Poll: Calling all bass players: How hard is it for someone that plays the guitar to play the bass?

[michelew]

This probably should be two threads... But what the hey...

Six strings, four strings, six strings, four strings. Longer strings... How hard can it be right??!!

Amongst the zilliion instruments I'd like to play one day, bass is right up there. Yep, I really don't even feel like I have enough time to do justice to the guitar quite often, but I'm bass-curious .

So for you bass players out there I have a few (gazillion) questions. Just to get an idea about the number of bass players in the community (well at least the forum participants) I've included a poll too.

So ... No I don't play in a band (as the regulars know), dream on, or even with other people (yet... must get onto that), still dreaming. Ahhh... So yep if I put in the time and learn the bass, well I guess my self-collaborations will be more interesting...eventually.

Rambling... Ok I digress. (tired brain)

So I'm basically wondering how different the bass is to the guitar and how hard it is to pick it up if you've got some basic guitar skills. And I guess whether it's worth my while spending time doing so.

So is it just a matter of learning new notes, some new techniques, a different style of playing. Or is it a totally different mind set?

If you do play the bass (and you feel like sharing), why did you start and how much do you play? Do you think learning it has helped you to become a better guitar player too?

Still rambling... So I get that it's not a solo instrument but a support one, you don't play chords ... Blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, if you've gotten this far you're a champion.

Views? Feel free to ramble.

Michele

[willem]

I am interested too,,, i believe you must start with learning to look cool..

I hold them but found it heavy (acoustic),,time a go i sat near a bass player and i was working hard but the bass player not...together it sounded great..

goodluck..

[daryl]

As a bass player wannabe, I find it relatively easy to do the basic stuff once you know your 6-strings. It's kinda like picking up a ukulele (right Suzi?). Once you understand the 6-strings, going to 4-strings is a snap (at least for the basics again). Like guitar playing, playing bass is an art unto its self. But to just "fill out the bottom" and make your guitar playing sound more complete it's easy. Go for it. And with Audacity or Reaper or some other audio editor you can use your 6-string initially as your bass guitar for an example:

[dsmarion]

Michele,

Years ago I played bass in a rock band when the bass player they had left the band. The guitarist and I were good friends and he knew I played a little guitar (he was much better than me) and he knew that it would be easy for him to teach me the rudimentary bass lines to their current songs. Basically he said bass in general was easy if you knew chords because you just would play the bass note for the chord (the tonic). So you play a single note for each chord. Of course there is more to playing great bass than that and it involves both playing selective notes and soloing in and around the scales used in the song.

The one thing I found right away was how much further you had to stretch to reach notes between frets. Reaching a note two or three frets up from the current note is a much farther reach than on a guitar. Because I have small hands I needed to use my pinky finger a lot more on reaching those notes and thus my pinky finger became much stronger which in turn helped on guitar. Who knew. Also because the strings are much larger in diameter they tore up my guitar callusses and were then replaced over time by callusses of a different density - still callusses just different.

I think you will find the two instruments have enough similarities to become comfortable easy enough. They are tuned exactly the same for starters (as guitar strings 3-6) and so scales are identical to those strings on guitar. Start with playing your scales and you will be fine in no time. It will help your guitar soloing too because that is what you will be doing on the bass.

Scott

[suziko]

I'm not a bass player, but I did learn a little about playing bass while at rock camp. I found out (as others have stated) that the bass is tuned the same as the bottom 4 strings of your guitar (assuming you're in standard tuning). So: EADG. Then, to play VERY simple bass, you would just play the root notes of the chord. So, for example, in the song I played at RC, the chords in the verses were G, C and D. So the bassist would just play along: GGGGGGGG,CCCCCCCC,DDDDDDDD,GGGGGGGG Now obviously that is super easy bass playing. We're not getting into Geddy Lee territory here! But to, as Daryl so nicely put it "fill out the bottom," you don't need much expertise if you already know guitar.

Suzi

[dsmarion]

I forgot to mention this but one of the responsibilities I had playing bass in a band that contained guitar, bass and drums was getting really locked in to the drummer. The drum and bass are the core of the rhythm section and if they are really locked in together solid and tight on the tempo and the changes the guitarist will be much happier because it drives the whole bottom end of the sound making his/her job easier by providing a great tempo to play along with. Bass is key to providing tempo and rhythm.

Scott

[tgjameela]

Well I think any guitarplayer should be able to play basic-bassguitar-parts.

As Scott has just commented, the most important thing is timing/rhythm, it has to be, along with the drummer, spót on, no less!

A good example is Adam Clayton from U2, he doesn't do difficult things (With or Without You, Pride, Where the streets have no names, he kinda plays what Suzi just described), but he is really the backbone and creates a véry solid platform in almost any U2-song.

So if you've got a good and solid sense of timing/rhythm, if you know to find any key on the 3th and 4th string, if you know how to play a powerchord (on a guitar) and when you use those three notes, you'll be quite alright!

Ness

Edit:

Sorry, missed some of your questions! :S

I started playing bass when my father bought one (I was 10 years old maybe), so I already played the guitar. However, I didn't give it much thought, I just played it, simple of course, but fun enough. I think one of the first 'simple' bassriffs I learned was 'I saw her standing there' from the Beatles, wich is really a fast one, haha, but it was quite cool to be able to play it! :cheer:
Nowadays, when playing with friends, I often end up playing bass, since there are already other guitarplayers, who don't play the bass or something else.... ....I like playing bass since it's quite relaxed and véry important in a song, but it's definitely not the love of my life...

[michelew]

Willem, Daryl, Scott, Suzi, Scott and Nessa,

Thanks for responding to the ramblings of a crazy woman who's mind was off joining a band (it's Suzi's fault). I definitely learned a thing or two and it sounds like it's pretty straight forward to get started which is always a bonus.

Same as the bottom four strings on a guitar. Well that is convenient.
Just know your 5th and 6th string notes and power chords and start off just playing the root note and you'll be fine. Coolio!

Learn your scales, increase your reach, become a rock (grasshopper). All good for the guitar too.

Speaking of cool, I agree with you Willem, bass players do look very cool. The heavy bit, hhhmmmmm... Less appealing. But, cool is good.

And it's good to see another bass wannabe in the poll.

Thanks again.

Michele

[suziko]

Shel, are you joining my girl group? I'd love to have you as a bass player!! Ness doesn't know it, but she's already in the band. Actually, you were already in the band, too, I just wasn't sure what you were playing. Now I know.

Suzi

[lueders]

Cool discussion here Michele!!

Legend has it that Sid Vicious learned the rudiments of base guitar in one day. (Not that he's Jaco Pastorius, Flea, or Less Claypool or anything...but that is still still kinda cool.)


Anyways, when do we get to see this all-girl band rock out?