Picking up the bass

[X Wolf]

At 12....I played Accordion and Piano for a few months.
At 13....I played Baritone sax for a few months.
At 14....I played Drums for a few months.

At 15....I discovered Bass and never looked back. 47 years later I'm still playing it and loving it. BTW I've been singing too as long as I can remember and I never wanted to be a Guitar player before I learned Bass. I will admit though that learning a few chords on guitar or piano does help when writing.

George

 

[Rocinante_x1]

I started on piano, then trumpet, then drums, then guitar then bass. Bass is my calling though. Im far better at bass than i am at anything else. Thats because of how much fun it is to play and how much i have the bass in my hands compared to everything else.

 

[Calvan]

i started on bass guitar when my dad bought me one in 3rd grade. played an upright in the orchestra in 6th grade. also started on the guitar in 6th grade. self taught myself a bit of piano along the way. i've never put down the bass the whole way through. it's the best IMO

as for you... why not learn guitar at the same time? they are two completely different instruments, so it would only be idiotic to put down the bass. But, it would never hurt to pick up a guitar. the more you learn about music and playing it in general, the better you'll be at anything you pick up.

 

[Stumbo]

why not learn guitar at the same time?

I know many musicians who have picked up instruments other than their main one. Learning guitar/piano chords/melodies never hurt anyone.

It's fun to be able to play/sing some tunes on a guitar (say at the beach with friends) , especially since so many people have acoustics laying around.

Just have fun and learn all you can.

Good luck!

 

[superfunk47]

The way the guitarists presented it seems ignorant and stupid, I'd watch out for them minimalizing your role as a bassist in the future. Don't let em walk on you.

As for me, I played cello, viola, violin, flute, clarinet, drums, bass guitar, and piano, in that order (I started when I was 5).

 

[VincentGrim]

I started with a violin =/

 

[theunknowndude]

I started with violn, then went to trombone, then trumpet, then guitar,... and then bass,...

bass playing originally started from being needed to play bass in a 3 peice high school band,... last year wanted to continue so bought bass and got lessons...

funniest part is, when I played guitar all I did was play with a few open chords and go nuts on the e string using power chords and making up little riffs here and there, almost transitioned me into bass playing straight away (ok not exactly, still had to learn lots of bass techniques, different notes to play in a chord as opposed to just hitting the root note etc etc,... on that point learning guitar won't help you there, nor will it help you to slap or finger pick (and finger pick FAST like I am trying to do covering early metallica songs,...) )

theres nothing wrong with learning both if it helps but im trying to be a good bass player and I feel MUCH more at home on bass than I do on guitar even though I still kept mine just in case the urge to strum comes along every now and again!

 

[fetfet]

Played the ukulele, didn't see so many rock bands with them, thought, "hey, bass has four strings" and never looked back.

 

[XDS]

I started off playing Guitar, but swtiched to bass and just preferred it overall.

If you can play guitar, you can play bass. Easy instrument to play.
You just play the root notes then over time you come to add your own little bits in between.

 

[anyonefortennis]

Bend at the knees??

 

[magnus90]

I played violin 7 years in music school. In the end of violin studies our school´s brass section teacher asked me to join the brass orchestra with the tuba Ok, so i got 2 years of experience as a "bass player" then. I graduated with violin, (piano as a 2nd instrument) and tuba when I was 13. At the 15 started with bass guitar. Now 18.

 

[KsToaDangr]

I played keyboards, saxaphone, trombone, viola, drums, & tenor sax before picking up bass and guitar. I picked up bass & guitar at about the same time, but I took almost 5 years off from guitar and can barely remember any of the chords now.

 

[Calvan]

I started off playing Guitar, but swtiched to bass and just preferred it overall.

If you can play guitar, you can play bass. Easy instrument to play.
You just play the root notes then over time you come to add your own little bits in between.

completely disagree. my guitarist can shred like no one else i know, but he is god awful on a bass.

 

[E2daGGurl]

I started piano at age 6, then clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone sax, tenor sax and bassoon. ::waves at thycrusader:: I had marvelous teachers, thank god and stayed motivated. I did stop playing actively for awhile in order to finish some education that could get me a paying job.

Bassoon playing (and bass clarinet and baritone sax) do relate to bass playing. In both jazz and classical music, the lines created for the low end function in familiar ways. I don't think I realized how familiar, until I switched to bass (can't play guitar worth sour apples, despite years of attempts and exposure to the instrument).

The bassoon playing made more of a difference for me, in being able to pick up bass, although since the bass is my first stringed instrument (unless you want to count piano !?!), there's a lot to learn (and admire). Bass guitar is just a tad more versatile than a bassoon...but it's still really fun to play bassoon parts on bass guitar (works way better than vice versa).

 

[BassGirl1122]

I started playing piano, then I played one year of clarinet, then back to the piano/keyboard...I had an acoustic guitar that I started learning when I was a kid, then lost interest..well, truth is a string got broke and I tossed it in the closet...then lost interest. But always loved the sound of the bass, and would always watch the bass player play...so then last year I bought my first bass. It sat and sat then I picked it up in Oct. and started learning...I think it is what ever you feel your heart leads you to. I am a late starter at it (almost 38) but hey, who cares...I love it!!