Something very strange is happening...

[risingson]

I've been a bass player for 9 years now, since I was 11 or so, and have never been remotely interested in furthering my guitar skills past a certain point. I've always just focused solely on my bass playing, and have worked hard at it for a very long time now. However, having broken out the Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix, and Mayer tunes I've been playing guitar like mad... so much so I've got a serious hankering for a Mesa Boogie setup and a new Strat! I've always been okay on guitar, but I've never put this much effort into honing my skills at an instrument since I took up the bass all those years ago.

I guess my point is that the reason I originally picked up bass was because at school, I was asked to join a band, and both my other two friends had drums and a guitar coming their way that particular Christmas, so they asked me if I would buy a bass and join them. The irony is that I was the only one to stick at my chosen instrument and get good at it ultimately... but I can't help feeling like it might have been a different story for me if I'd picked up a guitar all those years ago instead of a bass. I've always had an okay ability at turning my hand to a lot of different instruments, and I guess I was lucky to get the chance to play because it's changed my life completely.

Bass will always be my first love, and probably always what I'm best at, but it did make me think...does anyone have a similar reason for picking up their first instrument? Do you all think had you been guitarists you would be where you are now? You put it all down to chance, or do any of you believe in fate? The floor is very much open for discussion!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Thinking back to my formative years I got into bass as my best mate already had a geetar, however I recall even before I bought a bass I always listened to the bass on records. On a record with good bass, how it sounds and locks in with the drums always appealed to me more than any amount of guitar widdling. I still enjoy the occasional strum on my thinline tele though.

[jonny-lad]

My first instrument is guitar, which I've played for around 11 years and I've played it plenty professionally, but I've played bass for more than 6 years aswell.

I've always been attracted to a good groove as a guitarist and although I love playing lots of lead, I really enjoy locking in with a good rhythm section. I sometimes struggle to find this as a guitarist, but not so much as a bassist.

Over the past year or so, I've been playing much more bass, I've upgraded all my gear and become better known as both a bassist and guitarist instead of just one or the other, and lately I have found myself more often in the position where my second instrument (bass) becomes my main instrument...I guess it has more to do with demand for bass players than anything, but I really enjoy playing bass as much as guitar and I'm way beyond the point of being a guitarist who happens to own a bass!

As long as it feels right to me to be playing either, I'll keep going!

[Wil]

I first picked up bass because the 2 other kids in junior school I wanted to form a band with played guitar. The Oasis covers band never got off the ground, thank god.

I played bass and guitar up until last year and now i've switched to guitar full time. Loving it, finding band practices far more fun and cant wait to do my first proper gigs as a guitarist. Plus I've got parts on order from Warmoth to make a freakin' sick axe.

[51m0n]

No chance. Bass grabbed me and spoke in a language I really understood. It also gave up secrets at a rate that guitar didnt (when I dabbled fora very brief time). Its not easier, I just found I progressed very quickly (maybe just how I'm wired). plus i was all I wanted to do in my spare time, where as with guitar it just didnt affect me like that at all.

[AM1]

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='501016' date='May 29 2009, 03:29 PM']I've been a bass player for 9 years now, since I was 11 or so, and have never been remotely interested in furthering my guitar skills past a certain point. I've always just focused solely on my bass playing, and have worked hard at it for a very long time now. However, having broken out the Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix, and Mayer tunes I've been playing guitar like mad... so much so I've got a serious hankering for a Mesa Boogie setup and a new Strat! I've always been okay on guitar, but I've never put this much effort into honing my skills at an instrument since I took up the bass all those years ago.

I guess my point is that the reason I originally picked up bass was because at school, I was asked to join a band, and both my other two friends had drums and a guitar coming their way that particular Christmas, so they asked me if I would buy a bass and join them. The irony is that I was the only one to stick at my chosen instrument and get good at it ultimately... but I can't help feeling like it might have been a different story for me if I'd picked up a guitar all those years ago instead of a bass. I've always had an okay ability at turning my hand to a lot of different instruments, and I guess I was lucky to get the chance to play because it's changed my life completely.

Bass will always be my first love, and probably always what I'm best at, but it did make me think...does anyone have a similar reason for picking up their first instrument? Do you all think had you been guitarists you would be where you are now? You put it all down to chance, or do any of you believe in fate? The floor is very much open for discussion![/quote]

Liam - an interesting topic.

I started playing bass only very recently after playing other instruments for a long time. I went through identical feelings to you for some time, but in the end couldn't ignore it. It is hard to imagine becoming equally obsessed with a new instrument, but believe me, it's astounding what can happen if you go with it!

But there's no point in wondering what if...because it may well be that even if you had picked up a guitar first, instead of bass, you may not have had the inclination for it at that time. When the time is right, for a certain instrument, it's right. Sometimes it's initiated by a certain player/players.

It's really, really strange to get a "calling" to play another instrument - and I don't mean pissing about on guitars, drums, keys etc, in the studio, I mean a serious, obsessive interest, like you feel with your first instrument.

I have always loved good bass but it has only been recently that the "calling" to play it appeared. Some people have whims over stuff like this but I think you can judge in your own mind, the difference betwen a whim and a serious passion for a "new" instrument. For example, I used to appreciate guitar parts in music, much more than bass. One example - The Rover, off Physical Graffiti, has an outstanding guitar solo, but now I listen to guitar and just hear "twiddling" - whereas I really "feel" the bass now. I don't know what or why it changed, but when it does...you should go with it!

Sometimes when you learn a new instrument, you find that you are able to express your musical personality in a completely different way. If you have music in you, the instrument is just a voice, but it's only when you find your "optimum" voice, that you can realise your true potential.

If the guitar speaks to you, then do it. You'll regret it if you don't.

Edited May 29, 2009 by AM1

[risingson]

[quote name='jonny-lad' post='501033' date='May 29 2009, 03:41 PM']My first instrument is guitar, which I've played for around 11 years and I've played it plenty professionally, but I've played bass for more than 6 years aswell.

I've always been attracted to a good groove as a guitarist and although I love playing lots of lead, I really enjoy locking in with a good rhythm section. I sometimes struggle to find this as a guitarist, but not so much as a bassist.

Over the past year or so, I've been playing much more bass, I've upgraded all my gear and become better known as both a bassist and guitarist instead of just one or the other, and lately I have found myself more often in the position where my second instrument (bass) becomes my main instrument...I guess it has more to do with demand for bass players than anything, but I really enjoy playing bass as much as guitar and I'm way beyond the point of being a guitarist who happens to own a bass!

As long as it feels right to me to be playing either, I'll keep going! [/quote]

That's cool... the one thing that always held me back at guitar is that I never wanted to fall into the trap or neither being an excellent bass player or guitar player, but rather a mediocre bassist/guitarist. For me it would have been too much to take in learning the two instruments at once, whilst now instead, I'm happy with my technique on bass, i.e. happy enough for it not to be ruined by concentrating my efforts a little more on my guitar playing. I think there was always a stigma attached to being both a guitarist and a bassist for me because ultimately, I think you'd have to be better on one or the other... or you'd have to focus all your energy on learning the one instrument, whereas now that does not present itself as a problem to me.

Confusing stuff

[Happy Jack]

I'm like Jean-Luc ... I was in love with bass long before I realised it.

It actually showed up for me in preferring the left hand in piano boogie, and I came to bass playing far later in life than I need have.

Incidentally, there's nowt strange about wanting to get stuck into another instrument. Even while fervently trying to improve as a bass player, I'm still dabbling with instruments I can play badly (guitar, piano) and getting started with instruments I can't play at all (mouth organ).

[risingson]

[quote name='AM1' post='501047' date='May 29 2009, 03:47 PM']Liam - an interesting topic.

I started playing bass only very recently after playing other instruments for a long time. I went through identical feelings to you for some time, but in the end couldn't ignore it. It is hard to imagine becoming equally obsessed with a new instrument, but believe me, it's astounding what can happen if you go with it!

But there's no point in wondering what if...because it may well be that even if you had picked up a guitar first, instead of bass, you may not have had the inclination for it at that time. When the time is right, for a certain instrument, it's right. Sometimes it's initiated by a certain player/players.

It's really, really strange to get a "calling" to play another instrument - and I don't mean pissing about on guitars, drums, keys etc, in the studio, I mean a serious, obsessive interest, like you feel with your first instrument.

I have always loved good bass but it has only been recently that the "calling" to play it appeared. Some people have whims over stuff like this but I think you can judge in your own mind, the difference betwen a whim and a serious passion for a "new" instrument. For example, I used to appreciate guitar parts in music, much more than bass. One example - The Rover, off Physical Graffiti, has an outstanding guitar solo, but now I listen to guitar and just hear "twiddling" - whereas I really "feel" the bass now. I don't know what or why it changed, but when it does...you should go with it!

Sometimes when you learn a new instrument, you find that you are able to express your musical personality in a completely different way. If you have music in you, the instrument is just a voice, but it's only when you find your "optimum" voice, that you can realise your true potential.

If the guitar speaks to you, then do it. You'll regret it if you don't.[/quote]


Yep, I've always loved the guitar... but don't get me wrong, I've always been into being a bass player a HUNDRED times more! Bass has always made a mountain more sense to me for so many reasons, and perhaps if I had taken up guitar all those years ago I might have found myself switching to bass because I prefer it. But... I don't suppose there are many musicians out there that are equally adept at being EQUALLY great at two or more instruments.

Sometimes, naive guitarists claim they are bass players as well, having never picked up a bass in their life... an assumption made on the basis of small similarities between the instruments, and equally vice versa too

[Eight]

Just play music. Especially if you're not pro, you've just got to spend time doing what you enjoy. Life is too short and you will be dead before you know it.

As much as I'd love to make the old traitor jokes etc. if something else is calling you then you've just got to do it.

[Bilbo]

For me, this is another of those things that is surrounded in myth. When we are young, developing players, we are convinced that we need to give 100% to our chosen instrument, in this case the bass, and that to spen anytime with another instrument, such as the guitar, will udnermine us in some way.

Bad!

There are 1,000s of great musicians out there that can play more than one thing. The one that impresses me at the moment is saxophonist Chris Potter who also plays guitar, keyboards and flute (if not more). Charles Mingus and Jack DeJohnette have both done solo piano lps, most arrangers have more than one instrument (piano is often one of them). Steve Swallow writes mostly on piano, as, I believe, does Pat Metheny. Al DiMeola is a credible percussionist. Omar Hakim, drummer with Weather Report and Madonna () plays guitar. The list is endless.

I play guitar and bass and am getting into piano to fill some gaps in my knowledge of harmony and orchestration. Bass is the one I gig on (have done a few on guitar but you wouldn't want to hear it ), Its the music that matters and knowledge you gain from playing one instrument is invaluable in broadening your insight into the MUSIC

[thisnameistaken]

Like a lot of people I started playing bass because two of my friends at school wanted to do a band. Soon realised though that all my favourite songs from before I was old enough to understand instrumentation were led by the bass part (Rhythm Stick, House of Fun, Peaches, etc.) so I figured playing bass made sense.

I've done gigs on drums but I don't practice them enough, done occasional gigs on guitar but I'm better on drums than guitar (!), can play keys well enough to use it to write songs and record any parts I need to record, can play one tune on alto sax (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy) and one on trombone (Guns of Navarone), and I've been having a bash at ukulele lately.

I plan to spend more time on guitar in future. My knowledge is mostly up to snuff but I've never got used to those fiddly little strings.

[Delberthot]

When I was 11, my best friend at the time and myself entered into a talent show which involved miming along to a Bruce Springstein track. Another friend suggest I borrow his acoustic guitar and mime using that. We even got the Shadows moves and everything going.

After the event, I found I enjoyed the sound of it and my earliest of memories is playing the beginning of the solo to 'its a hard life' by Queen. My friend offered to sell the guitar to me for £5 so I took it and played with it. I was then given a Japanese copy of a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic which is probably worth a fortune now (I sold it in the early 90s for £45 to I could get a setup done)

Come Christmas it was time to choose that year's present from the Litlewoods Home Shopping Catalogue and being so keen to learn more and get myself a proper electric guitar I went straight to the guitar pages (I was still too young to be interested in the lingerie section at that time :brow: )

Everyone wanted me to get an electric guitar but I spotted a Marlin Slammer which looked exactly like the bass John Deacon used in the 'One Vision' video for the princely sum of £99. It was soon ordered and I found myself listening more and more to the bass until come Christmas day I was able to plug my shiny new bass into my Squier 15w guitar amp via a Brian May style curly lead and play the beginning of 'Another One Bites the Dust'.

I loved playing so much that I would do it at every opportunity, annoying neighbours, family and anyone within earshot.


Although I rarely, if ever, pick up the bass in the house, I still love it just as much and am still glad that I chose this over the guitar. I've bought a couple of guitars and tried to stick with it to see if I could learn but ended up giving up and am not in the least bit regretful that I didn't take up the guitar.

When I play, I go into my own little dream world. Its my chance to properly express myself and be as one with my chosen instrument. Sounds a bit shmaltsy but that's exactly how I feel now. I can play every weekend and I still get the excitement building up the day before a gig. I never want to give up, just find lighter gear and make sure that I keep the valve monster at bay.

[risingson]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='501108' date='May 29 2009, 04:58 PM']For me, this is another of those things that is surrounded in myth. When we are young, developing players, we are convinced that we need to give 100% to our chosen instrument, in this case the bass, and that to spen anytime with another instrument, such as the guitar, will udnermine us in some way.

Bad!

There are 1,000s of great musicians out there that can play more than one thing. The one that impresses me at the moment is saxophonist Chris Potter who also plays guitar, keyboards and flute (if not more). Charles Mingus and Jack DeJohnette have both done solo piano lps, most arrangers have more than one instrument (piano is often one of them). Steve Swallow writes mostly on piano, as, I believe, does Pat Metheny. Al DiMeola is a credible percussionist. Omar Hakim, drummer with Weather Report and Madonna () plays guitar. The list is endless.

I play guitar and bass and am getting into piano to fill some gaps in my knowledge of harmony and orchestration. Bass is the one I gig on (have done a few on guitar but you wouldn't want to hear it ), Its the music that matters and knowledge you gain from playing one instrument is invaluable in broadening your insight into the MUSIC[/quote]

Hmm, I agree there are a lot of players out there that are good at other instruments, but Omar Hakim isn't known for his guitar playing, Mingus not so much for his piano playing, and DiMeola will always be remembered as a great guitar player and not a percussionist. I think putting all your eggs in one basket is never a good idea in any situation, but I do think that particular attention to a chosen instrument instead of focusing half your time on one and then the other is a productive use of any good studying musicians time. That's not to say that developing a skill on another instrument is a negative use of someone's time... on the contrary it is almost certainly a productive thing to do, but I guess the crux of my argument is that it's natural for a player to gravitate to their one instrument they feel comfortable with.

Which is why my recent guitar playing is confusing... I am at heart a bass player, it's my main instrument, and what I'm known for, yet I'm loving playing guitar so much right now. You could throw me in front of an oboe and force me to play and I'd still enjoy the music and the challenge of it... it just so happens that my attention at the moment is on that of the guitar. And who knows... it's most likely subject to change anyway, when next week I'll probably be raving about how much I'm enjoying bass again!

[MacDaddy]

started on classical guitar and 7 years later transfered the technique over to bass - via electric guitar.

My choice

[Musicman20]

Bass felt right...

Anyone who says 'bass is easy' is full of crap. my guitarist said it..so I told him to play mine. He couldnt. His hands couldnt handle it, and he has no real feel for rhythm.

Bass still rules my world. I do like Telecaster guitars...a lot, but a Fender P/J or Stingray is my home.

[RhysP]

I've been playing bass for 30 years now - it was the first instrument I learnt & I played nothing else for years.
Now I own twice as much guitar gear as bass gear, and play keyboards as well.
I love playing bass in a band or recording situation but I find just playing it on it's own very dull.
I'm a terrible guitarist and keyboard player but I get far more enjoyment from noodling about on them than I do from bass these days.

[gafbass02]

I'm 90% bass player, 10% human, nothing else really interested me. I owned a few strats cause I thought I should but
They just have no draw for me. But basses occupy the larger part of my brain at all times lol

[doctor_of_the_bass]

I started messing around aged 10 on my Dad's Fender Strat - he used to work in the middle east whilst I was a kid and thus I was able to sneak the guitar out of its case and just mess around on it. After a while, I was able to play along to cassette tapes of bands like The Shadows, the Police etc, but for some reason, I was working out the bass parts! Something clicked and next thing, Mum suggested to Dad that a bass might be the way forward...I got my Aria CSB-450 in Sept 1982 and within two months had joined a band and won a talent competition!

Bass is me really, I do own around 10 guitars and teach beginner/intermediate guitar but its not the same in terms of passion - I can outwiddle a lot of guitar players (again, they think I just play bass and they don't like it!) but its not where its really at for me; the bass is the real force in any musical situation and whilst I personally advocate playing other instruments, I'd rather be known as a bass player (I used to think it must be awful for someone to get famous on their second or third instrument rather than their true love!). On saying that, Mark King wanted to be the best drummer in the world, just that he got famous for doing it on bass!

Ciao!

Nick

[WHUFC BASS]

It annoys me when people on guitar / bass forums slag off their opposites. If you play music, does it really matter? You all have to get on when you're in a band together. The crux of it is to just avoid bad music - we play the bass / guitar to enjoy it. If you're playing music you don't enjoy and when I say music you enjoy I mean music you would actively promote and say to your mates - "this is the band I play in and this is the music I play" and listen to in the car and on your iPod and if it doesn't give you a buzz then forget it. You're in the wrong band or listening to the wrong sort of music.

It ain't easy to find the right band - almost as hard as finding the right woman but if you can find at least one then life ain't that bad at all.

[mcgraham]

Youth group was lacking musicians and I wanted to help out. I thought 'guitar or drums'. Someone said 'what about bass?'... what's a bass? was my response. 'It plays all the low notes'.... 'ok, what else can it do?'. They played me 'Higher Ground' (the RHCP version). That settled it. I simply had to be able to make that sound. The rest is history.

A year or so later I started dabbling on guitar as there was always one or two lying around at church. Once I got to uni I was putting in at least one or two a day on bass or guitar. Once I really got my ear and technique together, both instruments were unlocked together due to the similarity in their format/configuration. Guitar was something that got my attention after hearing Satriani. But I've always found that the guitar style and the guitar sounds that I love is trapped inside certain genres. The majority of genres do not demand lead lines or complex rhythm work on electric or acoustic. So I end up very bored. On guitar, I don't have the same level of control over the music, or the same ability to manipulate feel/groove etc, that I do on bass. Bass, even at its most simple, is just so satisfying all the time to me. Not saying that I would want to play single whole notes on the root my entire playing life, but if it's simple and gets the groove then it's really happening.

Basically, I love playing music, and I would love to spend loads of time on a number of instruments. But I can't, so I prioritise my time for my bass and spend the maximum amount of time I can on the instrument I love most, but also make time for the others I like too.

Mark

[hatori]

Hmmm an interesting thread indeed.
My dad was a lap steel player and into hawaian music and I think that sort of tingled the taste buds when I was a kid.
I took up the bass when I heard the beetles and later Mr Jamerson became the benchmark.
Now 45 years later I look back at people who have influenced me and find the likes of Leslie West and Johnny Winter played a big part, I think because of their feel and ,in Johnnys case energy. Both are superb slide players.
Recently Ive had a hankering to buy a Les Paul junior and take up Slide/Blues guitar as a sideline.
It hasnt diminished my love for the bass but added a whole new challenge for me.
We shall see....

[hubrad]

My first bass gig was when someone who had seen me on guitar, mandolin and flute asked me to dep on bass, even though I'd never even touched one before - "you'll be quite capable"!
Another mate had just bought a fretless, and lent me that.. I were proper smitten! Went out and got myself a fretless which I still use over 20 years later!
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44673"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44673[/url]
Once I stopped playing it like a mandolin I started getting a load of gigs!
I've never stopped playing anything else, though, and I find that new technique and material learned on one instrument will often either feed or affect my approach to the others. Do others get this?

[leschirons]

Most bassplayers will probably admit to becoming one by default having started out on a different instrument when young. I think it's great to have an insight into other instruments (drums and guitar in my case) it certainly makes you more musically aware in band situations although possibly more critical of the other members playing those other instruments too. I know it does with me.

[Doddy]

Bass guitar was my first instrument,with double bass following a couple of years later. I have no idea why I chose it,but it was a good
choice. I have done a few gigs on guitar but in general I don't feel any connection with the instrument-the tone and the feel just
doesn't do it for me. I've also played a couple of sessions on 5 string Banjo,and have a massive love for the drums(although I rarely
play anymore),but for me playing the Bass is where I'm comfortable.