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Why bass over guitar?
- Thread starter Softballcrew31
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- honest opinion
Starting on guitar made me realize I'd be better off on bass. I can still play classical guitar well because of the wide neck but when I pick up my Telecaster or steel-string acoustic, I get a good deal of dead notes, buzzes and squawks because my fingertips tend to contact other strings when chording or fingering because of the closer string spacing. Realizing as a teen that I couldn't be playing guitar in a band with that skill level, and also because I simply could not grasp melody and soloing, I tried bass and instantly knew it was where I belonged. The wider string spacing meant no bum notes but more importantly I realized I instinctively knew rhythm and how to construct appropriate bass lines for songs I was hearing for the first time.
You may go through the same experience, maybe the opposite of mine. You start on one instrument and find out you're more suited to another. Or maybe you're on the right instrument to begin with. Best wishes either way...
Well, as a newbie to playing any instrument, I've always loved the sound and vibe of the bass. I just started learning (at age 60), and have been playing for 10 months now. Every time I pick it up, I get a big smile on my face, and I can say that I play pretty well on a number of songs. I'm in the local community "jam band" and we already played one bar gig, with another one coming up. It is SO frickin' cool to be on the stage, and the bass just sounds so sweet! Go EADG or go home.
That was my experience exactly, starting out in the 70's. There was a community of interconnected musician kids, mostly through school and church, and I was the lone bassist. A dozen guitarists, half-dozen drummers, another dozen horn players... and me. Bands were constantly being formed and reformed, different configurations of lineups, but I was the one constant. Good times...
For me, I was always humming the basslines from the kind of music I like (blues, hard rock, metal, punk...) I took violin in grade school and was pretty close to marginally acceptable, but got out of it when I could. I wanted to learn to play bass when I was in high school, but never had the time and/or money.
Fast forward to today - I'm 50 and picked up the bass when I was 48 because the wife bought me bass lessons for Christmas. Never did collect on the lessons, but I've got 8 basses, 3 amps, and 2 effects pedals. It's cheaper than crack and marginally more socially acceptable.
I was never interested in guitar because I prefer to be in the background. Been teaching myself songs and such. Good bass players have nothing to fear from me, but I enjoy "noodling around" with them. And I've got friends who have been bugging me to jam with them for months now, even though I told them I'm not that good.
So for me, it's correcting a mistake I made decades ago. I play to relax, mostly.
Fast forward to today - I'm 50 and picked up the bass when I was 48 because the wife bought me bass lessons for Christmas. Never did collect on the lessons, but I've got 8 basses, 3 amps, and 2 effects pedals. It's cheaper than crack and marginally more socially acceptable.
I was never interested in guitar because I prefer to be in the background. Been teaching myself songs and such. Good bass players have nothing to fear from me, but I enjoy "noodling around" with them. And I've got friends who have been bugging me to jam with them for months now, even though I told them I'm not that good.
So for me, it's correcting a mistake I made decades ago. I play to relax, mostly.
Neither. Get a used tuba or sousaphone. Learn well, practice play for brass band. Make lady friends like honey attracting flies!
Why bass for me? I resonated with the low notes -- credit to Sir Paul, I was a Beatles fan as a kid. Also, my extrovert brother picked up guitar, and I couldn't copy him... but seriously, that's less important than the fact that I was not interested in soloing -- what moved me about music was the rhythm.
Why bass for you? In my area, bass players seem to be more in demand than guitarists. I'm not all that: my chops aren't great, I can't sing backup harmonies, but I still stay really busy with 4-5 bar bands plus sub gigs.
Note: my goal is semi-pro weekend warrior, bar band dude. If your goal is higher, I recommend that you follow others' advice: learn multiple instruments, learn to sing, learn to read music, learn general music theory.
Why bass for you? In my area, bass players seem to be more in demand than guitarists. I'm not all that: my chops aren't great, I can't sing backup harmonies, but I still stay really busy with 4-5 bar bands plus sub gigs.
Note: my goal is semi-pro weekend warrior, bar band dude. If your goal is higher, I recommend that you follow others' advice: learn multiple instruments, learn to sing, learn to read music, learn general music theory.
What is your goal in learning to play an instrument? Bassists are less common than guitarists, meaning you will be more in-demand for garage bands and jam sessions if you play bass; and if you get good enough, you'll have an easier time finding work in bands because you will have less competition.
But guitar -- especially acoustic guitar -- is generally the better choice for solo playing, whether it's just for bedroom entertainment or accompanying a vocalist (perhaps yourself).
My recommendation: until you know how seriously you will want to learn and play, get an acoustic guitar or an inexpensive electric guitar and small amp. As a casual player, you can "cover more ground" on guitar; chords, leads, different genres of music. If you find you are serious about playing, you can always switch instruments, or add "the other one" to your repertoire.
Unless you find "the bass calls out to you" and the guitar doesn't, of course.
But guitar -- especially acoustic guitar -- is generally the better choice for solo playing, whether it's just for bedroom entertainment or accompanying a vocalist (perhaps yourself).
My recommendation: until you know how seriously you will want to learn and play, get an acoustic guitar or an inexpensive electric guitar and small amp. As a casual player, you can "cover more ground" on guitar; chords, leads, different genres of music. If you find you are serious about playing, you can always switch instruments, or add "the other one" to your repertoire.
Unless you find "the bass calls out to you" and the guitar doesn't, of course.
I think you have to inherently be attracted to the bass in order to want to this role in your musical life, but assuming that you already do, you might also consider that there’s only one bass player in any given band. I have found throughout my life that I am never at a loss for people looking for a bass player.
I started on guitar, then keyboard, then drums. By the time I tried bass, I'd already been a musician for over a decade, and I instantly fell in love with it because it's more visceral and fun to play than guitar and keyboards, and more melodic possibilities than the drum.
I can really dig in, slap, snap, make bigger movements than on the guitar, which feels more freeing and satisfying. In comparison the guitar feels fiddly. And the low frequency notes just connect deeply with me. The range of articulations also make it more fun to play than keyboards.
I can really dig in, slap, snap, make bigger movements than on the guitar, which feels more freeing and satisfying. In comparison the guitar feels fiddly. And the low frequency notes just connect deeply with me. The range of articulations also make it more fun to play than keyboards.
Things I wish I knew 37 years ago when I started:
• Don't just learn an instrument - learn MUSIC.
• It is a musical instrument. When you play it, it should sound like MUSIC to the least involved listener.
Go to your local Guitar Center or Sam Ash. Listen to the punters noodling away. Are they playing music? Probably not. It's mostly just noise, a piece of a lick they KIND OF know.
Go on to youtube. You'll see and hear street musicians playing wonderful music, on all kinds of instruments, many of them home-made or completely improvised from household items. Check out that one guy in the New York subway playing baritone sax and doing the fancy footwork. That cat is making MUSIC, with a monophonic, low-register instrument (analogous in musical function to our beloved bass guitars!)
So, guitar, bass, piano, French horn, oboe, etc.., it doesn't matter. A polyphonic instrument (guitar, piano, organ, banjo, mandolin, harpsichord, etc..) generally lends itself to solo performance better than a monophonic instrument (bass, although it can be played polyphonically, is typically monophonic in most ensembles).
But whatever you choose, learn to play MUSIC!
Then you'll a joy to listen to, whatever instrument you choose.
• Don't just learn an instrument - learn MUSIC.
• It is a musical instrument. When you play it, it should sound like MUSIC to the least involved listener.
Go to your local Guitar Center or Sam Ash. Listen to the punters noodling away. Are they playing music? Probably not. It's mostly just noise, a piece of a lick they KIND OF know.
Go on to youtube. You'll see and hear street musicians playing wonderful music, on all kinds of instruments, many of them home-made or completely improvised from household items. Check out that one guy in the New York subway playing baritone sax and doing the fancy footwork. That cat is making MUSIC, with a monophonic, low-register instrument (analogous in musical function to our beloved bass guitars!)
So, guitar, bass, piano, French horn, oboe, etc.., it doesn't matter. A polyphonic instrument (guitar, piano, organ, banjo, mandolin, harpsichord, etc..) generally lends itself to solo performance better than a monophonic instrument (bass, although it can be played polyphonically, is typically monophonic in most ensembles).
But whatever you choose, learn to play MUSIC!
Then you'll a joy to listen to, whatever instrument you choose.
One more thing I forgot to mention, is that bass is actually far more ubiquitous in musical arrangements. There are plenty of music out there that wouldn't sound right if you tried to insert a guitar into the arrangement, however, there are very few pieces of music where a bass would sound out of place. This means you can play bass in more music than you can with guitar (the same can be said of piano. The only exception is the synthesizer/keyboard).
I ended up buying a Warwick Rockbass off a friend. He wasn’t using
it any longer.
Why did I choose bass over guitar, hmm...actually I guess it was out of jealousy lol. Way back my brother got a nice starter electric guitar rig, and I wondered to myself, why don't I try this music thing. But I couldn't just go for the same instrument as him lol it felt like copying. So I was looking through a Sears catalog (yeah that long ago) and saw this instrument with four strings and was like, what is that... Lol so yeah my first bass was a cheap Sears bass. But you know what, I learned something about myself, I lean more towards the rhythm part of music and it was the perfect match. And you know what else, I stuck with music, whereas my brother let that die a long time ago lol
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In school I sang Bass in choirs, then added Tuba in Jr & Sr High schools & went to Bass Guitar in my senior year of High School. Guess I'm a true "Bottom Feeder"...and I love it!!!
Although I was the oldest kid of 4 my little brother got a Sears bass back 13 years ago, and I just was amazed that the sounds you hear on the radio can be duplicate by your own hands, because I was/am a Huge Rush fan, and Geddy's bass was my favorite part of the trio it just clicked and I bought a Chinese special Jazz and used a blown out combo to play.
I played for about 8 months, and had to sell my bass (a steinburger spirit) to help out my dad with fuel money to go to work and I went on Hiatus until 2019 on March.
I switched to 5 string as my taste in music favors metal/heavy Prog, It was kinda like getting on a bike, I still remembered bits and pieces of the songs I learned and still had a quick plucking hand.
I'm still just an ok-ish bass player I can learn fairly complex songs, but it takes a lot of time and effort to learn.
I picked up a cheap Guitar to try out, but compared to bass, it feels fiddly, confined and restricted, and it takes a lot of time to change the ligaments in your fingers to play certain chords- in the end, it sits in a stand as it takes time away from my passion, Bass.
Today I finally nailed another one of my bucket songs Vital signs, It took about a month to perfect- I still need to record it.
Go figure I found today an Isolated track that would have helped immensely.
Great example of bass setting the rhythm and mood of the song, but doing so in a "lead" sort of way.
