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Im sick of playing the guitar. how to get into bass?

emir

By emir
in Bass Guitar

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emir Newbie

emir

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Hey guys, this would be the first time for me posting here.

 

first of all, i blame a forumite over at GJ for posting a Victor Wooten vid. of course, i was naturally gobsmacked. im not too shabby at the guitar (im a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist, been playing for 15) http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyk84idMiaw for a vid of mine. but the style of heavy funk is unequivocally cool. i dig it.

 

 

I suppose now is a good time for me to start back from square one, as i have no formal music training whatsoever. tabs are both a blessing and a curse. i need to learn rhythm and groove properly, some music theory, etc.

 

any advice for a guitarist treading this new waters? any recco for an adequate budget bass for me to get started?

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way2fat Newbie

way2fat

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Hey guys, this would be the first time for me posting here.



any advice for a guitarist treading this new waters? any recco for an adequate budget bass for me to get started?

 

 

Understand that equipment is quite a bit heavier and more expensive and you'll need about 4X the power as a guitarist.

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Muddslide Newbie

Muddslide

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hey, whats the difference between a P and a J bass?

 

 

Ps rule and the J is a mere pretender.

 

m/:evil:m/

 

j/k. I love a good J.

 

You're gonna hear a lot of subjective things about tone...Ps are boomier, Js have more growl, etc.

 

It all comes down to what you prefer. Get thee to a music store and try out a P and a J.

 

Fender Js have narrower necks and two pups.

 

Fender Ps have huge hairy sacks.

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Brother Mango Newbie

Brother Mango

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Hey guys, this would be the first time for me posting here.


first of all, i blame a forumite over at GJ for posting a Victor Wooten vid. of course, i was naturally gobsmacked. im not too shabby at the guitar (im a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist, been playing for 15)
for a vid of mine. but the style of heavy funk is unequivocally
cool
. i dig it.



I suppose now is a good time for me to start back from square one, as i have no formal music training whatsoever. tabs are both a blessing and a curse. i need to learn rhythm and groove properly, some music theory, etc.


any advice for a guitarist treading this new waters? any recco for an adequate budget bass for me to get started?

 

 

 

I know of a frog that you might have more fun playing with.

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t3ch Newbie

t3ch

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I tried that bass guitar thing once. Strings were too big, too far apart, frets too far apart, and the scale was about 10 inches too long. Aside from that it was fun for a few hours.

 

:thu:

 

I missed power chords and scale-runs at 250bpm too much and went back to a real instrument :cool:

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Grumpy_Polecat Veteran

Grumpy_Polecat

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Hey guys, this would be the first time for me posting here.


first of all, i blame a forumite over at GJ for posting a Victor Wooten vid. of course, i was naturally gobsmacked. im not too shabby at the guitar (im a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist, been playing for 15)
for a vid of mine. but the style of heavy funk is unequivocally
cool
. i dig it.



I suppose now is a good time for me to start back from square one, as i have no formal music training whatsoever. tabs are both a blessing and a curse. i need to learn rhythm and groove properly, some music theory, etc.


any advice for a guitarist treading this new waters? any recco for an adequate budget bass for me to get started?

 

 

 

Hi.

 

Your vid was nice stuff. Shows a philosophical understanding of the neck, which is very good. As well you have an understanding of the math and geometric layout --all of which is nigh unto impossible to teach to a talentless person...

 

So, with the feather you have in you cap, firmly placed by this life-long student of music I will say what I always say, which is that I learned more about guitar from playing bass than I could ever learn about bass, playing guitar. I think the impetus here is that less at times CAN be more.

 

Just this week I was asked why a guitarist can't just pick up a banjo and start playing. My knee jerked and I thought 'because he's an arrogant asswipe!' But then I thought a little more clearly and gave him this answer:

 

The foundational and fundamental aspects of banjo and guitar are very similar but the approach is quite different. Both have strings and frets and are calibrated to a length that is comfortable to play, but there's a big difference between plucking out Mary Had a Little Lamb and doing either Orange Blossom Special or Scatterbrain. The difference lies (as said before) in the approach.

 

A person who has developed the musculature and coordination for one instrument would have a great advantage over a complete tyro, but aside from this element theter is very little in common.

 

Bass takes not only a different technique but a totally different mindset. Various instruments play certain specific roles in an ensemble and those who understand this tend to do better than those who do not. This does not mean that there are hard, fast rules which must always be followed but it does mean you need to be in the right place at the right time. A drummer has the job of keeping tempo for the song and the group. If his fills don;t end on time, everyone is screwed! And if he can't get the roll in in time, he needs to STOP doing the roll, and do his job.

 

Bass is very similar to dfrums in that it is in the rhythm section but it is also in a doorway to fill spaces left out by the front instruments. (I speak here with no consideration of style. The rule applies whether punk or classical or anywhere in between)

 

Bass is also very similar to guitar in that the notes and neck lay out the same way, but the similarities end there. No matter how good a wanker you are, at some point a good bassist knows to just lay back and hold it all down. (As an exercise, try playing the bass part from AC/DC's 'Live Wire'. It's harder to do than you think, because it requires DISCIPLINE and doing what the song calls for instead of getting yourself off.)

 

You will find that an entirely different set of things will be done with your right hand on bass (same applies to banjo), but in many ways the left hand technique is the same. That is, until you realize that a bassist will use different scales and modes than a guitarist would...

 

Anyway, welcome to the dark side.

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Muddslide Newbie

Muddslide

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Bass takes not only a different technique but a totally different mindset.

 

 

Pure gospel Truth right there...

 

 

Bass is very similar to dfrums in that it is in the rhythm section but it is also in a doorway to fill spaces left out by the front instruments. (I speak here with no consideration of style. The rule applies whether punk or classical or anywhere in between)


Bass is also very similar to guitar in that the notes and neck lay out the same way, but the similarities end there. No matter how good a wanker you are, at some point a good bassist knows to just lay back and hold it all down.

 

 

Mo' Truth.

 

I always think of the bass as the bridge in a way.

 

It's both the melodic rhythm instrument and the rhythmic melody instrument. I'ts really quite a position of power, even if it's not a place for sheer ego-aggrandizement.

 

Many people don't pay the bass much attention. But I guarantee you if someone were to remove the basslines from a song you always liked, you would notice the difference in a big way.

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