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Writer's pictureMaisie Loh

7 Reasons Why You Should Learn A Bass Guitar



In any band people always paid attention to the lead singer, lead guitarist or the drummer. These band members make obvious sounds which you can define in their music. What about the bass guitarist? Well, he is usually the guy standing at the back of the stage, the sounds from his guitar not discernable. For those who do not know how the bass sounds like, it is often seen as the least cool instrument to play. But the bass actually is instrumental to the feel and groove of the music. Here are 7 reasons why you should learn a bass guitar.


1. It’s Easy to Learn


Compared to the guitar, the bass guitar is easier to learn. The bass guitar is easier to tune as each string is the same interval apart and the instrument is an octave lower than that of a guitar. Bass guitars come in 4, 5 and 6 strings. You may choose to play along with a metronome and develop your ear.


2. More Opportunity to Play In A Band


How many lead guitarists do you know? Or how many people have you heard who wants to play the lead guitar or the drum? How many would like to pick up the bass guitar?


There are less people who are interested to learn to play the bass guitar but yet the bass guitarist is a key member of the band. This means that as a bass guitarist you would have more opportunities to join a band compared to a lead guitarist or a drummer.


3. Playing The Bass Makes You Better At Music


The bassist has a direct impact on the emotion of the music in terms of groove. Bassists dictate the rhythm and harmonic direction and influence how the song feels, not only how it sounds. As the bass player has the choice to trigger any one of the chords at any time, s/he lays the tonal foundation for how music flows.


If you devote your time to learn how the bass functions in any musical tapestry, you will start to have an understanding on how to craft music arrangements. This will support your knowledge in composing, mixing and even producing music.


4. You Learn To Tame Your Ego


There are not many lead guitarists who can make a good bass guitar player because they approach the instrument as if it were the star of the show. Lead guitars tend to turn up the amps and risk outshining the lead singer. The bass player however, has little space to upstage any instrument in the band because of how loud and formidable the bass can be. The priority of bass guitarists is to improve the whole tune and blending in with the rest so the music stands out. Playing the bass thus helps you put the music before yourself and improves you as a musician as your ego takes a backseat. It helps you avoid the pitfalls ascribed to guitarists.


5. Improve Your Ear for Music


Since the bassist focuses on the rhythm while the guitarist on the melody, the bass player needs to listen more closely to the music. Rhythm cannot be learned like musical notes. To have a great rhythm, you will need to listen closely to the guitar parts, the drumbeat and the bass parts to be a master of rhythm.


6. Less Noisy Than Drums


The electric bass guitar allows you to plug in headphones to practice on the instrument. Unlike the drums, practicing on it will not disturb your neighbours late at night. It also will not wake your family up or cause any sound disturbance.


This means you can practice a lot more than with the drums, whether you are playing in the morning or night, it doesn’t really matter to anyone around you.


7. You Have Big Fingers


There are six strings on a guitar and they are placed close together. Playing on a four string bass guitar is easier. If you have big fingers, it is also easy to place and position your fingers on the strings of the bass guitar. However, you also need strong fingers to play the bass because you will need to hit the strings with your thumb and tap it with the tips of your fingers.


How To Get Started?


You can start learning the bass guitar with a friend, with a group or by taking private lessons. To find out whether the bass guitar is the right instrument for you, you can also sign up for a trial music lesson at Ritmo Music Studio in Singapore. Check out our music programs here.







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