So... What is the difference between a Bass Guitarist and a Bassist?
I'm asking, so let's hear your opinion.
Thanks
Difference Between a Bass Guitarist and a Bassist?
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA
Difference Between a Bass Guitarist and a Bassist?
One good note makes my day.
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA
OK, it's been a while and no responses so here is my take on the question...
This is just my opinion, not the last word by any means. Upright bass players, please don't roast me for comparing electric bass players and upright bassists in the same paragraph. I respect both instruments. What I'm trying to speak to here is the basic difference in philosophy and approach to the instrument between a bass guitarist and a bassist.
In a word: Frets.
In very few words: A bassist is more likely to be a serious musician.
In a few words: A bass guitarist probably started on guitar and later took up the fretted bass, whereas the bassist may have never played guitar but probably does (or would like to) play the fretless and upright bass.
To take it to little more depth. The modern bassist looks to the upright bass as the immediate predecessor of the electric bass. The electric bass is a hybrid of that instrument and guitar. Guitars have frets, upright basses do not.
Logically, the fretless electric bass is closer to the upright bass than to the guitar, whereas the fretted electric bass is closer to the guitar. Thus by influence of using frets and not playing the fretless or upright bass, a bass guitarist is closer to a guitarist. Whereas a bassist can usually play upright, fretless, and the fretted electric, basses.
A bassist often seconds on piano but is a bassist first, seldom plays guitar.
A bass guitarist probably started on the guitar and later picked up the fretted electric bass. A bass guitarist usually maintains his/her guitar skills and may even regard that instrument as primary and the bass guitar as secondary.
A bass guitarist may play with a pick (plectrum) but does not have the other right hand bass techniques.
It is my opinion, that sometime in the life of a bass player, provided he/she is serious and continues to develop as a musician, should make a transition from being a bass guitarist, to being a bassist. In this sense, a bassist is a more developed musician than a bass guitarist.
I may have started a bit of controversy here. Let's hear your opinions, even flames.
This is just my opinion, not the last word by any means. Upright bass players, please don't roast me for comparing electric bass players and upright bassists in the same paragraph. I respect both instruments. What I'm trying to speak to here is the basic difference in philosophy and approach to the instrument between a bass guitarist and a bassist.
In a word: Frets.
In very few words: A bassist is more likely to be a serious musician.
In a few words: A bass guitarist probably started on guitar and later took up the fretted bass, whereas the bassist may have never played guitar but probably does (or would like to) play the fretless and upright bass.
To take it to little more depth. The modern bassist looks to the upright bass as the immediate predecessor of the electric bass. The electric bass is a hybrid of that instrument and guitar. Guitars have frets, upright basses do not.
Logically, the fretless electric bass is closer to the upright bass than to the guitar, whereas the fretted electric bass is closer to the guitar. Thus by influence of using frets and not playing the fretless or upright bass, a bass guitarist is closer to a guitarist. Whereas a bassist can usually play upright, fretless, and the fretted electric, basses.
A bassist often seconds on piano but is a bassist first, seldom plays guitar.
A bass guitarist probably started on the guitar and later picked up the fretted electric bass. A bass guitarist usually maintains his/her guitar skills and may even regard that instrument as primary and the bass guitar as secondary.
A bass guitarist may play with a pick (plectrum) but does not have the other right hand bass techniques.
It is my opinion, that sometime in the life of a bass player, provided he/she is serious and continues to develop as a musician, should make a transition from being a bass guitarist, to being a bassist. In this sense, a bassist is a more developed musician than a bass guitarist.
I may have started a bit of controversy here. Let's hear your opinions, even flames.
One good note makes my day.
Difference between a bass guitarist and Bassist
Newbie chiming in here-I've been a musician for 33 1/2 years now, and don't find it hard to agree with the previous posts, though my experience is a bit different. I'm considered a bassist by my peers, even though I started out on guitar(at my Dad's insistence). Planning on buying my first serious fretless this year, and can't wait! What I have discovered (at least about me), is this: whenever I hear a piece of music being played, I have always noticed the bottom line first-even as a child. That being said, I have been told that my guitar playing fairly reeks of bass(actually, it fairly reeks. lol). When I first picked up a bass, I found it much easier to fall into a song than when I played guitar-it just seemed more natural. I have flirted with piano, but have no desire to be a pianist-that's my wife's job, haha! Seriously, though, being a bassist is a matter of the heart, because to be a true bassist, the bottom line has to be what fascinates you and has to be where you feel at home. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for indulging me.
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA
Welcome to FretlessBass.com and welcome to the fretless community.
Your remarks are valid and very interesting, thanks.
From what you say, it sounds like you already possess the right instincts to become a great bassist. I hope that the fretless continues to excite the same way it does me.
Your remarks are valid and very interesting, thanks.
From what you say, it sounds like you already possess the right instincts to become a great bassist. I hope that the fretless continues to excite the same way it does me.
One good note makes my day.
Difference between bass guitarist and bassist
The fretless bass excites me like no other instrument I've ever picked up. I cobbled one together a few years ago out of remains I had laying around-neck from a yard sale special(short scale), hollow double-cutaway body, and a pickup from a Peavey t-40. It turned out pretty good, but I wound up giving it to my bass mentor. My wife and I were in a music store a couple of months ago, and I was looking at the fretless basses on the wall. She had not heard me play anything other than fretted before, and asked me to audition one, which I did. Apparently I impressed both her and the sales person-I got lost in the instrument and everything else ceased to exist for me. So...now my dear wife wants to get me a fretless bass! In my years of playing, I have played guitar(acoustic and electric) Keyboard(not a good experience) mandolin(interesting but not for me), and bass. I will never not be a bassist. if there came a day when I had to choose 1 instrument, it would be a fretless bass-hands down! Sorry about the length of this post-I tend to wax passionate about my chosen weapon!
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RichmanRush
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 4:45 pm
Similar to a thread I read on another forum years ago about the difference between a bassist and bass player.
General consensus was:
Bassist - usually professional musician who plays bass for a living
bass player - usually hobbyist who doesn't rely on bass/music for income.
*shrug*
I honestly don't care one way or the other... I probably use the terms interchangeably, but if someone were to want to get technical, then I'm a bass player.
We're all the same: funking with our fingers for the common good!
General consensus was:
Bassist - usually professional musician who plays bass for a living
bass player - usually hobbyist who doesn't rely on bass/music for income.
*shrug*
I honestly don't care one way or the other... I probably use the terms interchangeably, but if someone were to want to get technical, then I'm a bass player.
We're all the same: funking with our fingers for the common good!
I use them interchangeably. Generally.
But in the 26 years I've been playing bass, the difference between bass and "a low guitar" has always been in the mindset of the person playing it. When it's approached as a bass, the player will choose completely different methods of expression than someone who just wants to chug along with a showboating guitar player. You get the same difference even whether the player uses a pick or not - you'll find as many bass players out there who turn out fantastic bass with a pick just as much as you'll find finger style rot-gut.
So the label doesn't mean much to me. I might have done it professionally had I not blown out both wrists (which caused a drastic change in things) and had I found people worth pursuing it with, but now that I've known some professional for-pay musicians, I think I'd rather be an experienced hobbyist with nothing to prove that isn't already self-evident.
(Of course, for the right project, I could be convinced to dive in once again.)
But in the 26 years I've been playing bass, the difference between bass and "a low guitar" has always been in the mindset of the person playing it. When it's approached as a bass, the player will choose completely different methods of expression than someone who just wants to chug along with a showboating guitar player. You get the same difference even whether the player uses a pick or not - you'll find as many bass players out there who turn out fantastic bass with a pick just as much as you'll find finger style rot-gut.
So the label doesn't mean much to me. I might have done it professionally had I not blown out both wrists (which caused a drastic change in things) and had I found people worth pursuing it with, but now that I've known some professional for-pay musicians, I think I'd rather be an experienced hobbyist with nothing to prove that isn't already self-evident.
(Of course, for the right project, I could be convinced to dive in once again.)
b'GAH!
ahh my fretless Corvette. How I lurve thee.
ahh my fretless Corvette. How I lurve thee.
A Bass player:
- ask him for a progression and he eiter starts playing, changing harmony and style anytimehe finds an argument or an inspiration
- plays together with percussion, able to add some groove to the groove
- very sensible in hearing/listening to sounds..especially his own one cant be good enough and therefor needs improvement all the time
A Bass guitarist:
- Needs (even for small gigs) biggest amps, manhigh stacks..at minimum a 4x12 600 to 800 Watt Box
- progression is 90% 145, a mixup, a slight derivate, same in minor, mixolydian..typically playing funk "octave-style" when beeing asked for^^
- a drummer is just there to confirm the beat, he does. (mostly steady 16th or typical pointed 8ths for "blues feel"
It's somewhat overdone, but most people I met, only fit into one of these groups...and its mainly not a question of their equipment
- ask him for a progression and he eiter starts playing, changing harmony and style anytimehe finds an argument or an inspiration
- plays together with percussion, able to add some groove to the groove
- very sensible in hearing/listening to sounds..especially his own one cant be good enough and therefor needs improvement all the time
A Bass guitarist:
- Needs (even for small gigs) biggest amps, manhigh stacks..at minimum a 4x12 600 to 800 Watt Box
- progression is 90% 145, a mixup, a slight derivate, same in minor, mixolydian..typically playing funk "octave-style" when beeing asked for^^
- a drummer is just there to confirm the beat, he does. (mostly steady 16th or typical pointed 8ths for "blues feel"
It's somewhat overdone, but most people I met, only fit into one of these groups...and its mainly not a question of their equipment