Bass as a second instrument

[mic mac moe]

So, I came to bass after some 20 years on drums. And yes, I groove like a mofo! Anyone else play another instrument before our beloved 4 strings? 

[songofthewind]

I played guitar, mandolin and bouzouki before I took up bass. Went straight to fretted and very soon after that to fretless. It was fretless that thrilled me like guitar used to.

Playing bass fixed my lousy timing, speeding up, etc. I went back to electric guitar for my last band, and now after a hiatus I’m playing bass again with mates from that band. I groove like a mutha, obviously, being steeped in the Scottish white funk tradition. I love it so much!

[mic mac moe]

1 hour ago, songofthewind said:

I played guitar, mandolin and bouzouki before I took up bass. Went straight to fretted and very soon after that to fretless. It was fretless that thrilled me like guitar used to.

Playing bass fixed my lousy timing, speeding up, etc. I went back to electric guitar for my last band, and now after a hiatus I’m playing bass again with mates from that band. I groove like a mutha, obviously, being steeped in the Scottish white funk tradition. I love it so much!

Mandolin is a lovely sounding instrument. Sadly, I have two pound of sausages for fingers hahaha!! 

      I'd been playing drums for years, and was yearning for more. Had my eye on bass for a long time, and when I did commit to buy my first, it was fretless. An 80's aria from cash converters. 

[fretmeister]

Piano and sax, then guitar and bass.

 

I still play some sax but I haven't even sat at a piano for 20 years. My youngest spawn is currently taking sax lessons so I get a good chance to play on her instrument when ever I feel like it.

[bassbiscuits]

I play bass first and foremost, but started playing acoustic guitar within a year of starting on bass, and the two have been parallel all my life since.

I find that the two influence each other in my playing - the grooving, percussive elements to my acoustic playing come straight out of my bass playing.

But when writing a song on bass, I've often swapped back to my acoustic just to strip the song back down and map it out more clearly.

 

[lownote]

Geetar, then bass, now sax (and bass).  Folk>blues>funk

[Geek99]

13 hours ago, mic mac moe said:

So, I came to bass after some 20 years on drums. And yes, I groove like a mofo! Anyone else play another instrument before our beloved 4 strings? 

didn't you read the bible ? Moses should have flipped the tablet over to read #11 "Thou shalt have no other instrument than bass"

[mic mac moe]

2 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

didn't you read the bible ? Moses should have flipped the tablet over to read #11 "Thou shalt have no other instrument than bass"

#12 thou shalt only treasure thy bass, whence forth thou hast vouchsafed thine drum groove. The rimshot is mine, sayeth the Lord 

[cheddatom]

I started playing guitar when I was 8, picked up bass when I was about 15 and loved it, played bass in bands for 5 years until our drummer went home to Ireland, then played drums since. In the last few years I've really got back into guitar and started playing in a band. I find that years on bass and drums has really tightened up my sense of rhythm. I wish every guitarist would do it! So many can fret womble but few can really groove 

[mic mac moe]

6 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I started playing guitar when I was 8, picked up bass when I was about 15 and loved it, played bass in bands for 5 years until our drummer went home to Ireland, then played drums since. In the last few years I've really got back into guitar and started playing in a band. I find that years on bass and drums has really tightened up my sense of rhythm. I wish every guitarist would do it! So many can fret womble but few can really groove 

I agree with that, wholly. I always recommended at least a year on drums for all my students. Playing bass and drums has tightened my groove also, along with 80's electronic music(when I was a kid!) 

[Brook_fan]

Yeh, played classical guitar, then steel string (in weird tunings- my current tunings are CGCGCD and CGCFCD).  I’ve also taken in mandolin and bouzouki.  Love the bass though- always adds another dimension when I am arranging and composing. 

Robbie

[knirirr]

I did:

Highland bagpipe -> guitar -> fretless bass -> EUB -> fretted bass.

All jazz, except the bagpipe, though I note that it has been done (around 3:17): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjRDIy16HcM&index=7&list=PLwKj0ZY4gojIHNjnZeIfHNdgABoPVkiWU

Edited August 30, 2018 by knirirr

[Brook_fan]

1 minute ago, knirirr said:

I did:

Highland bagpipe -> guitar -> fretless bass -> EUB -> fretted bass.

All jazz, except the bagpipe, though I note that it has been done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjRDIy16HcM&index=7&list=PLwKj0ZY4gojIHNjnZeIfHNdgABoPVkiWU

Love the bagpipes- a lot of the tunes I have arranged for both guitar and bass are by Gordon Duncan.  In fact I have a YouTube video of an arrangement I did of “Zeto the Bubbleman” for three bass guitars !!

Robbie

[mic mac moe]

37 minutes ago, Brook_fan said:

Yeh, played classical guitar, then steel string (in weird tunings- my current tunings are CGCGCD and CGCFCD).  I’ve also taken in mandolin and bouzouki.  Love the bass though- always adds another dimension when I am arranging and composing. 

Robbie

Nice one Robbie. Yeah, an extra dimension. I think of bass sometimes as solving a puzzle, especially when jamming

Mike