Categories: uncategorized
Date: 19 September 2005 12:02:29
...evening I have an "intermediate" guitar lesson at a local college. I signed up mainly because it was a lot, lot, lot cheaper doing it in a group through college than finding a guitar tutor. Been messing around with guitars for about 8 years now. To be honest I found bass guitar far easier. Why? Well, yes you are mainly only playing one note at a time on bass but sometimes you have to play lots of (different) notes in a short space of time, which can be tricky, unless you play bass in Coldplay, in which case 3 notes per song is more than enough. Some people do this on guitar, these are known as "lead guitarists", they play solos, if sonic justice were to prevail they would be smitten from the face of the earth for their perm-haired crimes. On guitar you are playing up to 6 notes at the same time, that's easy, even I can play those big chords fluently(ish). It's quite common to keep playing those same 6(-) notes for 1, 2, 4 or more bars, or if you're in a band likeSpiritualized, minutes. I've come to the conclusion that my (comparatively) rapid bass progress is to do with patterns. That's right, patterns, I've always been into patterns since I was a kid. Everyone else would be drawing houses, trees and cars, I'd be playing with a spirograph, or making multiple dissections of a circle with a compass. I guess it's the reason I'm fascinated by Cellular Automata and am getting into Network Theory, especially as it applies to social networks. So, what's this got to do with my 6-string struggles? A 6-string guitar is mathematically totally incorrect. It's just an error. E to A = perfect 4th. A to D = perfect 4th. D to G = perfect 4th. Then just as the pattern is emerging - G to B = Major 3rd!!!!!! Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Then B to E = perfect 4th as if nothing has happenend, ignoring the previous disaster. Bass guitar on the other hand (not literally) is mathematically perfect, elegant, simple, inspired. Even a 5 or 6-string bass. B to E = perfect 4th. E to A = perfect 4th. A to D = perfect 4th. D to G = perfect 4th. G to C = perfect 4th. Much more satisfying. Thus I've come come to the provisional conclusion that bass players are rational, mathematical, ordered, scientific, process and reason led with a concern for the relationship between things (John Entwhistle) and guitar players are either chaotic, artistic, random, emotion and results led (Jimi Hendrix) or rational, mathematical, ordered, scientific, reason and process led but who have the cognitive and physical dexterity to subtract 1 semitone every time that B string comes into view (The Edge, Brian May). Possibly.