How does a Guitarist play Bass?

RocknRollDave

fretmeister said:

RocknRollDave said:

RocknRollDave said:

I, apparently, play bass ‘like a guitarist playing bass’, so …don’t do whatever it is that I do.

Eek…I have a wedding gig on bass tonight!

Wish me luck…

Good luck! 

Just remember that if you have to make a mistake do it on the note, not the timing.
Nobody will notice a wrong note. Everybody will notice a rhythm fuck up.

If in doubt, just don’t play for a bar and then come back in.

Don’t worry, You’ll smash it! 

I think we’ll go with ‘Got through the gig’ rather than ‘Smashed it!’ but it turned out to be a tiny wedding with a groom who had thrown up a few times because he’d drunk so much… I don’t think a few ‘out of the box’ bass notes during the solo in One Way Or Another were noticed.

fretmeister

RocknRollDave said:

fretmeister said:

RocknRollDave said:

RocknRollDave said:

I, apparently, play bass ‘like a guitarist playing bass’, so …don’t do whatever it is that I do.

Eek…I have a wedding gig on bass tonight!

Wish me luck…

Good luck! 

Just remember that if you have to make a mistake do it on the note, not the timing.
Nobody will notice a wrong note. Everybody will notice a rhythm fuck up.

If in doubt, just don’t play for a bar and then come back in.

Don’t worry, You’ll smash it! 

I think we’ll go with ‘Got through the gig’ rather than ‘Smashed it!’ but it turned out to be a tiny wedding with a groom who had thrown up a few times because he’d drunk so much… I don’t think a few ‘out of the box’ bass notes during the solo in One Way Or Another were noticed.

You got through it and that is what matters. You'll already know what you'll do differently next time. Little things can make a massive difference. After my first couple of gigs I learned I prefer to stand on the hi-hat side of the drums so if the mix is awful I can actually watch what the drummer is doing and lock in visually if I have to. Drummers don't usually have a load of cymbals getting in the way of eye-contact on that side either.

Did you enjoy it?

stickyfiddle

Sounds like a good effort! 

I genuinely quite miss it now I'm back to guitar with my lot. Need to find myself another bass outlet

strtdv

I probably pay bass much like I play guitar: fairly badly
Although in my defence I play guitar in quite a weird rhythmic way playing off the drummer so maybe that translates ok to the bass.

I've been an accidental bassist through being the only one willing to give it a go at times, and the fact that Warwick and Markbass became deeply unfashionable during the 2010s which meant I was able to pick up some very good kit (a Thumb 5 Bolt On and a nearly new Markbass CMD121) for relatively little money (I think around £700 for the pair).

LionAquaLooper

A guitarist will play bass better than most bassists in a band setting.... because a guitarist doesn't know how to slap. 

Bork

guitarjack66 said:

Bork said:

theatreanchor said:

Many guitarists think they can play bass. They can’t. They play guitar lines on a bass. Bassists lock in with the drummer, understand groove, countermelody, and rhythm in a way that most guitarists don’t. Guitarists listen to other guitarists without really understanding what the low end is doing. It’s far more interesting and disciplined in many ways. 

Ronnie Wood on Maggie May being a classic example of that.  Although it did fit the song nicely but it's not exactly locking in with the drums and sitting in the pocket.

Does it really matter if it sold millions and made him a considerable sum?

Depends on your terms of reference I suppose.  It's a bit like saying tabloid journalism is better quality because it sells more than the Guardian or Telegraph.