Posts Tagged ‘Bass Guitar’
Electric guitars are wonderful instruments to learn to play. As I wrote in my last blog many people who play guitar often own more than, as a matter of fact they often own four, five, six, and sometimes more guitars.
Sometimes a guitar owner will mix in with his collection of electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and bass guitars, that’s when it happens. After playing guitar for a while they pick up the bass guitar and find themselves hooked. Electric guitars in music are used to play the chords of the song if you are a rhythm guitarist, however this can get monotonous. Bass guitars are great to learn and play because you’re not locked in to playing one thing. Depending upon you level of skill you can either play the root note or play the chords of the song (one note at a time). Playing bass guitar you will find chord progressions can be played differently, depending on the song. Yes it’s easy to get hooked on playing bass guitar, pick one up and find out for yourself.
Do you play an electric guitar? Do you play a bass guitar? If you answered yes to either of these questions, do you own more than one electric guitar or bass guitar?
If you answered yes to the last question you will find yourself among the majority. I don’t know why, but owning electric guitars by the handful is a pretty common thing. Playing guitar if fun, owning guitars is addicting. Many people that play have the electric guitar they started with and have added to it different style electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and even bass guitars, yes that’s right I said bass guitars. It’s not uncommon for someone who plays guitar to acquire a bass guitar.
If you find yourself owning just one guitar my words to you are “Let’s get with it” you have a lot of catching up to do.
The 60’s was a great time and place for all types music, especially if your into guitars like I am. Hendrix with the help of his guitar package that consisted of an upside down strat electric guitar and Marshall guitar amplifier, brought us a sound we will never hear again.
Every band had their own great sound with the help of Gibson LP guitars, and Jazz style guitars, Fender strats, Telecasters along with their Precision and Jazz bass guitars. These instruments were used to create rock, blues, and country music.
One band that stood out in the 60’s was Sly and the Family Stone. They were the first integrated band with a clear cut message about blacks and whites getting along in the song “Everyday People”. This is the band that invented Funk, and their bass guitar player Larry Graham invented the slapping bass guitar style that is used when playing Funk music.
Today’s kid want to take shortcuts when it comes to playing electric guitar. When my daughter started to play bass guitar she informed me that on the Internet there is a thing called Tabs that teaches you the notes on what ever song you look up.
After examining these Tabs I found them to be useful, especially if you already now the basics of playing guitar. What I also found is that young people trying learn music are actually cheating themselves, by this I mean you might be able to play what is written in tabs but when a song comes on the radio that you want to play it is very difficult to pick that song up.
It doesn’t matter what kind of electric guitar package you are trying to play if you don’t know the basics it will sound choppy. Take me, I learned to play bass early age with the help of an instructor and books. I learned cord configurations which help me to this day, when I hear a song on the radio I can usually pick it up right away because of the basics I have learned.
I don’t know about you but I love most types of music. From classical to rock I can always find something interesting in most kinds of music.
Songs that really get me going are the ones with the bass guitar playing more than just root notes. When ever I get a chance to watch a group play, I not only listen to themusic, I am also watching them to see how they play. By this I mean their style, using me for an example I am an OK bass guitar player but I lack style. Style is something the best bass guitar package can’t give you, like me you might be able to play but you don’t have that charisma that makes people notice you.
When I started in music the choices you had when it came to purchasing an electric guitar or bass guitar were pretty slim. Of course you had your top manufacturers like Fender, Gibson, and Gretsch along with a few knock-off brands.
The difference between those knock-off brand guitars and the major brands were pretty great in those days, unlike today where you have high end knock-off guitars such as the ones from New York Pro guitars, and Stadium guitars. The finish and action on these guitars will amaze you to the point you will be comparing them to the Fender and Gibson guitars they were modelled after.
I have played bass guitar since the mid 60’s, and been a lead singer in several of the bands I have been in. Now I’m not saying that I’m a terrific singer because I am not, but I guess I could carry a tune better than most of the guys in the bands that’s why I was always elected as lead singer.
It is much more versatile to be a good guitarist rather than a good singer. Can you imagine someone like Frank Sinatra, or Dean Martin singing something like “The Pinball Wizard”, or “Dirty Deeds”, that would be like Roger Daltrey trying to sing “That’s Amore”, or Robert Plant singing “My Way”. The point I’m trying to make is they are all great singers in their own music genres but I don’t think they could make it crossing over to their opposite genres.
Whether you play custom or cheap electric guitar packages you have the ability to play any music genre, you may prefer to play rock or country but playing electric guitar all the music genres are at your finger tips.
Whether your a pro, intermediate, or beginner, playing an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, or maybe an electric guitar practicing can get to be a real chore sometimes. Practicing with a reason always seems to help bring interest to your practice.
If your in a house band practicing is easy because you want to stay sharp for you customers. Maybe you in a band that plays special occacions like weddings. I’m sure your practice sessions are easier when you have a gig coming up rather than long spells inbetween gigs where your practices seem to drag.
If your a beginner or intermediate guitar player try and set goals for yourself. Find a guitar riff you don’t know and practice with a goal of learning it. Maybe it’s a particular sound your looking for, try adjusting your guitar amplifier to different settings and try to achieve that sound you are looking for.
No matter what class your in it always pays to have a goal, it makes practicing much more interesting.
When you find legendary guitarist Jeff Beck playing his Fender stratocaster electric guitar you will almost always find an outstanding bass guitar being played by Tal Wikenfeld. It is my opinion that no two guitar players compliment each other better that these two.
Jeff achieves his sound not with the use of effect pedals, but rather by using his fingers and tremolo bar. His instrumental version of The Beatles “A Day In The Life” is both a unique and breathtaking example of taking an already great song and adding your own twist to it that makes it you own. While playing Tal is right there with him playing a bass line that is rivaled by Paul McCartney on the original.
Tal can be seen playing a Fender Jazz Bass look-a-like. Her custom bass guitar is a high end bass made by Sadowsky Guitars Limited.
The 1950’s saw the evolution in modern music from the double bass to the electric bass guitar. A some people use a pick to play it but the preferred way is either your fingers or thumb.
If you are not familiar with a bass guitar it is similar in appearance to an electric guitar with the notable differences being a bigger body and a longer neck. The usual configuration is four or five strings, but it is not unusual to have six strings or even more.
Bass is an essential part of music as it provides the anchor that holds it all together, it does this by distributing the beat for other members of the band. Bass is found in all genres of music and while it is mostly used as a back-up instrument, it is sometimes used as a lead, and in some music genres it makes a terrific solo instrument.