Personally, I'd get a guitar.
corntastic
Joined: Aug 09 2013 |
Personally, I'd get a guitar. Technically you can play all the bass songs on a guitar, albeit an octave up. Because it can play all the notes plus some, guitar is a more versatile instrument and in my opinion more satisfying to play on your own. I don't actually play bass, but i believe it's actually played differently in a lot of ways. Also, because the strings are thicker it might be physically harder to play for a beginner. As for the difficulty, I wouldn't say guitar is any harder than bass. It has more strings sure, but in that respect it's harder to play bass. It's somewhat easy to play fast passages across multiple strings, a lot harder to play them on a single string, which bassists regularly have to do. That and, i believe the scale length of your average bass is longer than a guitar by a decent margin, so you have to stretch more to play. The only thing guitars I suppose are actually ahrder than basses are that they're usually more prominent, or EXPECTED to be more prominent. Because of that expectation, they play both more intricate passages and have to play more precisely. So, i'd say get the guitar. Not to mention most tabs are made for guitars, so if you get a bass you're severely limiting your playlist if you don't make your own music/tabs. |
Re: Personally, I'd get a guitar.
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014 |
Thanks for the reply. I can deal with the changes in play style,although I'll admit I've had a lot of trouble with "proper" picking and whatnot,but I was speaking in terms of how easy it is to learn and apply musical theory for the most part. |
You can learn anything if you
corntastic
Joined: Aug 09 2013 |
You can learn anything if you put the time into it, the biggest problem is the motivation to put that time into it. Thats why I spoke about playability. Personally, I'm learning the violin right now. I love it, but I have to have this huge metal mute which makes it sound awful and very much impairs my will to play. In respect to your desire of learning musical theory, they're identical, leaning towards bass for how regular the string setup is. But you can discount that easily because guitars are essentially basses knocked an octave up with a B and E string slapped on top. |
Don't consider bass an easier
Basisti94
Location: Turku, Finland Joined: Aug 18 2012 |
Don't consider bass an easier version of guitar and guitar step up from it. I play both, although I focus on bass, and they are completely different instruments which require different skills. People often have this strange misconception that playing chords is harder than playing a bass line that because that involves multiple sounds at the same time. This is not true. And you can't play all the bass lines with guitar, putting aside the sound, you can't really imitate techniques like slap bass with a guitar properly. Anyway, that's besides the point. Get the one you are more interested in playing. Do you want to play the melody or the accompaniment of the song? |
I agree with Basisti, and I
thedstring
Nate Brooks Location: Utah Joined: Jan 05 2011 |
I agree with Basisti, and I play bass as well as guitar. You really can't imitate the bass, even an octave up, because the techniques are so different, it feels so different. Sure you can learn stuff on guitar and get an idea of what a bass would sound like, but it's just an idea of how it would sound. For the difficultness, I actually think the thicker strings and setup make pressing frets easier on the bass than the guitar, and you rarely ever bar all the strings for bass. Think of the F chord on guitar, it's a beast for beginners. I agree completely with the expectations though. You can join a band as a bassist with very little talent and people won't say a thing, you're just playing simple stuff in the background. But if you play nothing but simple on the guitar people will say something. I would recommend getting both if you can, they're both amazing instruments. Watch this video, it's got a lot of different styles in it. It's a little long, but he goes through so many techniques. (and the performer, Victor Wooten, is really well known through the music world)
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Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZ6Phrm42vhPfADrJqCwfw |
And another great example of
thedstring
Nate Brooks Location: Utah Joined: Jan 05 2011 |
And another great example of the techniques you might run into if you want to learn bass
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Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZ6Phrm42vhPfADrJqCwfw |
Re: I agree with Basisti, and I
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014 |
Well see,I'm planning on playing both,I'm asking which one is easier to enjoy and learn,as I said I've played guitar before and struggled with it horribly,if I started playing bass would it make learning the music theory easier,as music theory is the same thing between all instruments,would learning on the bass be simpler so that when I moved up to guitar I would already have a grasp on theory and make the guitar a bit easier to learn,if only by comparison. I understand the play styles are vastly different,but in terms of learning,which one makes things easier? |
That's kinda why I was
thedstring
Nate Brooks Location: Utah Joined: Jan 05 2011 |
That's kinda why I was posting video links, it's all depending on the style you want to play. If you're interested in chords only, or punk music, you're guitar will be pretty easy. If you just want to do basic bass lines, bass is really easy. I'd say they are equally as difficult to learn depending on how far you want to go and what styles you want. That includes the theory. I personally liked learning theory on the guitar and piano most because I like leads and mid range notes a lot. But if you want to learn theory on bass, you certainly can. Chord theory will mostly be used to help you accompany others, because chords that low don't really work too well, but chord theory is essential to being a great accompanying musician. But chord theory can be beneficial if you want to create solo music like Victor Wooten does. Chord theory also helps you solo on the guitar a lot better, and I mean, A LOT better. Not just helping you arrange chords in certain orders. It's an extremely difficult question to answer, it's so intimately personal to each individual musician. What styles are you most interested in? Might I suggest borrowing someone's instrument to try it out again before purchasing one? Or find out if you can return the instrument within 30 days and give one a try risk free?
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Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZ6Phrm42vhPfADrJqCwfw |
I personally enjoyed the
thedstring
Nate Brooks Location: Utah Joined: Jan 05 2011 |
I personally enjoyed the journey of learning the guitar more than bass, but others I know are the opposite.
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Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZ6Phrm42vhPfADrJqCwfw |
Re: That's kinda why I was
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014 |
I'm mainly interested in metal. |
Well if you mean general
hslesperance
Location: Walpole, MA Joined: Aug 10 2008 |
Well if you mean general music theory, which tends to be associated with classical music, you don't really need an instrument to learn; you just have to be able to read sheet music. Although piano would probably be the easiest way to view and understand chords. There might be other approaches to theory based on guitar or bass in relation to jazz, metal, etc. but I don't have any knowledge of that.
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My Original Songs - https://soundcloud.com/hslesperance |
Seven string guitars are
Re: That's kinda why I was
Basisti94
Location: Turku, Finland Joined: Aug 18 2012 |
Ace_of_Swords said
If you want to play metal, you should still at the very least least learn how chords and scales are formed. That's the very basis of any instrument really. It's the same music theory regardless of which instrument you want to apply it. With bass you might not be playing chords but the knowledge of how they are formed is very much required in composing bass lines. But I don't think that theory is the hard part if we aren't talking about complex jazz or classical music. |
Your self-intimidation does
surreal
Eric: tank,godlike Location: Arizona Joined: Jan 04 2009 |
Your self-intimidation does nothing but ever hold you back. If you want to play metal, buy that seven string and learn how to play it. As long as your will is strong enough it'll be the hammer to your technique, everything else is an illusion. |
Ty for the constructive
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014 |
Ty for the constructive replies. I've decided to save up a bit and get a 7 and just dive into it. :) In case you're wondering: This one. |
Re: Ty for the constructive
Basisti94
Location: Turku, Finland Joined: Aug 18 2012 |
Ace_of_Swords said
Have you read reviews about it or tried it out? |
Re: Ty for the constructive
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014 |
I haven't played this particular one,or seen any reviews of it because it this model hasn't been out for very long. I might have to get the guitar center in town to order one for me so I can play with it. |
Re: Ty for the constructive
corntastic
Joined: Aug 09 2013 |
Basisti94 said
I've never actually seen a BAD review on a guitar. Everything is 5 stars because nothing is quantifiable. |
I also support the play it
BigHeadClanJoined: Jan 20 2012 |
I also support the play it before you buy it bit for guitars, personally I find B.C Warlocks cheap I'd look at Ibanez or Schecters offerings perhaps. |
I'm assuming you want to do
jitJoined: Mar 04 2009 |
I'm assuming you want to do heavy rock/metal by the design and 7 strings of the guitar you chose. I'd also recommend Ibanez(something from the RG series) http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-RG7321-7-String-Electric-Guitar-10185... or possibly something along the lines of an LTD guitar. I've heard Schecters are good as well. But even before that, if I were you, I woudn't spend more than $250 max if you're reintroducing yourself to the game. Unless your waiting in line to be in a band or have some live gigs set up already, this guitar will probably just reteach you how to play. Ease into it, then fork out more money if you're still into it. |
Re: Guitar or Bass?
Kool WolfJoined: Dec 29 2014 |
Learn guitar, then bass. |
BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS ALL
Thecoolestnerdguy
Joined: May 27 2015 |
BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS ALL THE WAY
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" If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs! " - UNIVERSE, Greg youtube.com/thecoolestnerdguy |
For what its worth
Maxhell81
Joined: Apr 24 2012 |
An acoustic guitar, not nylon. I know it doesn't go with the style of music your interested in, but I feel like my biggest mistake was learning on an electric. I feel like if I learned on an acoustic I would have more stamina in my left hand. I can play electric, or used to before an unfortunate event, forever. On an acoustic I have to put it down after awhile. I've had to do some like physical hand therapy to get my hand in better shape and have been trying to only use an acoustic to build strength. Overall though, you should go with whatever is going to keep you interested and continue playing. |
Ace_of_Swords
Joined: Jun 10 2014
Hello Friends,
I've played guitar before,and struggled with it for a couple years and had some sort of fit of depression/mental breakdown (Not entirely over the guitar) for awhile and gave it up,I'm doing better now and I'm thinking about getting a new guitar and trying again.
My question is,should I go all out and start on the guitar,or is playing Bass easier and/or a better place to start,will I have more fun learning bass so that I can take the step up to guitar so that I'm not diving into the deep end of the pool?
How many bassists are going to get offended at this?