Should I learn the bass?

MapexDrums said:

Hey guys it's been a while and sorry for bothering but erm.. It's about the bass.
I've been starting it and training technique and stuff on it but I also need to focus on drums right?. Anyways, I have a really rough schedule with school with so much.. much.. Homework and tests and it's really hard to keep up practicing bass that I am gonna get but currently on classic guitar and I need to also practice drums. It's really hard to keep up with all this stuff that I need to do and there are some days that I can barely get to practice anything.
What should I do? This has already effected the time limit that I train, In vacations and holidays it's 4-6 hours a day and now it's barely 20-30 minutes a day :/.

This is really hard, What do you think I should do with my schedule? school is very important and I need to somehow keep up with everything..
Thanks for the help

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Here's a little bit of advice for you.

It helps to be patient. Nobody is telling you that you need to be great at all your instruments tomorrow. Sometimes, if all we can do is ten minutes of practice a day on an instrument then you might really focus that practice. The amount of time isn't important, it's how good your practice is. On top of that, stop pressurising yourself! It seems like you're really worried about everything - well, truth is that at this point in your life, you're not having to worry about supporting a family with your playing and it's something you're doing 'for fun'. Well have fun with it!

Incidentally, I play bass and guitar as well as the drums. I don't think about 'scheduling', I just pick up which ever instrument I feel with at that time.

I played bass for several years before I picked up the drums. I wasn't ever that great at it, but decent enough. After picking up the drums, I stopped playing bass for about sixteen years and then about 5 years ago picked it back up.

Just do it. If nothing else, you'll have a foot into chord theory and the other building blocks of a song besides rhythm, and you might actually get into a situation where you're on bass in one band and drums in another. Just don't expect to master it instantly, because you won't ... any more than you were a master at drums right away.

BacteriumFendYoke said:

Here's a little bit of advice for you.

It helps to be patient. Nobody is telling you that you need to be great at all your instruments tomorrow. Sometimes, if all we can do is ten minutes of practice a day on an instrument then you might really focus that practice. The amount of time isn't important, it's how good your practice is. On top of that, stop pressurising yourself! It seems like you're really worried about everything - well, truth is that at this point in your life, you're not having to worry about supporting a family with your playing and it's something you're doing 'for fun'. Well have fun with it!

Incidentally, I play bass and guitar as well as the drums. I don't think about 'scheduling', I just pick up which ever instrument I feel with at that time.

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+1. Have fun. Be patient. That's pretty much it right there. I've been drumming for most of my life and have goofed around with guitar and bass off and on over the years but lately I've been playing bass more than drums. It's such a fun instrument and so related to drums. I'm also on the steep part of the learning curve so there's always this big feeling of satisfaction whenever I'm newly "getting" something, which for me at this stage is very often.

My ability to communicate musical ideas is rapidly growing and becoming a very useful tool with the band. Now the guitar player is becoming more interested in learning drums, which I'm all too eager to help him out with. How awesome would it be for us to competently play each others intruments?

When it comes to playing instruments that are not your primary, I say the more the merrier!

As for scheduling, just do what you can and above all else, keep it FUN, or you'll be less inclined to spend more time with it when your schedule frees up.

Man, a bass and a loop pedal...I love it!!! You can get a nice solid groove, loop it, and let your imagination run. Jam a little bass solo, or put it down, get on the drum stool, and let the loop be your guide.

I wish you the best...music is life-changing; it's pure magic.

cool thanks guy's, i really appreciate your input, just wish i had not waited until my 49th year to start on this journey........

Playing the bass is great fun, that's for sure!
I'm a guitarist primarily (with a focus on drumming for the last 2.5 years) but kept playing a little bass just for fun/in case and to arrange bass parts for my orig. music (most of which is written but not recorded yet). I have 2 basses - see pic - but didn't ever use them live (started performing live under a year ago, at age 39, haha) until yesterday. That was a rather small band - female singer, el. piano player, me on the bass, and a conga and trumpet player on a few songs. Besides the pure fun of just playing it will also raise your awareness of how songs work in their entirety and what/how everybody is contributing to the final result. You also get more into understanding harmonic structures - I guess this has already been mentioned in the thread, haven't read it completely.

Those basses are a 6-string by Tune (Asian manufacturer) and a Magnus Krempel (German luthier) 5-string fretless, I bought both of them used. I finished reworking that fretless (stripped the orig. finish and put some tung oil on it) just in time for yesterday's gig - used it on a couple songs only as my intonation on the fretless isn't perfect (yet).

Gah, I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread. I've had a niggling desire to play bass for a while now.

Is there some sort of "49th Year Syndrome" or something?

Not 49 but I was 19 when I started playing the bass. It's a lot of fun. I've taken to practicing it more now than I ever did (at the expense of the drums, sadly) but if you can pick it up, do. It's a lot of fun. I have two basses and sooner or later I'll post pictures.