LESSONS: Bass Guitar

For new students, a significant advantage of studying bass guitar is the relatively fast learning curve. For beginners, the bass guitar is easier to play than the six-string guitar, because the greater distance between strings, along with the greater distance between the frets, make the instrument ergonomically easier to play. Moreover, the bass guitar lines in much of popular/rock/blues music tend to be simpler than those for guitar. This affords students the ability to develop more quickly, in terms of preparing to play in ensembles with other musicians.

Another benefit is that there are about ten guitarists out there for every bassist (I’m fabricating that number, but it’s about right), making it much easier to find opportunities to play with others as a bassist than it is for guitarist. A famous example of this is the Beatles. Paul McCartney was the third guitarist in the Beatles until their original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, left the band. Following Sutcliffe’s departure, they were lacking a bassist. After a short time performing with just three guitarists, Paul McCartney and George Harrison shared bass duties, until Paul eventually volunteered to take the bass role full time.

The skills developed studying the bass apply in many ways to the guitar - and vice versa, as with Paul McCartney - making the bass an excellent first instrument to learn, in addition being an excellent instrument to pursue mastery of in the long run.