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Anybody play bass guitar at all?

If so does anyone have any DVDs they would reccomend for learning slap bass?

Cheers

Sorry mikey, but is slap bass the type of bass playing Level 42 used in all their songs? Must hurt as h**l in your finger when you play it.

Slap and pop bass is were you slap the strings with your thumb, normally the top two, and pluck the bottom two with your fingers.

Walking technique is where you use your fingers, middle and index, to strum the bass. That is the proper technique of playing the bass. None of this "oh I use a pick because it hurts my fingers" rubbish!

John Entwistle bass solo, with the walking technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVl39LBZGMw

A little slap piece by some random dude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CbXJepTNl8

Isn't a bit like a frustrated lead guitarist Why didn't he learn to play the right instrument in the first place

Say again?

Don't compare bass and guitar. They are very different and have very different jobs.

Mikey.666 wrote:Say again?

Don't compare bass and guitar. They are very different and have very different jobs.

Tell that to Billy Sheenan.

That is because people like Billy Sheehan and Geddy Lee and Les Claypool have taken the bass to the next level.... which is commendable...

It's not because they should have been guitarists - it's because they figured, "why can't the bass be the prominent instrument in the songs?" and they are extremely talented. Similarly Flea from the RHCP... who even cares about the guitarist in that band?

As above!

There are many great bassist and in most funk bands the bass leads. Dave Crigger for example, when he plays it sounds like a guitar being plugged into a Slap FX pedal. If you don't have a drummer and a bassist, you don't have a band! End of. I've never heard a good band with out a bassist. (Not including Synth bassists)

And again. If you can play guitar it doesn't mean you can play bass. They are different. Yes, they are extremely similar but an amazing guitarist will not be as good on bass as a decent bassist.

If you want to hear a Bass being played like a lead guitar then you should look no further then Steve Harris of Iron Maiden or some the bass tracks Steve Vai has layed down.

Mikey.666 wrote:As above!
If you don't have a drummer and a bassist, you don't have a band! End of.

White Stripes?

Oooh! He has me there
But they have a drummer and they have bass on the albums.

However, Jack White is so good he plays a mix of lead and rythm while soloing live.


And yeah. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden is a king.

For learning you might like to look here:

http://www2.guitarmasterclass.net/index.htm

And the Bass lessons are here (can can view the intros for the slapping and popping for free):

http://www2.guitarmasterclass.net/bass- ... /index.htm

It's a nice site being updated regularly. I quite like it because for the price of one guitar lesson I could get 3 months of access on there.

Mikey.666 wrote:but an amazing guitarist will not be as good on bass as a decent bassist.

hmmm... not so sure about that.....

I guess it comes down to your definition of "decent bassist" vs mine. I consider a "decent bassist" someone who can hold a groove and add that "little something" to the music other than simply the sound of his instrument. Some of the most notably and ridiculously simple basslines are courtesy of Michael Anthony (Van Halen) and Cliff Williams (AC/DC). We'd have to consider these two "decent bassists" for all they've contributed over the years but technically guitarists like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai can put them to shame on a bass.

People like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen are guitar virtuosos - masters of their instrument. In my books they're on par with bass virtuosos like Sheehan, Claypool, Geddy Lee, Steve Harris, and others. Satriani can't do what Claypool can do on a bass, and Harris can't do what Vai can do on a guitar...

I was speaking in general

Of course there are amazing guitarists that are amazing on bass as well. But I feel that's because they treat it as a bass. Not a guitar. Most guitar players who I've seen (not talking about celebs here) think they can automatically play bass good just because they can play guitar. This is bull-plop. It's a different instrument, so you need to learn from the beginning and learn properly.