Electric or bass guitar

[JulesMaximus]

you need to start slapping that bass. play like Wooten. get the womenz.

Slap that bass!

 

[Fritzo]

I would go with bass but that's because I have a terrible sense of rhythm. Hopefully learning bass would help counteract that.

Little known fact- one of the hardest skills in music is to be able to sing and play bass at the same time. Your brain has to process melody and rhythm simultaneously, and very few people can do that.

 

[Nik]

Is that a swash buckling pirate hat and a Punisher t-shirt paired with pirate-like pant rolls?

 

[lxskllr]

I thought bass was lame for the longest time, but a friend of mine turned me around. He's a great bass player, and he turned me on to other great bass players. Good bass can hold it's own with guitar any day. I like the percussive melody opportunities it provides.

 

[Terzo]

Little known fact- one of the hardest skills in music is to be able to sing and play bass at the same time. Your brain has to process melody and rhythm simultaneously, and very few people can do that.

I'm going to assume that's why in bands singers are usually guitarists rather than bassists? Either way, cool fact :thumbsup:

 

[zinfamous]

Little known fact- one of the hardest skills in music is to be able to sing and play bass at the same time. Your brain has to process melody and rhythm simultaneously, and very few people can do that.

is that why Geddy Lee sings with one tone: girl?
:hmm:

 

[Nik]

I'm going to assume that's why in bands singers are usually guitarists rather than bassists? Either way, cool fact :thumbsup:

The challenge comes in singing and playing in and of itself. The instrument you use has little impact in most cases with an obvious exception being the drums. If you can sing and play drums at the same time, you're a freakin god.

Playing bass and singing shouldn't be hard at all, to most. If you're not musically inclined, you'll have a tough time doing anything. If you are, you'll pick up on most stuff pretty easily. I find playing bass and singing infinitely easier than drums/sing. On the drums, you have 4 limbs potentially doing 4 different things at the same time AND think about what each limb should be doing next and when AND you have to process the whole singing on key thing. With the bass, I'm playing one or two notes at once and that's very easy to harmonize with.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

My son recorded the guitar parts for Audio Adrenalin's version of "Little Drummer Boy" a few years ago and sang over it. It was kind of a disaster. Maybe his singing voice has gotten better since puberty.

 

[LikeLinus]

I prefer to think of it as bass players avoiding the evolution into eccentric egotistical attention whoring frontmen with two extra strings that think they're god's gift to the opposite sex and everyone else.

Guitarist get pussy, bassist get the left overs. It's easy to understand your anger.

Someone mentioned Victor Wooten. Funny story, about 8 years ago I purchased a bass guitar from Rock Block Music in Nashville and took it home. It was a custom Ibanez that I got just to dick around with bass and use for recording. Well I got it home and a couple of weeks later I decided to change the battery to the active pickups and took off the plate on the back. On the back of the plate was Victor Wooten signature and his logo. Not sure if he owned the guitar previously or signed the inside of a plate for someone, but it's pretty cool regardless

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

Here's a dumb question from a non-player: When do you play with your fingers and when do you use a pick?

Victor Wooten is awesome. That is pretty cool if you have one of his basses.

My son has a 1994 Mexican Fender Squire P-Bass with active EMG pickups and a new bridge. I bought it with a hard shell case for $200. Considering the guy travelled/gigged with it, it was in excellent condition.

 

[IronWing]

Longer is better. Go with the bass.

 

[Fritzo]

Here's a dumb question from a non-player: When do you play with your fingers and when do you use a pick?

Victor Wooten is awesome. That is pretty cool if you have one of his basses.

My son has a 1994 Mexican Fender Squire P-Bass with active EMG pickups and a new bridge. I bought it with a hard shell case for $200. Considering the guy travelled/gigged with it, it was in excellent condition.

It's a preference. You can use a pick if you want to play loud, fast, or for heavy distortion. Fingers are used for more detail, softer playing, or just for convenience.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

It's a preference. You can use a pick if you want to play loud, fast, or for heavy distortion. Fingers are used for more detail, softer playing, or just for convenience.

Ah, thanks. My son is equally comfortable with both, so he's covered.

He was learning slap/pop but not needed currently for pep/worship band.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

I'm sure I'll get some grief about buying him a "Squier" but it's a "Squire Series" (in small print on the headstock).

They're actually supposed to be pretty good, plus his bass has new hardware.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2221334

 

[Ns1]

Here's a dumb question from a non-player: When do you play with your fingers and when do you use a pick?

depends on the sound you want and what you're playing

that said, I generally dislike pick players unless they're doing something AMAZING with their bass that cannot be done with fingers

 

[Chapbass]

<-- Fingerstyle, slap, and tapper here personally. Bass > Guitar any day of the week.

I'm not a big pick fan, but yeah, it is used for some styles (mainly for repetitive notes very quickly, a la punk music), it also sounds a bid "edgier" than fingerstyle does.

And Vic Wooten is a great guy, very very nice and chill. Talked with him on the phone a few years ago about a Bela Fleck tune (sinister minister). Pretty neat tune.

But yeah, bass is in much higher demand, especially bassists that aren't converted guitarists.

 

[erikistired]

everyone wants to be slash. nobody wants to be duff.