Playing bass affects your guitar playing?

[surfreak]

I've purposely joined a band as a bass player, and honestly it has helped a lot not in terms of technique, but mostly for my songwriting and arranging ability.

Plus, I find it easier to "feel" the band's dynamics when I play bass, for some reason I can concentrate on the song more than my own playing.

[omwdc]

its easy to play guitar after playing bass, but i find i dig in more

[Blazer]

Playing bass certaily attributed to my style, I play very rythmically and usually watch the drums very closely. Another thing is that I can play with a 011 gauge set of strings on my guitar and bend them as if they were a 008 set, I got really strong hands from playing bass.

[demeyes]

I played in my first band as a bass player and I think that helped me a lot. I think it is a good way of improving your timing and you focus more on band dynamics and the drums than you would be with the guitar.

[Special-K]

I want to record a black metal album...
And I only can play guitar and play a little bit of bass...
But, now I got more into practicing cause I must get better
on the bass for the album....
And I must say...It helps...I can stretch my fingers wider
and my fingerpicking got better ...

So nothing negative here

[OnlineStageGear]

I have always looked at it like playing any instrument will improve your skills on any other instrument. Playing guitar helped me pick up the drums pretty quick as well as what little keyboards I play and I am sure the reverse would apply.

Matt

[hippietim]

Playing bass will help. You'll learn a lot.

For starters, you can finally be that bass player you wish you had when you were playing guitar. Then you find out it's not so easy after all.

Typically you're just playing one note at a time so you figure out what is actually important to play. Sometimes less is more as it turns out.

You will find that you will lock in with the drummer differently than before.

If you have a keyboard player in your group you'll want to cut off his left hand (vs. his right hand when you were playing guitar).

[OnlineStageGear]

If you have a keyboard player in your group you'll want to cut off his left hand (vs. his right hand when you were playing guitar).

Haha, then you are Def Leppard....

[Mike]

I just mess around on bass alot, nothing major, but it does help with finger strength. If you need help with fingering strength, hammer-ons on bass will definately help.

[horns666]

I been playing bass again quite alot lately. I found that one doesn't help the other in any way shape or form...

I approach both completely differenly even when playing the same songs that I write and record.

There is a HUGE difference between a real bassist and a guitarist that pick s up and plays a bass.

Two different animals that require two diffrent techniques, feel, touch, tone and ect.

Actually I'd say people with minimal piano skill would prolly help bass players more than guitarist that played for decades.

I apply a completely different tapping approach on guitar and bass.

While tapping on bass I divide the neck into a bass and treble clef much like a piano...and play two parts at once. On guitar I'll just tap thru scales and patterns.

Tim and Blazer brought up very points here so far..

Tim is right no bassist on earth can play the songs I write better than I...well of course.

Blazer brough up a good point of locking in with the drums which is that primary role and link between drums and the music..be it guitar, keys and ect.

If you think playing a bass is the same a just swinging a weighted baseball bat..you're dead wrong..that's just not the case at all... Unless you warm up swinging that bat then go bowling!

Bill Z Bub

[kelly user]

i play both on a daily basis jazz, metal, orchestra, classical...... did i mention i play string bass as well. i have good tone on every thing. its all about the ears, learn to listen for what you are looking for. and let it be known its not easy to thump like Wooten i've been at it for years.......

[horns666]

i play both on a daily basis jazz, metal, orchestra, classical...... did i mention i play string bass as well. i have good tone on every thing. its all about the ears, learn to listen for what you are looking for. and let it be known its not easy to thump like Wooten i've been at it for years.......

I have no problem with it..Wooten is great..but I mastered Louis Johnson and Jeff Berlins style over 20 years ago..

I'm the local bass dude that guys call when they're recording. While I was doing a session I was showing Buzz Johns a local guy that jams with Wooten some of my crap..Buzz is a very good player but he can't tap much.

I slapped and tapped to drum machine presets until I was blue in the face for years on end. There wasn't anything more to learn on bass, and became bored. So in '96 I sold all my bass gear and plunged into guitar. I always used a borrowed bass whenever I have to record something. I just bought my kid a cheap bass for Christmas, and he's already slapping. In fact he fucked up and inverted a slapping pattern I showed him..and I can't duplicate it for the life of me. I can learn anything on bass that you throw at me..but I can't learn my kid's "fuck up"..:ROTF:

I gave my bud John a old live bass solo I did 11 years ago on dvd, in my VH trib..he never did figure out how to post it. I gotta get that back from him..

[Endrik]

I been playing bass again quite alot lately. I found that one doesn't help the other in any way shape or form...

I approach both completely differenly even when playing the same songs that I write and record.

There is a HUGE difference between a real bassist and a guitarist that pick s up and plays a bass.

Two different animals that require two diffrent techniques, feel, touch, tone and ect.

Actually I'd say people with minimal piano skill would prolly help bass players more than guitarist that played for decades.

I apply a completely different tapping approach on guitar and bass.

While tapping on bass I divide the neck into a bass and treble clef much like a piano...and play two parts at once. On guitar I'll just tap thru scales and patterns.

Tim and Blazer brought up very points here so far..

Tim is right no bassist on earth can play the songs I write better than I...well of course.

Blazer brough up a good point of locking in with the drums which is that primary role and link between drums and the music..be it guitar, keys and ect.

If you think playing a bass is the same a just swinging a weighted baseball bat..you're dead wrong..that's just not the case at all... Unless you warm up swinging that bat then go bowling!

Bill Z Bub

I agree.
I've noticed that 90% of guitarists are absolutely horrible bass players. They can't make real bass lines wich fit into the song.
A lot of times a bass line wich sounds completely awful alone is awsome when played with the whole band.
Keyboard players and drummers would be good bass players. Stevie Wonder would be one of the best bassists, a lot of funk bass players have copied his groovy keyboard melodies.
Only a handful guitarists are good bass players. One of them is Jagori Tanna from I Mother Earth. When they started recording their debut album Dig, their bass player was stoned and got fired. Jagori played every single bass line on that album, all the slapping stuff and whatnot. They hired Bruce Gordon who is a monster player to play all that stuff. Of course Bruce recorded all the bass lines on the next albums.

With Wooten's double thumbing technique you get the insanest speed but that technique is pretty old, even the slap'n'pop inventor Larry Graham uses it when he needs some fast tremolo slap notes. Wooten's speed is unmatchable but I gotta give the torch to Louis Johnson, he only uses standard slapping technique and no one and I mean no one has the ability to play with his speed using standard technique. And Louis is by far the most agressive and heaviest slapper.

[Mattpj]

Nothing negative here about playing bass, I just got part of a pro covers band in the UK playing bass, most songs are Pop of course and it involves 3/4 notes a song. Nothing fancy and I play with a pick, but damn i really enjoy grooving with the drummer, even for these (with the greatest respect) non technical tunes!!!!!

Also when you come back to your guitar, you feel like you can shred like a mo'fo' and that for me is a massive plus. It feels great to come back to guitar and it feels so much easier than you remember!

Playing bass is good.

That is all

[horns666]

I agree.
I've noticed that 90% of guitarists are absolutely horrible bass players. They can't make real bass lines wich fit into the song.
A lot of times a bass line wich sounds completely awful alone is awsome when played with the whole band.
Keyboard players and drummers would be good bass players. Stevie Wonder would be one of the best bassists, a lot of funk bass players have copied his groovy keyboard melodies.
Only a handful guitarists are good bass players. One of them is Jagori Tanna from I Mother Earth. When they started recording their debut album Dig, their bass player was stoned and got fired. Jagori played every single bass line on that album, all the slapping stuff and whatnot. They hired Bruce Gordon who is a monster player to play all that stuff. Of course Bruce recorded all the bass lines on the next albums.

With Wooten's double thumbing technique you get the insanest speed but that technique is pretty old, even the slap'n'pop inventor Larry Graham uses it when he needs some fast tremolo slap notes. Wooten's speed is unmatchable but I gotta give the torch to Louis Johnson, he only uses standard slapping technique and no one and I mean no one has the ability to play with his speed using standard technique. And Louis is by far the most agressive and heaviest slapper.

Right on..I took from Louis Johnson and learned "Stomp" note for note back in the mid 80's..I still play it from time to time.

I also took from Tony Levin in'82 when I first sawhim play a chapman stick with King Crimson..I just applied to what his did on the stick to bass..and cultivated my own thing..which sounded very similair to what Stu Hamm was doing a years later..

I'll glady share stage and jam with any bassist on the planet and have a blast!!