What other instruments.....

jaybic · Post by **jaybic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:25 am

A funny thing happened the other night at practice. We were taking a break and our lead guitar player asked if he could play on my bass a little bit. I said sure - so he picked it up, thumbed a few notes then said, "I have no idea how you do it! Those strings are so thick and the frets are so far apart!"
I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation. I'll be the first to admit that once there are more than 5 strings and those strings get really skinny, I have no idea what I'm doing. Chords? What are those?

Now I do play piano and a variety of brass instrument, but guitars are a different animal to me for some reason. It's just that I was never one who started out on guitar then moved to bass. Always have been a bass player - always will be.
I think Mike Dirnt of Green Day said it best when he noticed that almost every band has multiple guitar player - but only 1 bass player (with the exception of Spinal Tap of course)

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:32 am

I started out on cello, then moved to guitar and then to bass. So I'm comfortable with guitar.

But I have met bassists who were brass players first and never played guitar. You're not alone.

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:19 am

I started on trumpet in 5th grade (after dabbling in "piano" on a horrible '70s upright Bontempi electric organ when I was real young.)

I do play a little guitar now, but mostly just the cowboy chords & power chords.

There's nothing better than a bass player who has ALWAYS been a bass player. Much better that a frustrated guitar player who had a 4 banger shoved in his hands!

No offense to some of the reformed guitarists I'm sure that are out there, but you know the kind I'm talking about. The ones that don't approach the bass with any rhythm. Am I making sense?

jaybic · Post by **jaybic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:26 am

I fully understand what you are saying Chris...I'm also wondering if playing with a pick has anything to do with it also. Perhaps not...but I am strictly a finger player - a pick just feels foreign in my hand and I can't get nearly as fast action with it as with my fingers. I may be straying off course a bit though b/c I do also know several bassists who have only played with a pick. To each his own I suppose

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:27 am

Same here, started on Bass, stayed on Bass !

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:36 am

....started out playing a radio, then "finger drums" , air guitar was next ,then moved to a real guitar , then onto the bass....I have found my calling....

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:38 am

Junior high and high school band on trumpet, took up bass after high school(1976), started on guitar in 1985, mandolin in 1990, keys in 1995, theremin in 2002.

jaybic · Post by **jaybic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:47 am

That is a truly impressive collection Ronn. Perhaps in a similar vein - did anyone come from a "musical" family or is this something you started on your own? I came from a very musical family. Dad plays upright bass, mom and sister both play piano and flute, my grandfather and grand uncles were all in a jug band together - learned piano and organ from my older cousing - and my brother is currently in our band playing rhythm (that's a great word - no vowels) guitar. Funny thing, my brother and I are playing in smokey bars and the folks couldn't be more pleased - but would they show up to a single track meet or football game? No! Kind of makes me laugh sometimes.

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:14 am

I owned guitars for numerous and never got too far with it. I tried bass a few times and it felt uncomfortable due to my small hands. Then I tried a Rickenbacker and the rest is history. I'm now immersed in bass playing and my Strat sits in the closet most of the time.

I don't think I'd call myself a frustrated guitar player, but rather a converted one.

And then there's the drum kit I bought the kids for Christmas. Who knows, I may try working on them a little..........

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:24 am

I'll play whatever I can get my hands on. My first instrument was violin (which I hated), then years of piano. Drums were my first calling (still play), but I moved to guitar in high school. Playing bass has been a fairly recent addition, although writing for bass has been part of my job for decades.

Part of the fun of being a musician is being able to take a common language to new instruments. In addition to keyboards, steel guitar (which I still suck at) and mandolin (regular and octave), I plan on expanding to dulcimer (hammered and appalachian), flute, oud, chello and just about anything else, save woodwinds, that I can have access to.

I do come from a musical family - mom was a classically trained pianist, and dad played guitar and accordian.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:49 am

I started out on guitar, was the lead guitarist for a local top 40 band in the 80's, then started playing drums professionally (my dad was a drummer in the big band era) and then to bass in the late 90's when I produced a CD for a band that didn't have a bass player, they asked me to play on it. It helps to be a multi-instrumentalist in a small town when a band is looking for a player. It feels really foreign for me now, to pick up a 6-string and wail, but I can still do it a little bit.
As a bassist, it helps to know drums, because you can THINK like a drummer and really get inside a drummer's head, therefore tightening the groove even further.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:52 am

My uncle played bluegrass with several well known groups back in the 50's....My dad played guitar and both of my older brothers are very good guitar players.....I started WAY late in life.....but better late than never, eh? And of course I've always considered the Beatles part of my musical "family".....

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:54 am

Started out on bass at 13 (1975), bought a guitar 15 years later because it was close to bass so I thought it would be the easiest choice for a second instrument. I can play the guitar well (even gave a few lessons and my students became fine musicians!) but never in a band, because I can NEVER let anyone else play the bass. Then I bought an upright. I wish I could play the piano, but it's too much effort now and I'm too lazy.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:00 am

Forgot to mention that I also recorded 3 original CD's in the 90's where I played all of the instruments

Another good reason to know more than one instrument. I have always been amazed by people like Prince, who could probably blow away any of the people in his band on their instruments at any given time.

jaybic · Post by **jaybic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:25 am

My brother - the one who plays rhythm guitar in our band is one of those that can just pick up any instrument and just play it. He's actually the one that taught me bass. I remember him bringing home a Baritone Sax one night and in about a 1/2 hour was playing solos on it. And he was a tuba player in band. The funny thing is, he never took any formal lessons like my sister and I did. My parents joke that he even cried in tune when he was a baby. Me, I'm have a complete tin ear when it comes to singing