So as I was 'shlappin da bashe' last night (which, mind you I'm still learning to do because slapping da bass requires considerable practice and skill) and I realised that the bass guitar isn't like a normal guitar. Apart from the obvious four strings instead of six and the extended neck (which leads to difficulties even for my long fingers), there is a key point on which bass guitars differ from your average, run of the mill, bog standard electric or acoustic which is that you can't let notes ring out and play other notes over them in the normal scheme of things. There are techniques, I'm sure, which allow for this but I'm yet to learn them and until then if I want to play two notes consecutively (which would be the norm, unless you're Prince) I have to stop the first note, either by palm or finger, before I start the second one lest my guitar playing starts to sound like a mangled wreck of notes, one on top of the other.
Now, this is a predicament. I've been playing the guitar for nearly eight years and I'm used to letting notes ring out over other notes. What I'm not used to is stopping a note every time I want to play a different note. An even bigger pickle I came across in my mind while I walked to the central station this morning was the realisation that it would be very difficult to be an excellent bassist AND an excellent guitarist. It's like one of my friends used to say, "playing squash messes up my tennis stroke" - I had just thrashed him on the squash court and took this as an excuse from him so that he didn't have to play squash again. But maybe it's true - maybe playing squash really DOES mess up your tennis stroke. Let's face it, do you know any squash players who excel at tennis, or visa versa? So, in the same way, playing bass messes up your guitar stroke, and visa versa!
This is indeed a sad day and I hope to wake up tomorrow having no memory of this realisation. On the bright side, I did learn to play the bassline for Santana's Smooth, and probably kept the neighbours up.
Peace, love, revolutions
Now, this is a predicament. I've been playing the guitar for nearly eight years and I'm used to letting notes ring out over other notes. What I'm not used to is stopping a note every time I want to play a different note. An even bigger pickle I came across in my mind while I walked to the central station this morning was the realisation that it would be very difficult to be an excellent bassist AND an excellent guitarist. It's like one of my friends used to say, "playing squash messes up my tennis stroke" - I had just thrashed him on the squash court and took this as an excuse from him so that he didn't have to play squash again. But maybe it's true - maybe playing squash really DOES mess up your tennis stroke. Let's face it, do you know any squash players who excel at tennis, or visa versa? So, in the same way, playing bass messes up your guitar stroke, and visa versa!
This is indeed a sad day and I hope to wake up tomorrow having no memory of this realisation. On the bright side, I did learn to play the bassline for Santana's Smooth, and probably kept the neighbours up.
Peace, love, revolutions
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