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one thing i hate more than anything...
- Thread starter slickhare
- Start date
RollingMonkey said:Speaking of guitarists who think they can automatically play bass, today I phoned my rhythm guitarist / singer to organise band prac for tomorrow. So he starts telling me that he and the lead guitarist added something to an unfinished song of ours, and that he wrote a bassline for me! He knows s***-all about playing bass! 50 bucks says it sounds like a guitar part. So for the sake of keeping cool and not causing tension, I just said, "Yeah, I'll give it a shot." The chances of me using his bassline are about 1000000:1. It really pisses me off when guitarists think they can do everything a bassist can and more!
A guitarist friend I know wrote a nice bassline for a song he wrote once though... so some guitarists are competent.
Well, as it turns out, his "genius bassline" was just bass doubling the guitar riff! Aaargghh! Idiot! Why did he even bother telling me he'd written a bassline?
I've had both good and bad experiences with this situation. I've played with guitarists who have suggested basslines that are quite brilliant and beautiful and melodic or harmonic, and others who seem to just want the bass to be nothing more than a roots-fattener to their already overbearing, listen-to-me-dammit cowboy chords.
I think these days I'm more of the mindset that a good musician will come up with something nice no matter what instrument he/she lays his/her hands on, and no matter what his/her primary instrument happens to be.
And also, to be fair, I never sit around saying, "Freakin' trumpet players should never play tuba, man!"
That said, there are some players who are good at one thing and one thing only, and you know it every time you hear them attempt to pick up something other than their primary instrument. Heck, I may be one of those cats myself, come to think of it...
Matt
I think these days I'm more of the mindset that a good musician will come up with something nice no matter what instrument he/she lays his/her hands on, and no matter what his/her primary instrument happens to be.
And also, to be fair, I never sit around saying, "Freakin' trumpet players should never play tuba, man!"
That said, there are some players who are good at one thing and one thing only, and you know it every time you hear them attempt to pick up something other than their primary instrument. Heck, I may be one of those cats myself, come to think of it...
Matt
I knew a guitarist like that. He started out when he'd pick up a bass, he's play guitar riffs on bass. But strangely, he got a vibe for bass and it all started working out. I've written some bass stuff that sounds guitar like... and sometimes, it's cool.
A good amount of us bass players began playing guitar. Even some of us STUDIED guitar before playing bass (I did, for 4 years). On the other hand, not many guitar players have ever STUDIED bass.
ANDRUCA
ANDRUCA
Almost any guitarist can play bass. Not many guitarists can play bass WELL.
e.g.
guitarists that play bass with one finger...that kinda bothers me
e.g.
guitarists that play bass with one finger...that kinda bothers me
I played bass for two years in a high school jazz band. Didn't know squat about technique or style or theory but I could sight read and play the walking bass lines. Spent the next 14+ years playing guitar. I had lost my bass due to a bad parental situation and never bought another one. Then a friend of mine shot a full length film and wanted me to do the music. I bought a bass so I could record the music and barely even touch the guitar now. Still play the 6 string from time to time and enjoy it no less.... but I wish I had never stopped playing the bass. I'd be much happier for it. Now I'm almost a year back into playing the bass (and never played it like a guitar) and $4000 later I'm getting to the point of gigging again. 
jay_t said:I played bass for two years in a high school jazz band. Didn't know squat about technique or style or theory but I could sight read and play the walking bass lines. Spent the next 14+ years playing guitar. I had lost my bass due to a bad parental situation and never bought another one. Then a friend of mine shot a full length film and wanted me to do the music. I bought a bass so I could record the music and barely even touch the guitar now. Still play the 6 string from time to time and enjoy it no less.... but I wish I had never stopped playing the bass. I'd be much happier for it. Now I'm almost a year back into playing the bass (and never played it like a guitar) and $4000 later I'm getting to the point of gigging again.
Yeah, but you're obviously a person who appreciates bass for what it is (if you weren't, you probably wouldn't be here). So that makes you cool. But I hate the guitarists who have that snobbish "bass is the poor man's guitar" outlook on it. They think "a guitar can do everything a bass can, and more!".
