Why Guitarists Should Also Play the Bass (Part 2 of 2)

Suzi Quatro on bass

People tend not to think of the bass as a melodic instrument, this is a mistake in my opinion. I believe that's because they haven't listened intently enough to great players like Geddy Lee or Chris Squire. Having experience as a guitar player can make your bass playing more melodic. (the bass master Jaco Pastorius said, as a bass player, you should learn the melody to every song you play).

Another overlooked aspect of the bass is it's ability to play chords (which, with the right voicings can be quite powerful) and even be a beautiful solo instrument. It's a great physical and mental challenge as a guitar player, to negotiate building chords and even harder to come up with solo arrangements with a bass and melody and if you're up for it, maybe even some additional inner voices.

The combination of the basses bigger frets and thicker strings will increase finger and hand strength and stretching capacity plus the two fewer strings on the bass will force you to problem solve in terms of chord voicings, inversions and note placements all of which will improve your guitar playing as well.

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