if i know to play guitar, do i know bass as well?

[for]

If we take out techniques such as slap bass

if i know to play guitar, do i know to play bass as well theoretically?

[karbomusic]

Run for your life... ivansc is going to kill you any moment.

[for]

hehehe

[grinder]

Bass and Guitar complement each other
Do you have technique, passion,Dexterity for large string sizes, the knowledge of accompaniment, ability to take a back seat yet be a driver?
Just some of the things a bass player needs.
My view.

Grinder

https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1

[msore]

Originally Posted by for

If we take out techniques such as slap bass

if i know to play guitar, do i know to play bass as well theoretically?

Do you play guitar like a bassist? Do you think about guitar-playing like a bassist thinks?

[for]

Originally Posted by msore

Do you play guitar like a bassist? Do you think about guitar-playing like a bassist thinks?

i don't know how bassist think thats the problem yea. I assume i can apply a lot of knowledge from guitar though since its same top 4 strings. And there's plenty of songs which are easy to play out there...so I'm just wondering if a guitarist can be considered a (simple) bassist as well (Maybe like paul mccartney style and not the guy from red hot chili peppers) Again i'm assuming beatles bass parts are easy to play, i didn't check

[ivansc]

Originally Posted by for

i don't know how bassist think thats the problem yea. I assume i can apply a lot of knowledge from guitar though since its same top 4 strings. And there's plenty of songs which are easy to play out there...so I'm just wondering if a guitarist can be considered a (simple) bassist as well (Maybe like paul mccartney style and not the guy from red hot chili peppers) Again i'm assuming beatles bass parts are easy to play, i didn't check

Sit down and listen to a few simple bass parts on records.

Pick the notes out on your guitar and then see if you can understand WHY the player played the notes where how and when he did.
That alone will get you thinking more like a bass player.
And Macartney and anyone else's easy-sounding bass lines probably ARE easy to plonk out on a bass with no feel and no control, but it is there that the artistry lies in bass playing - it is a very subtle instrument if played right.

[Susan G]

Originally Posted by for

I'm just wondering if a guitarist can be considered a (simple) bassist as well (Maybe like paul mccartney style and not the guy from red hot chili peppers) Again i'm assuming beatles bass parts are easy to play, i didn't check

IMO, you could do way worse than to listen carefully to Sir Paul's bass parts with the Beatles, as "simple" as they might sound! He helped the bass really emerge as a melodic as well as rhythmic/harmonic instrument. They're not the most technically difficult, but there's a lot to learn from them, for sure.

-Susan

[ginormous]

To hear what a bass player thinks about during a song, listen to an old favorite: "My Guy" by Mary Wells, the Motown classic.

James Jamerson plays the instrument he started with, upright (acoustic) bass. This is where electric bass continues from, not guitar as such, although it does share a common tuning with the acoustic bass and the Mexican bajo sexto.

Jamerson is going with the rhythm, and accenting the chords, but also staying out of everyone else's way. He gets a chance to step out and shine during the fade, where he plays under Mary's breathy little exit... "there's not a man today, who can take me away from my guy." That's where his jazz experience is clearly heard.

Rock bass is also about motivating rhythm and leaving room for others, like Rick Danko on The Band's "Up On Cripple Creek". He's not doing much except playing the bottom note, but in that song it's where the bass note is placed that makes the difference. He's playing on the first and third beats along with the kick drum, and letting the snare have the second and fourth. Everything else is structured on top of him, and he lays down the foundation along with drummer Levon Helm. To have anything more complex, or to put it in a different place, would lessen the loose, funky feeling.

[PitchSlap]

I think the answer is yes and no. You can fret, know the mechanics of the instrument and can easily plod along to the root notes of a song, but to think and play bass like an actual bassist will take some time...

[whiteaxxxe]

Originally Posted by for

If we take out techniques such as slap bass

if i know to play guitar, do i know to play bass as well theoretically?

no. don not even think about it!

1. I am a guiraist and I own a bass.
2. never ever take up a bass with the mind of aguitarist.
3. kill every guitarist who takes up a bass with the mind of a guitarist.
4. forget about the idea, and talk a good friend into playing bass.

[L_Grizzle]

Probably as much as a bassist knows how to play guitar by default.

[BenK-msx]

Technically you should have no problem doing simple bass, point really is what you are doing whilst playing bass compared to guitar.
Thinking very differently, timing more critical, doing the job etc etc.

You still have to get good at it but there's no reason you can't be ok if you're ok on a guitar.
Excellence on either is whole other ball game but listen to most bass parts and its about being mm perfect rather than a wizard. Almost a percussion instrument IMO.

[thequietroom]

No, Ive played with some great bass players and they are wierd.




seriously though.. you'll have a head start on the fretboard and maybe some left hand stuff going. But controlling those strings and getting smooth, solid articulation etc.. not too mention the appropriate lines to play that are glued to the drums.. thats bass player stuff

[Fergler]

The fingering style is completely different, the touch is different as the strings interact with the fret board differently, and the frets are further apart so your approach to runs is different.

Can you play valve trombone because you play C Trumpet? Sure you can hit all the right notes but do they sound good, can you keep it up for more than 15 minutes, etc. It's not the same at all.

[Jae.Thomas]

Originally Posted by for

If we take out techniques such as slap bass

if i know to play guitar, do i know to play bass as well theoretically?

yes, you know where the notes are.

[jcrisman]

Originally Posted by for

If we take out techniques such as slap bass

if i know to play guitar, do i know to play bass as well theoretically?

The strings of a bass are the same as the bottom four strings on a guitar--but tuned an octave lower. A competent guitar player may provide a serviceable bass line, but a competent bassist will probably take the bass line to a higher level. Despite some commonality between a guitar and a bass, they do perform different and distinctive roles.