HELP! To play bass guitar do you need to learn anything else besides the chords of a regular guitar?

Question

Please answer my question! I need to know so I can persuade my friend to join the band.

Answer 1

No no no no

Bass guitar is totally different.... Just learn bass it will be much simpler than trying to learn both...

Answer 2

All these people are WRONG. They should be banished to the land of musical silence!

I am a bass player. A bassist needs to know three things before he can join a band. Two can be taught, one you are born with.

1) a bass player MUST be able to keep good time. Regardless of what he is playing, or how syncopated, he must never loose the beat. This is an absolute MUST. You will find most drummers have bad time, and you are the only one that can keep the band on track.

2) a bass player needs to be able to read the chords a guitarist is playing. "Oh, that's an A minor Seventh." The guitarist tells the bassist what key the song is in. The bass player doesn't need to know how to PLAY every chord, but he needs to be able to look at the guitarist's hand on the neck and tell what chord is being played - at the very least, what the root note is. Is it an A? a D? a G? an E flat? Without this, the bassist is never in key.

3) a bass player needs to know the blues scale for playing with each chord. Blues, jazz, country, rock, metal - all use the blues scale. It is universal. The blues scale can be played with both minor and major chords, but later ... you'll find out more and which goes better with what. But without the blues scale, the bass player, even with just 1 and 2 will only be playing the root note of the chord (if you don't know what that is, then add that in as item 2a).


Rhythm, guitar chords, blues scale. Bassist 101. You can play for years knowing this stuff.

The bass is a COMPLEMENTARY instrument. It compliments the other players. He must know rhythm, to hold the band together. He must know the key of the song, to emphasize it and play WITH the band. And he must know the blues scale, so that when he improvises, he does so subtely and in tune with the rest of the band.
.

.

Answer 3

Most bassists I know including myself don't read music, but rather play by ear. We learned by playing along with music and matching the notes we heard. If you play along with music, you'll figure out very quickly how important bass is to the rhythm of a song -- it's sort of a bridge between the drums and the melody. With practice, you'll be able to match any note within a try or two because you'll become so familiar with where the notes are on the fretboard. Once you can do that, you'll be able to write compatible bass parts for original music, as you'd be expected to do if you joined/started a band. It's impossible to say that either bass or guitar is easier to learn, since they're entirely different instruments with different skill sets. A lot of guitarists swear their instrument is more difficult than bass to play, but that only proves they have no idea what a bassist does. Most guitarists make horrible bassists because they play bass like they would a guitar. They're so used to focusing on melody that they can't understand the purpose of a rhythm section. A good bassist, however, stands a much better chance of becoming a good guitarist, since everyone understands the importance of melody. I'd say that if you're someone who's always drumming on tables, desks and your legs with pencils, silverware or even your fingers, you're probably a born bassist. People who drum on things are usually very rhythmically inclined. But if you're not someone who's constantly tapping rhythms, you'll probably have an easier time learning guitar. It's really a matter of tapping into what makes you tick so you can choose the right instrument.

Answer 4

Guitar chords probably won't help. You need to learn scales. You can't compare a bass guitar to a regular guitar.

Answer 5

How long it takes to learn guitar depends on how good you want to get and how much practice you put in. How good you can get with 1-2 hours a day for a few months depends on what methods you use to practice. There are effective practice methods that will help you make the best use of your time. This course is one of the best. https://bitly.im/aMSAn It's not just about how much you play but how effectively you play that will determine how good you will get.

Answer 6

Yes,You need to develop speed,cordination, you seldom play
chords,mostly notes,all fingers must be in sync,and need good knowledge of the fretboard,where very note is placed

Answer 7

ya...the scales...the scales will help more than the chords... the just needs to know the roots of the chords

Answer 8

you dont need to know chords... or scales for that matter, but knowing scales will help A LOT...

Answer 9

theory! get the book "the bass grimoire" by adem kadmon
read bass clef music
get other bass books