Easy to learn, hard to master. Good news is you can actually play with others when you are at a basic level. And don't get discouraged. You're going to have a hard time with some of he stuff you try to learn. Just remember:
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Is it hard to learn bass guitar?
- Thread starter NelsonLawson
- Start date
Hard to learn? No...
Hard to play well? Yes. You MUST practise.
Firstly, a general tenet applicable to the learning of any musical instrument, especially the bass, is that it will help you if you have a good ear for music i.e. ability to tap rhythms, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and so on, and to recognize when chords change i.e. I, IV, V progressions etc.
Secondly, it helps to learn where the notes are on the neck of the bass. Why? because if a guitarist presents a tune in the key of Bb over a I, IV, V chord progression, you'll immediately know the root notes of the chords are Bb, Eb and F and can go from there.
At this point on my musical journey, what I find most important - other than playing the correct notes in all the right places, in time, and in rhythm etc - are the more esoteric aspects of musicianship; for e.g. where NOT to play; correct touch, feel, note duration etc. IMO, it's these principles that separate the good player from the average one.
So there's your challenge. If you can learn these things, your guitarist buddies will eventually find you indispensable
Good luck !
Hard to play well? Yes. You MUST practise.
Firstly, a general tenet applicable to the learning of any musical instrument, especially the bass, is that it will help you if you have a good ear for music i.e. ability to tap rhythms, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and so on, and to recognize when chords change i.e. I, IV, V progressions etc.
Secondly, it helps to learn where the notes are on the neck of the bass. Why? because if a guitarist presents a tune in the key of Bb over a I, IV, V chord progression, you'll immediately know the root notes of the chords are Bb, Eb and F and can go from there.
At this point on my musical journey, what I find most important - other than playing the correct notes in all the right places, in time, and in rhythm etc - are the more esoteric aspects of musicianship; for e.g. where NOT to play; correct touch, feel, note duration etc. IMO, it's these principles that separate the good player from the average one.
So there's your challenge. If you can learn these things, your guitarist buddies will eventually find you indispensable
Good luck !
I always wanted to play guitar but found making chords painful and the string spacing made licking difficult for me too. I eventually picked up the bass about a year and a half ago for the same reasons you state. With COVID around I've had a lot of time to practice. I can't slap or do the awesome stuff you see on YouTube but I can learn a bassline and can even improve my own even if it's not a very exciting one. I'm now looking to find a band to play with and maybe do some writing/recording. Just for fun. I have no fantasies of even being a pro.
The cliche is bass is easy to learn and difficult to master. I'd say that's true. I think if you're looking for an instrument that will allow you to quickly play with other better musicians bass is a good choice. I only wish I'd started years ago.
Its an easy instrument to be mediocre on, but hard to be great on.
Depends on your sense of timing. With time that improves, but if you have no sense of rhythm then you will have an uphill struggle.
How difficult it is really just depends on how difficult the music you want to play is. I'll be 40 this year. When I started playing nirvana was at its peak. Their stuff is fairly simple to learn. Some pop music isn't that hard. But there's some progressive music that's still difficult for me to learn and I've been playing 26 years now. I would just start out focusing on learning some simple songs. Like don't start out thinking you're going to learn to play progressive rock or some crazy fusion stuff right away. Focus on simple repetitive songs. For example I'm to the age now where my friends that have supported the bands I've played in over the years ask me where their kids should start. I usually recommend songs like "what I got" by Sublime. It's very repetitive. Pretty easy to learn the notes playing it slowly and then work it up to the tempo of the song. Another song I recommend a lot is "with or without you" by U2. But yeah I wouldn't recommend starting with anything super complicated. A lot of the time when people do they get overwhelmed and quit.
It depends on you; how dedicated you are, how well you can follow instructions and how much QUALITY time you are willing to put into it. Also, IMHO, a bass guitar is a "team instrument." When I pick up this instrument and play with others I understand I am part of a team to accomplish a set of goals. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to do what YOU need to to do to be a part of "the team?" If all of that fits you, then go for it. Otherwise there are lots of other ways to spend, time, money and effort.
BobDeRosa
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- May 16, 2012
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Do you like music? What kind do you listen to? I wouldn't jump into bass just for something to do. There needs to be some passion if you hope to make playing music a meaningful part of your life.
Jumping into songs quickly is important.
There are many old threads on TB where the topic is easy/ beginner songs.
Part of the fun is the variety of easy songs posted by members in those threads. You can work on theory while learning 'easy' songs.
How hard do you want to make learning bass?
There are many old threads on TB where the topic is easy/ beginner songs.
Part of the fun is the variety of easy songs posted by members in those threads. You can work on theory while learning 'easy' songs.
How hard do you want to make learning bass?
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Alright, so it seems the social aspect is important here. If you become a bass player, it's more likely that you will isolate yourself from the world, and wonder why women only talk to the guitar players. To get over this, you'll join a dating site, and everyone you talk to will say, "Wow you play guitar that's awesome!" But you have to let them down and tell them that it's actually a bass in 7 out of 8 of your photos. The other one is a family photo with everyone else's faces blurred. You insist it's kinda similar to guitar, but no one likes it. Then the girl will delete the conversation and move on. After a couple thousand times going through this process, eventually you realize that companionship doesn't have to be human-to-human. Why limit yourself, right? Eventually you work up the nerve to order that anime body pillow that you specifically downloaded TOR browser for so no one could trace the search history back to you . . . . .
Wait, what?
Coming from 20+ years on guitar it was relatively easy for me. The most difficoult part for me wasn't the phisical aspect (which is harder than guitar imho) but learning to know my "spot" in a musical context. Bass is a completely different instrument.
SO true ! Thinking like a bass player (the approach) is SO different than the way a guitar player approaches a song, or the riffs combined to make a song.
Like it's been said a few times here, the most important aspect (to me) is to be THE bass player in your community that the bands know about and want you over the next guy. That's the main goal, unless you're a home-based Youtube, or just homebased for fun player.
I realized that I was becoming a proper bassist when I started to deal with other's people sound/tone problems.
You are an inspiration, Mongo2! I admire your strong spirit and determination to keep on playin'! And it's great that you found that Bass is the way to go.
Thanks. The duo I'm in may restart our distanced rehearsals tomorrow on my porch if the weather holds so we can go back to providing some lockdown entertainment for the neighbors if they care to listen.
BTW, is that a NS Design CRM4 or Wave in your avatar? I played a CRM4 for a few years. Unfortunately it and my upright are victims of the stroke since my right arm can no longer work that way for any length of time.
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