Question for guitarists who play bass (or visa-versa)

V8

So I think my main instrument is guitar. But I do really enjoy banging away on a bass.

What I find a bit odd, is that I'm fairly picky when it comes to music I will play on guitar. If it ain't blues, rock, funk or -at least- fun - I've observed myself becoming rather opinionated (I was in a 60's cover band and when we had to rock out Worsie Visser songs, I refused to play... :-[)

But when I'm playing bass I really couldn't care. As long as I can lock in with the drummer, I'll play anything.

Anybody else find they are more open minded when they arn't playing what they would consider their main instrument and just make/play music for the joy of music? Or am I just odd (not exactly news ?)

ezietsman

It could be because subconsciously you don't want to play songs on YOUR instrument you aren't familiar with. On a bass, though, its all new and interesting. Maybe. Who knows.

Jayhell

I don't like playing bass in my own band, I'm way to much of a control freak, but when it comes to jamming or playing in another band I always choose bass. I feel allot more confident on bass than guitar. I think it's a trust issue. If I can find a guitarist that I trust to do what I want them to do it would be cool to play bass in my own band, but until then, I am the rhythm guitarist, because my lead guitarist is to much of a lead guitarist, If you know what I'm saying.

Also I always end up being the singer. Singing and bass I find very hard. So if I don't sing I can jam the bass.

Also, I prefer people in a band to be better at what they do than me. I suck at drums, therefore I have a drummer. My leads are elementary, therefore I have a lead guitarist, my current bassist is really good, so I prefer him on bass. I'm the best singer and rhythm guitarist in my band, therefore I am doing that. If something happens to my bassist and I find a bassist who plays better rhythm than me and sings better, I'll probably play bass.

Man, I got issues...

V8

ez wrote: It could be because subconsciously you don't want to play songs on YOUR instrument you aren't familiar with. On a bass, though, its all new and interesting. Maybe. Who knows.

Could well be...a similar thought crossed my mind. Comfort zone on the guitar which developed preconceptions - which I am definitely guilty of.

Though I'm not exactly new to bass - in my humble collection, the granddaddy is a bass (20yrs and counting).

I was thinking maybe it was that I tend to use my ears more when I play bass - I started bass lessons when I was going through a phase of playing what I heard instead of regurgitating tabs. And the bass teacher had the same approach, he'd sing a melody and we'd play it (or he would, and I'd sit and be amazed).

Jayhell wrote: Singing and bass I find very hard. So if I don't sing I can jam the bass.

Me too! I tend to loose the groove and that's a no-no. How Mark King can slap out "Lessons in Love" and sing remains a mystery.

Jayhell wrote: Man, I got issues...

You are not alone there - I'm a card carrying member it seems...

Nitebob

I have an electric guitar, but prefer acoustic, and then every now and then I sit down behind my piano...start enjoying it, then the guitar moves to the background again...

And that plays MURDER on my OCD... :sorry:

G-Man

I was second guitar in a band for 2 years, took a 6 month break from live playing and caught up on work and life and rejoined the same band as the bassist.

It was very strange at first. The relationships between the instruments and vocalist are very different. I went from consulting the vocalist and lead guitarist on things like volume, timing etc to talking mostly with the drummer and second guitarist about volume and general "feel" of the songs. And taking a rest during a song? Forget about it. If you stuff up or play the wrong note nobody will necessarily single you out but the general consensus will be that something was off on that last song. That's when I'd sweat, haha

Also re learning close to 30 songs on a bass that you already know on guitar isn't as straight forward as you think. Many songs would be following completely different timings and notes so it opened my eyes quite a bit. Also I developed a knack for finding root notes and generally hunted for notes that sounded less kak than others.