I’m hoping I’m not alone here as a guitarist who just started this program. Naturally, when I first picked up the bass, I was playing it like it was a guitar. I loved the feel of the bass, but I knew something was missing.
Well, now that I’m taking this course, not only am I learning proper form on bass, but I’m also unlearning a few bad habits I still have when playing guitar (for those wondering, I started playing in the late 90s, stopped, and just started taking lessons again 6 months ago). For example,. yesterday when I was doing my warmup routine on guitar (playing chromatic notes up and down the neck on each string) I noticed my thumb getting sore. And I realized that happens to me often when doing my warmups and extended solos. Then I thought back to what Josh said about relaxing the hand and letting the thumb hang back. So I changed my grip and found a more relaxed position that still allowed me to apply the requisite pressure on the strings. It worked, no more sore thumb.
The other thing which I’ve picked up from talking to bassists and I’m realizing now is what a different state of mind bass is to guitar. Bass really is (in many cases) the glue that holds the band together. As such, it’s much more important to know what the rest of the band is doing. I find that having played guitar, I kind of have an insight on that end. Though I’m not a drummer, it’s not too hard for me to figure out where to insert my notes. I know some bassists like Phil Lesh loved to create synergetic rhythms with the two drummers in his band; he could be tight, but also knew how to open up the rhythm section to crazy territory. But I’m not there yet (and Phil is mostly self-taught…)
