How To Play Bass (even for guitar players)

Thanks for the vid. I mostly hear that guitarists are not playing with their fingers or at least not in a picado style: but that isn't true of classical or flamenco guitar players. I have not touched a pick in my (short) guitar life. So I guess I would start playing bass with an advantage? I guess I'll see soon enough 😅

I'm coming from guitar to bass and I bought a Reverend Sentinel short-scale. I really like it and think it is easier to navigate than a full-scale for those of us used to shorter fret segments on guitar. I'm mostly playing along with root notes right now, which sounds cool but gets boring quickly when youre used to soloong on guitar. I need to figure out how to get to the next level on bass. Thanks for the video!

Good talk! Phil brought up some very good points on playing. Like the gentleman that Phil purchased that wonderful 66 Precision from, I too developed arthritis in my thumb joints, and went from a Precision to a Short Scale Bass. I just picked up a Sire U5. It keeps me going. I'm also a fan of Flats. Something I found helpful going from guitar to bass is left hand position. As a Guitar player, my left hand is on more of an angle, think a open "C" Chord. On Bass, holding my left hand at more of a right angle to the neck has helped accessing notes for a clearer tone. Enjoyed the video guys, thanks!

Playing bass with the snare engaged always bugs me 🥴

My biggest tip for guitarists learning bass is to drop the pick. Nowadays I play with both pick and fingers, neither is better, but when learning bass as a guitarist I recommend fingers to force yourself into a different mindset and to start to visualise the bass as a different instrument instead of just guitar but lower

Have these guys not heard of Lemmy?😂

undoing the whole G string just to show an example of something for a moment was such a bass player thing to do

As a 7 year bass player myself this is fun to watch :)

Thank you for this video, Rhett. I’ve been getting back to playing guitar but just using my acoustic Yamaha Eterna 6 string for now. I’ve only played a handful of times but I’m curious about getting into it. Can a person who has slender fingers play bass well or is it better/easier if I have sausage fingers? Just asking😂😂

Age 62, I've played since I was 13, I gig professionally on a $50 pawn shop bass, it has a 2004 p. bass body made in Indonesia by Fender Squier, with a 1989 Korean Squier II neck. The aftermarket pickguard is a plastic tortoise shell with .105", .085", .065", '045", nickel wrap steel core round wounds by 7250's Fender strings, made by D'Addario ,with colored ball ends. I kept the vintage style 4 string bridge. It sounds great!!!!

Number 1, don't play chords play one note at a time. If you play low down, it will sound muddy.
Number 2 , don't use a pick like a guitarist, (unless it's a fast punk rock gig), use your fingers and thumb.
Number 3, don't overplay, don't be the lead, you are bass, the foundation, your role is to lock in with drummer.
Number 4 , keep you bass lines simple, a little goes a long way on the bass.

How do you feel about tape wound strings?

When I started bass, I found songs with a repetitive bass line to help build up a solid, consistent right hand technique. I think a perfect example is the sampled bass line from Massive Attack's "Safe From Harm". It's a repeating B A B F# A B B A ( 2 0 2 on A, 2 on E) fill that goes for about 5 and a half minutes. It pulls double duty in building right hand endurance and developing a consistent finger technique on one string, and jumping between two strings. If you really want to extend it out - practice with the Perfecto Mix version

As a guitarist of 50 years , I've really got a thing for bass lately. Enjoying watching Marcus Miller, and Julia's channel.

Idk man, a guitarist teaching bass???? Little sus.

The nice thing about a jazz is that you can kind of sound like p bass

i just ordered my first bass, until it arrives i'll try borrowing one. i have like a month to learn for a gig T.T

Great video. As a guitar player, I recently bought a Squier Bronco bass for my daughter, which I have shamelessly appropriated. This was very instructive about how to approach the bass as a guitar player.

Great need-to-know stuff here. I am primarily a guitarist but I have a bass that came as part of a deceased estate sale of musical/studio gear. Philip's tip about muting the unneeded notes notes by following through and touching the string above the one above is invaluable. Good playing is as much about the notes you don't play as the notes you don't. Thanks for this video.

Thanks much, good stuff!

You forgot to mention one down side to playing bass....
Bass players do not get laid!

Paul McCartney played in plays with a pic!

I think overplaying isn’t the problem. Some of the greatest bands have bassists who create fairly busy bass lines. You just have to play for the song and stay in the pocket. Tone also is huge

Got my first bass yesterday, and the first fret feels miles away

Great video, been playing guitar for 30 years but just got bass lust

Man that was super interesting . Thanks Rhett.

Very well done. Your bass player could be a teacher - very accessible.

Great video. I am a guitarist by background and getting into recording solo projects. I want to get a bass for this purpose but torn between a J bass, a short scale PJ bass like a jag, or scratching the Beatles urge and going for a violin bass. Anyone had a similar dilemma?

Punk rock bass player here- follow lock step with guitar, I want to develop my own bass lines over the riff, but it seems difficult. A video on this topic would be helpful!

Great info! Hard not to get distracted as a guitarist by that gorgeous gritty tone from Rhett 😅

Playing the bass helps my guitar playing because im forced to clean my playing. I didn't realize how sloppy i play acoustic until pkaying bass a few times 😂

And then… there was Lemmy…. 😂

I don't think geddy lee Steve Harris les clay pool or Jaco " play less"

What about Amps and Pedals? What is the simplest way to get it to the PA?

Excellent video,, Thanks. I got more from this video than 2 hours starting to learn Bass with a Guitar Player 😎

This video was amazing! Super helpful thank you!

Can we just appreciate that the bassline was fucking gas.. i wasn't expecting that lol

Keep your fingernails trimmed. Scratchy, clicky plucking makes the fundamental notes sound weaker.

Jazz bass - I’ve had a p bass for 35 years. I recently got a jazz base to have a more comfortable, faster, easier neck to navigate. My p bass neck feels like a baseball bat cut longitudinally, big and fat. The jazz bass neck is … easer.

To be a good bass player you need a good drummer

Hey Rhett, I have been following your videos for over a year and as a beginner guitar player, it has been huge in helping me improve. Does Deacon Knight have any planned public events planned in the near future? I live in NC and it would be great to come see you guys play live. Thanks and keep up the great work.

Я думаю, вы могли бы сделать видео, в котором объяснили бы гитаристам, что не стоит относиться к басистам как к гавну - иногда кажется, что для молодых музыкантов это более актуально, да и не только для молодых

Just bought my first bass last week and man i gotta say, ive been having way too much fun with it. Recommend every guitar player to buy a bass, not only is it a ton of fun but it also makes you look at a stringed instrument differently. I love it

The muting is not unlike playing slide on a resonator. Great video.

Just purchased my first bass + amp setup. I went with the Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass Black, Ampeg Rocket Bass RB-115 1x15 200W Bass Combo Amp Black and Silver, and a Fender Precision hardshell case.

I feel like there is a whole series here, "how to play drums, for guitar players" ; "how to play flute, for guitar players"; "How to sing, for guitar players" ; "how to invest in stocks, for guitar players" ; "how to make spaghetti, for guitar players" ; "how to pick up ladies, for guitar players" ; "how to change a diaper, on guitar players" ; "how to hunt a moose, for guitar players"

I think I got off track there, but you get my drift.

I've been playing bass and guitar for many years...this is great advice..so true...rock on dudes