Hello to the Bass forum. I've recently decided that I would like to play Bass, after seeing a great local band. I have been playing guitar for around 7 years and I've never really payed too much attention to Bass on albums or live but watching this bass player really inspired me. The guy recommended I listen to Atheist and I've been hooked on the sound and style of the bass since.
I plan on buying a cheap bass to start with just in case I decide it's not for me.

I don't want to sound like a guitar player playing a Bass. I have good rythm, but I don't know how to count beats or any rythmic musical terms. Is this something I should work on immediatly? I play with an amazing drummer so that should help some things.

Anyways, the whole point of this post.....where do I start?

the most important thing when it comes to playing bass is keeping good time.
your job is to bridge the rhythm section to rest of the band, so try and split your time between playing along with the drums and guitars.as far as theory, learning the proper terms for things can be very helpful (i'd say learn as much of it as you can), but is not absolutely necessary. good luck!
p.s. step one to becoming a great bassist; toss your picks, you wont need them where youre going.

well if you can play guitar, than shifting to bass is not the most difficult thing. You just gotta learn how to use your fingers.

btw is there any reason why your name is almost exactly like mine?

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Well considering he joined a year before you, if anything you'd have to be mimicking him...

Anyway, as far as playing bass goes. Knowing how to count beats and such would help you out a lot, as well as all the other theoretical bullshit on chord progressions, scales, etc. Listen to a lot of different music that has bass that you can actually hear, so you can get a good idea of how it really ties the rhythm together. I think that's one of the biggest things that kept me from playing the bass just like a guitar...

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uh... am I the only one that sees that as an oxy-moron?

anyway...yeah
a good bass to start with would be probably a fender jazz bass . some of them are a bit pricey but othes are pretty cheap
also you cant be playing a bass on a guitar amp so go pickup a 30 dollar 15 watt fender amp or something
AND DONT USE A PICK

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Er...yea I guess I worded that a little strange. I'm not really sure what I was trying to say. Anyways, thanks for the replies everyone. I've been listening to alot of Iron Maiden lately because you can hear the bass really well on their albums and it really is helping me understand how the bass fits in.

Why the hell do so many bands put the bass so low in the mix? Some albums I can't even tell if they have a bass player in the band! Very frustrating.

This finger thing is going to take ALOT of practice haha

And JesterRace, I suppose it's because we both have good taste in music.

If you have been playing guitar for seven years than you could probably play bass better than a lot of bassists anyhow

I know a lot of guitarists that can't play bass for shit! It's usually the bassist being able to play the guitar!

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yeah... the speed dont mean shit if they cant hold the strings down and buzz every goddamn fret. also bass is much hardere to move around on

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Start with some Opeth it will teach you everything you need to know