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Transitioning from guitar to bass


JethroTull

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I need to shake things up a bit and have decided to sell my off my guitars and leave myself with one 6 string. I will then go out and buy a bass guitar. Any advice? I think my personality is better suited to the bass. I can be in the background and not be expected to be the main guy singing and all that.

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One thing you must know about playing the bass is that you are not the guitarist anymore. Learn music principles. I ve know bassist who can just shred, but they can't keep a jam going. I have alot of advice to give, but they are preferences of what i like to do, not what you should do.

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If you can hold down the same riff over and over and over for about 5 minutes then you will be well suited. Our old bass player had the ability to just play the same thing over and over for about 10 minutes while the drums and guitar went off on one. The guitar feeds off of the bass, if you are out of time or keep striking duff notes then the guitarist will find it hard to do his bit...he relys on you, not you rely on him. :thumbsup:

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Bass playing is not the breeze that failed 6 string players sometimes think it is. Your job, apart from producing low-end sound, will be to work somewhere between keyboards, suggesting harmonic change, and locked in with drums as an integral part of the rhythm section. Keeping to root notes will not be enough to consider yourself a bass player: it is a vital part of any ensemble playing, and an ability to listen and improvise will be an asset.

RB

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Hope you didn't like solos, because unless you can pull off Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) every song, you ain't gettin any :P

Welcome to our world

Bassissts and drummers are the body and soul of a band. Without the rhythm they provide, everything sounds extremely hollow. Try listening to some classic Zeppelin or Metallica or Cream without bass. Sounds bad yeah? Its all right to be a little flashy, Cliff Burton looked like a guitarist at times. But in the end, you just gotta keep a beat and hold down the fort.

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I bought a china model pbass for 140$, sounds great. I'm not afraid to use a pick. I play whatever i want, you dont have to play the same thing over and over again. play melody and change up ryhtem.

It made my gutar playing much stronger.

peace

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I prefer my fingers by a lot. I cant even hold a pick the "correct" way. I dabble in guitar occasionally, and even then, I just can't seem to hold the pick correctly and still hit the right strings in any accurate sense.

But thats why I love bass. No picks required if you don't want em :D

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If you play the same thing over and over.... I don't want you playing bass for me!!!

Check out ... ummm... early John Paul Jones....since you are here!

Willie Dixon, The Funky Meters, Chris Squire, John Entwhistle, Paul McCartney, .........

the list is endless... If you can lay down the groove...they will dance, rejoice :thumbsup: and cheer!!

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Check out ... ummm... early John Paul Jones....since you are here!

Willie Dixon, The Funky Meters, Chris Squire, John Entwhistle, Paul McCartney, .........

...or may I suggest Jack Bruce? For truly inspirational improvisation, check out I'm So Glad from Cream's 'Goodbye' album.

RB

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If you play the same thing over and over.... I don't want you playing bass for me!!!

Check out ... ummm... early John Paul Jones....since you are here!

Willie Dixon, The Funky Meters, Chris Squire, John Entwhistle, Paul McCartney, .........

the list is endless... If you can lay down the groove...they will dance, rejoice :thumbsup: and cheer!!

Fine, then follow my lead.

I think he ment playing the same chord proggesion like during a jam. not the same exact notes over and over.

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I started to use a Pic (plectrum) more now than before. Mostly for tone, but I'm trying to save my fingers. No matter what i do, i always get blisters on my picking fingers and sometimes on my fretboard fingers too. I don't know why, and everybody I talked to thinks that is weird. I do have a habit of fingering hard, but not as hard i see some other bassist do. I also get blisters when i pitch in my baseball league, which is normal for a pitcher. I still make fun of Bassist who uses a pic constantly, mostly because they only play 1/8 notes and its' DDDDDDDBBBBBBBCCCCCCDDDDD.

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