Poll: Bass Guitar it's own instrument or just Guitar's funky cousin?

[LewsTherin]

That's a bass.

 

[FinalHeart95]

There are many methods to get different sounds on a bass that you can't learn or use on a "normal" guitar. While experience on either certainly helps (some things carry over), they are separate instruments. Unfortunately, the way most people use bass guitars just makes them easy versions of regular guitars...

 

[DanielPowell33]

Hell yeah it its!!
Geddy Lee
Cliff Burton
^Greatest bassist of all time!

 

[Kasawd]

I play guitar, but primarily I'm a drummer. I know that the drums and the bass are the two most important parts of a band, but somehow, they're also the two most overlooked. It sucks, but if you're devoted to your instrument you can get by with only a few punches to your arrogant lead singer's face. XD

As a lead singer, I can honestly tell you that I believe the same bloody thing.

Bass and Drums are the most important parts of a badn because they set the back ground for everything(Least offensive way I know how to put it). A Solid bass line and complicated drumming are the canvas that alot of metal needs.

Also, I love a great bass solo.

 

[Kasawd]

Hell yeah it its!!
Geddy Lee
Cliff Burton
^Greatest bassist of all time!

Cliff Burton is good but I would hardly say the greatest ever.

I would probably say Scott Clendenin, the last Bassist for Death.

 

[UnkeptBiscuit]

I play guitar, but primarily I'm a drummer. I know that the drums and the bass are the two most important parts of a band, but somehow, they're also the two most overlooked. It sucks, but if you're devoted to your instrument you can get by with only a few punches to your arrogant lead singer's face. XD

As a lead singer, I can honestly tell you that I believe the same bloody thing.

Bass and Drums are the most important parts of a badn because they set the back ground for everything(Least offensive way I know how to put it). A Solid bass line and complicated drumming are the canvas that alot of metal needs.

Also, I love a great bass solo.

Yeah, you can tell the quality of a band by the quality of their drummer. Like Travis Barker: He sucks, and so does blink-182. Keith Moon was one of the best drummers of all time, and The Who just pwnd.

 

[accountant]

I'm a bassist myself and I more recently became a guitarist in addition, they are technically separate instruments, but the difference is like a viola and violin, If you play one, then switch to the other it sounds a bit crappy, but it's really easy to learn from one to the other.

 

[Kasawd]

I play guitar, but primarily I'm a drummer. I know that the drums and the bass are the two most important parts of a band, but somehow, they're also the two most overlooked. It sucks, but if you're devoted to your instrument you can get by with only a few punches to your arrogant lead singer's face. XD

As a lead singer, I can honestly tell you that I believe the same bloody thing.

Bass and Drums are the most important parts of a badn because they set the back ground for everything(Least offensive way I know how to put it). A Solid bass line and complicated drumming are the canvas that alot of metal needs.

Also, I love a great bass solo.

Yeah, you can tell the quality of a band by the quality of their drummer. Like Travis Barker: He sucks, and so does blink-182. Keith Moon was one of the best drummers of all time, and The Who just pwnd.

I certainly need more The Who in my musical diet.

I find it ridiculous, though, how a lead singer and guitarist can overlook the importance of the bass and drums. It smakcs of musical incompetence, to me.

 

[Megacherv]

I'd say it's still a cousin, but it's a distant cousin. Similar concept, different implementation.

It's also tuned differently.
Like really differently.
(bass strings go up in straight 4ths, whereas guitars have the 3rd going from the G to B strings, creating a completely different sound and sets of chord positions)

Wait, what? Are you on about a 4-sting bass, or 5 and 6 string? Guitar Standard is EADGBE, Bass 4 string standard is EADG

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

It's a different instrument. I've played guitar for 8 years now, I have no dillusion that this means I can play bass too. Having said that, I bought myself a Hohner B2A today...I intend to learn the skill.

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

Mark King says it's a standalone and worthy addition to any ensemble's lineup.

 

[goatzilla8463]

Yeah, I find it completely different. I play both bass and guitar but I can automatically feel a difference.

With the bass I find you need more dexterity in your plucking finger but with the guitar, you need to be able to move your wrist up and down the fretboard quickly.

Also, bass hurts a lot more than guitar unfortunately

 

[wastedyouth89]

Bass is most definitely its own thing. When you play bass you hear the world through a very different set of ears. You pay less attention to the main riff of the song and focus more on the bassline in the background and, most likely, the accompanying drums to also keep the beat. The key thing is that without a guitar in a rock band most songs fall flat. At the same time without a bass most songs also fall flat. You need both to sound great. Therefore they are both significant in their own ways.

 

[ygetoff]

I'd say it's still a cousin, but it's a distant cousin. Similar concept, different implementation.

It's also tuned differently.
Like really differently.
(bass strings go up in straight 4ths, whereas guitars have the 3rd going from the G to B strings, creating a completely different sound and sets of chord positions)

Wait, what? Are you on about a 4-sting bass, or 5 and 6 string? Guitar Standard is EADGBE, Bass 4 string standard is EADG

The standard 4-string bass is (like you said) EADG, but when it goes up further, it goes in straight 4ths (EADGC or EADGCF)

 

[Megacherv]

I'd say it's still a cousin, but it's a distant cousin. Similar concept, different implementation.

It's also tuned differently.
Like really differently.
(bass strings go up in straight 4ths, whereas guitars have the 3rd going from the G to B strings, creating a completely different sound and sets of chord positions)

Wait, what? Are you on about a 4-sting bass, or 5 and 6 string? Guitar Standard is EADGBE, Bass 4 string standard is EADG

The standard 4-string bass is (like you said) EADG, but when it goes up further, it goes in straight 4ths (EADGC or EADGCF)

Ahh right, yeah.

 

[b4k4]

I'm a guitarist, and I often find myself wishing I'd gone with bass. When I hear John Entwhistle's basslines, or see footage Rob Trujillio beaing a beastly son of a *****, the concept of Bass not being it's own instrument is simply laughable.

 

[Spitfire175]

How can it not be?! Anyone who disagrees isn't in their right mind...

I know! But sometimes people are like "it's just a guitar with four strings down a couple octaves."

Those people don't know anything about the history of musical instruments.

The bass guitar has its roots in the cello, contrabass and the octabass. It's just turned sideways and played with fingers/a pick. Rock music changed the appearance to make it look more like a modern istrument. Also, the bass is an istrument to play the rythm just as much as melodies.

I play guitar and bass. I've got a music man 5 sring, it's epic.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

I play bass and love it so much more than guitar!

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

Guitar. Bass Guitar. I think you have your answer

 

[Sacman]

How can it not be?! Anyone who disagrees isn't in their right mind...

I know! But sometimes people are like "it's just a guitar with four strings down a couple octaves."

originally guitars only had 4 strings made out of cat intestine... but I still think Bass and Guitar take totally different skills...