As a very bad bass player who became a very bad guitarist...
...as I wasn't playing in bands then the bass as a main instrument just became deeply dull, whereas strumming a guitar sounded a bit more like something. I think that was mainly it.
As a, now, very sloppy guitarist I think I would be a very sloppy bassist and you want a much more disciplined approach (often hardest to do with the simpler basslines).
One thing like about bass is that it is much better for applying theory to. Playing guitar it is quite often a fight between what the familiar patterns and nature of guitar tuning want you to do and what your intellect is telling you to do. With bass with a simplifed fretboard (assuming you stick at 4 strings)and not usually playing more than one note at a time then the world of exploring harmony actually opens up more (or it does for me anyway, this might be an unusual experience).
The other thing is that guitarists tend to be stuck within quite limited style parameters whereas with bass a wider world of music tends to open up( the only barriers being music where there is a very specialised approach to bass like slap bass or being Lemmy*).
And, yes, being a good bass player you will get more/better gigs. Although your hair will fall out and you will lose the ability to move from the spot on stage.
* he was a clue on Only Connect last night!
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I "switched" but only in the sense that bass is now my primary stringed instrument and guitar secondary.
I started my road down to "being a bassist" when my mate asked me to jam with him and a drummer friend because I, err, had a bass guitar. So I did, and it was fun. Lots of fun. Eventually, I realised that I liked playing bass more than guitar---I think the single notes at a time thing fits in better with my musical talents (I'm a good flute player, but things that involve multiple tasks at once like piano/drums I've always sucked at) . I was also never a "lead" guitarist, I never wanted to play the blazing solos, I like playing cool chord sequences and riffs etc. I don't really like all of the big "guitar hero" bands like Zep, Queen, Clapton etc, I always think that the song is important and the instrumentation less so.
For the last year or so I've really been concentrating on bass---trying to learn fingerstyle and think like a bassist instead of a guitarist.
I still enjoy playing guitar, but its definitely secondary to bass now.
Last edited by uncle_psychosis; 15th January 2013 at 05:26 PM.
I played guitar and bass from the start. About 10 years ago bass became my primary.
They are totally different beasts. The notes might be in the same place, but that is as far as it goes.
Anyone swapping should ignore their usual genres and play something new, until the thought processes change. I recommend James Brown and Graham Central Station.
I love the bass. I love fingerstyle playing - seems more of a connection than a pick. And the bass is so versatile - almost every form of music can use it.
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I play both, and alternate back and forth sometimes. Currently I'm only playing guitar in any form of band, but the last 'proper' band I was in, I was playing bass, as well as another temporary project. Although I'm first and foremost a guitarist - I tend to think 'chordally', not 'riff-based' or 'solo-based' though, so I'm not a very conventional guitarist - I don't have any problem playing bass *not* like a guitar... I think of them as two quite different instruments that happen to share the same basic geometry and part of the tuning. If anything I might even prefer the sound of the bass - that's possibly why I've always liked 'big' guitar sounds and amps.
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I say guitar is my "first" instrument and bass is my "second". IMO it takes a whole different attitude to play bass because the function of the bass in a band is nothing like that of a guitar. I used to play it with fingers but found it wrecked my nails so I couldn't use 'em on guitar, so I started using a Jazz-III pick.
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I've played both for a long time, but I still have a tendency to play bass like a guitarist not a bassist.
I do think about bass more, as you have to be able to lock in with drummer, not just play along like a guitarist.
I enjoy playing bass when I record. I read an interview with Sting where he made the point that bass players have more influence over a band's sound than some people think. If the guitarist or keyboard player plays an Am7, the bass player can change it into C major by playing a root C underneath it, or keep it as is by underpinning it with an A. He might be pompous, but that idea really intrigued me and made me investigate bass-lines a lot more. Playing bass in the context of an arrangement definitely expands your musical thinking.
Does anyone know of any tutorial books specifically targetted at switching between guitar and bass?
Like many others, I consider myself as a guitarist but *also* have a bass sitting at home for messing/recording with. Given the common nature of this scenario it would be good to have a book/DVD that properly addresses this switch over. I don't need to know how to tune up and I don't need to know what a pentattonic scale is but changing to fingerstyle, altering mindset and that sort of thing would be useful don't you think?
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No books for swaps that I know about.Originally Posted by flanging_fred
All you can do really is start playing along to music where the bass is not just following the guitar part.
Prince, Larry Graham, Bev Knight, Horrorpops, The Who, James Brown, Glen Miller, Cherry Poppin Daddies etc etc.
And listen to the drums! Ignore the melody for a while and lock with The One
The Reverend Lord Henry was not one of those new-fangled parsons who carry the principles of their vocation uncomfortably into private life.
Next time you re-string your guitar, just put the 6th and 5th strings on it and play around with that for a week.
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