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From guitar to bass... the right way

J

Jacosfunk81

Dec 23, 2020
34
19
#1
Hi fellas, Im a guitar player who falled in loved with bass few years ago, nothing serious, kinda off on thing but now I really want to get serious on the bass and Im afraid I could do all the mistakes guitarist normally do so lets start by asking you about which books, exercises and songs you think are a must in order to be sure you got the fundamentals solid as a rock?

I just recorded myself noodling around the chicken so you can check my actual level

 
#2
Very nice playing. For funk, I'd just suggest you don't neglect the simple, repetitive stuff. Some of the riffs from Parliament, The Meters, Sly Stone, etc, are fairly easy to get under one's fingers, but offer a master class in feel. Duck Dunn, whose lines can be played by any beginner, still kicks my butt after 30 years of playing, because I have the toughest time relaxing my feel like that. Also study reggae. Those cats understand that where you stop the note is just as important as where you start it.
 
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#4
Same question. Same answer. Identify the chords which ever way you can. YES sheet music if you must. Then play notes of the chord one note at a time, i.e. roots work. Roots and a five work better. Then some songs like all the notes of the chord, i.e. R-3-5-b7.

After that bring in melody notes into your bass line. Takes several years of playing just chord tones to be ready for melody.

Have fun on your journey. Helps to play with humans that play better than you do. Where do you find such humans? You have to look, they do not even know you exist.


Played in two bands for over 25 years. I had to make the first contact asking if they needed, first a rhythm guitarist, and for the second band, did they need a bass guitar. Both did and the rest is history.

So get ready and then go look for people to play with. After listening to your video you just need to start playing with people.

Coming over from guitar remember less is more. The other stuff will come when needed.

 
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#5
Thanks fellas, coming from jazz and classical guitar I know a lot about chords, chord tones, scales, theory... to me the main issues are: plucking, articulation, groove and know more and more songs to get the bass vocabulary/mindset. I already know about 60 songs from reggae, funk, latin, pop, rock... but its true that I need to start focusing on each song more, I know them but not 100% if you know what I mean, lets say I curiously surf around them to see what the bassist is doing, more from the producer hat point of view sometimes.

Any book you think is mandatory? I can read pretty decent, what about those videos like Scott the English mate? are those method worth or is it better to go old school and start learning songs by ear?

I love players like Stu Zender 90s shows with Jamiroquai, Francis Hilton with Incognito and/or Louis Johnson, Im a sucker for that type of old school groove.
 
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#6
Jacosfunk81 said:
Any book you think is mandatory? I can read pretty decent, what about those videos like Scott the English mate? are those method worth or is it better to go old school and start learning songs by ear?
Click to expand...
By ear, good luck with that. My ears are not that good and what have I learned beside the tune? IMO ear is good for the melody or improvising the melody, but, for basic bass harmony it is best to know why you are playing these notes.

Scott's "stuff" is vending machine learning, IMO. See something you like, pull the lever. I much prefer Mark's Talking Bass, as it does follow some order.

Books; Amazon or Google have thousands that say pretty much the same thing. I've got stacks of books, some helped some did not. I need to know more about you before I start recommending books. Help yourself, it's $20 and you are bound to get $20 value from the read A human teacher is the best way to go, IMO... Let the teacher pick out the book and the two of you go through it together

My two cents....
 
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#7
The bass is generally more responsible for communicating the rhythmic style of a song. A well rounded bassist will cultivate a familiarity with many styles of music

If you want a book that has a solid yet broad set of stylistic examples, check out Jon Liebman's Bass Grooves: the Ultimate Collection. Lots of solid examples in the most important styles for electric bass. It's my go to book for quickly brushing up on a style, and makes good reading practice too. Jon has several other books that do a deep dive into specific styles too. Also has his own teaching site. And occasionally pops in here a TB as well.
 
#8
Bass to guitar is easy in the beginning and much much harder as you start getting into the tough stuff.
I started with the bass player from incubus telling me how he played stuff (20 something years ago before they broke) to getting Mel bays slapping book. I filled in the dots with what i knew from guitar and listening to music with a slightly tone deaf ear.
My guitar playing still very much influences my bass playing. Especially around using solo licks for fills. Oddly enough, bass made me look at guitar differently as well, much more lineal instead of across the fretboard. So it's a balancing act. good luck.
 
#9
Learning to play the notes won't be all that hard. I went from cello to bass, similar deal. The bass clef might take some time. Choose a mainstream fingering system and stick with it.

Listen, play, listen, play. The more you play, the more you will hear from the bass in recordings and performances. That will further influence your playing, and so forth.

One of the things that often sets bass apart is versatility. The fact is you can cover virtually the entire gamut of contemporary music with a single electric bass and amp, though it's always fun to have more options. This means you're not tied down to a specific genre, band, or repertoire.

Second, you're expected to take charge if things start to fall apart, for instance if the tempo drifts or it sounds like someone's getting lost, because you're the one who can get away with dropping back to a really basic groove without it being obvious to the audience, or using your body language to "conduct" the band.
 
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#10
Jacosfunk81 said:
Thanks fellas, coming from jazz and classical guitar I know a lot about chords, chord tones, scales, theory... to me the main issues are: plucking, articulation, groove and know more and more songs to get the bass vocabulary/mindset. I already know about 60 songs from reggae, funk, latin, pop, rock... but its true that I need to start focusing on each song more, I know them but not 100% if you know what I mean, lets say I curiously surf around them to see what the bassist is doing, more from the producer hat point of view sometimes.

Any book you think is mandatory? I can read pretty decent, what about those videos like Scott the English mate? are those method worth or is it better to go old school and start learning songs by ear?

I love players like Stu Zender 90s shows with Jamiroquai, Francis Hilton with Incognito and/or Louis Johnson, Im a sucker for that type of old school groove.
Click to expand...
Play lots of Motown, play some James brown, try to find funky bands that didn't survive long too if that makes any sense.

I still practice this every so often, it's a great lesson in feel. Really think about the 1 and try to center your groove on a strong 1. Think about the kick drum, lock in with that
 
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#12
Wise words guys, thanks. Nice album by Smoke too, love this type of music.

Lets talk about must know Bass songs, I know few that I consider mandatory to get some groove and feel:

Bob Marley Jamming, Sheriff, War and Stir it up
Good times
The chicken (specially Maceo Parker version, slower and easier to me)
Beatles - Come together
Santana - Evil Ways and Oye como va
Hendrix - Hey Joe
Pink Floyd - Money
Herbie - Watermelon man, Cantaloupe island and Chamaleon
My girl, Whats going on, Superstition...Motown classics...

Any Afro Cuban or Brazilian Bossa classic.

Books like Jon Liebman's Bass Grooves really help people like me!
 
#13
Jacosfunk81 said:
Wise words guys, thanks. Nice album by Smoke too, love this type of music.

Lets talk about must know Bass songs, I know few that I consider mandatory to get some groove and feel:

Bob Marley Jamming, Sheriff, War and Stir it up
Good times
The chicken (specially Maceo Parker version, slower and easier to me)
Beatles - Come together
Santana - Evil Ways and Oye como va
Hendrix - Hey Joe
Pink Floyd - Money
Herbie - Watermelon man, Cantaloupe island and Chamaleon
My girl, Whats going on, Superstition...Motown classics...

Any Afro Cuban or Brazilian Bossa classic.

Books like Jon Liebman's Bass Grooves really help people like me!
Click to expand...
Sublime - Santeria (or Lincoln Highway, take your pick)
Murrieta - Mamaroneck Station
Dinosaur Jr - Repulsion
Mountain - For Yasgur's Farm (also Theme for an Imaginary Western, they're very similar sounding)
CCR - Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Amanaz - Khala My Friend
Grannie - Leaving
 
#14
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#15
I studied Jazz guitar for many years with a great teacher. He was very focused on reading because it provided the ability to play a wide range of musical styles. Hence I am a decent reader in treble clef, but really have to concentrate with bass clef.

I have never been good at memorizing anything, including the Gettysburg Address in high school. I switched to mostly bass about 35 years ago, but still try to learn new stuff on guitar too. I find that I can hear and duplicate the basslines in songs much easier than I can hear and duplicate the guitar lines. So, while my guitar playing is mostly using sheet music, my bass playing is mostly by ear. When I find a baseline that I can't sort out, I go to the sheet music and learn it that way.

My advice to anyone going from guitar to bass is; remember that you are moving from a lead instrument to a foundation instrument that the others in the band use as an anchor. If you mess up the groove and the timing, the song will turn into noise because the others have lost the anchor. My approach to keeping the groove and timing is to make my playing pretty basic; in other words, don't play a lot of unnecessary notes that either challenge the other instruments for sonic space, or make the whole song sound too busy. My arsenal includes bass, guitar, and mandolin. On guitar and mandolin I am expected to play lots of notes and I do, but I want to hear that groove and foundation from the bass.

Thump on,

One_Dude
 
#16
One thing to do is to think about all the differences between playing guitar and bass and honor them.

For example, playing a standard guitar chord, or even a triad, rarely works well on a bass…but double stops can sound nice, especially if they are higher up OR you're keeping them over an octave apart.

In terms of the chords, you now have more ability to play non chordal tones and make it work…walk ups, walk downs, just playing something that isn't in the chord on weak beats…all these are far better on the bass than guitar.

Ghost notes. Don't over use them, but definitely use them.

Also, when you're playing clean, any associated "noise" in your playing is less annoying on bass than guitar. Naturally you want to clean it up, but it's the polar opposite of acoustic guitar where it stands out like a sore thumb.
 
#17
I'm slightly different from the regular TB posters; therefore, I have some different opinion/s.

I truly support a new term of "BINO", borrowed from a political environment/scene.
BINO - as Bassist In Name Only.
It's a bassists with a deeply rooted guitar player's spirit.
I have some "tests" to figure out about it.
For the very beginner bass players.
If it's boring for you just to play one riff all song long, you are a BINO, according to only my WUTP opinion.
Let's check.



If you pass the test with that "now I got it what it takes to become a true bass player", you can take on a second test.



Good luck on your tests.
 
#18
Jacosfunk81 said:
Hi fellas, Im a guitar player who falled in loved with bass few years ago, nothing serious, kinda off on thing but now I really want to get serious on the bass and Im afraid I could do all the mistakes guitarist normally do so lets start by asking you about which books, exercises and songs you think are a must in order to be sure you got the fundamentals solid as a rock?

I just recorded myself noodling around the chicken so you can check my actual level

Click to expand...


Congrats on the move down under. The best advice I can give you is to record yourself and review. Don't focus on the bad as much as look for the good.
 
#19
Thanks for posting the video. The Chicken has a great bass line. I agree with the earlier responses about reading and emphasis on rhythm. You admit you're just noodling over the recording, but it's worth studying what Jaco plays on that recording, either by reading a transcription or by using "loop and slow down" software. Having good timing and focusing on the 16th note subdivisions will allow you to play rhythmic patterns with confidence. The Groove.

It's a 16 measure pattern, and I would start by studying exactly what Jaco plays in the first 16 measures. Not because you necessarily want to copy Jaco, but because being able to understand and execute the rhythmic patterns gives you more tools. And slow it down until you've nailed it. Then use what you've learned to improvise over the chord changes.

I've never been a guitarist, but I learn primarily by transcribing, even though I rarely play anything note for note. I like borrowing other people's ideas to create my own bass lines.
 
#20
Thanks guys!

Maybe I should focus on easier songs, I love Jaco but I guess is not the best place to start LOL

Im finding this strings really hard to play in compare with other basses I had before so Im going shopping tomorrow, I think Ima try those Roto Funkmaster 30-90 and see if those feel more friendly to me.
 
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