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Bass: Guitar for Retards


Guest Craig

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Originally posted by Meriel

SLap bass looks like a pretty extreme technique to master which I doubt all guitarists could do just like that....

*claps*

hit the nail on the head there.

well all said and dont guitar is much harder to play than bass for the most part. but playing a bass is completely different than your traditional guitar(may look similar but their not)

there are techniques used on bass that can never be implemented on guitar which my lovely new friend(because of the comment) meriel has pointed out.

some emo and punk have the most boring need i say tedious bass lines bass ever... and this makes them incredibly easy. tho there are some that go beyond the traditional bassist playing one note every few guitar notes, why can bassists not play along with the guitars? the notes are lower creating the desired effect and also challenges you a little, making it more fun.

this all comes down to the gutarists ultimate inferiority complex, e.g. i can play guitar therefore im better than other musicians. oh i beg to differ guitar is one of the easiest instruments to learn, go and learn the harp if you dont beleive me.

bass maybe easier n a guitarists head because low and beyhold "you only got to play one note" but the actual bass techniques are not for the faint of heart. playing bass with a plectrum in my mind is "cheating" tho i play with one myself when i need to. finger bass in the ideal and most "real" guitarists would be able to play this no problem(i mean just play - not sit and practise a little first) other not so profficient guitarists would be lost with a bass, asking them to slap is hilarious. my old flatmate played guitar and i started slapping around then when he lived with me, he coouldnt understand how it was accoplished even after i showed him how to. granted i may not be that great at bass but i know how hard it is to get great.

i myself have learned guitar before too and for one i found it alot easier to learn the fundimentals of bass than learning the fundimentals of guitar, but the similarities of guitar and bass end right there.

if you cant be bothered reading that basically

you cant compare them :)

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Guest MerryChristmas

anyone can memorize a few chords and the finger placements and play brilliantly

bass guitar has 4 strings so its easier so hes kind of right bass = guitar for retards

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Originally posted by Camie

Ive onyl seen one person play bass and guitar very good. That is Fish of Hot Mangu! :cheers:

Oh the irony!

Fish is an excellent bassist, but he's actually a guitarist, he just plays bass in Hot Mangu. :D

Guitar and bass are both equally difficult to *master*, however I bet ANY money that in general, the majority of guitarists can play bass better than the bassists can play guitar.

I'm sure there are a lot of bassists that play bass cos they aren't very good on guitar, yet not many bassists that play guitar cos they aren't very good on bass.

I'm not degrading bassists in anyway, as it is an equally difficult instrument to actually be GOOD at, however it is an easier instrument to"get away" with being able to play and not sound completely shit.

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that's true, i've been in a few bands in my younger days when the 'bassist' was just one of our other mates who wasn't in a band who we got to mang the root notes and they usually just about blagged it. that's quite a lame approach though, really.

i started out playing guitar for years befor i picked up a bass, and naively assumed it would be a simple task. the feel is actually so different that it takes a while to adjust and get a decent sound and not sound like a guitarist naively pratting about on bass. once you start, it's up to you how much you want to refine your style. i don't go in for all that slappy pop nonsense, but like to wander about from the roots a bit just to give things more texture. bass can be more fun, too, cos if you want to you can just play it simple and mess around while the guitarist tries to hop between all his pedals and deal with solos and stuff.

i dunno, i love playing both, and drums. you have to develop your own technique on each instrument and there's nothing worse than a novice bassist picking up the instrument and playing lead guitar style on it, creating this hideous squelchy sound.

anyway, here's my favourite bass story for those of you who missed it last time:

the bassist form the damned turns up to record a radio one session.

the surprised engineer says 'you play bass with two strings?'

'yeah' he replies, 'it's in case one of them breaks!' :)

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Originally posted by Camie

Im afraid I have to agree with Paul. Bass is much easier to learn than guitar. They are both equally difficult to master though in my opinion.

Yup, Bass is definately easier to pick up. I'd say tho both respectively would be hard to 'master' in their own rights.

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Ok so I play bass in a band that's my main instrument and something I want to master. However I do also love to play guitar. I find guitar playing harder in the intial stages but now I have a base in both instruments they are equally as challenging.

Someone compared a chello to a violin...it's the same with bass and guitar...or a drum kit and a bongo. Although they appear the same they are very different. The mind set of a bass player and a guitar player is very different. They are doing different jobs but each has it's own difficulties.

My dad for example plays guitar extremely well but is just not suited to playing bass in the traditional backing sense of the instrument. Instead more of a lead style comes through with guitar solo style licks...which again are equally as difficult.

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Originally posted by Tav

Someone compared a chello to a violin...it's the same with bass and guitar...or a drum kit and a bongo. Although they appear the same they are very different. The mind set of a bass player and a guitar player is very different. They are doing different jobs but each has it's own difficulties.

Cello! :p

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Guest Scott 5FD
[i'm sure there are a lot of bassists that play bass cos they aren't very good on guitar

thats one of the reasons i picked up bass. the main reason, however, was coz i had an accident and ripped my fretting hand open and damaged some of the nerves, so ive lost the feeling in part of my hand.

anyways, as has been said before, bass and guitar cant be compared. i find myself a whole lot more suited to bass than guitar, i feel i can convey myself more by playing bass, but meh i dunno. everyone knows four strings are better than six :p

scott :punk:

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Originally posted by Bass Monkey

thats one of the reasons i picked up bass. the main reason, however, was coz i had an accident and ripped my fretting hand open and damaged some of the nerves, so ive lost the feeling in part of my hand.

anyways, as has been said before, bass and guitar cant be compared. i find myself a whole lot more suited to bass than guitar, i feel i can convey myself more by playing bass, but meh i dunno. everyone knows four strings are better than six :p

scott :punk:

Exactly!

You can lose the feeling in your hand but still have the ability to play bass!

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Originally posted by Bass Monkey

thats one of the reasons i picked up bass. the main reason, however, was coz i had an accident and ripped my fretting hand open and damaged some of the nerves, so ive lost the feeling in part of my hand.

anyways, as has been said before, bass and guitar cant be compared. i find myself a whole lot more suited to bass than guitar, i feel i can convey myself more by playing bass, but meh i dunno. everyone knows four strings are better than six :p

scott :punk:

my fingers are too large for guitar :dunce: that why i started on bass but ive discovered new ways to use my fingers now that i couldnt before :)

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Guest MerryChristmas
Originally posted by Adam Easy Wishes

It's actually 'cello if you're being picky.

Cello is a good use of punctuation, im surprised none of the "Punctuation Loving Non Right-Wing embracing treehuggers" hasnt jumped on this yet

Chello is the correct use if it is at the beginning of a sentence

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  • 4 months later...

err...my bass has six strings, which=not for retards, it's also tuned differently to a lead guitar, none of my lead guitar friends can play it, and i can, but i don't think they are retards.

Giving things more texture is just one of the million things you can do with a bass or any other instrument THAT YOU PLAY WELL.

Otherwise you're just giving a potentially decent piece of music a disease, which i reckon is the net product of bringing that kind of attitude (that brought this thread about in the first) to music as a whole, it makes us all sad people in the end

i'm hungry

i know a guy called trevor fish, i wan't that name, it makes me smile all stoopid

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as has been said already, bass and guitar serve different purposes in a band. i've been playing bass for about 6 years and i can't play guitar past a few basic chords, but that's because i've never sat down and really tried to learn and master like i did in my early bass playing days. there are undoubtedly more shit bass players in bands then there are shit guitarists and it's far easier to cover a poor bass player in a band then a poor guitarist, but that doesnt necessarily make it easier.

i would have to say in all seriousness that playing bass is easier than guitar, but i'd also say that bass playing can go from the simplest little run which enhances a song so much, right up to some crazy jaco pastorius shit and still make a noticable difference to a song, and that's why i prefer bass. it's not all about trying to be john petrucci, it's often the simplest stuff that sounds the best.

to my mind, bass players are sophisticated and delicate and guitarists are benders. just take dan atom as an example. he's a right bender!

spoons

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