People choose one instrument over another, like a bass guitar over a regular guitar, for a variety of different reasons. What makes someone choose a tuba over a flute or drums over a glockenspiel is mostly just the person's preference.  People choose what they like to listen to, what they like the look of, and what they think will be the most fun or the easiest to play.  As with any hobby, which could be anything like reading poetry, playing cheeky bingo or playing an instrument, it is the fun factor that is attractive. It is all very well learning to play an instrument like the bass guitar but unless you are passionate about it, your sound will be lacking something. All the best players around have a real love for the bass and it comes out in their music as they put their heart and soul into it. Many people who want to learn a stringed instrument choose the bass guitar, because it has a reputation as being easy to play, without giving much consideration to the rest. But if you're thinking of learning the bass guitar to play with friends or even as part of a band, you can make sure it's a match for your personality first.

You don't mind not being the star or the one in the spotlight. If you want to be the lead person in the band, unless you sing lead it's unlikely you'll be the 'star' while playing bass guitar. Many people prefer to be more behind the scenes.  They like to be a vital part of the music and having fun without having all the attention focused on them all of the time.  A person like this would make an ideal bass player in a band, because the bass can be as vital as the drums for keeping a rhythm, and it's key for forming the right chord at the right time, but it's a much more subtle role than lead singer or lead guitarist. Some jazz along with the occasional rock song will have a bass solo, but it's far more rare than a lead guitar solo.

You have a good sense of rhythm and ear for chords. While anyone who makes music needs a sense of rhythm, some instruments can get away with being imperfect in this area.  A lead guitarist might have a less than perfect sense of timing, but he or she relies on the drums and the bass guitar to set the rhythm and keep the song moving at the correct speed.  Even if some guitar lines fall behind or go to fast, it's easy to get back in time at certain spots thanks to the clear beat laid down by the bass player and the drummer. The good news is that if tempo is a problem for you, it's an easy problem to work on.  Get a metronome and practice!

You're content with a simple musical part. While bass guitar is an important part of a band, the bass part usually doesn't offer a whole lot of variety. At its simplest, the bass part will only require different notes based on the chord at the time in similar rhythms throughout the whole song. For some, that would be only repetitive and boring.  For others, it's perfect.

Look at yourself and what will be required of you if you choose to play bass guitar, and you'll be able to tell if you're a good match for the instrument.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-01-08 14:50:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Bass Instruments: The History of the Bass Guitar Instruments teach the people who use them a great deal. For playing an instrument, you can have your first example of love without need of love in return from a person loving their instrument, you can learn notes and patience and many other valuable lessons, some of which have to......
• The History of the Bass Guitar The electric bass guitar is a staple of the music scene today. It provides the bass spectrum of sound to the likes of rock, jazz, metal, blues and numerous other musical acts. The bass may provide one part of the larger melody, or be featured as the primary instrument. Over......
• The Double Bass - Then and Now In the modern orchestra, there are a number of stringed instruments that cover a variety of sounds. Highs and lows, the entire spectrum of sound audible to the human can be accessed with stringed instruments. At the lowest end of the spectrum, the double bass, or upright bass, can access......
• Learn to Play Bass Guitar For someone starting out with a first instrument, a bass guitar is an excellent choice. The bass guitar is probably the easiest stringed instrument to learn to play, far easier than either an acoustic or electric guitar, a banjo, a mandolin, or a violin, for instance. And a stringed instrument......
• Robert Trujillo: Bassist for Metallica Metallica was up to the task of performing at Ozzfest this year, for they commanded the attention of the massive stadium. Robert Trujillo was rocking for over two hours with drummer Lars Ulrich, singer/guitarist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, all of whom brought forth a power that made......

Related Websites

• Introduction to Stringed Instruments, pt 2 In the last post in this series we started talking about stringed instruments and the different varieties. We listed plucked stringed instruments, and will now talk about instruments that are played by bowing, striking and other methods. Bowing is a method that is used with some string instruments, including the......
• Introduction to the Bassoon The bassoon is by far one of the lowest sounding members of the woodwind family of acoustic musical instruments, and it is also perceived by many to be one of the most versatile. The double reed nature of the bassoon gives it a quality that is rich and slightly buzzing......
• Guitar Picks Memorabilia -> Rock, Pop -> Guitar and Guitar Picks When you think of guitar picks, do you think of those tiny rounded triangles of plastic that probably cost about a penny to manufacture? Guitarists used to file down materials like wood, bone, stone, amber, ivory and even metal or shell......
• Acoustic Musical Instrument Glossary pt 3 Interval - An interval is described as a difference in pitch from one tone to another, and intervals are most commonly measured as the difference between the lower tone and the higher tone. Intonation - Intonation, in its most literal form, means either pitch or using pitch. One who speaks......
• Which Acoustic Instrument is Best for Beginners? Have you decided to take up an acoustic musical instrument, but you are not sure which acoustic instrument is best for beginners? When deciding to purchase an acoustic musical instrument, there are a number of different factors that will put influence on your buying decision, including which are easy and......

Online Stores

• Bass Acoustic Guitar Strings Acoustic Musical Instruments
• Songwriter Deluxe Gibson Right-Handed Acoustic Guitar Acoustic Musical Instruments
• Fender 5 Bass Acoustic Guitar Strings Acoustic Musical Instruments
• Player Piano Musical Instruments
• Used Taylor Acoustic Guitar Cases Acoustic Musical Instruments

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.

Categories:

Bass Guitar, Musical Instruments Bass

Tags:

bass player, bass solo, choose one, correct speed, different reasons, drummer, glockenspiel, good sense, guitar lines, guitar solo, guitarist, having fun, lead guitar, lead singer, perfect sense, playing bass guitar, right time, sense of rhythm, stringed instrument, tuba