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EVAN SKOPP
How Notto Play Bass like a Guitar Player Playing Bass
Conventional wisdom says that even if
you’re just moderately accomplished on
guitar, you can still pass on bass. But in
reality it’s not hard to spot a bass player
who’s really a guitar player in disguise.
That got me to thinking: what is it about
a guitar-playing bass player that’s different from a “pure” bass player. Surely,
our musical DNA is ninety-nine percent
identical. So what exactly is that other
one percent? And how can a guitar player
play bass like a “real” bass player? I don’t
presume to know the answers, so I asked
some accomplished “real” bass players
from a variety of genres to weigh in.
Maybe it has to do with the way we relate
to our respective instruments. David
Ellefson, former Megadeth bassist and
now Artist Relations Manager for Peavey
thinks so: “Thinking of the bass as just a
longer, deeper version of the guitar is the
wrong approach for technique as well as
composition.” Six-string fretless virtuoso
Steve Bailey expands on this notion, saying, “Guitarists think of music from the
top down. Most of the licks happen in the
mid-to-upper register, rarely going down.
Bass players generally think below the fifth
fret, occasionally working their way up.
Traditionally, guitar is taught with high E
as the first string. On bass, we teach that
the first string is the low E [or low B].” Phil
Chen, bassist for Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart and
countless others says, “Bass is a foundation
instrument, like the foundation of a house.”
Chen advises players to “replicate the low
frequency of the bass drum.” Ellefson sums
it up this way, “It’s called a bass, not a treble, so please play it like one.”
Maybe it’s the mindset. Doug Pinnick from
King’s X sees it this way: “If the bass player
can’t find the groove, it’s because he’s
thinking ‘guitar.’ Guitarist-bass players tend
to overplay and have no concept of the
true reason we play bass. The bass dictates
the groove and the feel.” Former Suicidal
Tendencies and Infectious Grooves bassist,
Josh Paul, now with Daughtry, notices, “A
lot of guitarists play a bit in front of the
beat, in contrast to pure bass players who
play a bit behind the beat. I like to think of
the bass guitar as a drum kit that you can
play melody on.” Peavey’s Ellefson continues, “A bass line that just follows a guitar
pattern an octave lower is really a waste of
a perfectly good track.”
Maybe it’s technique. Says Ellefson, “It’s a
guitarist’s right of passage to do anything
they can to be nimble and quick on the
fretboard. But a truly skilled bassist is solid,
forceful and commanding, not necessarily swiftly dancing across the fingerboard.”
“A bass line that
just follows a guitar
pattern an octave
lower is really a
waste of a perfectly
good track.”
– David Ellefson
Expanding on this is Walter Milsap, bassist
and musical director for Lady Gaga, who
has also worked with Beyonce, Alicia Keys,
Timbaland, and Mariah Carey. Milsap notices
that guitar-playing bass players are easy to
spot because, “They’re usually quicker with
their fingering then most bass players.”
311’s P-Nut admonishes, “A guitar player
playing bass shouldn’t try to play slap; it’s a
dead giveaway.” Amen, brutha.
While most of the players I interviewed
jumped at the chance to finally tell their guitar playing brethren what they really think, a
few didn’t see the big deal. Jonas Hellborg,
who has played with John McLaughlin,
Shawn Lane, Buckethead and many others,
told me, “I actually like when there’s an
extra element to people’s playing. So for
me, wrong is right.” Similarly, legendary producer Don Was said, “I don’t think that playing bass like a guitar player is, by definition,
a bad thing: Bill Wyman and John Entwhistle
come to mind as great influential players
who did it the ‘wrong’ way.”
Okay, but what if you don’t want to strap
on a bass and sound guitar-challenged?
Don Was suggests, “Lose the pick and
don’t let the notes ring indefinitely. Take
your fingers off the fretboard and let the
notes breathe. You’re part of the rhythm
section now. Space is very important to the
groove. Lock in with the bass drum and
the hi-hat, and play in the pocket.” Phil
Chen agrees: “Play with the bass drum.” In
that vein, Steve Bailey advises, “Take three
steps back and stand with the drummer and
explore how few notes can actually make
it happen.” Similarly, Josh Paul offers, “It’s
important that the bass and drums work
together as one unit.” Walter Milsap gives
this simple but sage advice to guitarists:
“Change your delivery from complicated
to simple.” Don Was echoes this when he
says, “Less is more.”
Several of the bassists I talked with suggested that guitarists listen to legendary
‘60s Motown bassist James Jamerson,
who Don Was describes as “such a lyrical,
melodic musician that he was like a bassist and a guitarist put together.” Others
suggested listening to Larry Graham, Jaco
Pastorius and Chris Squire.
Finally, Don Was offers this gem to
make sure us guitarists can easily pass
as “real” bass players: “Always dress as
sharp as possible.”
Evan Skopp
Evan Skopp is head of Marketing and OEM Sales for
Seymour Duncan, based in Santa Barbara, California. He
serves on the board of directors of Musician’s Institute
in Hollywood and is past-president of the Guitar and
Accessories Marketing Association.
