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Question: Which is more useful in song-writing, guitar or bass?

(Posted by: thedood52 on 2010-02-17 02:45:53)

I am NOT writing pop, so don't just say "write simple chords and focus on the lyrics, let the bass player just follow with the root notes " because that will piss me off. I'm writing progressive rock, and every instrument is playing a melody of some sort, including bass. I've so far been writing the guitar chords with an acoustic guitar, then composing a drum beat, then letting the bass do whatever, but I'm wondering if its worth selling my acoustic guitar and a few other valuable things to buy a bass and an amp or if that's a waste of time. For an example of the kind of thing I'm trying to compose, listen to the album "Octahedron " by The Mars Volta. On some songs, it sounds like the bass was composed first, doesn't it? So should I be paying more attention to composing the bass part? Please help i understand that progress is change but you seem to misunderstand my question. i didnt ask "which is more common " i asked "which is more useful. "

Posted by: Un-Chien-Andalou on 2010-02-21, 07:09:44

You can write both guitar parts and bass parts on an acoustic guitar in whichever order you wish. The 4 lower-pitched strings are the same.

Posted by: REVEREND on 2010-02-17, 02:57:08

You're writing "progressive rock, " right? pro⋅gres⋅sive  –adjective 1. favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, esp. in political matters: a progressive mayor. 2. making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods, etc.: a progressive community. think about that for a second... now think about the question you just asked.

Posted by: Wowomg on 2010-02-18, 20:16:02

Guitar is. It helps to be able to hear the full chords. A bass part can be written after the guitar part and play notes within the same scale as the guitar if you don't want to follow the root exactly with it and give it a bit more texture.