Would It Be Easier to Switch to Lead Guitar from Bass?
This week’s question is as follows:
Question: I just started playing bass about 2 weeks ago and know some easy songs but after a year or two on bass i want to move over to lead would it be easier i want to make the kind of music similar to the style of Radiohead,Coldplay,The White Stripes, and Jeff Buckley
Answer: I am a lead guitarist and the bass player in my praise band can’t play guitar learn how to play bass and then when you have a good foundation learn guitar it would be an easier transition but you will have to practice and learn some new stuff new techniques
My bass player and I have been playing music in the same band together for 13 years. He’s a great keyboardist and he also plays the saxophone. So he’s no slouch of a musician. But…he couldn’t play a guitar solo (that anyone wanted to hear at least) to save his life. So my advice is to play great bass or start learning the guitar now. Plus the bass is played differently than the guitar. You can do both, but if your concentration has been on the bass it will make the "lead" guitar seem alien.
Would it be easier than what? Easier than playing bass? No. Both are difficult to play. Guitar has more chords involved, and more strings, and is a little more complicated in terms of playing it, but as a bass player, you still need to learn those chords and the theory behind it so you can communicate with guitar players…. and by learning what they need to know, it makes it just as difficult to learn. To play, it is generally easier, since you’re not going to play complex solo’s very often, or have a need to play complex chords very often.
Bass = easier to play
Bass =/= easier to learn