Four Reasons You Should Learn to Play the Bass

Newsflash: B&H has started carrying guitars. And as we welcome models from ESP to Ibanez to Yamaha to Takamine with open arms, we’re also churning out Explora content, providing articles on topics such as how to mic electric axes at home, how to buy a guitar, and acoustics best suited to the campus quad.

Now, make no mistake, this article is indeed geared toward guitar players. But we’re taking a bit of a left turn here; we want you consider investing some time into studying how to play the bass—an instrument elemental to the feel, groove, and genre-phenotype of so much music. Since the topography of the instrument is quite similar to the guitar, you already have a head start. You might lack the inclination, but we’re here to ameliorate that situation.

So without further preamble, here are four reasons you should really learn to play the bass.

Playing the bass makes you a better musician all around

Being a proper bass player is about so much more than standing stock-still on stage and looking vaguely intimidating. Bassists are instrumental in dictating both the rhythmic and harmonic direction of the music, and as such, exude great influence on how songs not only sound, but feel.

In terms of the groove, a bassist’s note placement has a direct impact on the emotionality of music. An example: a tactically rushed phrase can give a sense of excitement, while laying behind the beat—applying a smooth latency to phrasing—can communicate the sultriness so crucial to the work of hallowed artists like J Dilla, D’Angelo, and others.

Take Pino Palladino, a regular bass player for D’Angelo and John Mayer. He’s a perfect illustration of what a masterful bass player can provide. Think about a classic album like Voodoo: in no way would that record sound the same without his slinky stylings and, yet, you wouldn’t necessarily know that Voodoo sports the same bassist as Mayer’s Continuum. Simply put, Palladino’s rhythmic fluency allows him to set the pace and vibe of both records.

Now, consider harmony. In terms of chordal movement, bass players follow in the grand tradition of counterpoint and voice-leading arguably established by Johann Sebastian Bach. Chords, as you know, are made up of three or more notes played simultaneously, and a bass player has the choice to trigger any one of them at any one time (not to mention access to the pleasantly passing/grace notes, which add character). As a harmonic instrument triggering some of the lowest frequencies within any musical entity, the bass often lays the tonal foundation for how music flows from moment to moment.

So what does any of this have to do with you, a guitar player? A lot. If you give yourself access to the power of the bass, you can achieve a greater sense of your role in any band or combo. You not only learn how to accommodate bass players in your own guitar playing—staying in lockstep with their musical choices—you can learn to apply the rhythmic chops and melodic connections one picks up on the bass to your own technique. This becomes invaluable in pushing past plateaus while practicing, or when learning how to sync with musicians of all types, from keyboard players and drummers to saxophonists and singers.

Playing the bass makes you a better composer and arranger

Don Was, Randy Jackson—heck, even Thundercat—it’s no accident that some of the most renowned and respected producers started out as bass players. A solid knowledge of music, from the ground up, gives them their expertise. That foundation, as we’ve established above, is rooted in the bass. If you devote some time to learning how the bass functions in any musical tapestry, you will glean a crucial understanding of how to craft arrangements. This, in turn, will propel your knowledge within the worlds of composing, mixing, and even producing.

Take Radiohead: whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying their maturation has centered around their arrangements and productions; certain harmonic motifs have remained constant throughout their catalogue (they love to vacillate between the tonic and a minor iv chord, for example); it is their execution that has undeniably changed. With this in mind, listen closely to tunes like “Airbag,” “15 Step,” “Morning Mr. Magpie,” and “Decks Dark.” In examining the productions of these tunes, I guarantee you’ll see how crucial the bass is in the genesis of their arrangements.

In fact, follow the evolution of “Morning Mr. Magpie” across the Internet, from recorded versions to live jams, and you’ll see that at every change, a bass-centric choice has dictated how the song flows differently, and accommodated changes in rhythmic syncopation spectacularly. 

Harnessing this understanding in your guitar playing—particularly if you write and arrange music—will only benefit the creative output of your productions.

Playing the bass will help you in your gigging career

Let’s start with the obvious: if you are proficient in two instruments, you can take more gigs. And if you’re really good, you can outright double your revenue stream. That’s just math.

But if you’ve properly studied the bass, you’ve done much more than double your earning potential. As illustrated above, knowledge of the bass will make you a better musician, a better arranger, and a better composer. So, if you take that bass-centric knowledge back to your instrument—that special blend of meekness and indispensability—you’ll improve your guitar playing tenfold, for you will have truly learned to showcase music over your own playing. Which brings us to…

Playing the bass is good for your ego

As we’ve said before, you have a head start in learning the bass by virtue of being a guitar player. And yet, there are precious few guitarists who make a name for themselves on the bass. Why? Perhaps because so many guitarists approach the instrument as though it were a guitar, noodling about as though it were the star of the show.

Let’s be honest. As guitar players, we tend to turn up our amps and go for it, often clashing with harmonic counterparts (keyboardists, for example) or outshining the lead singer (a real no-no). I’m guilty as much as anyone, so let me be the first to shirk responsibility: it’s not our fault—it’s something the guitar does to us.

The bass, however, affords little space for noodling; a noodling bass player is the subject of much side-eye and thrown shade, simply because of how loud and formidable the instrument can be. So the best bass players categorically don’t upstage anyone; they’re all about improving the whole tune, blending in so that the music itself stands out. I’d argue that spending time devoting yourself to such a self-erasing enterprise betters you as a musician—it helps you put the music first, and helps you avoid the stereotypical pitfalls often ascribed to guitarists.

So there are four reasons for spending some time with four strings in a lower octave. If we’ve convinced you, then I’d encourage you to check out some basses. This seems like as good a time as any to point out that we have quite a few in our inventory.

Do you think that, as a guitarist, learning to play bass will benefit you in all the above described ways? Tell us, in the Comments section, below.