# What guitarists want bassists to do and what bassists want guitarists to do.



## All_¥our_Bass (May 14, 2006)

Basically this a chance to see what differences in opinion between all the bassists and guitarists here, and yes I know this is a predominantly guitar forum. These are all to be taken in a band situation.

Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
Question 3: What does bassist want guitarist to do?
Question 4: What does guitarist want bassist to do?
Question 5: Who's stepping on who toes? (sonic/frequency space,solo/fills etc.)
Question 6: Are either or both people being unreasonable?

So post all your Arguements involving these problems.
Also post Compromises and FAIR Solutions to these problems.


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## Samer (May 14, 2006)

They way i write music, i notate everything, so i write all the bass lines for the bass player. All the guitar and keyboard and drums. 

If i was in a band were we all created music together i would be working alot with the bass player, on how we can built harmonies together.


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## Ken (May 14, 2006)

I can only speak for myself when I say that the bassist is the ONLY person I don't have any trouble with. Here's my spin on it:

Q2: Guitarist secretly wants to be the singer, but doesn't have the balls to do it so he makes up for this by trying to do everything else.

Q7: (added for my take on this): What does guitarist want the drummer to do? Please don't ask me to play the music you have in your head, and please please PLEASE keep time and don't let me race the tempo because I'm overly excited to be on stage.

Q8: What does guitarist want singer to do? Show up on time, and for God's sake put down the mic and help us move the PA!

There's a reason why I haven't been in a band for 15 years. I am gettin the itch, though.


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## David (May 14, 2006)

My experiences may be extremely different than the rest... so I HOPE most bass players aren't like this.



Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
--So far, every bassist I've played with has wanted to keep the beat... with constant notes... and simple lines.

Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
--Shred all over the place and be the main part of the sound.

Question 3: What does bassist want guitarist to do?
--Turn down his bass and stop using a 7 string.

Question 4: What does guitarist want bassist to do?
--Play the same lines as he does, such as John Petrucci and John Myung do, in other words, I want the basses to play what I play, and vice-versa.

Question 5: Who's stepping on who toes? (sonic/frequency space,solo/fills etc.)
--7 stringers on a bass player... although I don't feel it takes away from them.

Question 6: Are either or both people being unreasonable?
--Bass players tend to either want too much influence, or not enough. Guitarists are selfish.


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## Leon (May 14, 2006)

Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
Bassist wants to get laid.

Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
Guitarist wants to get laid.

Question 3: What does bassist want guitarist to do?
Bassist wants guitarist out of the way so he can get laid.

Question 4: What does guitarist want bassist to do?
Guitarist wants bassist out of the way so he can get laid.

Question 5: Who's stepping on who toes? (sonic/frequency space,solo/fills etc.)
When the chicks with the big knockers are in the front row, HE's stepping on MY toes.

Question 6: Are either or both people being unreasonable?
When Bassist asks Guitarist if a threeway is ok, Guitarist thinks that's reasonable, as long as the third person is a second chick.


i must be missing something, because in my two band experiences, i've gotten along with the bassist pretty well. there's never been any, "dude, back off, it's my time to shine!" nonsense. sounds to me like the solution is simple: ego's must go!


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## bostjan (May 14, 2006)

I never had much of a problem with a bass player, unless he decided to just blow off learning the songs. Same as all other musicians, except singers. Singers are the toughest ones for me to deal with. I love the sound of singing, but it seems there is almost always an attitude problem involved.



Leon said:


> Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
> Bassist wants to get laid.
> 
> Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
> ...



haha!

yeah, I never knew a bassist with an oversized ego. nor a drummer with that issue ftm.


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## Cancer (May 15, 2006)

The only time I've ever had problems with bass players, is when they want to be guitarists..... 


Guitarist never seem to want to be bass players though, even the 7 string ones.


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## Shawn (May 15, 2006)

I work with my bass player by allowing alot of space for him to do what he wants to do....he does it for me all the time, I think it's fair to let him do what he wants too.....and it sounds good.


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## David (May 15, 2006)

psyphre said:


> The only time I've ever had problems with bass players, is when they want to be guitarists.....
> 
> 
> Guitarist never seem to want to be bass players though, even the 7 string ones.


I do! on some occasions...


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## shadowgenesis (May 15, 2006)

Since i usually coem up with most of my ideas by myself on guitar, I tend to write things that have strong rhythmic ideas kinda built in, so my friend the bass player basically would never write anything to my material, i'd always have to write to his... yeah...

the only band i was in for a short while ended shortly after i got my seven string. The bass player's argument? "The way you write, you don't need a bass player"

I think he's retarded.


I want to do all sorts of things on guitar and i want a bassist who will do all sorts of things on bass and as a band have peopel who can do all sorts of things on all sorts of instruments, so when one person has an idea, anyone else is able to complement that idea, instead of competing with it.


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## bostjan (May 15, 2006)

The best songs have rhythmic guitars with counter-rhythms on bass. 

Good thing, you'd be better off with someone who is on the same page.


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## distressed_romeo (May 15, 2006)

For me personally, I want the bassist to give me something I can feed off, both rhythmically and harmonically when I take a solo, and keep everything as tight as possible when it's time to play rhythm, even if that means just holding down a root note.
I like to hear the rhythm section really stretch out, as I've always been interested in the whole ensemble rather than just making one instrument the focus. The only thing bassists do that really winds me up is playing extremely uninteresting slap lines (y'know, DA-DWANG DA-DWANG DA-DWANG over and over again) and thinking it makes them virtuosos, when in fact it's just getting in everyone elses way. It's just as dumb as guitarists who think playing triplet tapping lick is a sign of godhood. I like to hear some harmony...


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## abyssalservant (May 15, 2006)

(+1)Gods, I'll second that. We seem to be developing a swarm of repetitive slap bassists around here. Actually, I had one of the better ones come cover for AYB (who started this thread) for a show and he was immediately terrified when I played him the bass part for one of our originals, Downward Spiral. Keep in mind that this has quite possibly the simplest bass part we've ever used, and the only way it varies is through jam/improv which mainly alters the dynamic feel, tempo, etc.
And it seems to be impossible to get them to improv at all. They're really good at what they do, sure, but it's very consistent and repetitive and it really does get old.

Other than that . . . in my other band, with Cetanu on ss.org (to date anyway), the guitarists write all of the music and lyrics. And the guitar-only guitarist actually does almost all of that. That's really kind of weird, and not in a good way, for someone who's used to working together with someone who's playing a different instrument.
Oh, and guitarists seem to like playing bass parts on actual recordings, which further screws over a bassist's opporunity to add something to the music. Session bassists have more creative input, I b'lieve, than the bassists in most bands.

Question 1: Depends on the bassist. I think a lot just want to be involved in the music.
Question 2: Take control of everything and show off how much better he is than everyone else.
Question 3: Frequently, sadly, they'd feel it an improvement if they could just hear themselves.
Question 4: Make the guitarist sound better.
Question 5: Guitarist on bassist, in all of the above.
Question 6: The guitarists usually seem unreasonable to me.


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## noodles (May 15, 2006)

Other than one guy, I've never really had a problem musically with any bassist I've played with. Personally? Almost every damn one of them (excepting my current band).


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## Rick (May 15, 2006)

My bassist and I work pretty well together. We've both put egos aside(don't really have one to begin with) and have just focused on making the material as melodic and open as possible.


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## Drew (May 15, 2006)

Well, it's been a while since I've been in a band, so I can't say TOO much, but I'll offer up a few random observations- 

1.) typically, I'd rather find a guitar part that compliments the bass part or vice versa than simply double each other. That said, as long as the bassist doesn't sound like shit, I'll let it go. 

2.) The only time I've ever had a problem with a bassist? I once played in a band with a very "vintage" minded bassist. If they didn't do it in 1968, he didn't want to do it. So, he played a 4 string, wouldn't consider playing a 5 nor did he want to tune down to B, and ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT USE THE BUILT-IN COMPRESSOR ON HIS AMP. So, he'd be playing, and he'd be a little too quiet, and all of a sudden he'd dig in for a fill and suddenly we'd be all bass and not much else. It fuckin' pissed me off, a compressor would have evened out his bass sound, kept him consistantly punchier and louder, and kept him from overpowering everyone else when he played fills, but since they didn't have amps with compressors in the 60's, he wouldn't do it. Of course, the fact that even back then they compressed bass at the board made no difference to him...


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## Desecrated (May 15, 2006)

Question 3: What does me as a bassist wants me as a guitarist to do?

Play a rhythmic pattern.
Leave the melody to the violins/piano. 
Leave some space so that I can play something else then you.

Question 4: What does me as a guitarist wants me as a bassist to do?

Fill up the rhythm by playing something else then what the guitar is playing but still in the same time signature. 
Or play another time signature so that the song becomes polymetric.


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## angryman (May 15, 2006)

I can't say that i've really had any problems with the Bassist's i've been in bands with & it's the same with our current Bassist, all ego's are pushed aside (they're pretty non existant anyway) & it's all down to whats best for the song. 
As for who's stepping on who's toes? thats never been an issue either all of our tone's have been tweaked to work together to become one massive wall of sound, you cant tell where the guitars end & the bass begins.


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## Digital Black (May 15, 2006)

Since usually the bassist and drummer lock in when playing a song; I usually work closely with the bassist so that what i play locks in with everybody..


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## Oogadee Boogadee (May 15, 2006)

what musical genre are we talking about here?

for my opinion on metal...
Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
be noticed by both tone and some occasional lines independent of the guitar
Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
play crushing riffs
Question 3: What does bassist want guitarist to do?
let him achieve what he wants in question 1.
Question 4: What does guitarist want bassist to do?
be happy, achieve what he wants in question one, but do not take anything away from teh crushing riff AT ALL.
Question 5: Who's stepping on who toes? (sonic/frequency space,solo/fills etc.)
Depends on the song part and objective. It's always case by case.
Question 6: Are either or both people being unreasonable?
Not with my answers. 

Necrophagist have plenty of moments that I feel fit within my answers. The riffing is off the wall, but the bassist has a nice seperated tone, and the guitarists let him bust out with some runs and fills. 

then they usually follow that right up with long blistering solos that scream "that's my spotlight beyotch".

As a drummer, i want all of those questions fulfilled, and it's my intention to help create the guitarists' crushing riffs by either playing right under them with direct support, or accompanying it with a complimentary part, not a leeching one. Creativity helps, but too much of it takes away from the riff (thus leeching). The bassist can follow my rhythms, and I can try to accent his/her fills with my fills. The rhythm is all i care about. 

It's hard for me to like overly tech death stuff b/c i favor unbreaking rhythms. That's probably my top requirement in a song that I can like.


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## angryman (May 15, 2006)

Leon said:


> Question 1: What does bassist want to do?
> Bassist wants to get laid.
> 
> Question 2: What does guitarist want to do?
> ...


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## Popsyche (May 15, 2006)

In a band that plays such a diverse spectrum stuff, I tend to follow the bassist as he tries to conduct affairs. 

Question 3: What does bassist want guitarist to do?
Shut up and get him a beer.

Question 4: What does guitarist want bassist to do?
Shut up and get me a beer. 

Airwyck the bassist and I have no trouble fitting in together no matter what style we are attempting.

In the band I played bass in for 10 years, the guitarist was a chopmeister and very talented at fitting in to the complexity of having 10 musicians on stage at once(and none of them horns!) http://www.realtrapdoor.com/


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## Splinterhead (May 16, 2006)

I play both in a band situations so here's my schizo view.

Bassist wants:
The guitarist to fucking give him a little room to form a cool groove. Music should breathe, not be cluttered with 32nd notes. 
Not be support all the time.
Have a distinct role in the band and be an integral part of the music.

Guitarist wants:
Bassist should provide bone shaking power thus legitmizing the guitarists riffs.
Dude take a solo and step up it's kinda fun!
Write memorable melodic parts to help compliment the tune. 
Establish your role make sure that people know that you're not a guitar player with fat strings.


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