Natural progression --> bass guitar?

[colins]

I actually got into saxophone as the extension of my electric guitar playing; I’d learnt the clarinet at high school and the thought process for soloing on a sax felt similar to soloing on a guitar.

Now that I focus on acoustic guitar, the closest thing to a bass for me is a baritone acoustic, and that is a lot of fun!

[s2y]

I played guitar for about 5 years before picking up bass. This was 100% related to a bassist shortage at the time. I ended up playing bass in bands for 13 years. I became a big fan of fretless bass. The learning process was great and beneficial to my guitar playing. I still have basses and practice occasionally. Local original bands seemed to have the idea that bassists were obligated to take orders for free, so my return to bass is TBD.

[musicman1951]

I started playing bass in college when we had a gigging quintet and fired the bass player for a variety of reasons. Two of us split the bass playing duties after that. I totally agree with nostatic that playing bass is a whole different mind set, and it took a while to start thinking like a bass player and not a guitar player who knew where the notes were.

[mike o]

As a fellow bass player I have to say this is one one the best responses I’ve seen anywhere. Congrats. I cannot add anything to this other than it is a different in that bass typically is a supporting instrument in a band setting. What you do can make or break a band. Knowing guitar is a huge benefit but it is a different instrument and mindset. Less is more. If and when you get it? Bass a very beautiful and important thing!

Originally Posted by nostatic

I could write a novel - or at least a novella on this topic. Short story is I started guitar and piano at age 8, on guitar studied folk and some bluegrass, then discovered Hendrix and got an electric in my mid teens. Also did a year or two of banjo. Learned most every Allman/Clapton/Walsh/others tune out there, gigged in a variety of bands over the years. Hit my late 20's and started grad school (not for music). Decided that I wanted to play jazz but was too lazy to relearn guitar so I picked up bass. Went into the deep end, joining the big band at school and picking up casuals. Learned to fake it pretty well. Kept gigging bass and occasionally doing some guitar stuff. Then around 2010 I decided it was now or never to really dive into bass, did a lot of deliberate study and practice while gigigng my butt off (and having a full time day job). Almost a thousand gigs on bass since then - jazz casuals, Steely Dan tribute band, live band karaoke thing, theater gigs. I slid back into guitar largely driven by the pandemic as while I had worked up a number of solo bass numbers, that isn't an act that will gig. Added dobro last year and regularly do solo gigs in dobro/guitar/vox as well as some bass gigs with a couple different situations.

Some lessons learned, as always, ymmv:

1. playing bass in an ensemble is not just thinking, "oh, same four string on the bottom of a guitar." Bass is the bridge between rhythm and harmony/melody. If you play bass like a guitar player you'll sound like a guitar player and the band likely won't have a pocket to piss in. Two advantages I had when picking up bass - first was diving into jazz and big band. If you don't swing, everyone knows it so you either learn or you're out. Second was I played guitar in some funk bands, so the idea of using my instrument essentially as percussion helped me tap into the rhythm side of the house.

2. learn some theory if you don't already know it. You should be able to play the four main chord flavors on bass, know your scales and notes, and be able to play 8th and 16th note patterns without drama. I studied with Ant Wellington for a few years on Skype (predated covid). One exercise we did was playing three dotted 8th notes (eg the beginning of Black Cow by Steely Dan). You play those with a metronome starting the first one on the down beat, then after a cycle, you start the pattern the "e" of the bar. Then the "and". Then the "uh". Try it some time, you likely will find that downbeat and "and" are easy, the others maybe less so.

3. Get a metronome and use it for dedicated practice. Some drummers have a great pocket, others are all over the map. A good bass player can hold together an ensemble when other parts are falling apart. You are the bridge.

4. Play with people who are better than you. This is common advice, and useful for all the usual reasons.

5. Play with people who are worse than you. Less common advice, but this proved very useful to me. I was house bassist in a couple of different jams over the years - ostensibly jazz but sometimes it veered in other directions. What I learned was how to hold a groove together with players who got lost, how to follow a singer or soloist who got lost, and how to bring the rhythm section back to reality. You don't get that with #4 (instead you are probably the one getting lost).

6. Have big ears. Soloists can get away with not really listening to anyone but themselves. Of course the great ones are always listening to the band, but it took me a long time to realize that I was hearing but not really listening to everything else going on. Bass gets to respond both to rhythm and melodic/harmonic changes. It can be daunting, but when you get it right it is a blast. I've chased soloists all over the place (while keeping a groove - that is key), done call and response both with soloist and drummer, and gone off the reservation, but always come back.

7. Don't loose the groove looking for a note. If you have a choice between playing in time and playing the right note, take being in time. Notes are a simple recovery, out of time can be a train wreck.

8. Play half as many notes as you think is necessary to carry the band. Then play half as many as you just played. "Too many notes" is not just a guitarist or horn phenomenon. One well placed quarter not can drive the snot out of a band. Listen to some of Anthony Jackson.

9. "Play on the one and don't fake the funk"

10. If you do the above, you can get better paying gigs and play with better players as a bass player than you can as a guitar player. At least that was my experience in LA. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a guitarist, but a good bass player is an endangered species.

All of that has helped me be a better guitarist and musician.

[zuzu]

I played guitar only for a few months before switching to bass because, well, somebody had to do it and I got the short straw. Continued to noodle on guitar, but launched myself head first into bass. That was 47 years ago and I have not been without a gig, usually as many as I care to play, ever since.

nostatic's above post covers most of what to say about it, but could perhaps dwell a bit more on the sheer joy of playing bass in an ensemble. Drummers may be the engine but the bass player is the engineer on the music train, sitting square in the driver's seat. You want delicacy and finesse in this part of the arrangement? Look to the bass player. You want more energy without disturbing the groove? Look to the bass player. You want a harmonic bridge to connect between the melody and the instrumental body of the song? Look to the bass player. You want to do stuff to your listeners without them even knowing you are manipulating their feelings? Look to the bass layer.

I have considered, now and then, which instrument I play, bass, banjo, guitar, is the most sheer fun. Playing by myself, I think guitar takes the prize. And the inherently happy sound of a banjo is truly addicting. But in an ensemble, nothing is more fun to me than playing bass.

[mike o]

Right on brother. Totally agree. Band setting, I wanna be on bass as well.

Originally Posted by zuzu

I played guitar only for a few months before switching to bass because, well, somebody had to do it and I got the short straw. Continued to noodle on guitar, but launched myself head first into bass. That was 47 years ago and I have not been without a gig, usually as many as I care to play, ever since.

nostatic's above post covers most of what to say about it, but could perhaps dwell a bit more on the sheer joy of playing bass in an ensemble. Drummers may be the engine but the bass player is the engineer on the music train, sitting square in the driver's seat. You want delicacy and finesse in this part of the arrangement? Look to the bass player. You want more energy without disturbing the groove? Look to the bass player. You want a harmonic bridge to connect between the melody and the instrumental body of the song? Look to the bass player. You want to do stuff to your listeners without them even knowing you are manipulating their feelings? Look to the bass layer.

I have considered, now and then, which instrument I play, bass, banjo, guitar, is the most sheer fun. Playing by myself, I think guitar takes the prize. And the inherently happy sound of a banjo is truly addicting. But in an ensemble, nothing is more fun to me than playing bass.

[Ryan Alexander]

Bass guitar? You want the "lost souls" department, take a left at the banjos

Cool thread! (Obligatory bass jokes aside)

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by JackC1

...So, how long did it take you to start playing bass after the start of your acoustic fun?

About 15 years, although I had been noodling around practically since the beginning (the music school where I took lessons had an original Danelectro longhorn that saw very little use - wish I had it now ) - played upright bass in high school so not only was it an easy transition, but to this day I prefer heavy strings if the instrument can handle them (Hint: don't use LaBella 49-109 flats on an Ibanez - ever )...

[Dave Hicks]

It took me about 40 years of guitar to get to first bass. (But in the garden of forking paths, some routes lead to mandolin.)

D.H.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Ryan Alexander

Bass guitar? You want the "lost souls" department, take a left at the banjos

I'm sorry sir, I couldn't find them - too many accordions and violas stacked up.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I'm sorry sir, I couldn't find them - too many accordions and violas stacked up.

If you hear bagpipes, you've gone too far.

[Brent Hahn]

Bass player here, both by upbringin' and temperament. Way more sanity and wisdom in this thread than I'd expect from a forum devoted to guitar players.

[Monty Christo]

As a recording songwriter, learning bass was inevitable and necessary. I've been at it for 35 years now, and I "graduated" to fretless about 20 years ago. Doing so has really helped me develop my ear for intonation, fostered a great appreciation for flatwound strings, and helped me develop new techniques and approaches to bass parts.

I would definitely recommend learning bass to any guitarist, and trying fretless to any bassist.

[rllink]

My wife is a bass player. Or I should say she has an electric bass guitar and can play it, but she seldom does. Anyway, I've piddled around with it and didn't get a lot out of it by myself. Maybe I just didn't get far enough into it. But without some other instruments to play with, it seemed uneventful, so to speak. Like I said though, I didn't explore all of the possibilities.

[BoneDigger]

I started dabbling in bass guitar when I started recording my own music. I can get by with some basic grooves but nothing too elaborate. I'm a thumb player! [emoji1787]