Advice on taking up an instrument
- Thread starter squigy
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Pull The Plug
Defending The Throne
Bass is quite easy to start with, it's up to you if you want lessons or not. I personally taught myself both drums and guitar using only tablature and bits and pieces on the internet.
My best piece of advice however is if you are serious about playing, prepare to put serious time into it. People always say "it will take you a while to be good", this only applies when you practice a lot. Otherwise you'll be going nowhere. Spending entire days playing sounds like torture, but it can give you huge improvements in your playing especially fluidity and speed.
It's always good to spend atleast an hour a day practicing.
My best piece of advice however is if you are serious about playing, prepare to put serious time into it. People always say "it will take you a while to be good", this only applies when you practice a lot. Otherwise you'll be going nowhere. Spending entire days playing sounds like torture, but it can give you huge improvements in your playing especially fluidity and speed.
It's always good to spend atleast an hour a day practicing.
Dazed and Brutal
Yall About to Witness
My mate says that Bass is generally quite boring to play at first. I'm learning a normal 6-string electric. Basically when you can play the chords fast you've got it. Then start surfing the web for tabs. www.e-chords.com is a good place to start.
Entropiastrife
keeper of the keys
if you approach learning an instrument because you hear its the "easiest" to learn... you will suck, period. choose the instrument you want to learn because you like the way it sounds, that is it, and then put the effort into sounding good with it from practice
LightningLixxx
Saw You Frown
Not much more to say.
Hexer
Member
bass is generally a little easier to start with than guitar, but as soon as you get into the advanced stuff I dont think it makes a difference difficulty-wise
Yea I taught myself drums and guitar, I tried bass before as well, but it got really boring after a while..
If you like string instruments you should probably go for guitar, and besides let's say you want to play Expendable Youth, will it sound cooler on guitar or bass? No one will want to hear you play the bassline of that song! They'll think you're just jammin or something, but if you play it on a guitar you'll get everyone amazed!
If you like string instruments you should probably go for guitar, and besides let's say you want to play Expendable Youth, will it sound cooler on guitar or bass? No one will want to hear you play the bassline of that song! They'll think you're just jammin or something, but if you play it on a guitar you'll get everyone amazed!
Thidrek
Dichter (und) Denker
the world does not need another guitarists. there are so many guitarists outthere but hardly any bassists because everyone always wants to be the super cool lead guitarist all the ladies adore but i think it's just rubbish! bass lets metal become what it is like and if you don't just play along with the rhythm guitar you will be an unreplacepable part of the band you play in!
Jaen
Member
Thidrek said:
yea, i always see that bass as a different instument rather than an accompaning instrument
If you're worried about wether or not you impress somebody then you're playing music for the wrong reasons. My question to you is if the bass is the first thing you notice in a song (like me). Just start messing around and see if you like it or not. If you really dedicate yourself to bass, you can get in a band easily 'cause theres not many bass players out there.
Dazed and Brutal
Yall About to Witness
I play the violin, the guiter, the cello, the contra bass, regular bass, drums, and oboe
My Parents were musicians so they taught me the unusual ones.
My Parents were musicians so they taught me the unusual ones.
Thidrek
Dichter (und) Denker
enjoi17 said:yes please become a bassist, guitarists need somebody to make fun of
hehe, you know this one?
Right before a gig:
The Drummer:"Yeah, tonight my drums will tear down this hall!"
The Guitarist:"And my licks are gonna impress all the girls outthere"
The Singer:"...and then they'll throw theyr under pants onto the stage, cause I look so damn good today!"
The Bassist:"EEEE AAAA GGGG HHHH"
Now not causing offence to guitarists, but don't listen to anyone when someone tells you that guitar takes more skill than bass.
If you are in a serious, proper band, where you alter how you play your song onstage each show and don't just play the same riffs allthe time, then bass is a very hard and time consuming instrument to learn.
Whereas guitarists play chords, and yes do riffs, you have to know exactly what notes go with that chord, and what notes will go with the next chord depending where it is etc.
Only poor bassists play root notes all the time, of course you can do root note basslines, they sound cool in the right circumstances, but ultimately being able to roll off an amazing run on bass takes an endless amount of skill.
Another point to consider is if you're planning to do session gig work, in which case you may be lucky to be given a chord sheet for gigs, but you'll often be told what key each song is in, and be told a vague outline of chords, but the guitarists alter the chords. In this case, you have to have the ear to pick out what they're playing and then think almost instantly what you have to play.
However, if you take time to learn all the theory side of bass, then it becomes a really enjoyable experience, you can alter the mood of an entire song by doing something on bass. I didn't have lessons for a while whilst playing bass, and I could play tabs of loads of stuff, and could make up simple stuff to guitar. However, I had a bass teacher who played in a rockabilly band, who does session work for other bands, he plays double bass as well so he really taught me about getting your ear in. Since that, my bass playing has improved drastically, and all I need to do in band practice is see what chords my guitarists play, sit back, lock in with the drums, and let the bass flow!
And yes, do a bass solo now and then, cos we all like to stand out in prog metal, don't we?.
Peace.
If you are in a serious, proper band, where you alter how you play your song onstage each show and don't just play the same riffs allthe time, then bass is a very hard and time consuming instrument to learn.
Whereas guitarists play chords, and yes do riffs, you have to know exactly what notes go with that chord, and what notes will go with the next chord depending where it is etc.
Only poor bassists play root notes all the time, of course you can do root note basslines, they sound cool in the right circumstances, but ultimately being able to roll off an amazing run on bass takes an endless amount of skill.
Another point to consider is if you're planning to do session gig work, in which case you may be lucky to be given a chord sheet for gigs, but you'll often be told what key each song is in, and be told a vague outline of chords, but the guitarists alter the chords. In this case, you have to have the ear to pick out what they're playing and then think almost instantly what you have to play.
However, if you take time to learn all the theory side of bass, then it becomes a really enjoyable experience, you can alter the mood of an entire song by doing something on bass. I didn't have lessons for a while whilst playing bass, and I could play tabs of loads of stuff, and could make up simple stuff to guitar. However, I had a bass teacher who played in a rockabilly band, who does session work for other bands, he plays double bass as well so he really taught me about getting your ear in. Since that, my bass playing has improved drastically, and all I need to do in band practice is see what chords my guitarists play, sit back, lock in with the drums, and let the bass flow!
And yes, do a bass solo now and then, cos we all like to stand out in prog metal, don't we?
. Peace.
Hexer
Member
hadesdaman said:
what he said!
I think STARTING to play bass is a bit easier than guitar (rootnote-lines and all that), but as soon as you try doing something advanced, I dont think it makes a difference
(I used to learn Bass for a bit more than half a year before starting with guitar)
axiominblack
Secret knowledge
back in the late sixties I started with what my father called a "starter kit". this was a really bad guitar from Sears and roebuck that came with a 45 lp that gave instructions on chords and tuning.
Now you have more access on any information to learn the guitar in so many ways. My suggestion is first take up acoustic guitar,this will give you a better understanding of the instrument by learning pitch. You have to teach your ears to hear the color of sound befroe you can crank out a Dio tune.
I would give this about one year, after that, find a decent(not expensive) electric guitar. My choice would be a stratocaster only because the instrument is so full of sonic possibilities that you can easily concentrate more on th music instead of the look. Finally, the best advise to you from me is this ...
go to a local guitar shop each saturday and try out different guitars. Get use to the feel of the wood. The feel of the jumbo frets, the feel of the strings,..yes..its like losingyour virginity only you keep losing it over and over every time you pick one up(sort of like cheating but they dont mine).
the feel in your hands will be valuable to you in the future.
good luck
X
Now you have more access on any information to learn the guitar in so many ways. My suggestion is first take up acoustic guitar,this will give you a better understanding of the instrument by learning pitch. You have to teach your ears to hear the color of sound befroe you can crank out a Dio tune.
I would give this about one year, after that, find a decent(not expensive) electric guitar. My choice would be a stratocaster only because the instrument is so full of sonic possibilities that you can easily concentrate more on th music instead of the look. Finally, the best advise to you from me is this ...
go to a local guitar shop each saturday and try out different guitars. Get use to the feel of the wood. The feel of the jumbo frets, the feel of the strings,..yes..its like losingyour virginity only you keep losing it over and over every time you pick one up(sort of like cheating but they dont mine).
the feel in your hands will be valuable to you in the future.
good luck
X
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