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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Other string instruments → Starting Bass
Hey me and my friends were starting and alternative/rock band and I was going to be bass and I haven't tried it before but I think it will be easy so I wanted to get some pointers and tips
the bass is known to be easier than the guitar since it only has 4 strings, sometimes 5 or more!
But it can be just as hard. Learn all the scales and you will find it easier. Also your fingers will ache until they are broken in. Your fingertips will ache until they toughen up, and they will toughen up and you will find it easier.
start off just playing basic notes along wit hthe drums for a song.
Also mentioning drums, play with the drums and not the guitar, the drums and bass is the backbone to a band, the guitarist should be playing along with drums and bass. Lots of ego maniac lead guitarists think that all instruments including drums should be listening to him or her all the time. I have seen this in a few bands, these are usually the bands that get nowhere.
Also these guitarists want to be heard so much that he amplifies his guitar so loud that no can hear their own instrument
Ken
If anyone asks you 'how easy is bass to play' you answer 'how dull would you like me to play?'. Bass is a support instrument and you can just plunk away at the root, on some songs this is just right, but otherwise it is dullsville.
Problem I've had is finding good bass tutor books, alot start by throwing theory at you, more so than regular guitar. I hate this kind of 'country style lick', 'funk style groove' approach to learning. Give me real songs to get my teeth into. To this end I bought the Bass Tab White Pages, amazing value but alot of the songs are quite elaborate, real bassists choice stuff (Elvis's All Shook Up is very a very good practiser though).
My current beginners songs; Louie Louie, Hang On Sloopy, Little Honda, You're No Good and if you really love musicals Summer Loving from Grease!
I play bass in my band. It is not an easy instrument, unless you want to suck at it. It is more difficult to play than the guitar for one simple reason. To play it well, you *must* know scales, so you can create walks and bass lines in key. You should know where the IV and V of every key is at a minimum.
The strings are heavier, and the frets, particularly at the top of the neck, are much wider, so your hands are going to stretch, and need to be in good condition. Further, it's not a "support" instrument. It's the rhythm section. If you can't find the pocket, there is no where you can hide. Your guitard will hide behind you all the time. You have no such out.
If you play bass regularly for a while, you will find the guitar a much simpler instrument to play. All those long reach chords will all of a sudden seem quite small.
Thanks for that Jerome, I've been enjoying the fact that basslines bond onto the song, lead guitar lines always seem so superfluous, electric solos are like playing a song's worth of material in ten seconds. 'California Girls' by the Beach Boys is a very good practise piece, it's based on;
-------------------
------6-----------
----9---9---------
--7--------7------
Looks easy eh? and in a way it is. Plunk those notes and you have all the verse rhythmn. Now try singing along with what you are playing. Troublesville. Suddenly I realised the words had to be phrased just right to match in and that the bass had to swing the beat just a tiny bit to sound interesting. I'm still working on it...
The chorus is a simple double beat on the top E string (2) 7 9 5 7 3 5 (up to 7 and back into the verse rhythmn).
Singing and playing the bass is beyond me for most songs. I can do it if it's a really simple country walk, but anything even remotely complex will have me fumbling the line, the lyric, or most likely both.
Guys like Geddy Lee and Les Claypool just make me stop and scratch my head.
Just got Ed Friedland's Bass Grooves (Develop Your Groove and Play Like The Pros In Any Style) book from Amazon today and I can report it's very good. I was after a mid-point between abstract exercises and songs that are too fast and too fiddly for a novice. Bass Grooves fits the bill as it doesn't waste pages on buying/maintaining a bass it gets straight in with familiar grooves. Pages 14 & 15 already had me concentrating, 'the shuffle' isn't as easy as it might appear.
Interestingly for Jerome Friedland encourages the player to skat sing phrases like ba-chk-da and a-dig-a-chik-a over the passages to build up the right feel and yes it works. Your friends and relatives will think you've gone nuts but it's worth it to get that locked in feel.
If I feel really brave tomorrow, I'll attempt James Brown's lasting groove legacy 'The One' :-)
I absolutely believe in trying to sing what you play as you play it. It's a pretty common technique, and when you're able to do it, people will think you're way better than you are.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Other string instruments → Starting Bass
