Bass Guitar -- are the chords, tuning and fingering different from normal guitar?
358786
A normally tuned four string bass (stand up or electric) has EADG strings but at a lower octave, and a five string has the upper B.  The fingerings are exactly the same as guitar and violin.\n\nMost bass players have two traits, one each from two types: \n1) chord or single note players\n2) complex or simple fingerings (eg. walking bass)\n\nThe best player often have many of the same tricks as guitarists.  The worst players are the ones who play one note to death, ie. 90% of rock and heavy metal players.  \n\nListen to the ones who combine chords with frills - Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke from jazz, and Geddy Lee and Chris Squire from rock music.  Single note walking bass is what you will hear in almost all blues and early rock and roll; it's easy to play, but it's effective and sounds good.  \n\nIf you really want to hear unique bass playing, listen to the now-deceased Mark Sandman of the defunct group Morphine.  Sandman played a *two string* bass - tuned to the same note - with *a glass slide*.
22222
Very Carefully...\nIn short it depends on what key you're going for.\nI found these at a tuning website\n8 String Fourths   F# B E A D G C F     \n8 String Standard   F# B E A D G B E     \n8 String Hunter   E A D A D G B E   \n\nIn addition to this, this page\nhttp://www.well.com/user/wellvis/tuning.html#8string\nhas a nice selection of 8 string tunings, hope it helps.
20543
yes go to drop tuning which usually youll go drop d and anything lower then that and you may want to get yourself a bass guitar.  but if you dont know how to go to drop just get a tuner and wait until your reading for the 6 string comes out as a 3d and that would be drop d tuning
856816
if he looks on the tablature it should tell him what chord to play it on i.e. drop d....anyhow, if it doesnt sound the same, he is either in the wrong chord or he doesnt have his fingers on the right fret.
627505
go to a  music store........there's lots of  books on tableture.\n\ngood luck  and never  quit playing.\n\nI  come from 22 yrs of bass guitar.\nROCK ON
909808
It acutally means an F chord with a G bass.\nThe C/G you mention is also of this form -- C chord with a G bass.  Play the normal chord, but with a different bass note.
984487
See if you can check them out in person at a Music store.  Some guitars are "brighter" sounding than others and everyone has thier own personal preference when it comes to guitar sounds.\n\nI know some places that companies cut corners is tuning keys - try to get all metal tuners.  I have seen with chromed plastic knobs that don't last very long.\n\nLooking at the features listed on the site tho, it looks to be a decent starter guitar.  But you only know what it looks like, not sounds, feel etc....\n\nGood luck and enjoy.
124441
there are a couple ways to go, I'd buy one of the beginning guitar books available at the store.  That will give you the basics.... Eadgbe.  Also, try a site like Guitar Tab Universe.  You can find songs in both Tab and Chord form.  Learn the basic G C D A chord.  Nothing difficult there.  Don't get discouraged, your fingers will be sore for a little bit, until they gain the calususes on them required to play pain free.  It may not be a bad idea find someone else that is in your area, that's in the same level as you are as far as playing, that way, you can have someone to work with.  Two heads are better than one.
576211
hey i just started playing guitar about 3 months ago and im pretty good already.  first u have to learn how to reead tabulature (tab).  go into google and type in how to read tab.  once you learn that you can go to guitartabs.cc and get tabs or i advise that u get a book :) thats wut i did:)
352528
You should play with every recording that you like, over and over and over until you have great strength and good callouses built up. Learn to 'walk' a bass line. Think of it as a percussion instrument- if you mess up don't stop playing, that will really stand out...just find the right note and keep going! Good Luck!
339470
Did you try this??\n\nhttp://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-09,GGLR:en&q=Learning+how+to+improvise+on+guitar
474996
It will "work," but if you ask anybody, you'll find that you really need a true bass amp. The biggest reason is that guitar wattage really won't cut it for a bass. Your sound will suffer, and you could blow something. Or you might just have a lame sound.
926250
You can, but if you ever want to play with a local symphany or something similar, you'll want to take at least a few lessons at the beginning to make sure you're not picking up any bad habits, posture, fingering trouble, etc that could keep you from being sucessful later.  Also, it's not as easy as it looks!  You'll want some advice on staying in tune, violin care and matinance, and where to get started musically.\n\nIf that's stand-up bass and not bass guitar, you may be ok to teach yourself, but I'd say take at least one lesson.  Local colleges and universities will have a teacher, or can recommend a grad student to help you out.
370516
You need to play the notes that coincide with the string of the same note and turn tuning peg till same note is played.  It's very hard to explain in writing about tuning and the different wave cycles that are heard between the two notes.  Best bet, purchase a guitar tuner...if it's not an acoustic, that is.  \n\nGo here for a small explanation.  \nhttp://www.guitarsite.com/tuning.htm#how\n\nthis will help if you do not know keyboard layout.\nhttp://www.doremifasoft.com/pikeystmap.html
410580
I too use a MusicMaster (1978) for some songs in a few of my regular bands. From the list of bands you mentioned (I have seen Switchfoot and Sanctus Real live), one uses a MusicMan Stingray (Switchfoot) and the other two use Fender Jazz Basses. You can get a made in Mexico Jazz bass for under $500, but make sure you try it out first (at a store) because they do not have a really uniform build quality, unlike Ameriacan made Fenders. If you think you will be playing other types of music in the future, you might want to get a more modern instrument (something with an active preamp) like a Yamaha or something similar. Make sure you try out differnt types and makes of basses until you find something that feels good to you. I know of bassists that own $5000 basses but their favorite is a $1200 fender they picked up at a pawn shop. It is all about how you feel. If the instrument helps you express your ideas and feelings, and feels and sounds like "you", go for it, even if it a cheap Squire or Rogue.
514049
hi,\n i think if you really want to play guitar; just get a book of chords. you don't have to pay alot of money. there will be dots on the strings that represent your fingers. if you read the book and follow the instructions. you should be able to play your chords. the more you practice the better you will get. to keep your interest going you might want to get a song book. something simple. c,s,n. maybe some beatles.
753030
Yes, I bust through scales and chromatics for an hour a day, I'm not even a speed player, but that is the best way to develop speed, strength, and accuracy.\n\nAlways use a metronome, and extend the patterns all over the neck. The more variety you get the more accustomed you will get to handling all different situations.\n\nEdit: Vince we are talking about soloing not improvisation, I think the question was how to build up solo skill. The blandness in music has nothing to do with scale structure, because it would be near impossible to make one not loosly based on a scale, it is musicians not expanding their knowledge of scales and the different ways to use them.\n\nAnd metallica uses the phygian scale much more than pentatonic, the pent. is freaking boring. Only 5 notes do not leave very many opportunities for meaningful improv.