Why guitarists should play bass

[@CodiMorphett]

Back when I first started playing guitar in the first three years I spent all night playing guitar, once when I went outside one morning and ran into my neighbour and apologised for playing so late. He said it was fine and he loved listening to me practice while he worked on his motorbikes then told me to wait and he came back out with a bass guitar, he said his sons used to play music but they didn't play anymore and that I could have it. He was an incredible neighbour, an incredible man, and he encouraged me to continue playing when I felt I plateaued, he encouraged me to try new things and grow without ever devaluing my progress or making me feel like my practice was an inconvenience.

[@-whiskey-4134]

Bass is more fun and sounds better to me. I played guitar for like 7 years before I ever touched a bass. It just became hard to put it down, so I bought a 6 string bass so it felt even more familiar. Still my favorite instrument out of the 8ish that I have.

[@someguy2744]

Unrelated, but "Mitch caught a body..." 2:12 5:28 🤨 - "it's gonna be inside of you" - maybe he could say that you achieve a certain intuition for it. 6:05 - True Temperament Guitar is the solution for the G string or any other string being always out of tune.

[@tenzennicholas2127]

Seriously. I'm focusing on guitar right now but bass is so so fun to play.

[@theofficialkevin]

Got a Dingwall NG3 6 string. And oh my lord. A dream

[@-whiskey-4134]

@@tenzennicholas2127 it really is lmao I can groove and jam with just bass alone. Something about it really hits the soul lol.

[@gitsurfer27]

@@theofficialkevin Ow wow thats a dream bass alright! Fender P bass and Dingwall would be on my wall if i had the money

[@1Know1tHurts]

It applies not only to music. As a Russian dad, I can learn a lot from Arab dad.

[@YuriyKravets29]

I guess there's not much you can learn about the neglectance of other person's life, on the contrary, even.

[@jared8515]

Things like Death to America!

[@Dantespeako]

@@YuriyKravets29 Can relate, as someone from Bagh Dad

[@TotoDG]

Same goes for Latino dads.

[@williamsherlockedward]

I wish I had a man in my life like Arab Dad.. He's so eatable..

[@LikeTheBirb]

As someone who started with percussion, and taught myself guitar and music theory It feels like bass is the instrument I have been building up to play all these years. It takes every bit of everything Ive learned across drums and guitars And combines them together in a smooth packaged instrument that makes so much impact with the simplest and tastiest usage of a few notes.

[@blopartDGRI]

yESS !!!

[@Eazyrun]

I love it when that one, that single bass note in the right frequency hits, and it massages your eardrums or your entire body! I love bass for the sound. And compared to guitar, every note and string on the bass feels secluded; strings are further apart, frets are bigger. It makes you think which note to play, which note is really worth hitting, and which are just fillers. This goes along with your "skeleton" comparison. Always learn new instruments. You don't have to master them, but get to know them. Learn their sound and their playstyle. I love you for making this video, bro

[@zpumbaa]

To put it simply being a good bassist requires a different skillset than being a good guitarist, but they go together like PB&J, being equally important. Once you recognize that fact and take time to learn, you dont just play a good guitar but can actually play good music

[@6md]

precision and jazz yes exactly

[@The_Copper_Element_Itself]

Plus a good bassline requires more movement. On guitar 3 chords make enough noise for you to keep the general ear occupied for long enough, but bass works mostly on pizzicatos, and chords sound muddy. So you need to play a lot more notes to do a good groove

[@ashtar3876]

Guitar is the jelly, sweet and you notice it the most, bass is the peanut butter. Only jelly makes the sandwich feel thin and like it misses something. Only peanut butter is bland and boring.

[@13_cmi]

I started on bass but I just noticed that even after only a couple of months I’m definitely better as a guitar player than bass. I definitely played bass like a guitar player. Proper bass is hard to do right. Even holding down a good simple groove is hard. And it makes your fingers hurt much much more. Both hands.

[@hegemaniac4652]

You know what the most bassist feeling is? The feeling that you get when you play the same thing that you played for half the song, but the guitarist is doing a really awesome solo now and you, the bassist who literally just stands there doing nothing extraordinary, just feel absolutely awesome as if you were at the peak of musical ability. I'm a bassist, but I really have no idea where the hell that comes from. I wonder if drummers have that too. Also, I don't like bass solos. Don't know why that is either. But it would be nice if the guitarists instead sometimes just would stop playing for a couple of seconds to let people notice the bassline.

[@zeldamage001]

With bass, I find that you communicate more with the rest of the band. You're always listening to both the drums and the rhythm melody instruments.

[@MaximeFeliciano]

Impressive, was expecting him use a pick like 99% of the guitarist with a bass. It'll go leaps and bounds instantly after just remembering to rest that thumb on the A string when hitting D and G

[@TristanDelroeux]

Honestly it’s better to have a floating thumb as it helps with fluidity and muting

[@MaximeFeliciano]

​@@TristanDelroeux Doesn't really improve any muting unless you did it instead of a simpler slide of finger. A floating thumb isn't helping his fluidity in that situation as the solo didn't really have many string jumps

[@TristanDelroeux]

@@MaximeFeliciano floating thumb is helpful for reducing the strain on your wrist and prevent injury. In the video he said that he struggled with speed and floating thumb is a great way to achieve that. And you could argue that it wasn’t specifically needed in that situation but it’s still a good habit to pick up.

[@MaximeFeliciano]

@@TristanDelroeux i think you mean anchored thumb? You think it helped his speed on a rather solo mostly using G and B strings? The thumb is gonna learn to move anchoring sooner rather than later on a 5 strings bass like his.

[@EversonBernardes]

@@MaximeFeliciano floating thumb doesn't have you (necessarily) anchoring on any string (or pickup or anything), you just use the side of the thumb to mute the lower strings.

[@Knobsmacker]

Bass players should also play guitar! Super easy to write songs on guitar when you're used to the limitations of a standard bass, and you can already stretch 5 frets on the whole intrument. Finger picking is also pretty intuitive, only weakness is learning to use a pick on strings that are so close together.

[@vern2k653]

My main struggle learning guitar after being a bass player is my fingers are pretty fat and I'm having trouble angling my fingers right so I only touch one string.

[@albertarason4502]

Playing a solo that is from another instrument helped me a lot to see different approaches of soloing. I'm a bassist and have picked up violin, piano and saxophone solos. I HIGHLY recommend doing it if you are studying music and especially picking up bass solos if you are a guitarist because it's such a different approach.

[@SquizbarDeAlienOfficial]

I could not agree with this video more!! As a guitarist of almost 20 years I picked up the bass four years ago and it made me a better guitarist.

[@DanielVerberne]

You're a very likeable guy, Rudy. I'd love to see more of your actual playing, 'cos you're good man. And of course as all of us as fans know, you've got a good sense of fun and self awareness about yourself as a musician but also about this big guitarist community. What I'd give to run in to folk like you at my local guitar shop or something - I'd love to hear anecdotes about your time learning and playing as a guitarist, shitty experiences, good experiences, first gear, worst gear, etc!

[@michaelgmcauliffe]

Fantastic job!!! i started playing guitar in 1975 at age 14 !! I started playing bass in 1983 still play both fluently like you do but bass is my main gig!! I hope when you are my age 63 that you still will be playing!! At this age i still play at least one hour per day!!!!!!!!!

[@Lymanity]

I bought a few instruments during the pandemic and I have to say it definitely helped me get over my plateau on guitar. I learned a bit of bass, clawhammer banjo, cello, various sized recorders and frame drum.

[@bolillo5013]

I recently bought a bass guitar and I’m loving it. I play guitar (obviously) and upright bass, so it’s a cool blend of those worlds.

[@MrNEWDY]

Drums was my first instrument followed by guitar. I played drums in a band and the bass player left so I took up the bass because its tiring being locked to drums when I had well over a decade into guitar at that point. It really does change your perspective and how you approach. We did a 40 song set of covers and it spanned 70s to 2000s all across rock and metal and so many styles i learned a lot fast and really love to play bass now.

[@ceilingunlimited-cp5kq]

Bass is badass! Jeff Berlin,Geddy Lee,Chris Squire etc ALL great bass players showed how musically diverse the bass can really be. A great bass riff IMO can be more dynamic than the guitar. I love both instruments! BTW I’m a 43 year veteran Violin player 😊

[@scootypuffjr.]

Claypool

[@ceilingunlimited-cp5kq]

@@scootypuffjr. Les is another awesome player to!

[@SonsOfDeForest]

cliff burton played the best metal guitar solo ever. on bass

[@gerardlelandais301]

I've been learning bass for almost two years, but the first thing i bought was a small classical guitar. I learned really easy songs and learning chords actually helped me a lot. I realise now that i have developped some degree of harmony, which is kinda hard to develop on your own with bass since you don't really ever play chord ( Unless you study them ofc ), after that i got a small LPK25 from Akai, again this helped me "see" the intervals more clearly and develop my ear, now i'm taking drum lesson also because i feel that rythm IS everything.. It is always inspiring to explore another instrument even with 0 knowledge in it because with experience you always find a way to "grab" something that you wouldn't have thought about.

[@mmmHardstyle]

Definitely. I used to be a guitarist, then I went to drums, then bass because it was a happy medium. Now going back to guitar, I feel like a whole new player because I'm emphasizing different parts of my playing that I never did before.

[@meierboy97]

your fingerstyle skills are champ bro

[@wrexocane]

Still haven't seen the video, but as a guitarist who played bass in a couple of bands I can say I learned a lot. Bass is more of a foundation instrument, and it teaches you how to serve a song instead of doing whatever you think is cool

[@IamZeus1100]

This is actually great advice ! Learning instruments has helped me immensely, like piano , bass etc . Recently I’ve been taking a crack at some paganini on guitar so learning violin style soloing has been very interesting and completely different from anything I’ve played on guitar .. also hard as balls since a guitar fret board is much larger than a violin and he jumps around all over the whole neck a lot

[@vladv5126]

Here's a bonus reason why every guitarist should learn bass: every band needs at least one person who can actually play bass.

[@godfreybruce9502]

Hey bro, i agree whole heartedly... there are gems you learn playing other instruments and it forces you to think outside the box... 10/10 Rudy

[@arnabbanik6403]

I also play a bit of Indian flute. I try to play western musical ideas with the flute and it's really fun. Trying out pentatonic runs, licks on the flute is exciting. Soloing over western backing tracks with flute 😄

[@JACKSONPRYORBENNETT]

I forgot I was watching this on 2x speed for a second and thought "dang Rudy plays bass once a year and he's that fast? I gotta practice"

[@maurizioviera]

Agree 100%. Guitar is my main instrument but nowadays I decided to play bass on a rock band and I`m learning a lot while having fun; a new instrument gives you a new perspective about the same music. I´m still practicing my guitar.

[@mattisixx1699]

I've never tried to pick up the bass, but what helped me discover how to be a more interesting guitar player, was listening to other types of music. I got inspired to do that by a Marty friedman video(his Japanese stuff, not megadeth stuff) and it kind of opened me up to phrasing things differently and using different ways to strike a note. Started listening to Japanese music and flamenco music to see what I could steal from it. Took Marty's weird finger flicking technique and microtonal bends, incorporated a little bit of Japanese vocal lines, learned how to do rasgueados until I could do it with a pick in my hand, and also took polyphias approach to popping strings like a bass player would. Combining all these together has helped me stand out a bit more in a room of guitarists. I'm no master at the instrument by any means, but at least I sound different and as I've gotten older, that means more to me than being able to shred a million miles an hour(which was my original approach to playing). Taking things from other instruments and other genres is a better way to become a better player as opposed to shredding because anyone can shred

[@TheWhippingPost]

I learned so much music theory from learning the piano. I think every musician should play piano, it's the clearest representation of notes and it has a huge amount of resources. I'm also learning to juggle, because in my heart I'm a clown

[@duncandonuts5268]

i always tell bass players the same thing for guitar. going from bass to guitar was weird as shit, but there's so many licks on guitar that can be applied to bass

[@elusive_mg]

u know , do u know why i like to watch your stuff? because it is funny and because you just do whateva u want, keep them coming RUBY!

[@sunjamrblues]

Totally true. I've been playing guitar for 10 years, then last year I decided to learn to play a bass also. The result: My guitar skills ramped up significantly.

[@kaydgaming]

Pov: you’ve been playing guitar for a while now, and you’re now a bit cocky and proud of calling yourself a guitarist. You really want to join a band, but the only available spot is for a bassist. You jam with them on a bass guitar and intuitively mix in the elements you’ve learned on guitar, but found out how significant groove and rhythm truly is to good bass playing. You’re now a self proclaimed bassist, and you can’t listen to a person shredding on guitar ever again, because you now think that bass is the sole factor in making guitars sound decent.

[@leschpountz3614]

Well done, Rundus. That's a great video unless you watch it

[@thegamingillustrator]

yesterday I made the first choice in my life where I didn't sacrifice a hobby or passion for the convenience of my family, and bought both a bass and guitar. (both arriving between the 6th and the 10th since this comment.) I love drawing, but stopped doing it because my family wanted me to focus on earning money. I loved learning to play different instruments, but stopped when I broke the guitar I used to practice on and my family refused to let me use my own money to fix it. well, after a sudden drop in my mental state after being repeatedly fired no matter how much of myself I put into the job to do them right, my family kept bugging me that I need to do something that gets me to stop being depressed and to find a hobby or join a gym, so I used it as a reason to finally try my hobbies again. To attempt to re-enjoy doing what I love, starting with learning instruments again. hence, until my bass and guitar arrive, I've been binging videos like this one.

[@KirillTitov]

- You can't go anywhere. (cat goes somewhere anyway)

[@zeldamage001]

Turns out that the cat, if fact, could go anywhere. What a twist!

[@jbasti227]

I’ve been a solely a guitarist for the past 10 or so years. It wasn’t until a few months ago I decided to pick up bass because of a developing interest over the past few years as well as wanting to do something outside my comfort zone. My biggest takeaway for sure is, as you said, it forcing me to play and compose with a different perspective. I feel it also really helped me as a songwriter as it now gets me thinking of writing for the song as a whole and not just writing the guitar parts.

[@PeterCleff]

Great video. As a guitarist with a bassist's soul, I definitely agree. Every guitarist should pic up the bass and learn how to serve the song properly.

[@johnknight9150]

As a drummer first, and a bass player second, I would recommend that guitarists try playing a five-string bass instead of a four. Why? Well, the obvious part is bass = low and, yeah, four strings ain't enough! ;-) But the other aspect of it is that with a four-string, it's too easy for a guitarist to just play root notes from their guitar riffs and think of a bass as a special-needs cousin of the guitar. ("Failed at guitar? Try bass!" etc. etc.) But with a five-string, you are starting in a different place, with a low B -- C is the first fret. This makes it a much more symphonic instrument, and in fact, symphonic bass stuff nowadays often assumes a five-string. So instead of just navigating the world from E, it will broaden your perspective, pushing you into exploring different keys and lower registers. And especially if you're playing in something like C, the guitar may actually stop being the centre of the universe, and you might start composing guitar parts to be accompaniments rather than being the primary instrumental voice.

[@SaberToothGary]

You DO paint with words, an irregular Claude (Ho)Monet... oh, and my G string never out of tune on my REVEREND guitar. Great vid, man... salimat yadak, habbi!

[@darkmikolai]

playing bass has improved my playing in ways words cannot describe; same with drums and piano.

[@Rodrigo-xk8jg]

Very cool bro! I think maybe in the case of guitarists and bassists, they can both have a great sense of rhythm, but they deal with different frequencies, and different roles in the band, or in songwriting. Beyond that other point of view that i mention, your explanation is so great. These types of videos are just as great as the comedic ones. Genial Rudy! Un saludo desde Uruguay (Southamerica) (Between Argentina and Brazil) hehe

[@karioa2346]

crazy ive been playing guitar for 10 years but i got a bass 3 months ago and i cant put it down. I've always had solid feel for time and space so it feels natural in a way, plus it allows me to revisit things i already know on guitar and i can appreciate songs a lot better now that I don't only focus on the melodic component.

[@luukpeeters9474]

Bass kinda rekindled my guitar playing too, my 2 guitars where collecting dust for 2 years, then I met a new friend, I bought a bass, loved it and started playing again, now I also bought a ubass because it's such a fun little thing but it sounds pretty good

[@vincentm4717]

Ive that same bass but mine is a 4 string LTD 204 fretless. They are sturdy well made instruments. You sound pretty damn good as a bass player. Im sure learning that must have given you respect for the artistry of Jeff Berlin.

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

Good stuff Habibi, I've played Guitar for almost 27 years and picked up Bass about 3 years ago, it was pretty natural to go to it and it's definitely fun to make more complex lines than a typical Bass line would be. (I still use a Pick on Bass, whatever LOL)

[@miguelsimoes3010]

lol are you serious? you don't get to "Oh, it's gonna suck, i play bass once a year" and then follow it up with "bumbubumbulumbubumm"

[@Meatball996]

Personally I love learning saxophone solos on guitar because horn players are normally so much more melodic compared to guitar players

[@serrisdaylor1015]

I was expecting you to talk about guitar-player-bass, like wahoo root notes and lack of groove, but this is The Good Argument!

[@chanowild4348]

1:51 you can't go anywhere. Cat: I'll disappear then.

[@ion_force]

Starting out on bass like 10 years ago, I have had a very hard time switching to guitar. I keep trying to play it like a bass. But I have finally figured out how palm muting works.

[@TheKlaun9]

Anyone in a band with drums and bass should study both to some extent. If you don't know what they're about, how do you even write songs for that band? I just wished drummers & singers would think the same way

[@marsamune5592]

Anyone else pick up bass for a band and ended up falling in love with it?

[@cucumber1991]

i just appreciate how quickly you call your kitty onto your lap, and if you like heavier music check out the husband and wife that have a band together theyre called berried alive you might like them theyre both really good and i think you would like them

[@roshankalita9365]

Excellent playing brother.

[@henlofrens]

when I heard you play the solo on guitar I also noticed the effect of picking vs fingers. The fingers give it a whole different dynamic and percussion, something that is lost a bit in some phrases when you played it with a pick on guitar. It's really hard to characterize it though. Maybe they can be extremely subtle ghost notes or stops that you just cannot do with a pick properly? Maybe it's just the 'meat' of the finger?

[@NightSide139]

Love the advice, but you lost me when your cat spoke up. I love it when a cat actually acknowledges you that vocally, and think it speaks volumes about your character as a pet owner. Keep up the good work, the good tunes, and the hilarious videos! You're incredible ^_^

[@MCGZ_]

"i paint with words" killed me dude. good job hahaha

[@paranoid_5432]

I didn't pay attention to all that stuff you said but these bass solos would sound sick on guitar.

[@avidvacher1356]

I needed this as a reminder to practice, thanks rumdy great video...

[@clareashton5027]

I've been playing 50 years and I'm not self absorbed, having said which the bass guitar is an interesting learning experience

[@nicky_bee]

This is the first Rudy video I watch where he actually plays an instrument

[@silvertear87]

I like transcribing video game music(hello Street fighter 2) and it's a totally different feel and approach to what I normally play. I would love to learn bass. Geezer Butler's vibe is everything

[@alialrassam57]

ان شاء الله عن قريب اتعلم العزف قناتك حلوة استمررر❤

[@WilDBeestMF]

I know that you are mostly making a joke with 80-90% of your content, but you make a bunch of good points here, brother. Guitarists SHOULD play some bass - if only because it's fun. Bassists should play some guitar - if only because it's fun. Drums too, if you can do it because imo THAT is a hard instrument haha but probably the most fun. I am currently in a new band where we plan to swap instruments in our set, so I better get better at guitar and drums pretty dang quick! Great video, and also, great bass playing!

[@tfbytslols8426]

that mrrrp at 0:34 was crisp

[@linojvni2038]

i just bought a bass and it came today wtf

[@Roberto-nn6kb]

Wow, didn expect you here

[@TOCS94]

Charlie Hunter puts it all together. He comps like a bass player, drummer and guitarist at the same time without it being gimmicky sonorities.

[@petealba707]

Ok, I'll finally learn that glockenspiel lick I've always wanted to learn on guitar. 😂 All joking aside, fantastic video. I remember transcribing Wayne Shorter's solo in Adam's Apple years ago and thinking "you can do that !?" Hell yeah you can.

[@ozon672games]

nice simracing rig btw

[@zip.6666]

This reminds me of when our viola player had to learn metallica solos in band class because none of the guitarists could play them

[@Sanjeet_1810]

nice bass chops Ruby.

[@MananSingh]

You paint with words.

[@scootypuffjr.]

You hear a guitar, you FEEL the bass

[@virdesire]

i'm impressed Rudy mate

[@DonHaka]

Ugh Jeff Berlin is so awesome, I first found him through his work with japanese fusion guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. Kazumi recorded 2 albums with Jeff Berlin on bass and Bill Bruford on drums. The albums are called 'The Spice Of Life' and 'The Spice Of Life Too', I highly recommend checking them out for some crazy jazzfusion! Cheers, Free Palestine!

[@VoidMaker407]

Yo sick vid, i have that same LTD bass in black and the 4 string varient as well

[@Wind-nj5xz]

8:14 That look of utter regret for a split second 💀

[@peterharrell7305]

I had that exact wood grain ltd 5 string years ago. Man that was a pretty thing.

[@joshcline8764]

I love when music is so awesome it makes me laugh. This was one of those times. Thank you.

[@ganjjabarsmedium2347]

That’s some serious lead bass 🙌

[@msolano00]

I was expecting a trolling video, instead we got some real advice hehehe. Good video.

[@thegamergod7076]

Finally you added the 5th string on your bass!

[@Minunmaani]

I have never learned so much about music than I have after I got base, sire bass. The other instrument that teaches a lot is accordion, for real.

[@aidanblackmusic]

The lick you play at 6:59 sounds like a part that tosin plays in Red Miso by AAL

[@TresharkZ]

awesome vid 7ayeteh

[@carlosoliver1887]

Nice bass picados!!!!

[@lieutenantkleeia]

The reason I play bass is simple: I suck at the guitar.

[@jsamson-s6v]

Interesting idea. Makes me think about buying a bass for that different perspective..

[@Grease-Goblin]

I'll watch your mountain biking channel as often as I watch Jayztwocents' car channel.

[@nathanricetalks]

As a songwriter here. I want to note that my songs always sound better if i focus on bass and fill the guitars in later rather than writing a guitar riff and then add a bassline. btw, didn't know you mtb, i do too!

[@TheKlaun9]

Do you allow your bass player then to change your idea or do you expect a perfect copy? I often start with bass and drums as well, but I could never fully compensate for the years of experience on that instrument

[@nathanricetalks]

@@TheKlaun9 I am the bass player. I don't have a band i do everything myself

[@TheKlaun9]

Just out of interest: why without a band? Saving money, no interest in playing live, electronic music, convenience, just never considered it? Pro or hobby?

[@robertnagy3942]

8:32 Hustler's University

[@richmend1838]

badass looking bass

[@SeaBassist32]

Thanks for giving my primary instrument some credit as a guitar player instead of shitting on it

[@Fender420]

Thank You Habibi

[@blopartDGRI]

Lol, to me that still sounded like a guitarist solo on bass 😅 Well actually, from the 1st second of it I recognized Bach so I knew it would be something different. And the guy who solo'd over it obviously got influences not only from rock bass, but jazz guitar, harpsichord, some kind of violin, and even probably baroque recorder if you stretch it. Doesn't mean you have to play them all. But that's simply what Bach was used to listening to 🤷‍♀️ (Apart from jazz guitar. Still, who knows. Bach's harmony is pretty jazzy :P)

[@redachraibi5993]

Learning a solo on the bass doesn’t really make you think like a bassist. It doesn’t teach you the principles of it like being the foundation for a song, supporting the band, locking in with the drums etc. I played only bass for 3 years and my guitar playing really benefited from it

[@kingjbone1]

OOOH! Do it on accordian next!

[@fyv551]

1:04 - it's just called Ski Jumping ;)