Hey everyone.
Just a quick question:
I was noodling last night and took the “Do I Wanna Know” riff from guitar to play it on bass for my own fun and pleasure.
So after I got the rhythm down on 1st fret (all the tabs I found started with F), I moved to 13th fret so it was higher and closer to guitar. I used the same strings, E - A - D and it didn’t sound bad at all.
I then saw a story on Instagram with a bassist doing the same riff but I think starting on A string around 8th fret?
I’m a bit baffled as how I can make this work better, so was I wrong?
I’d like to do the same with other riffs just for practice and funsies but I don’t won’t to learn the procedure wrongly.
Thank youuu 
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I like to play the guitar riff for Dammit by Blink 182 on my bass. It’s fun to use distortion with the bass turned down too.
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Well the 8th fret A = 13th fret E, so they’re identical just one string higher and you’re staying in the middle of the neck which I always find a bit more comfortable.
So I guess you just want to go to where you feel most comfortable. When I’m learning a piece from tab I often moved notes from one string to another if I find that makes it easier for me. Of course A8 and E13 aren’t identical as they will have different harmonics.
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Ohh I can see an open string there whereas my tab is a bit different so that’s why it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
It goes from E6 to A535 and E6 again.
I will study this one and see if I can pull it off easier and play it on the higher octaves.
It’s a very cool riff very satisfying to play. Had been on hiatus lately from my baby and one morning I started murmuring the melody and then the idea came on my mind. To be honest, the placement of the guitar pitch on the bass is vague to me, so it’s trial and error I think. Thank you for taking the time for this, I appreciate it deeply!
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Of course the harmonics will be different and sometimes that’s the spice!
So when you try things around you take the riff pattern and just move it as is, or you change little things on the way like one string up or down etc?
I think one string up (up in pitch) around 8 to 10th fret would sound like a more bassy guitar
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Yes, the pattern (distance between the individual notes) is more important than the notes themselves.
Being able to move that pattern around is how musicians compensate for singers with different ranges.
So, keep the pattern and just move it to wherever you think it sounds good.
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I truly love this on bass!
It’s almost magical!
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Guitar and bass are exactly the same, except Guitar is an octave higher, and has one string tuned to a third from the string below it instead of a fourth.