

 

[boygaas]

Basses are a lot harder to play than guitars! Like Bryan said, try playing a guitar part on your bass (use a six string tuned an octave lower than the guitar if you like). It's a little harder, isn't it? Basses are pretty obviously harder to play. "But guitars have so many difficult techniques," people always say. Try them on a bass then. Both are constructed in the same way, so you can perform the same techniques on them. In most cases, the bass will be harder to play. So there you go. Who's got the more difficult instrument now?

Which instrument generally has the most difficult part to play is a better question to ask, but it's still just a dumb contest. "Who's the most talented instrumentalist, me, or my guitarist buddy," is the question you're really driving at. The "difficulty" of the instrument always gets caught up in it. To a sane person, being easy to play is a good thing. Forget about proving how great you are by convincing everyone that you're doing something hard. Masochism != greatness. You play the bass because you like it, right? What else matters?

Bass doesnt require to play harder to be able to play bass in basic level guitar is more demanding to be able to play basic stuff,bass can play just the root of the chord and survive a gig,guitar dont

 

[WayneP]

I think guitar is harder because you have to memorize the fingering for all those chords.

Obviously, playing one note at a time is much easier than that. So I'm sure it's not a big deal for most guitar players to switch to bass, as it seems pretty common. But really, bass requires a whole different mind set for approaching a part that a guitar player might not be able to fully get into if he wants to "up his bass game."

For instance, it's easy enough to do basic stuff like going with the root and locking in with the kick drum. Plenty of songs where I do just that.

But knowing when and where to put in subtle embellishments is a different story – ghost notes, grabbing a quick octave note, knowing when an alternative note or pedal-point could be used instead of the root, sliding up to the second octave of the neck for a few notes, then back down.

Sometimes I'll craft a part with notes that briefly chase a section of the melody line. Or a basic root part that briefly chases the rhythm of the melody line. On songs like these I'll often move back and forth between that and following the kick drum with roots.

Sometimes the song feels like it needs a bass line that doesn't follow the kick or melody rhythm at all. For instance, tonight at rehearsal we were working on one I felt needed me doing a busy syncopated thing that was totally separate and apart from the vocal line or drums, and it worked great.

Another song we frequently play, I've worked out a syncopated walking line around jazzy licks / chords the guitarist does, again not considering what the drums are doing at all. He in fact, worked his part around what the two of us do. It sounds great.

Again, these are things you just have to have a "feel" for, and for the right song to do them. I couldn't teach it to anyone in a way that makes sense – either you know when and where it's appropriate, or you don't.

Maybe it's easy for a guitarist to fully "switch brains" into bass; I don't know enough guitarist / bassists to say for sure. But it seems to me like it wouldn't be easy getting beyond basic roots and kick drum.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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[fdeck]

The guitarists I play with can "think" in chords, and all of their fingers go to the right places automatically, including all of those weird jazz chords. It's mesmerizing to watch. Don't know if it makes guitar "harder" but I'm certainly impressed.

The other thing that impresses me to no end is anybody who can sing and play at the same time.

 

[ra0ulduke]

It's not harder, it's different.