No Offense Intended...

[jazzbo]

Put down your Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool and the like. You have no need for that. Further, the most offensive part of your post wasn't in saying that this or that instrument is easy or is not, it's in your request for "difficult" material to test yourself.

If you want to test yourself, if you want the most virtuosistic performances ever, you will not learn what bass is about.

Bass is about feel, time and groove. You are, for all intense purposes, a rhythm player. Your job is not flash, it is solid time. The biggest problem I find in guitarists that convert to bass is not in technique or chops, although they are usually poor too. The biggest mistakes I find are in time and feel.

You want something difficult? Get out a metronome, and get out your bass. Bring a tape recorder. Set the metronome to 50bpm, and play an open E string on the click. Focus on making the click of the metronome disappear. Listen back to the recording. How was your feel? Your attack? Your tone? Your time??? Listen to the drums for a change.

While bass and guitar are both "guitars", that is the end of the similarities, THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE TWO INSTRUMENTS ARE INTRINSICALLY DIFFERENT!

Listen to "My Girl", by The Temptations. That, my friend, is difficult. That, my friend, is bass.

Screw Claypool, Jaco, and Vic. They are something totally different than what the vast majority of bass players are. You want the gig, you want to be the one getting the call, focus on your rhythm and feel.

 

[Osama_Spears]

All the posts above are very good in explaining...

but...like...

anyone can play the bass,and anyone can play the guitar...it's just how good you can play it.

there's alot of good bassists,and alot of good guitarists...however,there is alot of bad guitarists,and bad bassists...

-Jon

 

[moley]

Excellent post, Jazzbo.

Though, this last part...

Screw Claypool, Jaco, and Vic. They are something totally different than what the vast majority of bass players are. You want the gig, you want to be the one getting the call, focus on your rhythm and feel.

I wouldn't say screw Jaco

Seriously, you're totally right about the need to focus on rhythm and feel rather than chops, but (I can't speak for Claypool or Vic) as far as rhythm and feel go, Jaco was a master, as was Jamerson.

If you look past the chops side of it, and listen to the way Jaco grooved...

 

[Wrong Robot]

Originally posted by moley

If you look past the chops side of it, and listen to the way Jaco grooved...

Yeah, a bunch of dopey licks over and over again.


no seriously though, jaco had immense feel for the music, some of his grooves may have been a little out there, but he was always listening and you can hear that in his music.

That said, Duck Dunn is my favorite bassist.

 

[Tyler Hole]

wow jazzbo, nice post im impressed and feel different about this now.

 

[IAMERICCOCHRANE]

uggh, I get this argument all the time from jerk-ass guitarist (im not saying you are one, but the ones I know are). They all say "man bass is like a million times easier than guitar because you dont need to play chords and blah blah blah.." The thing ive noticed from all these people saying this are they listen to music like emo and punk and the stuff where the bass is just playing the root notes of the guitar.

Yet when I get them to listen to some Jaco or some Wooten, (which is hard to do with these people, they argue for hours saying "I aint listening to no pussy ass jazz, im too hardcore for that") They suddenly change their view on the role that bass plays. Im sure if you listen to some Jaco or even to a lesser extent (im not saying these bands suck, just they arent jaco's) The Meters or Tower of Power you will find that bass plays a role far from the traditional root notes of punk and emo and nu-metal. Peace

 

[Uncle Fat]

Yeah, Jazzbo nailed it. Couldn't put it better than that.

 

[BrettAM]

Is bass easy? I think now would be a good time for you to go grab yourself a nice beginners Real Book and learn the melody/harmony, walk, and solo of any song of your choice. That should give you an idea as to whether bass is "easy" or not.

 

[Basho]

Originally posted by jazzbo
Put down your Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool and the like. You have no need for that. Further, the most offensive part of your post wasn't in saying that this or that instrument is easy or is not, it's in your request for "difficult" material to test yourself.

If you want to test yourself, if you want the most virtuosistic performances ever, you will not learn what bass is about.

Bass is about feel, time and groove. You are, for all intense purposes, a rhythm player. Your job is not flash, it is solid time. The biggest problem I find in guitarists that convert to bass is not in technique or chops, although they are usually poor too. The biggest mistakes I find are in time and feel.

You want something difficult? Get out a metronome, and get out your bass. Bring a tape recorder. Set the metronome to 50bpm, and play an open E string on the click. Focus on making the click of the metronome disappear. Listen back to the recording. How was your feel? Your attack? Your tone? Your time??? Listen to the drums for a change.

While bass and guitar are both "guitars", that is the end of the similarities, THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE TWO INSTRUMENTS ARE INTRINSICALLY DIFFERENT!

Listen to "My Girl", by The Temptations. That, my friend, is difficult. That, my friend, is bass.

Screw Claypool, Jaco, and Vic. They are something totally different than what the vast majority of bass players are. You want the gig, you want to be the one getting the call, focus on your rhythm and feel.

While I do agree with most of that, I wouldn't say completely put down the masters, but put down their solo work. If you want to become a good bass player, don't listen to Classical Thump. Listen to something that Vic or Jaco or Les does in a band context, where they not only outline the melody, they keep the beat as well. I'd suggest Jaco's Blackbird, or Weather Report's Birdland, or Vic's rendition of Amazing Grace (true, it's a solo, but he plays both rhythm and melody).

 

[Tyler Hole]

maybe also listen to "wynona's big brown beaver" by primus (which has les claypool in it) or "tommy the cat" by primus (just for some claypool stuff)

 

[babecker]

Originally posted by incognito89x
Bass is easy as you make it.

I can say guitar is way easier than bass if I just got play powerchord, and Blink182 songs, and bland easy stuff like that.

But then If I go try to ply something like Stevie Ray, Yngwie Malmsteen, or BB King, Then I'd see how guitar is a much more difficult instrument to play.

Yes, bass is easier than guitar, if you play simple, follow the root of the guitar, no brains needed songs.

I think from a technical aspect, bass is harder than guitar. Hand position, fretting mistakes, how to get the best fingering technique. There's a lot going on to play a bass well.

Bingo.

 

[theydolph]

The biggest problem I have found with guitarists switching to bass is that they are still guitarists, just on a different instrument. Once the guitarists and I switched for a song and after about two minutes I found myself playing this little repetitve groove on the low strings and the guitarist/bassist was slamming out some pentatonics up the neck. Superfluousness has no place in bass, although one, unfortunatly, finds it all too often.
And then comes the enevitable "Geez, you don't even have to play chords on bass" you may not have to play the chords but you have to know them just as well as any guitar player if you want your lines to maintain any interest.
So if you want to truly experience the bliss and tranquility of bass playing, come on down, but if you just want to musically masturbate on a different instrument please confine it to your own home so that no one in your unexpecting audience will be exposed to the wrath of a guitarist turned bassist shredding the upper frets.

 

[Uncle Fat]

Originally posted by theydolph
if you just want to musically masturbate on a different instrument please confine it to your own home so that no one in your unexpecting audience will be exposed to the wrath of a guitarist turned bassist shredding the upper frets.

exactly

 

[Danksalot]

Some of my favorite music that Victor Wooten has played is on the album Left of Cool, by the Flecktones. Most of the album he plays the supportive role, and it sounds sweeeeet!!!

 

[jive1]

Jazzbo hit it right on. Another thing is endurance. Yeah, sometimes a bass player like Bernard Odum of James Brown may only be playing three notes, but he has to maintain the feel and keep the groove funky. Or a bassist like Lefty Frizzel who plays a country, who might only be doing a root-fifth groove on 3 chords. But, he's playing under 70 bpm and on the beat, for 4 minutes straight while hitting the turnaround before he falls asleep. Or even some punk guy who is playing his a$$ of playing root notes at 196 BPM and driving the song. It's about the song as well as chops. The majority of people purchase and listen to songs rather than solos or chops.

On the guitar side, there are some awesome guitarists who make unique and brilliant stuff happen for a song without all the chops. Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Nolen, Leo Nocentelli, Andy Summers, The Edge, and James Hetfield are guys who don't have all the "chops" but are hard to imitate. They don't solo like mad or flash, but they drive a song.

 

[olie]

Well, I'm a guitarist who is now spending a whole bunch of time learning how to be a bassist. My biggest challenge is learning how to not play like a guitar player with a bass strung around his neck. The good news is all the music theory I learned as a guitar player is still valid and useful. The bad news is I have to learn how to use it differently. I'm taking bass lessons, working through several method books, and playing bass as often as I can in a group context. I'm playing more like a bass player finally, but I'm not there yet. I have an enormous amount of respect for good bass players as a result of my attempts to be a competent player myself.

Like the other posters have said, try to play the bass lines of masters, not necessarily the monster technique guys.Try to capture the essense of the feel, the groove. It's magic when it happens!

Good luck!

olie

 

[BassistGod]

Originally posted by CrazyLegsMC
Hey, as stated in my topic I dont mean to offend anyone.

I play guitar and have the impression that bass is really easy in comparisson.

I'd like to learn how to play bass so that i can play multiple insturments. im curious though as to if bass is actually a difficult instrument to play.

can anyone suggest some examples of hard bass songs to play that i could dl and check out?

Play bass in a band setting and you'll never want to go back to guitar. Once you feel the lowend you'll be addicted for life.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally posted by jive1
On the guitar side, there are some awesome guitarists who make unique and brilliant stuff happen for a song without all the chops. Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Nolen, Leo Nocentelli, Andy Summers, The Edge, and James Hetfield are guys who don't have all the "chops" but are hard to imitate. They don't solo like mad or flash, but they drive a song.

I love Jimmy Nolen. I play guitar too, and I think I got about everything I know about playing rhythm guitar from him and Al McKay (EW&F).

 

[LM Bass]

Yeah Jazzbo! Well put.

I can't play my Jaco licks anymore. I just won't let myself do it. I love the man and his music, but MY sound is much simpler than his. I love to play a straight-ahead groove and just make the band feel really good.

I save the chops for playing Dragonetti or Hindemith etc. on double bass, and the occassional jazz solo.

LM

 

[VaynEStainD]

I will concede that getting started on bass is much easier than getting started on guitar, but when it comes to playing with other people, the bassists' role is much more difficult. Personally, my biggest challenge is trying to fill the "gap" i feel between my guitarist and my drummer. Sometimes i favor one too much, and there seems to be a big open space in the song. When it comes to playing someone else's song, my biggest challenge is being able to identify all the notes, and especially rhythms on the bass, among the other instruments/vocals. If you want to try something challenging, however not ridiculously so, try some Tool. Schism works. Personally im not offended because i know plenty of bad guitarists that assumed that they could be bassists easily, switched, and now dont realize how terrible they are. Good Luck.