How To Play Bass (even for guitar players)

You forgot to mention the most important thing about playing bass; unlike a guitar, you will have to play in time with a bass

As a lifelong guitar player who just bought his first bass yesterday, the timing of this video is a little too perfect.

I’m a bassist who just came by to see the explanation. Absolutely well done. Now if someone can make it so my guitar playing doesn’t sound like a bassist I’d be much obliged.

That trampoline metaphor is on point!

From playing bass for 17 years, I've learned a few critical things in order to be successful with bass. 1) Stay on the same wavelength with the drummer. 2) You are the most important member and don't let the guitarist tell you anything different. 3) Root notes, root notes, and root notes. If you know the root notes to any chord in a song, then you can write anything. 4) Keep it simple 5) Know the difference between when it is okay to stay with the guitarist and when it is okay to go rogue. 6) If you use effects, you don't need to go crazy. A good preamp, compressor and an overdrive will take you very far. 7) Darkglass is your best friend 😂

My bass playing strategy: go from one note to the next note in the sexiest way possible.

Shortly after I started learning how to play guitar, I picked up a bass. I would learn (or write) guitar parts, then learn (or write) the bass part. It has helped in my amateur career... When looking to join/ form bands in my 20s, I noticed bass players were in high demand. Easy transition, and I got a lot of bass gigs along the way. Know more, play more 😉

One thing I remember seeing in Adam Neely’s video on this was that it’s a good idea to cut off the bass notes in time with the drummer’s snare. It’ll sound much tighter that way.

Learning the bass means really digging into what makes a chord ... a chord! You can really gloss over the fundamentals as a guitarist and learn where to put your fingers but not think about why you're doing it.

As a bassist can I say this is the best explanation of this to guitarists I have ever seen. Great job!

I definitely agree for starting out, less is more, but when you get a solid foundation, look at the bassists in some of the best rock bands in history: John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Chris Squire, and Geddy Lee, and see how they made their bands so much better by playing less at times, and just balls to the wall at others. Bassists don't get the love they deserve, but neither do offensive linemen in (american) football.

I have always thought that if you know guitar, you should also learn bass and vice versa! Both really have their perks.

I think the most important thing in bass playing is to find the pocket, which is more than just timing your notes to coincide with the drummer's beat. It's a feel thing that's hard to define, but you'll know it when you hear it. When people talk about a band having a great groove, they're responding to musicians who are playing in the pocket. Playing in the pocket is critical when playing jazz, blues, and funk but it applies to all genres of music. Would make an interesting video to demonstrate how this works, Rhett.

This is crazy. Literally 3 hours ago I had a discussion with my brother (a bassist) about wanting to try to learn a little bass, mainly to improve on my groove feel and rhythm skills. I come back home and this notification is waiting for me. Talk about signs! Awesome intro to the subject, you covered all the big questions. Thank you all!

Loads of great info here. As a guitarist I swapped my P-bass for a short scale bass recently and it made a WORLD of difference. Especially if you have smaller hands.

I got a bass about a year ago, mostly to record tracks at home, and have really enjoyed the challenge of approaching it as an entirely new and different instrument. Also, now I hear bass lines in all music much more clearly, which helps me appreciate songs a lot more.

I switched from lead guitar to bass in the 1970s when my blues band needed a new bass player and all I could find were Clapton wannabes. I found out many of these things listening to the great blues bands of the times. But the bit about being in sync with the drummer was really really key. My drummer turned into my best friend and we loved rehearsing just bass and drums in the off days between band rehearsals. Pretty quickly we were able to just follow each other in whatever direction the music called for without thinking or talking about it.

Your channel changed me from a EMG metal head to literally taking theory for jazz and getting 2 p90'd guitars 😂

I've played the guitar for over 40 years. About 20 years ago my wife(who is a very good vocalist) brought home a beautiful small body Warwick Bass and then did a very good job of learning how to play and accompany herself. She refuses to use a pick. :) Now I don't have to leave the house to get in on some decent jamming. She started by binge learning a bunch of Al Green songs. I often pick it up and play it because it sits on a stand beside my guitars and because it's fun. Bass is a special instrument. It's the glue that holds everything together.

When I got a bass, the perfect song (for me) to get me started was was learning Jesus Just Left Chicago by ZZ Top. It taught me about keep time with the drums, keeping the melody and it was a straight forward playing pattern. It totally showed me the difference between bass and playing guitar. Jesus Just Left Chicago and Blue Jean Blues are my two favourite songs to play on bass.