Hey i normally play guitar but ive recently become intrested in the bass because it is sweet and fun to play. I was talking to my friend, a very talented bassist and he said the even though they are conceptually the same, a good bassline is very different then a good guitar riff and just cause you can play one doesnt mean you can play the other (well). I was wondering what exactly the difference musically is, it seems to me that you play a lot of 1st and 5ths, especially with rock and traditional music. Any clarifications would be appriciated.
"And above all, respond to all questions regarding a given song's tonal orientation in the following manner: Hell, it don't matter just kick it off!"
-Chris Thile
The difference is party the role you play as well as the actual part of the soundscape you exist in. The role is to be...well, it's like playing with a drummer as if there was no drummer. As a bassist, it's almost as if you're playing a drum kit right along with the drummer - heavy on the downbeat of every measure to match his kick drum, lighter beats in between. When I'm playing bass in a band, I tend to focus more on the hi-hat and what the drummer's doing with that. It gives me the downbeat normally, and breaks the measure up into smaller bits. That's what I'm listening for - the smaller bits - so I can match that with my own notes. Like, does the piece have a eighth feel or a sixteenth feel, or does it swing; that sort of thing. I cue off that.
When I play guitar in a band I'm listening more to the snare, and then the hi-hats. A drumkit is interesting because there's things happening on different levels, different intervals, like the kick comes in every once in awhile, but the snare is more often, and the hats are usually breaking things up into the smallest units. The crashes and whatnot signal ends or beginnings of longer parts, and so on.
As bassist, you stay close with the drummer, and you can get to the point where he'll do something unexpected sometimes, and you'll follow right along - like some different fill or roll or something. If you're listening, and focused, you can almost predict what the drummer will do and then play right along.
As guitarist, even riffing, the measures are usually broken up more; on a different rhythmic level to add interest to the slower, longer things happened in the bass/kick drum region. The guitar role is to break things up, syncopate, add harmonies, while the bass, though it can also harmonize, usually stays more in the rhythmic role.
Hope this helps.
