Bassists who play guitar

[Vin Venal]

I'm really thinking about trying to learn guitar.

 

Although I've never really played guitar before, beyond a couple of abortive lessons when I was about 12, I think I kinda play bass like a guitarist. I play with a pick, and do a fair bit of chordal stuff, mostly just power chords and double stops.

 

One issue I can foresee is I can't use my little finger at all. Never have been able to, and not about to start now at 40. I think I have quite a weak left hand, and generally set up my basses for low string tension. I know there are plenty of 3 fingered guitarists around, but they must be limited to some extent?

 

I'm also a very instinctive player. Good at improvising, good at figuring stuff out myself, terrible at taking instruction, and can't read anything, including tab. Always found that's not a problem on bass, I just figure out what the root notes are, then improvise a bassline myself. Dunno if that would be more of a limiting factor with 6 strings?

 

Anyway, people who did bass first then moved accross, how easy was it, and what advice would you give? Should I just get a Bass VI instead? I think alot of it is just about increasing my ability to play with interesting effects and sounds.

[asingardenof]

The difference in scale length, string spacing and finger positioning takes a bit of getting used to (be prepared for your fingertips to hurt!), but if you do it enough you'll be able to switch back and forth like nobody's business. There's plenty of two- or three-fingered chords you could play on guitar, and the limitations might even give you a unique style. Plus you could accurately describe yourself as a multi-instrumentalist!

[thodrik]

It has taken me a while.

I have never had lessons on guitar and my main 'teachers' consisted of watching guitarists in my bands over the years. I bought my first guitar at 20 and really only started to take it seriously after I treated myself to a nicer guitar at the age of 31 (I'm now 36). Through 5 plus years of semi-regular practice I have improved from 'woeful' to 'distinctly average'. At this point I can even manage a vaguely cackhanded medium paced pentatonic blues solo in various keys.

Loads of guitarists and bassists play without their pinky. Improvement takes time, don't rush it and don't get frustrated. If you are playing for your own enjoyment then just focus on your enjoyment rather than your technical limitations. 

[Cato]

There are some chords, especially barre chords that you'll struggle to voice correctly if you're not using your little finger.

 

In terms of moving from bass to guitar you'll already have the finger strength and toughened fingertips so that's 2 hurdles that confront complete novices out of way. You'll also already know your way around the fretboard.

 

A lot of the rest of it is just practicing chords until yourfretting hand gets used to instantly making the right shapes, but again your bass experience with moving those fingers around on the fretboard means it'll probably come more easily to you than a complete beginner.

 

In my opinion 90% of guitar playing is no more difficult than bass unless you're aspiring to be the next Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Cato

[fleabag]

I'm not going to be much help, as i was the other way round. I started on guitar and moved to drums first then bass.

I  could already use all the left hand fingers by the time i moved to bass, and still use all four when fretting bass, though not chords.

 

I have a spanking Taylor 12 electro for when i feel like a twang

 

[2pods]

I came the other way. Drums (not great), learned a few chords from the guitarist in the band, thought that was fine. Took up bass a long, long time ago to help the lead guitarist practice his solos (late 60s, so no backtracks), when realised I loved it. Played bass ever since.

 

I was lucky enough to be in a couple of bands with really good players, which opened my ears to chord progressions, substitutions etc and they were good enough to answer my daft questions.

The rest was worked out by ear (which luckily has always been good). I can manage a few solos these days, but really have good ear for arrangements.

 

Having said all that, it's fine going back to bass after a layoff, but it's murder on the fingertips if I leave the 6 string alone for too long 

 

You'll be able to work out a lot of chords just using the root note and the arpeggios you would normally use on your bass.

Good luck, and have fun 

[abar121]

I started to learn guitar during lockdown, using the Fender online lessons.  I love it and to be honest, my basses aren't getting enough love at the moment.

I would learn on an electric given the hand issues.  A well setup one will also help on the finger pain / difficultly fretting bar chords.

 

Enjoy!

[Lozz196]

I started on bass and then some 6 months later got a guitar so I kind of learned both at the same time. I’m still not very good at lead but am - when practicing for a while - a pretty decent rhythm guitarist.

[pnefc42]

[Munurmunuh]

2 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

there are plenty of 3 fingered guitarists around, but they must be limited to some extent?

 

Desperately so 😥

 

 

[Vin Venal]

12 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Desperately so 😥

 

 

That's some sweet lead playing for sure.

[Big J]

I played bass when I was 17 ish onwards, bought a Jackson guitar when I was about 30, didn’t commit to learning anything (aside from playing it as a small, fiddly bass). I’m now 52 and I’m equally rubbish on bass and guitar. Dodgy finger or not, I think if you play one, then you are half way to playing the other. 

[Vin Venal]

59 minutes ago, Cato said:

There are some chords, especially barre chords that you'll struggle to voice correctly if you're not using your little finger.

 

In terms of moving from bass to guitar you'll already have the finger strength and toughened fingertips so that's 2 hurdles that confront complete novices out of way. You'll also already know your way around the fretboard.

 

A lot of the rest of it is just practicing chords until yourfretting hand gets used to instantly making the right shapes, but again your bass experience with moving those fingers around on the fretboard means it'll probably come more easily to you than a complete beginner.

 

In my opinion 90% of guitar playing is no more difficult than bass unless you're aspiring to be the next Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen.

 

 

Definitely not aspiring to anything like that.

 

Just wanna have fun making cool noises in me bedroom, maybe get better at writing songs, which I do on bass now, and eventually be good enough to potentially play guitar in a band as well, giving me more options.

 

I also don't ever think I'll be able to play bass and sing at the same time, my basslines move about quite a lot and the syncopation is hard, but maybe I could get to the point where I could play rhythm on guitar and sing, opening up even more options.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Vin Venal

[MacDaddy]

8 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Desperately so 😥

 

 

 

Probably why he only lasted for one album. Imagine him trying to play the solo to Tornado of Souls 😖

[Cato]

6 minutes ago, Vin Venal said:

I also don't ever think I'll be able to play bass and sing at the same time, my basslines move about quite a lot and the syncopation is hard, but maybe I could get to the point where I could play rhythm on guitar and sing, opening up even more options.

 

I think most people, including myself, find it much easier to sing while playing guitar than to play bass and sing.

 

I think it's maybe because you tend to strum guitar in a steady pattern whereas a lot of basslines tend to be more rhythmically complex.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Cato

[Nail Soup]

I'd say it's a good idea to learn guitar even if you stick with bass as your primary instrument.

• It's good for learning to understand chords and harmonisation.
• It's good for songwriting (unless you want to write bass-driven songs of course)
• It's good for singalongs and similar situations.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Nail Soup

[MacDaddy]

Django Reinhardt did more than ok with just 2 fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

[upside downer]

9 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

Django Reinhardt did more than ok with just 2 fingers.

 

You beat me to it, was just going to mention Django. I've also seen some chap on youtube playing perfectly good guitar with his feet!

 

Have fun with it. I never thought I'd be much of a guitarist (and I'm still distinctly average, TBH) but, with the proliferation of easy to understand youtube tutorials, I've upped my game beyond what I thought I'd be able to achieve. Just do things at your own pace and you'll get to where you want to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Barking Spiders]

I was gonna say if you played bass fingerstyle then you could transfer to guitar without much problem. I played fingerstyle guitar before taking up bass. I just can't get on with picks however much I try so don't know how difficult/easy it is going from bass with a pick to guitar with a pick.  The biggest thing difficulty may be chords. If you're playing metal then power chords will be relatively easy to master. If it's jazz then that's another kettle of fish entirely.

[bassbloke]

3 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

I know there are plenty of 3 fingered guitarists around, but they must be limited to some extent?

Tell that to Django Reinhardt

[casapete]

Other guitarists with finger injuries include Jerry Garcia and Tony Iommi.

Its amazing how people can adapt and continue to make music.

[uk_lefty]

Similar to others here: I started bass at fifteen and an old rocker came to our house to do some work and asked where my guitar was. He couldn't understand someone only playing bass and he advised me to learn guitar so I understand how chords work. Well... I got a guitar two years later and very quickly picked up all the standard open chords. Has it made me "understand how chords work" more than twenty years later..... No. What it has given me is a different outlet when I'm getting tired of bass, and when in a band situation and we are playing new songs I recognise a lot of chord shapes the guitarists are making so I can jam along... Which we even do live when reacting to requests. 

 

I find acoustic guitar more satisfying to play, though I struggle beyond open chords, and I find electric guitar a bit easier and more expansive in that I can do a lot more than open chords and use effects and things. 

[Bassassin]

I played bass for about 3 years & had reached a reasonable standard before picking up a guitar - I was having musical ideas I couldn't really express properly on bass & wanted to start to compose my own stuff. I never got that good on guitar - not consistent enough to gig with it, but I can play anything I can think up & with enough takes can (IMO) sound reasonably convincing! That's maybe more of a reflection on my compositional skills than my playing ability though.

 

Having spent various long periods over the years out of gigging bands (like now), I definitely play guitar more than bass, although I'd never consider it my main instrument. I've been told both that I play guitar like a bassist, and that I play bass like a guitarist. Which obviously means I'm doing everything wrong...

[bassbiscuits]

I started playing acoustic guitar within a year of learning to play bass so I’ve always played both more or less to the same extent. 

Guitar strings hurt different parts of your fingers compared to bass strings (sharp thin strings vs fat ones) but so many of the skills (timing, phrasing, choice of notes, fretting, picking etc) are the same. 

 

No reason you shouldn’t be able to have fun with it. Good luck!

[Kiwi]

A polite reminder that we do have a guitar forum.  

 

www.guitarchat.co.uk

 

It could do with some love from guitar loving members on here.