Ever wondered why people play bass? Or unsure what are the good and bad points of playing the bass are, if so then find out in this lesson.

People may often wonder, why play bass? Why not play another instrument like the guitar? More than likely out of every instrument everyone wants to play the guitar, which is the preferred choice, but the fact is that there are too many guitarist compared to bassists, drummers and singers as it’s much easier to find a guitarist than a bassist, drummer or singer for a band. More people that play the guitar struggles more to join bands than people do that plays the bass, drums or sings.

Some people may learn bass for the simple fact that it’s easier to join bands, as bands lack bass players or drummers over anything. People also start learning the bass as it will guarantee them a place in a band, or even a guitarist may quit the guitar to learn bass as he/she is guaranteed a place in the band.

As the bass isn’t the most popular of instruments it’s easier to do more things that aren’t popular for a bass to do in songs, e.g. everyone has heard tapping on guitar but not many people hear tapping on bass especially in songs, even bass solos aren’t that popular in bands. This leaves a lot to be played around with when playing bass.

There are genres of music out there were bass players have a lot going on e.g. funk where slap bass is very popular, or punk or ska where the bass player plays more difficult parts than the guitarist does, even in metal the bass player can follow the guitar so in effect the bass player could have an harder part as the bass is a bigger scaled instrument. It all depends what type of music you wish to play really. Some people may like the simplicity of some bass lines which genres of music offer, e.g. pop/punk, most bass players follow the root note which keeps the song flowing and also feeling happy.

Some people even learn bass because they think because the bass has four strings that it’s easier to play. This isn’t true as a bass is a bigger scaled instrument compared to the guitar and the strings are much thicker so more finger pressure is required to push down the stings at each fret and also a bigger finger fret span is required. Riffs that are quite simple on a guitar may be harder to play on the bass because of this. It all depends what the guitarist is playing and what the bassist is playing. If the bass is playing the root note or simple bass lines then yes the bass can be easier to learn then guitar as you are only fretting one note at any given time rather than several which a guitar player can do, which are called chords. It is possible to do simple 2 note chords on a bass though.

Some people may learn the bass because they like the deep sound the bass gets, which is not possible for a guitar to get. Also there are many famous baselines out there which make the bass worth learning as you can play along to them and only get the right sound by playing them on a bass.

People also have bands they like whose bassist inspired them to play, also their favourite idols may have influenced them to pick up the bass, even their friends or family might have influenced them.

The bassist holds down the simple groove and is the foundation in most songs along with the drummer which are called the rhythm section. The bass can also make people want to dance in genres like funk and dance and in general gives a good feeling to the song. Without bass the music in the band will sound empty and the job of the bass is to fill this gap.

The bass player can change the key of the music by what’s been played underneath and also the bass can outline the chords that are being played on the guitar. Depending on what genre of music you wish to play the bass player can play many different things.

With playing bass there also comes slap bass which is a unique style that only sounds right on a bass guitar and gives a new way to play the bass rather than using your fingers or a pick. The style slap bass gives the audience something else to listen to and also makes the sound of the bass more defined and brings the sound of the bass to the front rather than in the background. Tapping on bass can also give your bass a new sound and a new way to play.

With everything there comes ups and down and unfortunately the same applies to playing the bass. Although I have mentioned good and bad points about the bass there is a major let down for the bass which is a bass guitar is generally an instrument that sounds better within a band rather than on its own, as the role of the bass player is to fill the gap it may sound good within the band but on its own could sound boring and repetitive. If a bass line is played on its own without the bands then not many people are able to tell what song the baseline came from. Don’t get me wrong there are many songs out there that rely on the bass line to work and songs which their foundations were build around the bass line, but in general if the bass line isn’t following the guitar than most bass lines on there own may not be enough for people to know what songs they’re from.

Some people think that the bass is the least heard instrument in the band, with some people saying they can not hear the bass as they don’t know what they are listening for but with out the bass the bass is essential for the band to work and sound well.

Overall for those who want to play bass but are unsure give some bass lines a listen and check out the rest of my site to see if you think the bass guitar may suit you. I have lessons covering most aspects on bass from the beginner bass techniques to advance bass techniques so I am sure you will find something worth learning, so give the bass a try and go from there.