I have been a Lead/Rhythm Guitarist for over 45 years. Playing as a semi-professional / weekend warrior! I originally wanted to play bass, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up playing 6 string guitar. Well, about a year ago, I purchased my very first Bass at the age of 71 and started messing around with it. I recently have been asked to join a band as their bass player. I have a fairly good ear and can pick out most things off of a recording, so I was able to pass the “audition.” My question is, since I am transferring from playing 6 string guitar which I only used a pick for, and moving into the world of Bass Playing…Which by the way I have been working on NOT Using a pick and plucking with my I/M fingers, what advice would you offer to help me progress into a better bass player? I practice using my right hand and trying to develop better control over my plucking. As a guitarist, I have no trouble with the notes on the neck. So, I guess my question would be, what sort of things should I be practicing and working on to help improve my bass playing and to not make it sound so beginner like?
Thx In Advance!
George
You might consider signing up for the Beginner to Badass course. Many guitar players have. Josh is a great teacher, and you’d quickly learn how to play bass properly.
Always hit the root on one. As long as you keep the rhythm, other things are forgivable
B2B course helps a lot too.
Nice story, so you made it back to bass after all 
I came from guitar as well, and yeah we all sound like guitarists on bass at first. A couple things helped me
- Josh’s B2BA - You will fly through the course, but Josh will give you a fresh bass-centered perspective and he’s just a super inspiring teacher.
- This Adam Neely video points out a few things that make us sound “guitary” and he has some nice suggestions for breaking out of it.
- Study basslines from your favorite artists. Analyze them using your guitar knowledge. What notes did they choose to play under chords? Where do the notes fall in relation to the drums?
Thank You!!
Already did that and have been studying the method.
Thanks for the Tip!! I seem to be able to do that fairly well, just looking for inspirational advice on what I can do to embellish some of my playing without sounding like a total beginner.
Amazing info!!! Thank you for the reply and the nuggets!! I am really enjoying this new journey on the instrument. It’s amazing how many people say, “oh, that must be so much easier than playing the guitar!” I just kinda nod and say it can be…but it’s not…lol Don’t know if they understand.
Thx Again for sharing some helpful insights!
I’ve been playing all of 6 months now, so I feel really dumb trying to give you advice but to add to what the others have said, getting your alternate plucking down so you don’t have to consciously think about it would be on my list in your place.
Listen to Josh’s videos on shapes, and then listen to the song Killing Floor. First by Howlin Wolf, then by Jimi Hendrix, and the bass line is essentially the same but they apply different shapes to it. And if you can walk a bassline you got it.
You can be my guitar teacher. I’m learning how to use the pick and I’m not a fan. I keep dropping my picks, 
so band that I have a bottle of CA glue on my practice table threatening myself to be careful. Anyways.
You’ll find that exactly like playing guitar with picks or not, it’s best to let the right hand do what it does when it’s on autopilot. The only thing you need to do is to program in the muscle memory by playing slowly.
There are a few positions you can place your hand as well as angle of plugging for different plugging tones. Don’t know what kind of situation you ave going on with your nails but for the most part bass players keep the, at least, index and middle finger nails pretty short.
Like guitars right hand also need to help out with muting and bass is pretty much all about muting because 95% of the time we are playing linear style, one note at a time. So strap yourself up and get your left thumb off the E string and get practicing.
Remember to have fun. How often you’d have a chance to relearn something you are partially really good at.
Great Video! He offers some great insights from being a former guitar player to becoming a more proficient bass player!!
Thx
The best advice I can give any guitarist converting to bass is to not over play. We aren’t being paid by the note so at least for starters stick with the “money notes” and build your bass lines around them focusing on maintaining the groove above all.
I’ve been playing bass for over 50 years and I still go back and forth between playing fingerstyle and using a pick. I believe the song itself and what you’re after tonally should dictate which style to use. The bass and string type also influence me.
Overall the goal of every bassist should be to lay down a solid foundation for the rest of the band to work around. It doesn’t have to be fancy just appropriate. I look at bass as being drums with pitch control. I’m what the crowd is dancing to.
I’m also a guitarist and how I approach this is with a different mind set for each instrument. I think and play very differently depending on which role I’m in but one key point I’ve always understood about bass is that most of the time less is more.
Hi!
What I’d recommend is to look at songs in your genre and study the song form together with the embellishments. Since you mentioned, you want to have a better feeling for when and how much to embellish stuff.
Coming from bass, I would use small stuff like a hammer on or a slide to shift chords, fills after four/eight bars to indicate that group, and possibly stay on a note/shred if the band waits for something to happen/stop (like a guitar solo, or a note the singer holds).
Hope that helps! 
Solid question, and this question would be step number one on my list. Hearing that you want your bass lines to get better.
Next up would be me stealing this one:
That is the supreme way to learn the bass. Particularly if most of the mechanics are going to be familiar from guitar. You’ll learn more from digging into a great song’s bass line than just about anything else.
Of course, the B2B course is killer, and if you’re thinking that your technique might not be dialed in, it would be the ideal way to make sure you’re addressing everything related to technique in a positive way.
But really - listen and transcribe and you’ll start to hear what great players do.
PLUS… because you’ll also have all the knowledge of what the guitars are doing at the same time, you’ll be able to really hear how the two roles are combining, complimenting, and working together.
Having another instrument under your belt will always accelerate the progress.
Heya George. Welcome to the fat strings.
Seems to me your post was really driving at converting to plucking from picking. So … do you drive much? I am practising plucking every time I am driving. My right hand is always on the gear shift, and I pluck along to whatever is on the car stereo … simple alternating quarter-note plucks to galloping three-finger Harris-style strumming to crazy flamenco with Geddy. When I actually play my Ric, the plucking sensation and coordination feels familiar and I find my fingers are well-practised to try and take on whatever the rhythm demands of me.
And yes. Do B2B. I am in Module 8 at present, but Josh starts off the course with plucking fundamentals that may be helpful.
On a side note, I am anxious about getting to ghost notes in the course because I dearly want to incorporate these into my playing but struggle to do so. However, I am optimistic that Josh will show me the way as he has not ever let me down … I have no words to describe how great it is to spend time with him in the course. I am certain I will have to endure the grieving process when I complete the last module ….
Love this statement!!!