Bassist learning guitar

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wintoidwintoid Frets: 27
I'm a hobbyist who has played bass (and sax and keyboards) for 40 or so years.  Of course, I know my way around a guitar enough to strum the basic chords, include barre chords, but it's always been a bit of an afterthought for me.  I'm finally thinking about trying to learn properly, and to get myself a decent electric guitar.  I'll be playing and recording myself at home.

We've got a crummy acoustic here, and I've been mucking around with it.  Youtube seems to be full of stuff I'd like to learn, including the CAGED stuff and the various alternate picking/pickslanting stuff.  I've got very little interest in playing fast runs/lines, but definitely really interested in learning how to use a pick to make very precise arpeggiated chords.  At the moment, I am weak on rhythmic precision, especially when crossing strings.

Obviously all that is a huge amount to learn.  I wondered, given my aims, whether there is obvious stuff I should skip, and obvious stuff I should focus on.  I don't use a pick on my bass, and I feel quite helpless using a pick on the guitar.  I really want to master it.

So, for example, should I skip pickslanting, but learn economy picking.  Or should I just focus on CAGED and the pick dexterity will come with the practice?  I want to get my technique right before bad habits set in.

I'm very grateful for any pointers anyone would care to share with me.

Thanks,

Simon
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Comments

  • TanninTannin Frets: 5268
    My tip, as a reformed bass player, would be - don't bother with a pick. Play with your fingers. Doesn't matter what genre you like, from George Thorogood through to Mark Knopfler, all those styles go well with fingers and there is a lot of stuff you can't do any other way. 
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4947
    First question: what do you wish to play on the guitar?  If you answer that question, you will know what to concentrate on learning.  Same as driving a car.  You need an end result (a destination) otherwise you end up driving round in circles and going nowhere.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • wintoidwintoid Frets: 27
    Tannin said:
    My tip, as a reformed bass player, would be - don't bother with a pick. Play with your fingers. Doesn't matter what genre you like, from George Thorogood through to Mark Knopfler, all those styles go well with fingers and there is a lot of stuff you can't do any other way. 
    Thanks.  That's totally logical, and I have a feeling that might be what ends up happening, but I want to see what I can do with a pick first.  I'm semi-hoping I might gain some skills with a pick that I can transfer back to bass.  I never liked pick on a bass.
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  • wintoidwintoid Frets: 27
    Rocker said:
    First question: what do you wish to play on the guitar?  If you answer that question, you will know what to concentrate on learning.  Same as driving a car.  You need an end result (a destination) otherwise you end up driving round in circles and going nowhere.
    The answer to that is a mix of little percussive accompaniments... funky little background riffs.... to bring a track alive, but more commonly chords split into single notes... not exactly arpeggios, but ripples.
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  • CarpeDiemCarpeDiem Frets: 275
    I would get some lessons, but ensure that the teacher will focus on what you want to learn. Doing it face-to-face will help as they will be able to see what you're doing and guide you. In terms of pick holding, a lot of people angle it, particularly if aiming for speed. You may be better performing alternate picking exercises, single string first then moving across strings before trying economy picking. Also, pick some simple funky songs to develop your rhythm playing (relaxing is key, but is hard when starting off as you naturally tense up), and add in percussive string damping as you improve. Good luck, and congratulations on having the ability to be a multi instrumentalist!
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  • wintoidwintoid Frets: 27
    CarpeDiem said:
    I would get some lessons, but ensure that the teacher will focus on what you want to learn. Doing it face-to-face will help as they will be able to see what you're doing and guide you. In terms of pick holding, a lot of people angle it, particularly if aiming for speed. You may be better performing alternate picking exercises, single string first then moving across strings before trying economy picking. Also, pick some simple funky songs to develop your rhythm playing (relaxing is key, but is hard when starting off as you naturally tense up), and add in percussive string damping as you improve. Good luck, and congratulations on having the ability to be a multi instrumentalist!
    Thanks!
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    wintoid said:

    So, for example, should I skip pickslanting, but learn economy picking.
    Pickslanting is only a term Troy Grady was using to try to "crack the code" of how it was that what he calls "elite" players play fast (and why so many of us duffers struggle). He's moved away from that term now, you could do worse than to consume his free material, I enjoyed doing that, though I've not bought anything from him yet. Anyway, his stuff is about learning to play fast. And to a large extent, that's what economy picking is about. But it's not really a case of chosing one over the other: alternate picking sounds different to economy picking. They both have their merits for different applications. Further, you can't "ignore technique and concentrate on CAGED", or whatever it is that you do will become your technique. Best if that be at least consistent, "strict" alternate picking has many advantages there. It'll also help keep you locked into a groove if you do it right from the start.
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  • wintoidwintoid Frets: 27
    DLM said:
    wintoid said:

    So, for example, should I skip pickslanting, but learn economy picking.
    Pickslanting is only a term Troy Grady was using to try to "crack the code" of how it was that what he calls "elite" players play fast (and why so many of us duffers struggle). He's moved away from that term now, you could do worse than to consume his free material, I enjoyed doing that, though I've not bought anything from him yet. Anyway, his stuff is about learning to play fast. And to a large extent, that's what economy picking is about. But it's not really a case of chosing one over the other: alternate picking sounds different to economy picking. They both have their merits for different applications. Further, you can't "ignore technique and concentrate on CAGED", or whatever it is that you do will become your technique. Best if that be at least consistent, "strict" alternate picking has many advantages there. It'll also help keep you locked into a groove if you do it right from the start.
    Thanks, very helpful!
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  • BorkBork Frets: 252
    Find songs that you are passionate about and learn them.   Stand in the shoes of your heroes for a few minutes and see if you can match them.  It helps to find inspiration that is accessible of course.  I started with Nile Rodgers, now I'm on Steve Lukather, Billy Gibbons and Alan Murphy...and probably will be for a while yet.  

    [This space for rent]

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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    Glad to help. :)
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