I guess they figure how hard can it be? I mean it's only four strings. Or five. Or six. Or eight. Or ten. Or twelve. Or eighteen...
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Guitarists playing bass?
- Thread starter RAM
- Start date
"They", who?
Bass and guitar are different instruments with different sounds and different roles, and any musician with half a brain, even a guitarist, can easily figure this out. Granted, a guitarist who picks up a bass for the first time will probably sound like a guitarist playing a bass (I certainly did), but if he/she puts some time and effort into developing bass chops, then the feel, the touch, and the subtleties will come along.
A niece of mine told me that she wanted to learn the bass because "it's easy; it's, like, the same thing over and over". I laughed and gave her some Phil Lesh and Jack Casady to listen to.
well the technique is differnt. u know how guitarists curve their arms and almost kinda rest their wrist near the bridge and strum. Its different on bass, and eeach time my guitard picks up bass, hes using that echnique and is constantly driving the string intto the pickup.
Most of these posts seem to support my beliefs that, while a guitarist can possibly be a great bass player, there's a difference between a guitarist who plays bass and a bass player.
Guitarists who pick up the bass may have an advantage to someone who's never played an instrument before because of knowledge of the fretboard. However that doesn't mean they can play bass well, just because of this knowledge. The flipside may also be true, that a bassist who plays guitar for the first time may have a natural advantage over someone who's never picked up an instrument before. Heck - I'm more knowledgeable about how to construct a chord on guitar than my last guitarist (the rhythm guitarist - not the lead guitarist) - he's been playing for years, but doesn't know how to hold his hands to form a bar chord! Even our lead guitarist couldn't play a 2-octave major scale, which I can do on guitar. (I'm no longer in that band, btw). But knowledge of fretboard doesn't mean I have the technique of a guitarist down the way they do...
Technique and understanding of how the bass interacts with other instruments in a song are obviously key differences. It seems as though most who've posted would agree with me that in the absence of these key points, a guitarist playing bass doesn't make a great bass player.
My bass instructor (26 years ago) was a guitarist who'd tried out for Foghat on bass. Out of 300 or so auditioning, he apparently came in second. He was great at bass, despite guitar being his first instrument. Obviously he knew how to be a great bass player. He obviously understood the intricacies of each instrument.
Guitarists who pick up the bass may have an advantage to someone who's never played an instrument before because of knowledge of the fretboard. However that doesn't mean they can play bass well, just because of this knowledge. The flipside may also be true, that a bassist who plays guitar for the first time may have a natural advantage over someone who's never picked up an instrument before. Heck - I'm more knowledgeable about how to construct a chord on guitar than my last guitarist (the rhythm guitarist - not the lead guitarist) - he's been playing for years, but doesn't know how to hold his hands to form a bar chord! Even our lead guitarist couldn't play a 2-octave major scale, which I can do on guitar. (I'm no longer in that band, btw). But knowledge of fretboard doesn't mean I have the technique of a guitarist down the way they do...
Technique and understanding of how the bass interacts with other instruments in a song are obviously key differences. It seems as though most who've posted would agree with me that in the absence of these key points, a guitarist playing bass doesn't make a great bass player.
My bass instructor (26 years ago) was a guitarist who'd tried out for Foghat on bass. Out of 300 or so auditioning, he apparently came in second. He was great at bass, despite guitar being his first instrument. Obviously he knew how to be a great bass player. He obviously understood the intricacies of each instrument.
Well, that is actually really interesting. My teacher who I learned from played only guitar. He is what you explain, but he is both of them. He really likes to sing instead of play guitar, but if the band he wants to be in already has a singer then he will go to guitarist. He is just that good.
Learning bass from him was interesting because everything he did was on a guitar to show me, but whenever he would pick up my bass and noodle around on it, he could take chords from his guitar that he recorded, and play the bass - well over them. It was amazing.
EDIT: he also had the technique to play bass, hence how I'm able to play bass. He could pick up my bass and play it like a guitar, with the wrong technique with a pick, and say this is wrong. Play like this - and change it so it was right, and then said "But most of the time you won't need this" while throwing the pick at the ground and says "You will play with your fingers. Rest your thumb on the pickup like this and go like this" His technique was good. Not perfect because he wasn't able to move up the strings so well quickly, but it was good enough to teach me.
I am surprised you were the only one to give me crap about that, it's a highly debatable observation.
It's merely my personal experience from transitioning from guitar to bass. Typically, you *are* involved in faster fingers on the guitar, that part I definitely stand by. However, you throw in the fact that you're playing with your fingers usually (as opposed to a pick) and it does require more strength to get notes on bass (I stand by this comment too, I am pretty certain that's probably a scientific fact)- the need for speed and dexterity issue does increase on the bass pretty damn quick. More resistance from thicker strings just means more effort and that makes the bass a heck of a lot harder in a hurry.
Like I said, off the top of my head, that was just the one thing I noticed. Hand and finger positions on the fretting hand were a breeze when I started playing bass. But doing it all with good tone, sufficient finger pressure to eliminate fret buzz, and then throwing in a plucking right hand- well, that made it a different story, even at moderate tempos.
It's definitely an issue, as scale length and string thickness have inherent differences between bass and guitar. It's not really a debatable issue, except for those who don't get it. Lower action will undoubtedly make a bass easier to fret, but it will never, and I mean NEVER be as easy to fret a bass than it is a guitar, unless the strings on the guitar are more than 1/2" off the fricken' neck!I am surprised you were the only one to give me crap about that, it's a highly debatable observation.
It's merely my personal experience from transitioning from guitar to bass. Typically, you *are* involved in faster fingers on the guitar, that part I definitely stand by. However, you throw in the fact that you're playing with your fingers usually (as opposed to a pick) and it does require more strength to get notes on bass (I stand by this comment too, I am pretty certain that's probably a scientific fact)- the need for speed and dexterity issue does increase on the bass pretty damn quick. More resistance from thicker strings just means more effort and that makes the bass a heck of a lot harder in a hurry.
Like I said, off the top of my head, that was just the one thing I noticed. Hand and finger positions on the fretting hand were a breeze when I started playing bass. But doing it all with good tone, sufficient finger pressure to eliminate fret buzz, and then throwing in a plucking right hand- well, that made it a different story, even at moderate tempos.
guitar and bass is the exact same except for 2 strings and string pitches most of the things you do on one aplly to the other and i am learning from a VERY good guitarist, the best in town actually and its a FACT and its a blast, he is a good teacher, he focuses on good technique and he luvs it
+1
In my view, playing any instrument gives a person a head start on playing practically any other instrument. One still has to master the new instrument, but they are not starting over from scratch.
Played guitar for 10 years or so, was at a jam session, fretless bass sitting in a corner, no bass player, I thought what the hell... bass was so comfortable and just felt right. Even now after over 18 years I don't feel like a frustrated guitar player! I've played sax, keys and guitar professionally and it's down to bass. It's the instrument I love. The other plus, if a famous musician comes in and sits in with the band who sits down? Not the bass player.
HERETIC!
the roles of a bassist in a thrash metal band are very similar to a rhythm guitar. only a few thrash bassists stand out in my mind. very few ever even stand out in the mix. cliff wanting to sound nasty doesnt make him a guitar wannabe. did you know him personally? have you ever heard him lay down tha funk? doubt it.
its context and filling the gig. ive played root quarter notes in punk bands, ive played counterpoint melodies and ive arpeggiated chords on a 6 string to hang with a prog band. i use distortion.. is that my inner guitarist coming out? no.. its wanting distortion.
I played guitar in the band I am in for 6 years, all that time I was hearing bass lines the bassist was missing. It drove me crazy.
Now I am playing bass in the same band and what do I hear: the guitar parts the current guitar player is missing, and that's now making me crazy.
You can't win it seems.
Now I am playing bass in the same band and what do I hear: the guitar parts the current guitar player is missing, and that's now making me crazy.
You can't win it seems.
I feel your pain, brother.
I started on guitar, when I was 12. I didn't get to bass until I was an old man of 14. That was 1979. In the years since, I've encountered a lot of guys who could get around on both guitar and bass.
To me it's obvious. All the real difference is philosophy.
In the world of guitarists who decide to take up bass, there are bass players and bass owners.
A while back, the guitarist from my old band had to take in a roommate to help make ends meet. The roomate was a competent guitarist. One of my basses was at his house. John had an idea for a track while I was at my regular job. So he had Patrick (the roomate) play the bass for the track.
He called me the next day and said he'd never really thought to tell me how much he appreciated my bass skills until that day.
More like a veterinarian trying to perform surgery on a person...
Its all basically the same parts, in the same locations, only the parts are bigger on a person than on a cat...
I started on trumpet, switched to bass. Takes a conscious effort to LISTEN to the bass, and understand what its doing in relation to the drummer. Typical guitarists tend to just listen to guitarists in recordings, and whatever the hell they do when playing with a band seems to have little relation to what the rest of the band does. They don't listen, they like to be so loud they can't listen to the rest of the band if they wanted to. Typically... I've been lucky to play with some exceptions to that rule, thank God....
Guitarists usually just pick up a bass and play notes. The problem is they don't THINK like a bass player. So they don't SOUND like a bass player.
There are some that take bass seriously and take the time to really study its role. Pretty rare. They're usually spending their practice time trying to wank faster on guitar.
Metronomes? What's that??
Randy
Found your error, assuming facts not in evidence....
Randy
What error? I put the text I wrote next to your "corrected" version, and they look exactly the same except for your highlighting. Am I missing something?
What is it that drives the animosity that a lot of bass players seem to harbor toward guitarists, calling them "guitards" and claiming that they somehow can't possibly "get it" about bass? It's petty and it just makes you (if you act this way) look insecure. We're all in it together, folks.
