Guitarists That Play Bass

[bubinga5]

i think the proper guitarists step back and understand the bass, and approach it accordingly..like any good musician should with any instrument IMHO.. ive seen a few great guitarists, play my basses and they were really good..no flash, just great harmonic fingerstyle ability.. others just started tapping.. he couldnt really hold down a groove.. i cant blame him, it just wasnt what he was used to...

Edited March 17, 2011 by bubinga5

[paul_5]

Show me a guitarist who can count to '4' repeatedly and accurately, and I'll show you a potential bass player. Yet to find one though.

[cytania]

Our lead guitarist played bass for a one-off surprise project and he was actually pretty OK. His technique on the other hand looked agonising. Hooking strings and making alot of wild jumps to get notes. I was ready to take him to one side and try and explain proper fingerstyle (afterall someone once showed me how) but it isn't something he's gone back to since.

[LiamPodmore]

My bands lead guitarist was originally the bassist before i joined, infact, when i joined he was a better player than me, but that was around 2 and a half years ago.

Liam

[EskimoBassist]

Now add a pedalboard full of flashing lights and switches to the equation with a bunch of late teenagers; sometimes it's like we'll never get to play a song because they're too busy having fun with my toys!!!

[Paultrader]

Here's Walter Becker on bass. And they're risking a tambourine too!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrI_mIT6PQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrI_mIT6PQ[/url]

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1166097' date='Mar 17 2011, 06:28 PM']I have a lot of customers saying they have tried guitar and have failed, but they have been told bass is much easier to play.

This thread is mainly about how people approach bass, especially if they already play guitar. It's just so much different.[/quote]
Well i recently took up bass after many years of guitar.
I still play guitar but have sold most of my collection and bought basses :-)
It doesn't mean i am crap does it?
:-(

[Ou7shined]

Up 'til the start of the 90s I was a guitarist. I'd dabbled with and owned a few basses but never actually played bass live. Then one day our bass player upped sticks to go work in Argentina. So, distraught at the demise of our awesome band (it wasn't) I stepped up on bass. Things died down after a while. Then some guys I just about knew who hadn't had any luck finding the right bass player were told that I was a decent bassist and to try me.... and the rest is (quite literally) history. It would seem that despite me originally wanting to be a guitarist, the cosmos wanted me to play bass.
I'm not technically great but I get good reviews from fellow musos (guitarists mainly) who gloat that what makes me different is that I play bass like a guitarist. I do like to keep it busy if possible and avoid root notes with my own original material but I don't mind it when doing covers. Since coming onto here I've learned to appreciate what a being bass player is about and I've altered my perception of "the roll" of the bass in a band... doesn't stop me rebelling though.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Ou7shined

[BottomE]

[quote name='Paultrader' post='1166247' date='Mar 17 2011, 08:50 PM']Here's Walter Becker on bass. And they're risking a tambourine too!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrI_mIT6PQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrI_mIT6PQ[/url][/quote]
not seen that.

so is he a guitarist who plays bass or a bass player who plays guitar? does it matter?

[TomKent]

I'd been playing guitar for 10 years before I picked up bass, safe to say (I hope) that I don't sound like a guitarist playing bass.

[lettsguitars]

in me old band we swapped round all the time. whoever wrote the song played guitar and sang while the other played bass and did bak gobs. i've always been a guitarist, bassist, drummer, singer and any other instrument i can get me hands on. why tie yourself down to any one thing? but yes, bass is not the same as, or easier than playing guitar.

[lojo]

It is one thing to slate a guitarist for his 10 minutes in a year at playing bass, of course its gonna be bad

But if someone is a guitarist with a good feel, the chances are given time, he'll get the bass also, just as all of us could have most likely reached the same level on another instrument the same as we have one bass

But I agree, the guitarist who has a "its only bass attitude" will not make a good bassist, and is likely to not be a great "band" player with his guitar either, regardless of what show off skills he has mastered

[Lozz196]

I`ve worked with a couple of guitarists who have played bass:

1. The guitarist in an old band, after starting to play bass in a new band, admitted he always thought I was b*llsh*tting when I said that the bass was an incredibly important instument, as he thought it had to be easier as it only had 4 strings.

2. The guitarist in my last band played bass for a whole gig once, and said never again, cos you have to keep playing all the time, and can`t take any breaks.

Different mindset for different instruments, methinks.

[Rich]

They like to have a go...

...and are very often rubbish at it, unless they do it for any length of time.
Mind you, I suck on guitar so it sort of evens out.

[KERMITNT]

[quote name='TomKent' post='1166518' date='Mar 18 2011, 02:15 AM']I'd been playing guitar for 10 years before I picked up bass, safe to say (I hope) that I don't sound like a guitarist playing bass.[/quote]
i never played guitar so i am in the safe zone

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='KERMITNT' post='1166690' date='Mar 18 2011, 08:55 AM']i never played guitar so i am in the safe zone [/quote]
That makes you a better bassist than me.... according to this thread.

[neepheid]

I played recorder for a laugh at primary school. I laughed until I was the last boy in recorder group. I got a guitar for a laugh about 15 years ago. I laughed for about a week. Then I got a bass for a laugh 8 years ago. I took about 5 years to get the joke but I'm still laughing

[kerley]

I have attempted both over the years but enjoy bass more for whatever reason (not because it is necessarily easier)

Even when starting the guitar chords are an early thing to grasp. So playing a set of chords with good timing could equate to playing root notes.
I would suggest playing the chords is more difficult.
- learning them to start with rather than just where one note is
- becoming proficient as switching between chords rather than just moving the relevant finger

Playing single note lines is pretty much the same once the differences of the instrument are overcome (fewer strings, wider spacing, longer scale versus more string, narrow spacing shorter scale)
While I played acoustic guitar I got into bluegrass which is all about high tempo but accurate timing and mostly eighth and quarter notes which wasn't miles away from a fast bassline.

Although bass relies more on good timing I would say you need it for all instruments so if that is pretty much a given. Taking an average bass line versus and average lead part I would say the bass is easier. Taking an average bassline versus a rythym guitar part then the bass maybe be more difficult (assuming it is a bit more than root notes!)

[Gust0o]

My guitarist has enjoyed the odd foray into bass, including picking himself up a nice old Peavey which I get to borrow

Kerley does make some interesting points above, which I think reflect my guitarists efforts - the assumptions that it's root notes and plodding along; that it's all melody and is almost an extension of the rhythm guitar.

The reality is that it's more than that - and we all know this, in our little bassist fraternity. But that's why he puts the bass down and I pick it up

[dbass]

I had this conversation on the way home from Scotland with my guitarist - He is a multi-instrumentalist and not that bad either! I'd say his main forte is guitar and on this he is brilliant but I said to him "you're not a bassist, you're a guitarist who plays bass" to which he replied "I'm grade 8 on bass" - Not sure if he meant it or even what "System" it was but I still said he is not.

Simple reason - he just follows what he does on guitar, and plays roots! As much as that is 90% of bass in songs he doesn't have that "feel" I think I do? If that makes sense. Anyway, I argued the point to which he got more and more defensive about it so I gave up and shut up.

[Doddy]

[quote name='kerley' post='1166804' date='Mar 18 2011, 10:48 AM']Even when starting the guitar chords are an early thing to grasp. So playing a set of chords with good timing could equate to playing root notes.
I would suggest playing the chords is more difficult.
- learning them to start with rather than just where one note is
- becoming proficient as switching between chords rather than just moving the relevant finger[/quote]

Partly....

If you have never played an instrument before and are just starting,I don't think there is that much difference between the two. Is playing chords that much more difficult? It depends how you are learning then. If you are following chord shapes,then I would argue that it is simply muscle memory,in the same way as using single notes.

[Doddy]

[quote name='dbass' post='1167200' date='Mar 18 2011, 02:32 PM']I had this conversation on the way home from Scotland with my guitarist - He is a multi-instrumentalist and not that bad either! I'd say his main forte is guitar and on this he is brilliant but I said to him "you're not a bassist, you're a guitarist who plays bass" to which he replied "I'm grade 8 on bass" - Not sure if he meant it or even what "System" it was but I still said he is not.[/quote]

He's only grade 8 if he's passed the exam. When people say something like that or say they are at a grade 8 standard or whatever,they are spouting bullshit. Unless you have passed whatever grade,you have no claim on it.

[dbass]

Yeah - it came across as that. Either that or he meant Rock School?

Probably just trying to wind me up ;-)

[kerley]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1167221' date='Mar 18 2011, 02:45 PM']Partly....

If you have never played an instrument before and are just starting,I don't think there is that much difference between the two. Is playing chords that much more difficult? It depends how you are learning then. If you are following chord shapes,then I would argue that it is simply muscle memory,in the same way as using single notes.[/quote]


It is more difficult to me, not just the physical aspect but the fact there are many C chords (7 this, add9 that) that may have to be played whereas just the one C root note will cover them all!

[Doddy]

[quote name='kerley' post='1167236' date='Mar 18 2011, 02:58 PM']It is more difficult to me, not just the physical aspect but the fact there are many C chords (7 this, add9 that) that may have to be played whereas just the one C root note will cover them all![/quote]

Initially the C will cover them all,but it's also unlikely that you will be learning chord extensions at that point. By the time you get to there,things should be more involved on both instruments,unless of course,as a bass player you are happy and content to never venture beyond the root.