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nylenny
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 291
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 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:24 am Post subject: Playing Bass for Guitarists |
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| I've heard it said that playing bass is a great way to improve your guitar playing. What are the specific benefits? I've noticed that playing and transcribing bass lines has improved my ability to follow chord changes and play with a bass player. I'd be interested in hearing what others think the benefits are. |
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Mark
VM Coach
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:41 am Post subject: Re: Playing Bass for Guitarists |
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| nylenny wrote: | | I've heard it said that playing bass is a great way to improve your guitar playing. What are the specific benefits? I've noticed that playing and transcribing bass lines has improved my ability to follow chord changes and play with a bass player. I'd be interested in hearing what others think the benefits are. |
Len,
One of my favorite subjects, so off the top of my head...
Ten Benefits for Guitarists Playing Bass:
1. Bass plays the most important role in any rhythm section, regardless of genre, and the guitar is a rhythm instrument. You can never glean enough knowledge in that arena, yet the majority of guitar players lack that knowledge. Doubling on bass closes the gap significantly, a major benefit in producing both a superior guitarist and a superior musician.
2. Playing bass with command requires twice a guitarist's strength in the left (fretting) hand plus the ability to effectively use the right-hand fingers independently, so the technical benefits on guitar are immense and noticeable even if you only practice bass 10-15 minutes per day.
3. Hundreds of bebop jazz and swing blues heads are playable on bass (a la Jaco Pastorius and "Donna Lee"), a highly enjoyable experience to say the least. The hidden benefit is that all of the fingerings can be directly applied to the guitar's lower register by simply reviewing them regularly on bass.
4. Almost all contemporary pop songs going back decades have a signature bass part that defines and captures the very personality of the piece. For guitarists wishing to compose tunes that have a lasting quality, the benefit of knowing money bass lines is priceless.
5. If you have an interest in jazz guitar, there's no better way to study and develop a solid vocabulary of walking bass lines than by doubling on bass. Guitarists who don't actually play bass can "fake it" but there's nothing like the added benefit of real-world bass knowledge.
6. Superior bass solos are associated with solid, call & response phrasing, because of the distinct difference from the rhythm section role. Guitarists can NEVER get enough phrasing skill, and improvising on bass indirectly benefits a guitarist's ability as a conversant, effective soloist.
7. If any guitarist wishes to get his/her foot in the door with regards to bands and gigs, the benefit of doubling on bass is off the charts. Guitar players are a dime-a-dozen. Everyone needs a bass player, so potentially there are both exposure and financial benefits.
8. When a guitarist takes up the bass and gets involved with reading and writing music, they automatically become adept at understanding bass clef, a tremendous benefit when it comes to reading piano scores/charts in that register. Again, this results in a better overall musician.
9. Bass is the perfect double for a guitarist. The benefit for guitar players in making that choice is that you have much less of a translation challenge compared with any other instrument.
10. The greatest benefit of all? FUN (the ultimate "F word" in music  ), which is what any guitarist can expect if they play the bass!
- Mark
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"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple" - Mingus |
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nylenny
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 291
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks Mark, There's some great stuff to think about in your post. |
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corky4strings
Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 109
Location: plain, pa.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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mark have you ever written a song that came from a bassline first . or was it the guitar first. probably easier with the guitar first instead of the bass line?
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corky
let your fingers do the walking i do |
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Mark
VM Coach
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject: Re: Composing Bass Lines |
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| corky4strings wrote: | | mark have you ever written a song that came from a bassline first . or was it the guitar first. probably easier with the guitar first instead of the bass line? |
Corky,
The bass line is HUGE for me in composition, and especially in original groove tunes. Listen to the tracks at the following page:
http://www.visionmusic.com/monster/groovesolos.html
These are sneak previews of the featured solos slated for release in my MGS (Monster Guitar Solo) series, but you'll quickly hear that the grooves are heavily impacted by the bass figures. In these originals the bass came first or right after the chord progression was arranged, but before the melody itself. Some are the epitome of simplicity, with roots anchoring the whole thing. Others are rhythmically syncopated. Whatever it takes is the name of the game when you compose on bass. Btw, you'll hear the return to the head in the fade section of each track on that page.
On the jazz/bebop front, "Have We Met?" is my latest 32-bar composition, and it was totally written on bass before I doubled the head on guitar. Bass and guitar duo, hence the title . All for now...
- Mark
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"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple" - Mingus |
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corky4strings
Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 109
Location: plain, pa.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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thanks mark great music. i really like have we meet. and the first song has a great groove, thanks for the online jukebox i listen to almost all the songs.
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corky
let your fingers do the walking i do |
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Mark
VM Coach
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:50 am Post subject: "Too Much Is Never Enough" |
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| corky4strings wrote: | | thanks mark great music. i really like have we meet. and the first song has a great groove, thanks for the online jukebox i listen to almost all the songs. |
Corky,
Sure thing, bass man. Glad you enjoyed the tracks. I've got a funny story about one of them, a story that ties directly into composing on bass.
About ten years ago I was giving a private lesson to a young and very talented bassist. We were talking about potential song titles (one of my favorite subjects) and when he commented that my idea of using "Too Much" as a title might be a bit simple, he then added, "Well, you know what they say... too much is never enough." I immediately grabbed my pen and wrote it down, calling it a perfect title for an original tune.
Then he said, "Coming up with a title is the easy part. The hard part is writing the song." So I asked him if I could use his bass and said, "No, writing the song is the easy part," and improvised the signature bass theme right on the spot! True story, although I wish I could say that I'm always that spontaneously creative. 
Anyway, later that night I composed the latin-flavored bridge changes and wrote the funky, sax-influenced melody. To hear the full version of the tune with guitar doubling with bass on the opening theme, click here. Hope you enjoy it, and if anything this underlines the fact that one of my favorite ways to compose begins with the bass, the most important instrument regardless of genre.
- Mark
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"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple" - Mingus |
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nylenny
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 291
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Nice tune Mark. Thanks, I enjoyed it. |
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corky4strings
Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 109
Location: plain, pa.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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great song. my problem is i come up with ideas when i'm driving then bye time i get home i forget. or i can't find a pen in the car or something tp write on. so i think for xmas i'm gonna have santa bring me one of the hand held digital recorders. then i could just sing the part. i have words for songs on match packs , paperplates what ever i find on the floor of the car.
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corky
let your fingers do the walking i do |
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Jim
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 2
Location: Savannah, GA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:16 am Post subject: |
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I would add the following:
1) When playing bass, you cannot "stop playing". This is a challenge. Guitarists are often riffing and comping loosely, in and out of the mix.
2) The bassist always has to know where you are in the progression.
3) Committing those classic bass backbone riffs from blues, Motown, etc. to memory is priceless.
Jim |
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bassman
Joined: 05 Dec 2009
Posts: 3
Location: Tampa, Florida
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:11 am Post subject: |
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Absolutely,positvely YES!
After playing bass for 30 years, I started back up on guitar ( LBM ). Having a bass back ground really helps if want to write tunes..especially the groove stuff...
Bass is so essential to bridge between rhythm and harmony...it really teaches you how to create a feel..pushing and pulling the beat on a groove is from the bass.
I too write a lot of tunes based on a bass motif...put on a drum beat and go to it. It is so versatile...fretless, slap-pop, chords, single note syncopation...endless variety of feels and sounds.
Nothing better than getting in a "pocket" with a good drummer...that is fun!!
With Bass the rule is you don't just play the notes, you also need to "play" the spaces to really get a groove going.
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