Playing Bass Guitar in a Band

playingguitarPeople 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.  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.

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

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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 is often easier to learn to play than a keyed instrument like a piano, or a woodwind or brass instrument. Woodwinds and brass require you to not only know how to finger the instrument to produce the correct notes, you also have to have the correct embouchure—this is how you blow the instrument properly and involves the position of your mouth, the slackness or firmness of your lips and the air flow. The piano requires you to play notes with both hands, and doesn't sound great a note at at time.

A bass guitar, by comparison, involves the simple plucking of a few strings. A beginning bass guitar player can learn 4 or 5 notes and play the bass line to an entire song. But just because a bass guitar is great for a musical beginner, it still requires lot of practice and learning to master the instrument. You'll still need to spend lots of time with the instrument to really be any good at it, and to move beyond that 5-note bass line.

If you have an excellent ear and a musical affinity already, you may be able to pick up a bass guitar and start learning. Most, however, will need some instruction. You can find courses online to teach you the beginning steps in learning the bass guitar, and valuable information from how to choose your first guitar or play a fretless bass. There are courses DVDs, books like Mel Bay teaching books which are excellent if you want to teach yourself, or you can take lessons from a friend who knows how to play.

Private bass guitar lessons from an instructor are also an option, and a good way to get a solid foundation underneath you. If you're unsure of what you're doing when you teach yourself and you get into bad habits in the beginning, becoming a great bass guitar player will be more difficult. But if you start out with an instructor who can make sure you learn the basics correctly, later you can move on to teaching yourself without worrying that you're doing things wrong.

Practice your bass guitar every day, if you can, but at least spend an hour or two with it every other day or so. You won't improve if you don't practice, and you'll forget the new things you've learned if you wait too long between practice sessions. Consider purchasing a bass guitar tuner and a metronome. The tuner will make sure your strings are tuned properly, so you won't spend time hearing the wrong notes as you play. And the metronome will help you practice correctly, by forcing you to keep perfect time as you play your bass guitar.

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Originally posted 2008-12-08 17:51:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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