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Which is more important in rock music? Guitar or Bass?

Which is more important in rock?

  • Electric Guitar

    Votes: 78 34.8%

  • Bass

    Votes: 37 16.5%

  • Equal

    Votes: 109 48.7%
  • Total voters
    224
#61
What would the first Van Halen album sound like if there was no Eddie on it? Only Michael Anthony's bass Alex's Drums' And Dave's vocals.
What would Zeppelin sound like without Jimmy Page's guitar?
Exactly.

Guitar.
If there was no guitar There arguably would not be Rock Music.
No Clapton, No Blackmore, No Iommi, No Beck, No Page, No Rhoads, No Malmsteen...(well I can do without Malmsteen) :)
 
#62
I don't know what kind of classic rock some of you guys are listening to, but there are many great examples where the bass parts are very creative and stand out distinctly from the rhythm guitar: Golden Earring, David Bowie, Alice Cooper (pre-1986 anyway), Ozzy Osbourne, Boston, Paul McCartney/Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Johnny Winter, Eagles, James Gang, The Animals, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Stones, The Doors, Squeeze, Joe Jackson, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dire Straits, The Police, The Pretenders, Santana, to name just a couple of handfulls.

There are many modern rock examples too, some great Canadian bands I can think of include the Trews, the Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts, Matt Mays, and Joel Plaskett have some very enjoyable bass lines, and guitar lines too.

Maybe you need to get a better stereo, or a better CD collection!

+1 that rhythm guitar is also part of the rhythm section, and sometimes that means they have to play *what the bass plays* in the song, and sometimes they play something different.

Other than guitar players who don't appreciate bass, who says the bass player is mimicking the rhythm guitar, and not the other way around? :) Sounds like bass players are also guilty of not appreciating the role of the bass. And there's nothing wrong with playing the root if that's what makes the song rock!
 
#63
Lesfunk said:
What would the first Van Halen album sound like if there was no Eddie on it? Only Michael Anthony's bass Alex's Drums' And Dave's vocals.
What would Zeppelin sound like without Jimmy Page's guitar?
Exactly.

Guitar.
If there was no guitar There arguably would not be Rock Music.
No Clapton, No Blackmore, No Iommi, No Beck, No Page, No Rhoads, No Malmsteen...(well I can do without Malmsteen) :)
Click to expand...

Actually... if you read "How the Fender Bass Changed The World," you will learn how there would be no rock and roll without the bass guitar. None, nada, zip. Electric guitar preceded the first mass marketed bass guitar by several years, actually a couple of decades IIRC. Drum kits were around since what, the 20s? Without bass guitar, we'd still be thumping dog houses, playing root-fifth, and we'd be playing skiffle, country & western, or blues. Or big band, or jazz. The amplified bass created changes in band instrumentation, changed band sizes and venues they could play, changed the way people dance, and changed the way music was written. Electric guitar had very little to do with it.

And all those guys above needed a band to play with, didn't they?
 
#64
h1117 said:
What I mean is, which instrument do rock bands need more? Which one drives the band? Would it be worse if the bass was removed from a song or guitar?
Click to expand...

Again, which lung can you live without? Or which major organ can you live without? Most rock bands have only one bass player, but several have three or even more guitar players, plus keys. The Doobie Brothers even had two drummers!

Guitar and bass are both essential in my opinion. Unless you're Jason Newsted playing with Metallica - then you're expendable, but just because that's the way Lars and James like it, not because it sounds good.
 
#65
fretlessman71 said:
...The Doors might not have had a bassIST, but they had the bass ROLE fulfilled; Manzarek played a separate keyboard with his left hand that had a pretty decent bass tone (not bass guitar tone, of course) and served the purpose well, and WS uses a pedal to get lower tones that support the music?
Click to expand...

Uh, didn't they record almost all of their albums with session bass players?
 
#68
"The Doors were unusual among rock groups because they did not use a bass guitar when playing live. Instead, Manzarek played the bass lines with his left hand on the newly invented Fender Rhodes bass keyboard, an offshoot of the Fender Rhodes electric piano, playing other keyboards with his right hand. On their studio albums (with the notable exception of their eponymous first record), The Doors did, however, use bass players, such as Jerry Scheff, Doug Lubahn (who also played with Clear Light), Harvey Brooks, Kerry Magness, Lonnie Mack, Larry Knechtel, Leroy Vinnegar, and Ray Neapolitan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors


"Brooks played on Mama Cass's 1968 solo album, and also on some Doors sessions for which Ray Manzarek's keyboard bass was judged inadequate, including the Soft Parade album..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Brooks
 
#71
their just tools, and it depends how you use them.

im sure you could have a band where the rhythem is played on the upper register of a guitar, and the lead using the low end from a bass. sure it would sound quite different from what were used to, but it would work.

in the most common role bass is less important, but thats just how things tend to be structured.
 
#73
BillMason said:
Uh, didn't they record almost all of their albums with session bass players?
Click to expand...

Many of the albums did have session bassists, however not all the songs were recorded with a bass. Glancing through the discography I would say the divide is between 40-60% on a quick count for songs with and without a bass player. Someone else can make the effort to look at their hits and look at the proportion there :p

However, peace frog had a bass player which is still by far my most favourite Doors song. And therefore is the only song for which The Doors should be measured :D
 
#74
BillMason said:
Actually... if you read "How the Fender Bass Changed The World," you will learn how there would be no rock and roll without the bass guitar. None, nada, zip. Electric guitar preceded the first mass marketed bass guitar by several years, actually a couple of decades IIRC. Drum kits were around since what, the 20s? Without bass guitar, we'd still be thumping dog houses, playing root-fifth, and we'd be playing skiffle, country & western, or blues. Or big band, or jazz. The amplified bass created changes in band instrumentation, changed band sizes and venues they could play, changed the way people dance, and changed the way music was written. Electric guitar had very little to do with it.

And all those guys above needed a band to play with, didn't they?
Click to expand...
I can see your argument And I think you are correct in a truer sense than I.
I was referring to "Modern Rock" from a fans point of view. Although we as musicians know the value of the bass to the music, Your average consumer of rock music doesn't really pay attention to the bassist or bass parts. Everybody knows who Eddie Van Halen is. That's all
 
#75
Lesfunk said:
I can see your argument And I think you are correct in a truer sense than I.
I was referring to "Modern Rock" from a fans point of view. Although we as musicians know the value of the bass to the music, Your average consumer of rock music doesn't really pay attention to the bassist or bass parts. Everybody knows who Eddie Van Halen is. That's all
Click to expand...

Yeah, well - their eyes and minds may not pay attention to the bass player, but their arses and wallets do! :D
 
#76
I think the bass is more important in rock music than the guitar. No matter how you slice it, we're still part of the foundation holding it all together. However, I think the guitar receives more focus and more attention than the bass does. That though, does not make it more important. Those bands that don't have a bass guitar are still in fact getting bottom end from somewhere, just not as deep as what a bass guitar can provide.
 
#79
C'thulhu said:
+1

There is no joy in practicing a rock song on a bass on your own.
(Unless the occasional bass riff or solo or some more progressive rock.)
Click to expand...

I second this. Rock is a frustrating genre to play bass for. The guitar is king of the rock/metal genre and people run to the guitarist to see his abilities in action as they air strum his chords. Personally i have the two death from above albums and personally do not think they are that great. Yes some of their songs are catchy but get VERY repetitive after a bit.

For rock it will ALWAYS be guitar, and unfortunately that is where the hottest, sluttiest chicks are. Yes we get funk, jazz, and regea but i wouldn't call those ladies.... "pick of the litters" (no offense, but i am just not into unshaven legs and pits, dreadlocks or smug women in all black {that one was for jazz girls}), AND YES i am sure there are exceptions but the majority of the best ladies i have come in contact with are in rock.
 
#80
BillMason said:
Yeah, well - their eyes and minds may not pay attention to the bass player, but their arses and wallets do! :D
Click to expand...

Okay i play bass and let me set something straight here. I am kind of tired of bass players taking credit for getting girls dancing. Let me put a situation out:

Go out and solo play a bass and ask a girl to dance, she wont and if she does she will look pretty dumb and out of sync.

take the same girl and play a drum beat, she will dance her heart out. The drums control people's feet and ars's not us. We may accentuate it but do not by any means control it. yes if you play fast root notes steady then they could move to it but then essentially your playing a drum beat on your bass.

And if you count media attention out of band finance, the guitarist and singer are usually the wealthiest.

And sorry BillMason
"+1 that rhythm guitar is also part of the rhythm section, and sometimes that means they have to play *what the bass plays* in the song, and sometimes they play something different."

But even if the rythm guitar is playing what the bass created, to the thread creators point of consumer/audience appreciation, you are still following the guitarist and NOT him following you. Its the nature of the beast.
 

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