A bass player doesn’t have to be flashy or loud, but a band won’t survive long with a weak bass.
It sometimes seems that no one else besides you wants to play the bass. Bass players are often perceived to be less important than the vocalist, drummer, and lead guitarist. In reality, a bass player has to have an entirely different attitude about the music. A bass player doesn’t have to be flashy or loud, but a band won’t survive long with a weak bass. Bass players have to be stable, since they build the rhythm “foundation” of each song. The bass player and drummer will determine whether your band is mediocre, good, or great.
In celebration of his hot selling book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar, David has put together a couple of bass lessons exclusively for the readers of Guitar Noise. Learn how to play this classic Pink Floyd song. It’s as easy as counting to seven (and occasionally eight)!
Here’s a great piece for beginners trying to get a handle on this confusing subject. And Paul Ortiz has gone above and beyond, providing some truly excellent MP3s to illustrate Dan’s lesson. Kudos to both of these guys!
Here is the lowdown on British bass guitar amplifiers. We detail the similarities and differences between the various amps and give you some help choosing.
Dan shares with us his love of the fretless bass guitar. He explains the difference no frets make and offers some reasons why you might want to go fretless.
Many people have asked about playing chords on the bass, so here is a discussion on how chords are built up from notes, and how they apply to the bass.
How do you know what to play when you only know the chords? This lesson shows you some ways to come up with basslines that sound close enough to the original.
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