Can you play the bass also?


I've heard some people say that if you can play guitar, than you should have no problem learning the bass, is this true?

Yes.

Well, I don't play the guitar myself anymore (or listen to much guitar-based music for that matter), but I was never comfortable at bass. Especially as it just always felt so out of proportion physically for me.

Of course playing a simple, typical bass line was not that hard but it's hard to be expressive exactly in a way you are on the guitar. They're not the same instrument afterall.

novabrkr said:

So, there not...thats what I thought...but I would love to learn how to play both!

lonelygurl8305 said:

You can do it!

It depends on what style of music you want to play. If you're playing basic standard rock like AC/DC for example, then the bass lines aren't hard at all. So you can can play guitar fairly well, you should be able to swing it. But if you want to play funk or jazz, then the bass becomes a whole different story. The action that u must employ to play funk on bass usually comes with a lot of thumb popping and a certain amount of vibrato. Which comes in handy if you can play the guitar. The feel between the two instruments are different. But again I stress, it largely depends on what "type" of bass u want to play. Although my main instrument is lead guitar, I also play bass, keyboards and drums. It has been said that if you can play bass, then u should be able to play drums. I can see that logic to a degree. But again, the dexterity one must employ between playing drums and bass is vastly different. I know several people personally who like myself, can play guitar, bass, drums and piano. But I started playing these instruments at an early age. But grab yourself a bass and get busy!

blackguitaristz said:

and there's your answer...

blackguitaristz said:

If you can play bass then you can play drums??? Really???

Its tough finding the time to practice, but its so fun and soothing, especially playing the acoustic guitar (did I spell that right?) Thanks for the kind words darling!

lonelygurl8305 said:

You're so welcome, babygirl.

I can but not everyone can. A good guitar player could fake it, but there's a lot of technique in the picking, especially for R&B.

Also bass lines require a different type of thinking than guitar lines.

NDRU said:

And what is that thinking...?
[Edited 2/20/07 10:41am]

lonelygurl8305 said:

It's a melodic type of thinking, but more rhythmically based than most guitar leads.

I find it hard to play bass & sing because it's a melodic counterpoint to what I'm singing. I have to approach that like playing the piano--practice it very slowly until I get it right.

Playing guitar chords & singing is pretty natural for me.

But I'm assuming you're playing an interesting bassline. If you want to fake a simple one-note bassline, it's easy, and any guitar player could do it.