Guitarist Tries To Play Bass

[Colledge]

[quote name='Davetbass' post='866409' date='Jun 13 2010, 08:55 PM']A couple of guitarists I know swopped recently to bass and informed me that they were now bassplayers. My reply was "No... you are bass OWNERS!!"

You never see someone that's gone from guitar to bass play with their fingers do you? It's always a pick.[/quote]
seen a few try... but they always seem awkward doing it.

[LukeFRC]

generally you can tell the guitarists playing bass for the love of little fills everywhere and the vague sense of timing that makes you think that they arnt really listening to the drummer,

bass players are more tempted to keep it simple and use space or rhythm to colour their lines and will actually play tightly in time with the rest of the band.


One lot still tends to be a load plectrum wielding of arrogant *****s too

[OutToPlayJazz]

You can always spot the guitarist trying to play a bass - They always hook their thumb over the top of the neck, play with that slanty hand (shockingly bad technique!) & have no clue what their fourth finger is for!

Strangely enough, violinists look the same when they try to play cellos or double basses.

To save the embarrassment, when someone who plays a soprano/alto instrument wants to play your cello/bass/electric bass, JUST SAY NO!

[ahpook]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='866463' date='Jun 13 2010, 09:24 PM']You can always spot the guitarist trying to play a bass - They always hook their thumb over the top of the neck, play with that slanty hand (shockingly bad technique!) & have no clue what their fourth finger is for![/quote]



hehehe...you're spot on, come to think of it.

[harvey1-8]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='866299' date='Jun 13 2010, 07:33 PM']I get this all the time in retail: 'I'd like to play guitar but I've heard bass is easier.'[/quote]

This winds me up a bit as well. People see a bass, and they think it looks like a guitar, and 4 strings = easier. They're wrong, it's a completely different instrument. It has a different purpose and you have to approach it and play it in a different manner.

Edit for spelling.

Edited June 13, 2010 by alexharvay

[ahpook]

[quote name='alexharvay' post='866484' date='Jun 13 2010, 09:33 PM']People see a bass, and they think it look like a guitar, and 4 strings = easier.[/quote]

if people mention that i ask them if they think a violin is easier to play than a guitar as well.

[harvey1-8]

[quote name='alexharvay' post='866484' date='Jun 13 2010, 09:33 PM'].... you have to approach it ....[/quote]

By that I don't mean sneak up on it from behind or anything.... Although, that might make it more interesting.

[lowdown]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='866329' date='Jun 13 2010, 08:03 PM']Why does no-one ever ask if it is easy to become a [b]MUSICIAN[/b] ?
T[/quote]



Very good....


Garry

[noelk27]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='866463' date='Jun 13 2010, 08:24 PM']You can always spot the guitarist trying to play a bass - They always hook their thumb over the top of the neck, play with that slanty hand (shockingly bad technique!) & have no clue what their fourth finger is for![/quote]

Not sure I'd agree about the 4th finger comment - find my 4th finger routinely in use when playing guitar. But you're right, the biomechanics - wrist angle particularly - are very different when playing guitar and playing bass. In part it's those physical attributes and learned behaviours that cause difficulties for players switching between instruments.

Similarly, the point about technique has some validity, although some notable bassists deploy the thumb over technique - Sting comes to mind - although it isn't by any means an essential in the bassist’s arsenal.

But the point about technique holds true for players switching between a variety of instruments - banjo players when switching to guitar, and vice versa, is a good example.

Any musician with a modicum of commonsense would recognise that they may have some transferable knowledge, but that all instruments require differing techniques. It’s ignorance - and bigotry - that has a musician versed in one instrument diminishing the worth or skills of a musician versed in a different instrument.

[tauzero]

I used to play in the house band for an open mic night. One night I was late getting there and the guitarist, a brilliant jazz player, had taken up the bass. It, er, wasn't very good. As soon as he could, he shoved the bass at me and told me to take over.

There's a guitarist I know who teaches guitar and who is a good player. On a local bands web forum, a band was bemoaning the fact that they couldn't play a gig because their bassist couldn't make it. I wish I remember his exact words, but it was along the lines of "give a guitarist a CD and he'll learn the bass lines in ten minutes". I was too dumbfounded to reply to that...

[tauzero]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='866463' date='Jun 13 2010, 09:24 PM']You can always spot the guitarist trying to play a bass - They always hook their thumb over the top of the neck, play with that slanty hand (shockingly bad technique!) & have no clue what their fourth finger is for![/quote]
You missed out "fret with the middle finger and slide it up and down the fretboard".

[Golchen]

Oh surprise, another bash the guitarists thread. Such insecurity here. I go to loads of different instrument forums, and bass players are the ONLY ones with a permanent chip on their shoulder. So, I'm a guitarist who also plays other instruments. I've been told that I play bass like a bassist and that's good enough for me. I'm outta here ....

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Golchen' post='866642' date='Jun 13 2010, 11:59 PM']Oh surprise, another bash the guitarists thread. Such insecurity here. I go to loads of different instrument forums, and bass players are the ONLY ones with a permanent chip on their shoulder. So, I'm a guitarist who also plays other instruments. I've been told that I play bass like a bassist and that's good enough for me. I'm outta here ....[/quote]

Cuh, guitarists...

[ironside1966]

On a who plays what hands up at uni most of the guitar players put their hands up for bass also.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[SteveO]

IMO, bass [i]is[/i] easier than guitar. Its a lot harder to play physically, but the 'hard' stuff - strong sense of rhythm, knowledge of theory to make note selection etc. - its stuff that any musician needs to know to become truly proficient at their instrument. The easy stuff - playing Root, 5th, Root, Root is definitely easier than playing easy guitar. For the multi instrumentalists, how long did it take to memorise the different chord shapes? Do you think it will be harder to learn the different note positions on a bass than on a guitar?

I learnt music playing Trumpet. When I fell in love with the bass it took about 3 months before I could hold my own in a band. it took about 5 months before I was at the same standard on rhythm guitar. - I never got round to playing lead


... of course they are different instruments and playing bass like a guitar is just wrong. Go to your guitar emporium and play stairway to heaven on a precision - you'll look just as silly as if you played the groove to mustang sally on a strat.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='SteveO' post='866706' date='Jun 14 2010, 07:34 AM']IMO, bass [i]is[/i] easier than guitar. Its a lot harder to play physically, but the 'hard' stuff - strong sense of rhythm, knowledge of theory to make note selection etc. - its stuff that any musician needs to know to become truly proficient at their instrument. The easy stuff - playing Root, 5th, Root, Root is definitely easier than playing easy guitar. For the multi instrumentalists, how long did it take to memorise the different chord shapes? Do you think it will be harder to learn the different note positions on a bass than on a guitar?

I learnt music playing Trumpet. When I fell in love with the bass it took about 3 months before I could hold my own in a band. it took about 5 months before I was at the same standard on rhythm guitar. - I never got round to playing lead


... of course they are different instruments and playing bass like a guitar is just wrong. Go to your guitar emporium and play stairway to heaven on a precision - you'll look just as silly as if you played the groove to mustang sally on a strat.[/quote]

I think that after playing a while, most musicians, be they bassists, guitarists, etc can accept a certain amount of humility, if they are honest with themselves. If anyone asks me what I play, I tell them I`m a bassist, who can also play guitar (I`ve actually been playing guitar longer, but I`m no guitarist). In the band I`m in in, both of the guitarists accept that they play bass like a its guitar.

Think it all comes back to the understanding issue - most people can hear the guitar as the focal point in the music, see there are less strings on a bass, so therefore, bass HAS to be easier.

Whenever I`m asked for my views on the bass, I say don`t think of it as a guitar with 4 strings, think of it as a drum-kit with 4 strings. Just my take on it, but think thats the easiest way I can describe it, and its main role in the band.

[Pete Academy]

There's no doubt bass is physically easier to learn. In fact, beginners can root-note their way through a song, while the guitarist has to learn the chords. I stress this when someone asks about it.

The OP was about how guitarists approach a bass when they try to play it. ie. as if it's a guitar with two less very thick strings on it.

[Conan]

I'm not sure all these analogies work very well TBH. There is a lot of overlap in how basses and guitars get used. Guitarists like Nile Rodgers play in a very rhythmic style - more like the "role" of a bass, and some bass players play chordal, harmonic bass parts (like some of Tom Jenkinson's stuff on six string bass) that are more typical of guitar players.

That's cool. They are two different instruments but from the same family. Maybe not brothers, but certainly cousins. To use an analogy...

[cheddatom]

I played guitar since I was 8 and only bought a bass when I was 16. I never tried to play it like a guitar, although I do play chords a lot. I'd call myself more of a bassist than a guitarist, but that's because i've never played a gig on guitar I think.

[tauzero]

[quote name='SteveO' post='866706' date='Jun 14 2010, 07:34 AM']For the multi instrumentalists, how long did it take to memorise the different chord shapes?[/quote]
What, both of them?

I started on guitar and took up bass later, which meant I had an idea of what notes were in various chords and scales. It's easier translating guitar knowledge to bass than to keyboards. I think it would be a bit more difficult going from bass to guitar, but I also feel that it's useful for a bassist to have at least a basic grasp of another melodic instrument. Drums would probably be handy too - it's something I'd like to have some ability at but have never got round to.

[Starless]

I was thinking about this, and in a gig situation - who has the 'easier' life? If you assume two guitarists (one generally a chordsman, and the other a twiddler), just who is working harder throughout the evening?

The bass player (and drummer) in the vast majority of cases have to maintain the beat, the tempo, in fact they are responsible for the entire evening's 'feel'. The bassist isn't simply thumping out 4 beats-in-the-bar root notes all night (surely). There is a lot of invention woven around the beats - I would venture as much invention as a lead guitarist. But the lead guitarist does not play lead throughtout the whole evening, every second of every song (just shoot the bugger if he does), whereas the bass player (to a lesser degree) is playing 'lead' notes most of the time (just not as obviously audible).

The chordsman has an easy life. Make a shape with your fingers and then keep that shape for a few bars, and then make another shape.. repeat whilst strumming/chugging with the occasional arpeggio or hammer-on to wow the audience. Child's play.

Any bass player worth his salt knows how to play (at least) 1st position chords on a geetar (if for no other reason than to be able to recognise what is being played by a guitarist when you have to 'wing' a song for the first time).

I have packed up the gear after a good night's work and felt my arms/hands/fingers throbbing after the exertions of the evening (drummer flaked out behind his stool). It can be bloody hard work! The guitarists pull their jack-plugs, look at their fingertips and go 'Ooh, a bit raw luvvie, how's yours?'.

In the old days of my first teen bedroom band (almost 40 years ago), I played guitar, was probably the best at it, but moved to bass because anyone else who played it just followed the root notes. They eventually ended up playing rhythm guitar - which surely is the lowest common denominator in a band. Although the concept of a purely rhythm guitarist is long gone, that is exactly what a 'lead' guitarist becomes in-between his twiddly bits - so for the vast majority of a gig all guitarists actually spend their time being the dumbass rhythm player - a job that requires the least talent of any of the band's functions.

(IMHO of course )

Edited June 14, 2010 by Starless

[cheddatom]

I my band(s) we know our roles and respect each other's. None of us put in more effort than the others. Maybe it [i]is[/i] really easy for the guitarist to play that fast and sing at the same time, but the rythm section don't give a f*ck because he's doing it well.

[Starless]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='867121' date='Jun 14 2010, 03:48 PM']I my band(s) we know our roles and respect each other's. None of us put in more effort than the others. Maybe it [i]is[/i] really easy for the guitarist to play that fast and sing at the same time, but the rythm section don't give a f*ck because he's doing it well.[/quote]

Sorry, I just edited in a little winking smilie to my post. Don't want to get too heavy....

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Starless' post='867132' date='Jun 14 2010, 03:59 PM']Sorry, I just edited in a little winking smilie to my post. Don't want to get too heavy....[/quote]

hey man i'm trying to keep it light
I'm not saying you aren't necessarily right
It takes the bass and drums to make a band tight
But I wouldn't sack the guitard just because of spite

Edited June 14, 2010 by cheddatom