Hello!

A friend of mine asked me if I could play bass in his band, and I'm acctually thinking of it.. I suppose it could be good to master more instruments than just guitar to be a even better guitarist.

Here is some of the biggest differences with a bass:

Seems to be a longer distance between the frets (should improve my stretch, the space between the strings are wider (could improve my speed on the guitar), the strings are thicker (makes my fingertips hardened, and I could perhaps improve my picking hand's speed, if I use a pick).

Am I right, or will I instead lose some of my guitarskill, if I won't be able to practice as much as I used to. Does anyone of you have some experience in this issue?

See you around, everyone!

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I had no problem with it.....depends what u play in ur band. If the bass is one of the lead instruments then things get difficult. other than that i found that bass was alot easier to play than electric. oh yeah i would play without a pick....fingerpicking gets worked and sounds better

Some of the best bassists in the world use a pick. I think Les Claypool does, if I'm not mistaken. I'm pretty sure Geddy Lee (Rush) does, too.

You'll have to remember that bass and guitar, although they look similar, are two very different instruments. You can't really pull the same tricks both ways. Your job will be to set the groove, not to display speed or anything. Even virtuoso-type bassists (e.g. Geddy Lee, Raskolnikov ) will always keep the rhythm pounding while doing some crazy stuff.

Personally, I prefer my bass to be more John-Paul Jonesian; nice, tight groove, and knowing exactly when to break it out with some ear-pleasing fills and runs. But no root-note sleepy-time bass. Even Adam Clayton (U2) fits that description. I've yet to find a bassist that will do all that, though.

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... and that's all I have to say about that.

ALL generalizations are WRONG

[/sarcasm]

Les NEVER plays with a pick and I'm pretty sure Geddy rarely uses one. Then again, I'm not very into Rush, so I could be completely wrong on that.

When I want a "pick" tone (rarely), my logic is this: "I can't drop my thumb."

Playing finger style is just so much fatter and warmer sounding.


Anyway, bass skills reenforce guitar skills. Guitar skills reenforce bass skills. You can only win by doing this.

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Raskolnikov
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Hmm... I remember in some old thread around here, someone mentioned one world-renowned bassist who uses a pick....

It's in some thread where Lordathestrings recounts a festival/concert where he was shouting at some bassist to "ditch the pick", or something like that.

I do agree with the nicer tone from fingers; in fact, I never use a pick when playing bass. But, for certain applications, and a certain tone, picks do come in handy. (ha, ha! you get it? HANDY!!!! BRAHH HA HA HA HA!!!! HA H... hmmm... yes.)

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... and that's all I have to say about that.

ALL generalizations are WRONG

[/sarcasm]

A pick will give you a more mid-range rhythmic sound. If you use your fingers, you'll get a fatter and boomer sound. I think the pick sounds better in rock situations, and the fingers in more of a jazz or jam situation. So when I play, if the guitar is distorted I'll use a pick, if the guitar is clean I'll use my fingers. To switch all you do is tuck the pick into the palm of your hand with your thumb. Not hard to do. In the end it just goes by the sound you want.

The best thing that will come from playing bass is you'll get a chance to look at music in a different perspective. By playing many different instruments, you get to see how they work and how to make them work with other instruments. See you can't really write a piano piece if you don't play piano. Yeah you may be able to throw something together but it's not until you sit down and play that you actually see how the instrument works.

I don't think your guitar playing will get much better from playing bass. You'll probably learn to pay more attention to a groove rather than strumming and palm muting chords, but it won't better your technique on the guitar. It will enlighten you, and maybe when you write your own songs you'll better know how to write bass lines with guitar parts. They are two different instruments which focus in different areas of music. That's where you'll benefit.

I would listen to some good bassists from the style of music your going to be playing before you try out. Maybe even learn some of the tunes (better yet the ones you know on the guitar already). That way you see how to put things together and you don't go in playing bass as a guitarist. Instead with some knowledge of bass playing.

One more thing, listen to the drummer when you play. If you sync in with him, your band will sound alot better.

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"My whole life is a dark room...ONE BIG DARK ROOM" - a.f.i.

I want to say something significant about playing bass but I've got nothing. I started out on bass (I just realized I've been saying the opposite of late, getting the two lengths that I've been playing mixed up, bass and guitar) but it was jazz bass. I played the electric bass way up high, using what I believe to be proper plucking techniques - guitar high enough that you can use the extreme sides of your two plucking fingers so it just kind of thuds out the notes like a percussion instrument. Take a look at a guy playing the double bass and how his plucking fingers hits the strings, that's how a bass is meant to be played. If you play bass as low as the average player plays it you're not going to get any aspect of bass playing right in my opinion. Tone, speed and accuracy.

'Bass player drives the bus' ... tempo wise. It's really another percussion instrument which is why the drummer/bass player groove has to be the tightest part of a band. Everything else is bonus. (Can you imagine if dance music were performed live and the drums and bass were off?)

If you're gonna argue the bass tempo bit consider a walking bebop bass line. In rock I guess it's more drummer. ONE two THree four. Cymbol crash. lol.