Should a Bassist Know Basic Guitar?

[mongo2]

I play bass, guitar and started out on accordion so I'm familiar keyboards. I find it very useful to be able to "read" the guitarists and keyboardists hands during jams or rehearsals when following along on a song I've never played.

I can read a few different guitar tunings and a capoed guitar well enough, I can even read the keys upside down but if the keyboardist transposes his keyboard, I'm pretty much screwed as far as reading their hands.

 

[blue4]

Other than long jam sessions where you've never heard the songs you're being asked to play, what exact benefits would come from knowing basic guitar? I already know my fretboard, so it's not that. Know my scales already so don't need that. I know my chords for the most part, especially the common ones so I don't need the help there. I can sound like a guitar player playing bass if I want to already, so again no actual benefit there. Even being able to watch their hands for the chords is iffy, since I'd actually need to be close enough to them to see what they are doing. Basic songwriting? I guess, but you could also use a bass with a high C or just about any other instrument for that matter. Mandolin, piano, ukulele, etc. I suppose for heavy rock or metal songwriting you'd need a guitar, but anything else I don't see why it especially is required.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

I recently went to an acoustic jam evening and a young chap was impressed that I was playing along on the venue's acoustic bass to songs I'd never heard before.

I have a problem with this idea that if you learn guitar, you can function at jam sessions by watching the guitarist's hand for the chord shapes.

The real advantage to learning other instruments comes from developing your EAR...

All else is sifting sand.

 

[redhotblues]

I think a bassist should know music theory. Whether you can or can't play any other instrument will be irrelevant after that.

 

[Nine-and-three-Quarters]

Okay I've read too many times now about guys "reading the guitar players hands," in order to know the song. Is that the reason to learn guitar so that it gives us an advantage to cheat when we really don't feel like learning a song? And for that matter if we don't know the song or it's a song on the fly isn't that what the number system is for? All the keyboard/guitar player has to do is call out numbers. That would be a whole lot easier than learning a guitar just so we can see where the guitar player is headed in a song.

What ever happened to developing your ear to hear the chord changes? After so long of playing and studying music you should be able to hear chord structures....you should be able to listen to a song without your instrument and already have a basic knowledge or break down of the chord progression being played whether it's a ii...v...i or whatever.

Ultimately you should be able to play what you hear or if with improv what your feeling at that very moment. Music should be about feeling not looking therefore it is vital to treat all our practice sessions as ear training sessions also. Don't just play but rather make it your business to really listen to what your playing.....scales, arpeggios, triads, 7th chords as you practice them. How does the Ionian scale sound of a major or major 7th chord or a Dorian over a minor chord? If we deliberately practice this way, over time we will develop a strong ear. I don't play a lick of guitar and can barely play keyboard but I can compose and write music because my ear has developed to hear chords and I have a understanding of them through learning theory. All the great improvisers have this in common.... they can play what they hear and feel spontaneously....not what they can see.

 

[prowla]

I have a problem with this idea that if you learn guitar, you can function at jam sessions by watching the guitarist's hand for the chord shapes.

The real advantage to learning other instruments comes from developing your EAR...

All else is sifting sand.

It's not an either/or, but it's good to have an idea of the structure of the song...

 

[mongo2]

Other than long jam sessions where you've never heard the songs you're being asked to play, what exact benefits would come from knowing basic guitar?

Just last night there was a request for a song I've never heard but the guitarist knew it. I was grateful to be able to pick it up quickly by watching his hands. It happens often enough that I find value in that particular skill.

 

[Borgben]

Just last night there was a request for a song I've never heard but the guitarist knew it. I was grateful to be able to pick it up quickly by watching his hands. It happens often enough that I find value in that particular skill.

I feel the same way being able to pick up a song on the spot is invaluable, I do it with both guitarists and keyboard players, obviously this is no substitute to learning the song properly but being able to scrape your way through a song on the spot is in my opinion an invaluable skill.

 

[JimK]

I have a problem with this idea that if you learn guitar, you can function at jam sessions by watching the guitarist's hand for the chord shapes.

In the early daze, "watching" would not have helped me...I was legally blind without glasses (and, back then, I would never ever wear glasses on stage...if I even owned a pair).

 

[DWBass]

Not necessarily guitar but one should have a basic knowledge of chords and theory. Guitar or piano are good starting points though.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[zontar]

I suppose it would be beneficial to know any other instrument. I was taught theory on the piano. Although, it seems like guitar would be most important, since nearly every band has a guitar. It might be difficult to follow a progression if you don't recognize the chords that the guitar is playing.

I learned theory in a class that included guitar/bass students & keyboard students
As I had piano lessons when I was younger I would think whichever way was easier for the concept at hand--whether fretboard or keyboard--since the teacher was also a keyboard teacher who wasn't that familiar with guitar I did some interpreting for the other guitar/bass students.
Then the last year we had the guitar teacher teaching the theory class--so I interpreted for the keyboard students.
Knowing guitar, bass & some piano helped me learn theory better--and also helped my overall playing.

So I agree with those that say it isn't essential, but it is a good idea--and it helps.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I played all four of my instruments today: 2 guitars & 2 basses
Today I felt like the bass & guitar translate over well.

I had focussed primarily on bass about 5 months & just started playing guitar more. My skills on guitar had improved, even though I had only dabbled here & there while playing bass predominantly.

 

[Feral Feline]

The Jam I was at this past Saturday night, having some basic knowledge of what piano key was being struck helped me waffle my way through a few tunes, like-wise being able to glance over at the guitarist's fret-hand also saved some bacon...

 

[Badwater]

It all depends. Knowing how to play more than one instrument and learning what those instrument do in music or songs will make any musician a better player. I come from playing decades of guitar, and the transition was real easy to learn bass. And by learning, I'm talking about the different styles of bass, in various styles of music. And learning bass technique was easier because I understood basic fundamentals of fretting, and picking, and tone.

Having a background in guitar overcomes all the beginner struggles of bass. Like how to hold the bass, and pain in the hands from beginner style lessons on how to fret.

The only regret is not switching to bass sooner. I find the bass a dynamic instrument, that's fun to play, and just as enjoyable as the guitar. I can't play drums worth a crap, but I learned a lot of the fundamentals of drums for various styles of music, and it's helped me play the bass better for those styles of music more so than the guitar.

Thus, learn as many instrument as you can. And it will make songwriting and music more fun, and easier to adapt to. That's my take on guitar before bass. Reality is you don't need to start on guitar or any other instrument first. As long as you have some general knowledge about them other instruments, it will help you adapt to music better.

 

[bunnykeeper]

For what it's worth...

I've been going back and forth between guitar and bass for over 30 years. I've never taken lessons or had any training in theory, but I discovered a little nugget last year.

I was filling in on bass in a pop-punk trio, and one of the songs had an F chord followed by an Fm chord. They both have an F root, right? On guitar, an F (major) chord sounds quite different from an F minor. If I played F on the bass for both chords, it would lose a lot of the effect of the minor, so I pictured a guitar fretboard in my head, and realized that the only difference between the two chords is that F major contains an A, but changing that A to an A flat makes it a minor chord.

Apparently, their regular bassist stayed on F, because the first time we rehearsed the song, I played an A flat, and the guitarist and drummer both said, "Wow, what was that?"

I know it's not an amazing story, but I think it illustrates how basic guitar knowledge can inform your bass playing.

 

[BassChuck]

I say no. But that's because I haven't a single clue about guitar. I've played consistently for 40 years and I'd say that less than 10% of the time there's been a guitar in the group. (lots of jazz, big band, music theater). Sure there are guitars, but not often, and I don't need to have them show me anything. I can hear, I can read.
Use whatever skills you have in music to make your music the best you can. For me, it's an extensive knowledge of music theory, trumpet playing and French horn, with a modest amount of 'arrangers piano' tossed for good measure.

 

[brashboy]

There are bass players who don't also play guitar?

Who knew...

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I think it is more productive to learn to play drums.
It will give you a better appreciation of what your counterpart in the rhythm section does. As well as maybe help tighten up your timing.

 

[goudekim]

What matters is knowing music - notes, modes, chords, arpeggio, and (arguably most important) timing. Each instrument has its own "character" and playing style varies greatly, depending on the musician.

I would be tempted to say that it doesn't matter but there are times when knowing both adds to one's knowledge/skill, as mentioned by others.

 

[Ayce]

I'll go back and read all the posts later, but I said yes. The reasoning being, Bass playing should be built on chords, unless you plan on playing roots for the rest of your career. When I started, I was just a root player, until I learned to walk. Then I started looking at where I was putting my fingers, and noticed I was playing chord notes. After that, I picked up a cheap guitar, and started studying chord structures, and built my bass playing around that. Some worked, others, not so much, but I developed my playing around those that did. You don't have to learn every chord in every style, just the basics will work fine. If you want to take the time to do that, however, more power to you.
Oh, one other thing. I never learned theory. I was told, long ago, not to. Learning theory, other than the basics, will take away the freedoms you can have when you "break the rules" so to speak. Then again, you have to know the rules, before you can break them.