Question Re: Outlook On Bass Guitar

[dpresti]

I've noticed that many people, musicians or not.. Have this impression that the Bass player or bass guitar is simple or easiest? or kind of overlooked in the sense that "oh anyone can do that"...

IMO...Far from it.. its just as important and no, anyone can't do it!

Other opinions?

[brian_ok]

Playing bass is easy. Almost anyone with a sense of rhythm and rudimentary knowledge can lay down a competent bassline for any song.

However, the same can be said for guitar. How difficult is it to tune to drop D and play power chords with one finger? Again, anyone with basic knowledge of the instrument can play a song.

The difference lies in the mastery of the instrument. Mastering bass, as I feel that Victor Wooten has done, is just as difficult, if not moreso, than mastering the guitar, as, say, Jimi Hendrix or Jeff Beck have accomplished.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the mastering of a bass is a lifelong journey, similar to the mastering of a guitar. Neither is easy, nor will most people attain the mastery of either.

[i like tictacs]

No instrument is any easier than another instrument. I can play guitar for ten years, and I can play bass for ten years, and at the end of the day i'll still be learning new things on both instruments.

Any guitarist can pick up a bass and clunk along root notes on a bass. Any bassist can get behind a drumkit and play a simple snare on the 2 and 4, kick on the 1 and 3 beat. Being able to do those things doesn't make drums or bass any easier than guitar.

Just let people go on being ignorant of it. When you see them in the audience grooving, laugh at them because it's your bassline that they are tapping their foot to, not a bunch of chugga chugga power chords.

[brian_ok]

exactly.

[a1075dd63aa12]

No instrument is any easier than another instrument. I can play guitar for ten years, and I can play bass for ten years, and at the end of the day i'll still be learning new things on both instruments.

Any guitarist can pick up a bass and clunk along root notes on a bass. Any bassist can get behind a drumkit and play a simple snare on the 2 and 4, kick on the 1 and 3 beat. Being able to do those things doesn't make drums or bass any easier than guitar.

Just let people go on being ignorant of it. When you see them in the audience grooving, laugh at them because it's your bassline that they are tapping their foot to, not a bunch of chugga chugga power chords.

i agree completely. but there is a difference between someone coming up with a simple bass line like you mentioned and those bassists who come up with great riffs that compliment the song that much more efficiently. that is where i think fonsie gets over looked some times.

[i like tictacs]

No instrument is any easier than another instrument. I can play guitar for ten years, and I can play bass for ten years, and at the end of the day i'll still be learning new things on both instruments.

Any guitarist can pick up a bass and clunk along root notes on a bass. Any bassist can get behind a drumkit and play a simple snare on the 2 and 4, kick on the 1 and 3 beat. Being able to do those things doesn't make drums or bass any easier than guitar.

Just let people go on being ignorant of it. When you see them in the audience grooving, laugh at them because it's your bassline that they are tapping their foot to, not a bunch of chugga chugga power chords.

i agree completely. but there is a difference between someone coming up with a simple bass line like you mentioned and those bassists who come up with great riffs that compliment the song that much more efficiently. that is where i think fonsie gets over looked some times.

Nail on the head.

[i am sam2]

i think the only way to say that bass is "easier" than guitar would be to say that it is easier to get to the minimum level of talent to be accepted for any sort of compilation. in other words, a bassist can get by with less (i.e. just playing roots). now while that clearly doesnt make them a good bassist, they could be in a band, but the guitarist isnt be in a band only being able to play power chords.

i also agree about wkpg/tictacs statement about the different between the simple root-5 bassline (though sometimes that simple can be good) and the great riff bassline. i think to get to that point is probably harder (or you need to be a little different in a mindset that i think is fairly rare). i think the bassist mindset is more rare