Do You play/own a Bass AND Guitar?

Hi! :lol:

I just want to say this: if you have a small doubt on buying a bass, if you can afford it, do it! Buy it! There are very good advices in the post that you mentioned, I can only add it is very funny and I am enjoying a lot these days! To me it comes a new dimension to the music because I am playing or trying to play new music styles and songs.

On the amp. I didn't buy it. I live in a small flat and there are no room for an amp (too many guitars and computers). I'm playing unplugged or through the computer using the GarageBand amp emulations.

On the poll. I thought I was a guitar player but currently I don't know if I am a bass player playing guitars... I need some time playing the bass. Perhaps I am excited by the novelty.

:D

I have many guitars and other instruments, and among those is a 5-string bass. Owning the bass did not lead diectly to buying a bass amp, as recording doesn't absolutely require one. But holding jams led me to buy a compact bass amp, as well as PA.

And I will be buying or building at least two more basses: probably a JB style and a fretless.

I find bass playing skills complement and expand on those of guitar. As for guitar, there are many ways to play bass from the "classic" two-finger approach that is a bit like playing classical guitar to slapping and popping to plectrum to thumb+fingers. Bass is a good gateway to reading standard notation and learning the fretboard (for those who are kind of lazy about it on guitar). And bass is most often a rhythm instrument, so it improves rhythm chops for guitar and percussion playing. The latter is a real plus.

I only have 3 guitars and I am trying to sell one so I can pay of the amp I have on layaway.

Two basses, one electric guitar, one acoustic guitar, one mandolin. The difficulty is finding time for them all.

If I had to pick one, it would be bass.

I play guitar on the treble strings and bass on lower two.

Did that in 'Working Class Hero'.

Would love to own and play a real bass guitar, but unfortunately they don't carry even left handed acoustic or electric guitar in my place, what to say about a bass... :oops:

Hi,

I mostly have regular guitars, but I do own a bass too. I bought a basic (should that be bassic?...) inexpensive Johnson bass that came with a bass amp. It's nothing flash, but it serves to learn on and generally muck about with. One of my musical goals is to be able to write my own songs and then be able to turn out a reasonable version. So I'm collecting the tools.

I don't expect to be good any time soon at all the instruments that I'd like to play, if ever. So I'm currently looking into software like Finale, Cubase, and so on, that will allow me to write a song and get it played track by track by midi instruments. Then I can replace each track with a 'real' instrument when and if I get good enough. So far, here are my options:

Drums:
My little 8 track has a pretty decent drum machine that I can either program or play on pads. I also have software that does OK drums tracks. We do also have a basic drum kit in the house, and I've had 4 or 5 lessons - partly to learn how to play drums, but mainly to learn how to write drum parts. If I can't play all the parts on the kit, I have the option of playing part on the machinery and part live. Less skill, fitness and coordination required. :)

Bass:
Same deal as drums. I have a bass, but the recorder also has programmable or pad playable bass voices too. There are some reasonable bass plug-ins available free to use in software too.

Guitar:
Most of the guitar voices in the software I've got don't do that great job. But it's OK for 'place-holder' tracks while I work on doing a decent live job (forever ongoing... :wink: )

Piano:
Same deal. There's some OK piano substitutes, but I'm learning the play the real thing too.

Other:
Most can be done in midi and then replaced later. The standard midi voices are pretty dire, but there are some very good ones available at a price. I have better onboard ones in a Yamaha arranger keyboard, but some of the dedicated plug in voices are way better again. If the arrangement only calls for a few bars of something then I'm hoping that I'd be able to do it on a real instrument eventually. Or you can simply write to whatever standard you can currently play.

Singing:
No way round this really. It's probably the number one thing that it's handy to be able to do well. So I've started having some lessons. My aim is to get good enough to be able to at least make an adequate demo. If a better singer could be found later, then at least they'll have an idea of the song. This is all just for fun - I'm not aiming to try and flog the results - but why not aim for a reasonably decent job? It's fun and interesting too.

Sorry Matt, that was a bit of digression from bass, but my guess is that you're probably headed down the same track anyway. In fact that might be you I can see up the track in front of me already... :)

Cheers,

Chris

I own both (big surprise, right?) and will echo Mr. Nease's thoughts. Bass and guitar compliment each other well and many's the time I've been able to takes ideas gleaned from a session with one instrument straight to the other.

One of the best reasons for having one and simply knowing the basics? More playing time. You get together with a group of people and everyone's got guitars. Odds of anyone showing up with a bass are minimal. So you get to play every song! I've gotten to sit in with many performers at their shows by being able to handle bass chores for them.

Bass is very easy to grasp in terms of the essentials. Getting to the next stage will require you to learn about music in terms of rhythm and harmony (chord progressions and chord structures and bass lines). I'm not sure why, but people seem to get more into learning about music and music theory through the bass than through the guitar. But again, it's all transferrable, so you'll ultimately get better at both instruments.

Only hassles are having some relatively reliable amp (an expense, but will probably last you your lifetime). Or getting a call on Monday night asking if you can play bass on six songs you've never played before for a show on Thursday!

Go get one and have fun!

Peace

I can't even play guitar yet, but I want to learn bass too. :roll: Once I get proficient playing guitar (I know, the sun will explode before then :lol: ) I'm going to go for bass. But I think I'd want an acoustic bass. I have an electric guitar and I love it, but my heart is with my acoustics (6 and 12 string).

Sometimes I find it hard to define my niche in the music world - these days I think of myself primarily as a songwriter who plays guitar. As a songwriter, you really need to be pretty decent on one instrument - so I'd say my main instrument was rhythm guitar. But also as a songwriter, you want to be able to put a decent demo together of your songs - and that's what led me into playing bass.

Guitars - I have two electrics, Fender Tele and Squier Tele. The Fender's my main instrument - I use it for nearly everything, except open tunings. The Squier's kept in open G....but I've been experimenting with open D lately, so I tend to flip back and forth. I have two acoustics - the SPT I got off Nick, and a battered old Hondo held together with gaffer tape. The SPT's the workhorse, the Hondo's in open G.

Bass - unfortunately, I don't have one at the moment, but my next purchase - as and when I can afford it - WILL be a bass guitar. Probably second hand - I'd love a 5-string, but I'll probably have to settle for a reasonably-priced four-string.

Keyboard - a battered old Yamaha PSS-480. I'm no great keyboard player, but my songs seem to gain a little when I add some (very basic!) piano or organ. An added bonus, at the moment is that the "tuba" voice isn't a bad bass guitar substitute.

What I learned from taking up bass? Well, David raised the point that bass players tend to delve straight into music theory - and I must admit, I asked a lot more questions about bass when I started playing. You tend to get to know the fretboard a little better - as a lot of bass playing is root notes (at least to start!) it's important to know where those root notes are!

Pros and cons? Playing bass is great for increasing your stretch - the longer scale will help with that, especially if you're playing close to the headstock. I found myself using my pinky a lot more than when I was playing guitar. It's good for building up hand strength, too. To reiterate another of David's points, there's always room for a bass player - jam sessions tend to draw a lot of guitarists, where bass players tend to be few and far between. I used to go to a jam night at the local pub - most nights, I'd play on maybe a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the songs. Nights when I took the bass, I'd play a lot more - of course, there'd always be someone who fancied a go on bass, but I'd get it to myself most of the night.

I haven't found ANY cons just yet....

IMO, buying a bass can only help you as a guitarist on so many levels.

:D :D :D

Vic

Ditto about the complementary skills -- and besides, it's fun switching over to bass sometimes. Keeps things interesting.

You all realize you are urging me to spend money!? :lol:
Good points about transfering what you learn from one instrament to the other. Glad to hear its a natural gateway to learning more theory as well! I have played at jam sessions and had alot of fun. As I thnk about it, there were times where I wanted to do a run on the bass and had to think through the notes. So yeah! I guess it does naturally force you closer to theory. How cool is that? There's just no downside to music is there? Look out Jaco Pastorius :D

OK, Note to self: Stay away from Guitar Center this week.

OK, Note to self: Stay away from Guitar Center this week.
In my case, it begun in this way. Suddenly I heard the bass in the songs (do you know the "magic eye" 3D images?). Then, I only heard the bass in the songs. And I started to read on basses and did that post...

Perhaps you can stay away from Guitar Center. If not, I tried to write some notes for each bass I was trying out. Your mileage may vary (I love this expression) but when I did it I was thinking it could be useful for somebody in future.

I only have 3 guitars and I am trying to sell one so I can pay of the amp I have on layaway.

Which one did you end up deciding on?

Blueline, I can see you getting a bass. Why not? You've been multi-track recording with piano, rhythm and lead with drum backing. Seems really natural.

We've got a bass. My son peters around with it a bit, but nothing serious. It's a Squire with a small Hartke amp.