I played guitar for 30+ years. I find the bass much more challenging (to play well). I've only been playing about 3 years and I've put much more time into bass playing than I did, guitar. YMMV.
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Is it hard to learn bass guitar?
- Thread starter NelsonLawson
- Start date
It's easy at first, but it gets harder the better you get 
No and Yes. Easy to play bad. Hard to play well. It's grueling. It's like plumbing. It's very manual. Sometimes thankless. Expect your fingers to hurt at first. It's subliminally vital and deeply nuanced. Your voice and technique are personal. The epiphany is in the realization that what you're doing is effectively gluing the whole group together. The bassist can change entire chord structures with one alternative note choice if he/she wants to. Who doesn't want that sort of power?
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Learn to play the bass, and you'll be the most popular (and most in-demand) person in the guitar club.
It's definitely easy (and easier than guitar) to get started on, and it will give you a set of skills that I reckon will be more beneficial to your musicianship as a whole.
No, not really.
Easy enough to learn. I did, at 57 and if I can,, surely you can, too.
It's all about attitude...even more important than practice, practice, practice.
Don't just play the bass, be the bass! When you plug in, nothing should exist but you and the music. Think about method acting. A method actor doesn't just play a character, he the character, sometimes even staying in character off the set.
Attitude! Once I changed my attitude, everything else fell into place.
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If you can't play The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary" within five minutes of picking a bass up for the first time, you might want to consider going into management?
IMO it’s one of the most accessible and forgiving of instruments out there for someone getting into music for the first time. And one of the better choices for a first instrument because the bassline is such an essential part of music.
That’s not the same thing as saying it’s easy. But it also isn’t a hard instrument to get the basics of. Compared to the difficulties you’d encounter learning to play an instrument like a violin or an oboe, I’d say bass guitar is relatively easy to learn.
You can definitely learn to play it well enough to handle simple basslines pretty quickly if you put a little effort into it. Just being able to do that won’t make you a bassplayer. But it’s a good start on the path to becoming one.
Everybody here at Talkbass had to start somewhere. And the only real difference between bassplayers and non-bassplayers is that the bassplayers elected to take that first step.
That’s not the same thing as saying it’s easy. But it also isn’t a hard instrument to get the basics of. Compared to the difficulties you’d encounter learning to play an instrument like a violin or an oboe, I’d say bass guitar is relatively easy to learn.
You can definitely learn to play it well enough to handle simple basslines pretty quickly if you put a little effort into it. Just being able to do that won’t make you a bassplayer. But it’s a good start on the path to becoming one.
Everybody here at Talkbass had to start somewhere. And the only real difference between bassplayers and non-bassplayers is that the bassplayers elected to take that first step.
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Welcome to TB!
Learning bass is weird. Like Go, it's easy to learn the fundamentals. People being what they are, some "get it" quicker than others. Once you learn which notes are where, you are ready to gig*. Whether this is after your 1st lesson, your 10th, or your 100th, is entirely up to you.
Also, how far you take it is entirely up to you.
* Really. There are many, many bassists who make a living doing nothing more than thumping root notes, and 1-5.
I would say the bass is a little more beginner-friendly than guitar. But there is still a "dual" learning curve as there is with any musical instrument. There's the learning and memorizing of the fretboard, strings and notes, and then there's the physical part of playing the instrument, developing the 'finger memory' where your fingers fall naturally onto the neck without thinking. This is the part that's frustrating, especially at first, but will develop over time with steady, regular practice. Stick with it! I highly recommend taking lessons from a professional bass instructor if you can, even if only for the first few months.
I guess this will sound mean, but when someone asks “Is ———- easy to learn?”, I question their commitment to whatever it is they want to learn. I’m the one that will always take the “road less traveled”, because when I do reach a point of mastery I can look back with pride on my accomplishment. For example, I’m a retired high school special education teacher. I am certified to teach high school students with emotional impairments.....a difficult profession in and of itself, but I went one step further and taught in inner city Los Angeles and Detroit. Did a lot of work with gang members. It was very difficult, but now that I’m retired, I can look back with great pride on how many students I did help and who are now leading successful lives. If I taught in Beverly Hills or Bloomfield Hills, I’d still be proud of my students’ accomplishments, but the tough challenges wouldn’t have been there like they were in LA and Detroit.
That’s probably why when I first started to learn bass, I chose to learn on an unlined fretless. I figured if I could master fretless, then I was really accomplishing something special.
So, when someone asks if learning something is easy, then I believe their heart is not really into it from the start and that they will probably give up very quickly when it does get difficult to learn.
That’s probably why when I first started to learn bass, I chose to learn on an unlined fretless. I figured if I could master fretless, then I was really accomplishing something special.
So, when someone asks if learning something is easy, then I believe their heart is not really into it from the start and that they will probably give up very quickly when it does get difficult to learn.
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It takes a little effort, but it's not really hard. Joining a guitar club is a smart idea, in my judgement. Odds are there will be more guitar players than bass players, so you will be in demand. Playing with others as soon as possible is another good idea. Even if you can execute only the most basic of notes and don't really know where most of the notes on the fretboard are, it doesn't matter. The guitar players will help and you will be learning how to play with others right off the bat along with rhythm and little things like cool riffs the guitar players will teach you. Plus, it will be fun! There is no other feeling like playing in the groove with other players. If you get serious, you can think about formal lessons. You don't have to start with lessons, but a good teacher can help you in innumerable ways. Whatever you decide, the number one thing to do is have fun playing.
Don't talk to us... talk to them about it..... that's the first step in socializing.
Walk up there and say you want to join the club.... If they ask you how long you play. Your answer will be "If you teach me, I'll start tomorrow".... I'll bet it'll work out just fine.
