Every additional instrument you learn helps you look at each of them with a different perspective, and improves your general musicianship. Bass and guitar have quite different, almost opposing, rhythmic functions but your guitar playing will benefit. Coming from bass first before guitar, I found that the theory I had to learn to construct basslines helped me build chord voicings and construct solo lines

+1 for Peter's response.
Having dabbled in it a little, my experience is that it contributes positively = better understanding of harmony, timing/groove and learning to not be the centre of the universe ?

Cheers

Solid replies guys, thanks ?

Positive.

Love messing about on the bass! Wrote a couple of our guitar riffs on the bass first. Have much respect for players that play both. Positive for sure.

I was worried that it would some how affect the way I play scales and solos, you know like maybe making the left hand lazy? I know you have to apply more pressure to the strings so it should build up strength quite a bit as well in the fretting hand.

I had to resign from the band that I have been playing with for nearly 2 years because I am moving and they luckily managed to find a replacement guitarist, but I'm toying with the idea of jumping onto bass for a gig or 2 before I move away, seeing as though I know all the rhythm guitar sections anyway and they are still looking for a bassist. Might be fun.

G-Man wrote: I was worried that it would some how affect the way I play scales and solos, you know like maybe making the left hand lazy? I know you have to apply more pressure to the strings so it should build up strength quite a bit as well in the fretting hand.

I had to resign from the band that I have been playing with for nearly 2 years because I am moving and they luckily managed to find a replacement guitarist, but I'm toying with the idea of jumping onto bass for a gig or 2 before I move away, seeing as though I know all the rhythm guitar sections anyway and they are still looking for a bassist. Might be fun.

Do it! Will you pick it or pluck it? 4 string?

it will make you a better guitarist.

by learning the basics of bass guitar and drums, you get to hear things different in a band context, having a wide canvas to paint on.

G-Man wrote: ... but I'm toying with the idea of jumping onto bass for a gig or 2 before I move away, seeing as though I know all the rhythm guitar sections anyway and they are still looking for a bassist. Might be fun.

I'm with Hammeron - DO itttttttt! Played bass in the old band for two years - originally was supposed to play guit, but we couldn't find a bass player, so I volunteered. Tried to keep it simple, rocking out root notes to the guit parts with the low notes tight with the kick (I read somewhere, that the bassists job is to make the drummer sound good... :?)

When you are 'in the pocket' with the drummer, it's a lot of fun. And sitting between the rhythm of drums and melody of the guitar was educational, you kinda have a dual role of supporting both sides of the musical equation.

Hammeron wrote: Do it! Will you pick it or pluck it? 4 string?

Definitely will be using a pick! ? Don't think I'll be able to learn the art of plucking so quickly, but I'll try it to see what all the fuss is about. Hehe. There is a 4 string headless steinberg bass and I'm hoping that mine will be finished soon as well.

V8 wrote:

G-Man wrote: ... but I'm toying with the idea of jumping onto bass for a gig or 2 before I move away, seeing as though I know all the rhythm guitar sections anyway and they are still looking for a bassist. Might be fun.

I'm with Hammeron - DO itttttttt! Played bass in the old band for two years - originally was supposed to play guit, but we couldn't find a bass player, so I volunteered. Tried to keep it simple, rocking out root notes to the guit parts with the low notes tight with the kick (I read somewhere, that the bassists job is to make the drummer sound good... :?)

When you are 'in the pocket' with the drummer, it's a lot of fun. And sitting between the rhythm of drums and melody of the guitar was educational, you kinda have a dual role of supporting both sides of the musical equation.

Wow I never thought about it like that. That blows my mind that they have dual roles with supporting the drums and augmenting the guitars. And here I was thinking that bassists were lazy buggers. ?

Do it. As the others have said, it makes you a better guitarist and all-round musician.

Plectrum makes dynamics easier, but one of the great things that bass taught me is the variation of tone you can get from your fingers.

Play the base. Play the mandolin. Play the ukelele. Play the Baritone guitar. The more you play, the more you grow, you can't go wrong, in fact if you were strumming acoustic, you'll come out doing acoustic riffs! If you were playing lead, you'll come out fingerpicking acoustic. Just do it! :'(

Play anything with strings except G-strings! I have started with a soprano Uke. Looks simple enough till you start accompanying back tracks. Any stringed instrument will benefit your preferred playing style. In the case of the uke, it forces you to learn accurate finger placement on the minuscule fretboard.
It also adds to your understanding of the dynamics of different stringed instruments in a band which again will make you a much better musician

Hey G Man, . . .as said . . . . just Do It!

After originally only getting a bass for my recording, a situation in my jamming circle arose, where I figured there are just too many guitars, I took a step back from lead, and decided to provide the deep and low down and start playing bass instead.

Wow, besides the fun of learning and doing something different, the bass sure does strengthen the fingers, and trains your hand to get more spread between index and pinkie. Guitar knowledge helps you on bass, but then, as you find the fundamentals of bass lines, these in turn bring in different nuances in your guitar playing, so it's a win-win either way.

Look at it as part of your musical journey, and enjoy 8)

Finally able to log on so I can reply to this........ Best decision I ever made, guitar wise, was picking up the bass, the uke and even the banjo. They only make you a better player. Same thing with alternate tunings, "Keef"-ing your guitar (5 strings), playing slide etc. etc. etc.

so much of happy you asked this question, g. i'm not worried about 'switching', as that's not what i'm doing. but i will be throwing a bit o' bass into my routine, with the specific aim of playing the bass on my recordings. adrian, f'rinstace, does some awesome bass on his comp entries. so when i enter, i'll be looking to do the same (with hopefully increasing levels of awesomeness).

glad to hear the responses are positive. now just waiting for grant to finish fixin' mah bass. should be fun!
dh|

Learning to play bass was the second best thing I've done when it comes to music. Playing guitar became easy as hell with all the extra strength in my hands, and it was just so much fun to get so...funky.
Besides, if you already play guitar you already understand 90% of what you need to know to play bass. The scales are the same minus 2 strings, and your fingers are already prepared to make the shapes you'll use. It's not like switching up to play flute, you know? ?

Playing my first bass gig tomorrow night, thanks everyone for the encouragement.

Funny enough even though I've played the before song on guitar, I need to re-learn it on bass.
It's like a whole new song, but it does not negatively affect it when I go back to playing it on guitar. 8)