What is 'wrong' with playing a bass like playing a guitar?

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    VimFuego said:
    surely you play an instrument in a manner that is relevant to the song or tune you are playing, the context you are playing it in and appropriate to where in the piece you are, or am I missing something?
    In my world, the main factor dictating what I play, whether on guitar or bass, is my own profound lack of ability.

    I play root notes...or somewhere near them! 
    Amen Brother :)

    Can I play with a plectrum as well....? <ducks flying bass from @bridgehouse >
    Plectrum is perfectly valid for bass. 

    What I object to is people insisting that fingers is a waste of time when a pick will do...
    That's my view too - it's all part of the tool kit. Thumb, fingers, pick. All good.
    Some parts just sound better with one of those than the other options.

    Intro to "Peace Sells" - I can get it nearly the same with fingers, but pick sounds better, more crisp.

    "Sitting on the dock of the bay" sounds awful with a pick. Doesn't have that pillowy dreamy sound that the song needs.

    It's all good.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    That's how you play bass in a 3 piece

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xch-3Wwl9HE

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906

    One looks a lot cooler playing Bass with fingers, that sort of gentle barely flicking the string thing looks epic.

    I just sort of suck at it...

    Where do I start "walking" from the root note?  I've learnt a few little riffs and I know where roots are so could play bass on an Oasis song (which is good, I love Oasis) but that's as far as I've got...
    Start simple - Root, 5th, Octave.

    Then when the guitarist changes chord dont just start again there - put a passing notewhen you move - making it a journey to the new chord.


    Do you read bass clef at all? If So I've got some stuff I could scan for you.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    Do you read bass clef at all?
    Be seeing you.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    LEARN TO READ MUSIC!!!

    Yes I know I'm a hypocrite as I only started taking bass clef seriously a few years ago when I joined the music trust my kids attend, but it has opened up so much more music for me.

    Seriously - even Grade 1 level exercises that only take a couple of hours to nail down are so useful.
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  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11669

    One looks a lot cooler playing Bass with fingers, that sort of gentle barely flicking the string thing looks epic.

    I just sort of suck at it...

    Where do I start "walking" from the root note?  I've learnt a few little riffs and I know where roots are so could play bass on an Oasis song (which is good, I love Oasis) but that's as far as I've got...
    Start simple - Root, 5th, Octave.

    Then when the guitarist changes chord dont just start again there - put a passing notewhen you move - making it a journey to the new chord.


    Do you read bass clef at all? If So I've got some stuff I could scan for you.
    Thanks, I'll try that.

    I don't read music at all really, but could pick out notes with a bit of reference material I expect.
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    Right then.

    To get the basics of note type / length and what all the extra little dots next to or above the notes get this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Guitarists-Guide-Reading-Music-ebook/dp/B00E5R1HN8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=beginner+bass+stuart+clayton&qid=1563452419&s=books&sr=1-1

    and then Buy this:
     https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1848493584/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    It's short examples - 2 lines mostly - of simple exercises. It starts at genuine beginner levels and goes to grade 5. Don't worry that it is a double bass book just ignore anything that mentions a bow.


    If you already know the difference between a minim, crotchet, quaver etc and when you need flats and sharps then you might be ok with only getting the 2nd book.

    Then play the exercises. Learn the notes on the bass stave GBDFA on the lines and ACEG in the spaces.

    DON'T keep looking at a help map - make up a mnemonic.

    Play it as slow as needed but get the note right each time. Even if it takes you 10 mins per note! Play the first 2 examples over and over until you get them right. Then the next 2. Then go back to the first 2 again.


    Do no more than 15 minutes reading practice per day. Little and often is far more effective than 2 hours on a weekend.

    In a week or 2 you will be playing the early exercises fluently and start being more confident in identifying what the notes are in new exercises.

    That's all it will need - 15 mins per day.

    In the meantime I'll scan some easy arrangements of tunes for you including some walking things.
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  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11669
    ^^
    Thanks, actually some useful ones for guitar in that range as well.
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    So I take that phrase to mean either duplicating the guitar part or playing parts that don't serve the function of the bass part from an orchestration  perspective.

    I could ramble a  it about my view of bass function but it's too tedious typing on a phone.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273


    I'm beginning to wonder if he's not an old dude with knackered hearing, shouting at clouds, but is actually a bored insurance salesman in his thirties who has created a character.
    That would be a gross violation of the good Friday agreement. There should be some kind of backstop to prevent that......Russ Andrews 
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4941
    From the replies given so far, I am still mystified at what the phrase actually means.  At our monthly music get togethers, we play country, country rock and rock & roll type of music.  My humble efforts: roots, roots & fifth, octaves and passing notes to change from one chord to the next, all seem to 'work'.  But then who am I to know?  
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    So I take that phrase to mean either duplicating the guitar part or playing parts that don't serve the function of the bass part from an orchestration  perspective.

    I could ramble a  it about my view of bass function but it's too tedious typing on a phone.
    Sometimes unison with guitar is great. Sometimes it isn’t.

    My view is that each instrument is set a role by the composer. Trying to limit that role, not by the physical restrictions of a particular instrument but by the odious argument of “tradition”, is the path to repetition and a lack of innovation.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2176
    edited July 2019
    The term probably means different things to different people. There are a number of perspectives.

    Sometimes it's used as a derogatory term for guitarists that pick up a bass and ( while they can technically pick out some notes) just don't sound right.

     But as long as it sounds good who cares.

     I thought that Phil Lynott played the bass (and looked) like a rhythm guitarist. But it sounded great in the context of Thin Lizzy.

     Also, IMO Mike Kerr plays like a guitarist and it sounds great.

     Another personal perspective, which is a bit of an over simplification. As a guitarist, I tend to lock into the snare and hi hat. When I dabble on bass I tend to lock into the kick. 
    It's not a competition.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I sometimes will play thumb & fingers like a classical, or sweep fingernails across like Flamenco.

    Sometimes I'll tap notes or harmonics with my right.

    Sometimes just left-hand hammers & pulls.

    There are no rules.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    Alan Anton of the Cowboy Junkies plays bass a bit 'like a guitarist' too - he plays chord shapes and intervals, alternating thumb/fingers picking patterns and leaves notes ringing, and is generally 'busy' - but it really works for the band.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • JMP220478JMP220478 Frets: 421
    edited July 2019
    there's nothing wrong with this ..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFKlezPu3xg
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    JMP220478 said:
    there's nothing wrong with this ..
    ... except, possibly, the clothing choices. :)
    Be seeing you.
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  • JMP220478JMP220478 Frets: 421
    JMP220478 said:
    there's nothing wrong with this ..
    ... except, possibly, the clothing choices. :)
    it was 1981 after all ... think SC has the rock look of the time - George maybe not .. 

     saw him in October in Manchester last year - truly stunning ... 
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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993
    Danny1969 said:

    The actual "sound" of a band is the bass and drums. There's no rules to playing bass, you get the sound you want how you want. 


    rick beato's 'what makes this song great' - usually has a "lets listen to the rhythm section" aspect which shows the reason the song has its feel.

    The slipknot physcosocial one is a surprisingly good example of this.

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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    So I take that phrase to mean either duplicating the guitar part or playing parts that don't serve the function of the bass part from an orchestration  perspective.

    I could ramble a  it about my view of bass function but it's too tedious typing on a phone.
    Sometimes unison with guitar is great. Sometimes it isn’t.

    My view is that each instrument is set a role by the composer. Trying to limit that role, not by the physical restrictions of a particular instrument but by the odious argument of “tradition”, is the path to repetition and a lack of innovation.

    I didnt say anything about tradition but there's definitely a time and a place for duplicating the guitar part and I see people most often accused of playing like a guitarist when they fail to identify the constitutional role that the bass has (or could have) in a specific part or simple lacks the imagination / vocabulary to do anything other than duplicate the guitar part.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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