Guitar envy

[Jam]

Does anyone else here who just plays bass ever think about picking up the 6 string too? I've been listening to a lot of Porcupine Tree and Opeth recently and those two bands in particular always make me wish I'd picked up guitar instead of (or as well as) bass. Examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxlHRbi1wT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El9DWtYvOuQ

Anything that makes you guys want to play guitar?

I wouldn't know where to start with guitar, and I feel like I should get more proficient on the bass before I start making horrible noises on another instrument too.

[thepurpleblob]

I started with the bass and not the guitar so I know what you mean. I did take a few guitar lessons a few years ago and just couldn't do it. My fingers would not bend into those shapes. I had new found respect for guitarists - but don't tell anyone

[waynepunkdude]

I play guitar.

This is the most fun thing I play

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlGLuHqq5rg&feature=fvwrel"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlGLuHqq5rg&feature=fvwrel[/url]


Playing guitar wise doesn't take long to learn chords and is very rewarding.


Never hurts to learn a new instrument.

[charic]

I'd love to be able to play properly. Simply put though I prefer playing bass so whenever I struggle to play guitar I generally get annoyed because I've not put the time in and consequently put it down again.

Vicious circle really.

When I can play like petrucci and can warrant one of his guitars I'll be a happy bunny

[musophilr]

I'm a guitarist who can find his way around a bass. It annoys me when people claim that a bass is a guitar with thicker (and usually fewer) strings. It's function within a band is different, and the techniques required to operate it are different. The visual similarity to the electric guitar is just that and no more. The instrument is a bass, it isn't a guitar (regardless of what Leo might have originally called it).

/rant

[Paul_C]

I'm probably a better bass player than guitarist, but I did gig with a mate's band on guitar last year.


I gigged with the same band on drums the year before and started out playing a lot of the songs with said mate on bass to begin with

[noelk27]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1329779305' post='1547393']The visual similarity to the electric guitar is just that and no more. The instrument is a bass, it isn't a guitar (regardless of what Leo might have originally called it).[/quote]

Saying that, you totally ignore CLF's, and GF's, reasons for designing an electric "bass guitar", and the end user the product was intended for. The fact that they kicked off a revolution, and the adopters have gone on to redefine the role of the electric "bass guitar" player ad infinitum is another debate for another day.

Personally, I think every bass player should learn to play drums and guitar, or at least develop a working knowledge of what players can physically do with those instruments, to be the best bass player they can possibly be.

[musophilr]

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1329780053' post='1547410']
Saying that, you totally ignore CLF's, and GF's, reasons for designing an electric "bass guitar", and the end user the product was intended for. [/quote]

Do I? I thought he intended to make an instrument that was easier to carry about than a double bass, easier to amplify, and easier to play in tune (hence its frets, and its name, the Precision). He succeeded on all counts. Some end users were converted DB players and still others came to the instrument from other routes including guitars. Either way they ended up as electric bass players.

[RockfordStone]

ive been learning to play guitar for a while now, i can happily write and record with one now, looking to move on to live performing

[RhysP]

I play guitar as well as bass, though bass is my main instrument & I played it for years before I picked up a guitar.

I go through phases where I want to give up playing bass altogether & concentrate on guitar - I was just about to do exactly this (already sold one bass) when I unexpectedly got a call from an old drummer friend who wants me to do some playing with him so I'm a bit stuck as to what to do now.

The bottom line is that I'm a much better bass player than a guitarist, but I enjoy playing guitar far more & I've spent far more money on guitar gear than bass gear over the last few years.

The two bands you mention in your post are probably my favourite bands. I'd love to be able to play guitar like the Opeth guys. The Porcupine Tree stuff isn't that difficult really - it's the arrangements that make their stuff interesting.

[geoffbyrne]

I've played guitar since 1959(!). Started playing bass about 7 years ago. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!!! I really don't play guitar in public any more as there are so many better players then I.

I must say, though, what I do know about guitar chord theory (which isn't an awful lot) certainly helps my bass playing, but I'm not sure the reverse is true.

G.

[Mr. Foxen]

I thought playing guitar was quite hard, then I used my distortion pedals (I had them about for bass, but rarely plug in until I'm in the practice space where I'm never playing guitar). Now I know why guitarists are so fussed about distortion so much, need to cover up rubbish playing.

[Wylie]

I played guitar for years, in a limited (but very solid) way, and with great style. However, since picking up the bass, I've put the guitar down (I own two) and just about haven't picked it up. Bass is the only instrument I want to play. (And I agree with whoever said that the bass is NOT a guitar.) A whole different world of music has opened up to me with the bass, and I'll never go back.

[fretmeister]

I've played bass and guitar from day 1 about 25 years ago. Certainly I'm better on bass, but I can cope with most non-virtuoso guitar stuff. I usually write on guitar. My 350-ish gigs are pretty evenly split between guitar and bass (with a few on sax too).

Funnily enough, I'm happy to sing lead vocals when playing guitar, but I just can't do it on bass. Even on old Uriah Heap tunes! I have no idea why!!

[icastle]

I'm probably best described as an 'adequate' guitarist but it's not something that I play unless my arm is twisted.
It must be at least 6 months since I last picked up a guitar, let alone done anything semi serious with it.

[Judo Chop]

I taught myself some basic chords and a few bar chords on my brother's acoustic which just gathers dust in his room (he's a drummer). I found it surprisingly easy to memorise the chords, it only took me a day and I was quite pleased with myself, it's changing between them smoothly that gives me trouble so watch out for that if you're gonna give it a go. It can't hurt to broaden your musical horizons.

[noelk27]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1329780437' post='1547419']Do I? I thought he intended to make an instrument that was easier to carry about than a double bass, easier to amplify, and easier to play in tune (hence its frets, and its name, the Precision). He succeeded on all counts. Some end users were converted DB players and still others came to the instrument from other routes including guitars. Either way they ended up as electric bass players.[/quote]

Well, yes, you do misunderstand. Because, in an interview in the 80s, CLF explained the genesis of the idea for the electric bass guitar, and the inspiration. That he credits to musician friends of his, guitarists, playing country and western, et al, who would be asked to double as bassists, but who struggled with the physicality of playing an upright bass. It was from there that he formulated the concept of the electric bass guitar, by adapting the form and function of the solid body electric guitars he had already created, and that many of these guitarists had already adopted, and therein the interview he directly states that it was his intention to take the four lowest strings on the guitar and orient these with the same tuning intervals and note positions, so as to be familiar to, and instantly recognisable for, guitarists. What he wanted to do was provide his friends with a way of earning extra money from the gigs they could get, with the other points you highlight being byproducts of that key motivation. So, when you say "It annoys me when people claim that a bass is a guitar with thicker (and usually fewer) strings", that, in CLF's mind, when he was developing the idea, was exactly what the electric bass guitar was, and when you go on to say "The visual similarity to the electric guitar is just that and no more" you show that you fundamental misunderstand what it was CLF intended to create.

[Lozz196]

I`d describe myself as a bassist that can play guitar. Good on rhythm, can bluff a few lead solos, but, when it comes down to it, still a bassist - and proud to be one.

[leftybassman392]

I'd describe myself as a lifetime guitarist who's switched to bass around 3 or 4 years ago, and now finds a way of enjoying both on their different levels. To enter the 'origins vs. current practice' debate, whatever Leo's intention may have been the simple fact is that modern bass technique is very different from guitar technique, and modern bass equipment is very different too (the days of hooking up a Stratocaster to a Bassman are, if not gone then going). When you teach both (as I did for a number of years) you learn these facts very quickly.

[Jam]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1329780636' post='1547423']
The two bands you mention in your post are probably my favourite bands. I'd love to be able to play guitar like the Opeth guys. The Porcupine Tree stuff isn't that difficult really - it's the arrangements that make their stuff interesting.
[/quote]

You have outstanding taste in music Did you know Wilson and Akerfeldt are collaborating and have put together a cd? They're calling themselves "Storm Corrosion" and it'll be out in April. Personally, I can't wait! Probably something else to make me wish I could play guitar!

[Jellyfish]

Funny. It was bands like Opeth that made me want to pick up the bass.

[Big_Stu]

I bought myself a Telecaster about 15 years after first picking up a bass. First thing I did was learn a few open chords & hammered them into my brain by playing them endlessly, for eg. playing a Bo Diddley style rythm in open E for a couple of hours. I knew I was getting it when one of the neighbours lads went past the front window doing a chicken-head walk to it.
The rest followed in the same way, during that, also putting in the barre chords, & a few alt tunings & you're away!
While I know I'll never be a Stevie Vai I can fill in on rythmn guitar if need be.

[Kiwi]

In all fairness, I don't actually play guitar, I murder it.

However, this is what I aspire to play...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBJ5FsklZXQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBJ5FsklZXQ[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yC32rRSKbs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yC32rRSKbs[/url]

[musophilr]

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1329792332' post='1547551']
Well, yes, you do misunderstand. Because, in an interview in the 80s, CLF explained the genesis of the idea for the electric bass guitar, and the inspiration. That he credits to musician friends of his, guitarists, playing country and western, et al, who would be asked to double as bassists, but who struggled with the physicality of playing an upright bass. It was from there that he formulated the concept of the electric bass guitar, by adapting the form and function of the solid body electric guitars he had already created, and that many of these guitarists had already adopted, and therein the interview he directly states that it was his intention to take the four lowest strings on the guitar and orient these with the same tuning intervals and note positions, so as to be familiar to, and instantly recognisable for, guitarists. What he wanted to do was provide his friends with a way of earning extra money from the gigs they could get, with the other points you highlight being byproducts of that key motivation. So, when you say "It annoys me when people claim that a bass is a guitar with thicker (and usually fewer) strings", that, in CLF's mind, when he was developing the idea, was exactly what the electric bass guitar was, and when you go on to say "The visual similarity to the electric guitar is just that and no more" you show that you fundamental misunderstand what it was CLF intended to create.
[/quote]

OK, I put my hand up to misunderstanding Leo's intentions. But don't you think that this: "guitarists ... who would be asked to double as bassists" gives the game away? He was replacing the DB with alternative technology; the instrument is intended to do what the DB was doing beforehand. You're supposed to approach it from the mindset of a bassman, not that of a guitarist who happens to be operating an instrument in the lower register.

Edit: To clarify that. We all know that guitarists can play chords, or single-note stuff. If you try playing chords on a bass you realise that things get muddy because bass notes close together don't sound that good - plus it's physically difficult. Hence most bass lines are single-note stuff. Bass notes are also quite "thuddy" (especially by comparison with the dusty end of a guitar) which makes them an ideal part of the rhythm section. Lastly, in a lot of the music that the public likes, roots feature a lot - it's as if our ears like to hear chords underpinned by their roots (although not exclusively so, and some very good bass lines are either counterpoint to a melody or rhythmic arpeggiations of harmony). So this is what I mean when I say thinking like a bassman not like a guitarist, recognising the function of the instrument is not the same as that of a guitar.

Edited February 21, 2012 by musophilr

[Jam]

[quote name='ChristopherGilbert' timestamp='1329813841' post='1547627']
Funny. It was bands like Opeth that made me want to pick up the bass.
[/quote]

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy playing Opeth songs on bass. Saying that, some of the guitar work on their stuff is really beautiful. Bleak/Drapery Falls and the Lines in my hand are the ones I enjoy playing most on bass though. What about you?

Edited February 21, 2012 by Jam