Monk Rocker Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 I have to disagree with a few points there, Spoonie. Sure there are alot of crap bassists in bands, but I think that its more difficult to cover for a shit bass player. If the bassist and drummer are tight as fuck, it don't really matter what the guitars are doing(up to a point!)The only thing easier about bass is the fact that most basses have only four strings!! It's not all about being flashy, either. Some folk might be able to play note for note some mental Jaco peice that they have learned verbatim, but if they can't hold down a 12 bar in C then what good is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RomanChoke Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Its a guitar for people who can't get hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan G Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 I'd say covering for a shit guitarist or bassist depends entirely on the style of band that is playing. eg most twin guitar attack metal/hard rock bands need good guitarists to be all flashy and shit - and then let the bass player be solid - whereas funk or hip/hop or single guitar bands, I'm sure it would be harder to cover a shit bassist.However a good bass player is just as hard to find as guitarists etc etc, but it's great fun to take the piss out of them because they know they are far less important than us wankers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob's_in_da_kitchen Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 <<!!criinge!!>> i'm gonna have to keep aspiring to one day be a chronically-retarded-insatiable-wanker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob's_in_da_kitchen Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 or maybe just a little more practice is all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 i guess it does depend largely on the style of the music being played. bass drives the sound in funk/soul whereas sits more into the background in punk etc. a tight bass/drum combo makes a pretty good basis for a band but you still need flair to come from somewhere.spoons X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tronaliser Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 To be totally honest, I've found bass to be harder, mostly due to the technique with your fingers. To play it with a pic is a bit easier, but no-one can say they find learning to play bass with your fingers easy! takes a hell of alot of practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Craig Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Jesus the Wastelabd REALLY is dead...a thread I started in November 2003 is on the front page... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Beats all those threads started by Mo-Ha and Timson tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Craig Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Originally posted by Scott 5FD:Beats all those threads started by Mo-Ha and Timson tho. That's a damn good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tav Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 It was interesting to read over all the posts again after not seeing this thread in so long. Funny how I got bored with bass and decided to concentrate more on guitar and subsiquently now brandish a 6string. Guess it just depends on which you prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Craig Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Originally posted by Tav:It was interesting to read over all the posts again after not seeing this thread in so long. Funny how I got bored with bass and decided to concentrate more on guitar and subsiquently now brandish a 6string. Guess it just depends on which you prefer. Funnily enough in the time since this was posted I've also made the transition from 4 to 6 strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tav Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 I still enjoy playing the bass but with guitar you can write more which I happen to have being doing more recently. Plus I just feel there's alot more that can be done with the extra strings/ability to play more chord-y stuff. It jsut seems more open ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 i'm helping to teach my girlfriend to play guitar, and it also helps me to write second guitar parts to some of the songs i've written.but i still write songs on bass, and then add in little runs and stuff at band practise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob's_in_da_kitchen Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 just goes to prove just how much a matter of preference it is i guess, i prefer the warmer tones, so i went with six strings, but on my bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_duff Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 I was seriously ready to chastise someone as soon as I saw the thread name... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmygoodein Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 bass is a completely different instrument. bass isnt easier to learn than guitar. if you can play guitar dosnt mean you can play bass. etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psydoll Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Originally posted by Scott 5FD:Beats all those threads started by Mo-Ha and Timson tho.Hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimr Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 Originally posted by Meriel:I was once told that "ALL guitarists can play bass excellently" but I found even though I can kind of play acoustic guitar, that I could hardly sound a note on bass. SLap bass looks like a pretty extreme technique to master which I doubt all guitarists could do just like that...apparently bass is harder for girls cause of smaller hands which I could be swayed to believe, even though there are a few good known female bassists. The most important thing you have said here is your point about female bassists. The amount of token women in bands is appauling, it is not a coincidence that most of these women play bass. Don't get me wrong however (I fear I shall be attacked by a great number of female bass players) I am not saying that all women that play bass do so because it is easy. What I am saying is that, those that are recruited by, or join bands specifically because of the benefits to the band of their gender, generally play bass. This would seem to suggest that it is easier to play bass than it is to play guitar. Atleast in the sense that a band can get away with a poor bass line far easier than a poor guitar riff at the same difficulty. All instruments are difficult to master, some however, are more difficult than others. Personally I suck supremly at both bass and guitar. Also, why exactly, is the difficulty so important? I could write an incredibly shit song that would be incredibly difficult to play, it would still however, be shit.Perhaps thats the real reason most women seem to play bass, pissing contests have less appeal to them.EDIT: I didn't really read the quoted post all that much, re-reading it now, there was no need to quote it at all as it does not have any real relevance to what I said. Still it looks pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 Originally posted by jimr:Also, why exactly, is the difficulty so important? I could write an incredibly shit song that would be incredibly difficult to play, it would still however, be shit. yeh, good point.i think if you can play an instrument with passion and don't have much technical ability (*ahem* ME *ahem*), then you can still make whatever your playing sound good, because your putting your heart and soul in to it.there are many players of both bass and guitar that i have seen that are very good technical players, but they don't have the passion for the instrument their playing and thus something is lacking.if your technically gifted and have the passion, then your laughing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_duff Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 I found bass easier cos I play guitar and I knew the basics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superterrorizer Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 I just feel really limited with a bass but neither ar better than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feeble! Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 Yeah, it's all down to preference I suppose. I've tried playing bass and I don't like it as much as I like to play guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleartonebass Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 i dont think its fair to say any instrument is easier than the other. It's all about the actual music. Which we all collectively learn together. Victor Wooten describes music as a language. When someone asks how we writes music he turns the question back on them, What words did they use, did they have any verbs etc. What punctuation did they use, why did they use the words they did. To advance at a language you must increase your vocabulary which Vic believes applies to music. You want to be great at music you got to keep on learning new stuff so when you next say something musically you don't even have to think about it. Anyway when it comes to instruments the difficulty all depends on what you are trying to say. Sure bass lines to the likes of blink 182 are simple but so are the guitar parts. But if you are determined to play like John Pretucci of dream theater straight away then guitar might see just a tad difficult!!!! same goes for a bassisst instantly trying to play some Victor Wooten or Stanley Clarke or Marcus Miller. Not sure if any one will agree with all this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryn Posted April 18, 2004 Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 "no-one can say they find learning to play bass with your fingers easy! takes a hell of alot of practice."i found it pretty easy, same with slap. I aint stanley clarke but after - it mustve been 3 - years of guitar playing, the basic concept of slap and fingerstyle was not difficult to pick up....I'm not bothered if people disagree, thats just the way I see it - bass is easy for (fairly accomplished) guitarists, but I get bored quickly due to aching hands and the feeling of spewing out the same old funky shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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