Is Bass Fun? Survey of Over 3,000 Bassists & Guitarists

I’ve been playing mostly guitar for over 5 years, but I’ve also played bass a fair amount. I have my own opinions about whether bass guitar is fun, but I thought I’d do a survey to see what most people think when it comes to whether bass is fun. Here’s what I found.

Bass guitar is fun. A survey of 3,400 bassists and guitarists found that 94.13% of people said that playing the bass is fun. Through multiple surveys asking different questions it was found that only 10.58% that tried either bass guitar or the guitar didn’t find it fun.

Many people wonder whether bass guitar is more fun than guitar. So, below I’ll give you a very definitive answer and show the data from the surveys. 

Is Bass or Guitar More Fun?

Choosing an instrument means you’ll devote a lot of time to learning it. So, it’s important to spend a bit of time getting familiar with the pros and cons of each. 

Also, having fun with the instrument you decide to choose is ultimately one of the main reasons I or you would want to learn it.

Therefore, I did some very detailed analysis to help people thinking about getting into the guitar or bass. 

They way I did it is I performed surveys of guitarists and bassists asking a range of questions. One of which is whether the bass or guitar is more fun. Here’s a table that shows the results:

From the responses you can see that bass is more fun than guitar. Interestingly, using a bit of statistical logic it can be concluded that 94.13% of people think that the bass guitar is fun to learn and play.

This is arrived at by adding the people who voted yes with the people that said both are the same. Because by saying both guitar and bass are fun, it’s a round about way saying that bass is fun. 

To further explain whether guitar is more fun than bass I also looked at whether people think guitar is fun. In this survey I asked a general audience of musicians. Here’s a table that shows how people voted:

In this case 117 people voted. I wrote an article that covers the main reasons that guitar is fun. The reasons are quite interesting and will give you a better idea about whether you should learn guitar or bass you can read the article about whether guitar is fun by clicking that link.

Key takeaway:
It’s very likely that you will find bass guitar fun, as the vast majority of people say that bass guitar is fun. The guitar is also fun, however, most people think that bass is more fun than guitar.

At the end of the day, it’s a very individual thing whether you will find bass or guitar more fun. However, there isn’t any reason why you can’t learn both and interestingly the bass guitar and guitar are incredibly similar. And skills you develop on the guitar can also be used on the bass and vice versa.

Why you can learn both and which one you should start with

The tuning of a bass guitar and a guitar are very similar. Because they are tuned the same. The top 4 strings of the guitar are tuned as E, A, D, G. With the 2 additional strings being tuned as B, and E. 

As you might have already noticed the top string of the guitar and bottom string of the guitar are both tuned as an E. But, if you’re new to music theory you may be a bit confused because one sounds very low, whereas, the other sounds very high. 

The difference is related to the concept of frequency. Don’t worry you don’t need to know anything about this play or learn the guitar well. But, is very interesting. 

The same is true of the bass guitar. A bass guitar has 4 strings that are tuned exactly the same as the top 4 strings as a guitar – E, A, D, G. 

Because of the that the note on the top string and the first fret of the guitar is exactly the same as the top string and the first fret of a bass guitar.

If you start with guitar or bass you can easily learn the other

Due to the similarities between the fretboard of the guitar and bass guitar, if you learn one, it’s very easy to learn the other. The main difficulty you can encounter at first is the different size of the frets and strings.

The neck of a guitar is on average 10% shorter than the neck of a bass guitar. But, both instruments have a similar number of frets.

As you may know frets are the individual spaces that are set out on a guitar and are separated by a strips of metal. Because the length of a bass guitar neck is 10% large the frets are also large. This gives you more room to place your fingers.

If you’re slightly off with your fingering, it’s less likely to cause a muted note or make the fret buzz. This also changes the overall way your fingers move. Generally, as you play you develop a muscle memory in your hands and fingers. 

So when you know to play the 4th fret and go to play it, you actually end up playing closer to the 3rd fret. Because the frets are larger. 

The same is true going the other way around. If you’re used to playing the bass guitar and go to play the 3rd fret, your finger will naturally land close to the 4th fret on the guitar. Which about 5 to 10 minutes of playing around you can quickly adjust. And pick it up quite easily.

In my opinion and experience, it’s much easier to go from a guitar that is smaller to a guitar that is larger but not the other way around. With a guitar that is smaller you need to be more precised. 

Because there is less room for error. For that reason it’s easier to go from the guitar to the bass guitar. But, harder to go from the bass to the guitar. But, overall with a little bit of adjustment period you can easily pick up either depending on what instrument you start with.

Is Bass Guitar Easier Than Guitar?

Generally if something is easy it’s quite fun in the beginning because there it isn’t as frustrating in the beginning stages. 

But, it can also mean you get bored with it more quickly. Although bass guitar can be extremely complex and you won’t get bored with it, is bass guitar easier than guitar?

The bass guitar is easier than guitar. A survey of 101 musicians found that 76.2% of people voted that the bass guitar is easier than the guitar. The bass guitar has 2 less strings than a guitar. This makes it less complex to learn and play.

Here’s a table that shows the results of the poll, where asked people which is harder to learn: the bass or guitar:

The frets of a bass guitar are also wider which makes the fingering easier. The width of the fretboard is wider, but because it has less strings the strings are wider apart. This also makes it easier to learn.

For these reasons the bass guitar is easier to learn to play. But, bass guitar is much more physically demanding than the guitar. So, they require different levels of physical strength in your hands and fingers.

Over time you can easily develop the strength you need to play the bass guitar. But, in the beginning stages it can take longer to develop the strength you need to play a whole bass song from start to finish.

There are also another 5 or 6 reasons why bass guitar is easier than guitar. I explained them in detail in this article about whether the bass guitar or guitar is harder.

Are Bass Guitars Boring?

Before getting a bass guitar, it’s good to know whether you’ll think you’ll enjoy it, and a common question people thinking about starting the bass guitar is whether it’s boring. Here’s what I found.

Overall, bass guitar is not boring. Based on multiple surveys the results show that 80% to 90% of people find that bass guitar is fun. As is natural with all activities there can times where you don’t feel like playing the bass and take a break from time to time. 

But, overall the chances are very high that you will find it fun. Since such a high percentage of people report that they find it fun. Beginner bass guitar are very inexpensive. You can get one that you can learn on for around $100.

So, if you try it and don’t find it’s for you, you can give it away to a family member, or sell it. With a bass you also need to get an amp. But, a small inexpensive on that you can learn on can be as cheap as $50.

Acoustic bass guitar generally start at around the $300, where you don’t need an amp. I evaluated the price of all bass guitar in this article about whether bass guitar are expensive. It covers the price range for the most popular guitar brands such as Fender, and Gibson. 

And you’ll be surprised to know even the top brands have very inexpensive guitars that cost around $100. I also explain the difference in sound quality between bass guitars are different prices.

Is Bass Guitar Fun To Play Alone?

The bass guitar goes well in a band. But, sometimes it’s not always practical to get everyone together. When you practice, practicing alone is often the best way to develop your skills. So, is bass guitar fun to play alone?

As a whole, bass guitar is fun to play alone. Learning new songs, composing your own songs, and improvising with an audio track are all fun and can be done alone. Also, an audio track can be played and then you can play the bass over it without needing other people to play with you. 

Most of my experience is with the guitar. But, the guitar and the bass guitar are virtually identical. I found playing alone very fun especially improvising over songs I know how to play. Or, random songs I found online.

I find learning new songs a bit of a chore, and is mentally quite demanding. But, once I got could play it without looking at the tabs, or music notation it was well worth the effort.

What’s Easier Bass or Drums?

Figuring out what instrument to learn can be a bit tricky because there’s a lot of options. And all of them seem to have their pros and cons. One of the most deciding factors is whether one instrument is easier than the other, so is the bass easier than drums?

Bass guitar is easier than the drums. However, the difference between both in terms of difficult is very small. A survey of 151 people found that only 2.67% of respondents thought that the bass guitar is easier than the drums.

The survey asked what instrument was the hardest. The results showed that bass guitar is the easiest to learn, followed closely by the drums. The 3rd easiest was a bit further apart. To see what I mean more easily here’s a table that shows the results of the survey:

As you can see bass guitar and drums are quite close together, whereas, the other instruments were quite a bit further apart from the bass guitar.

Interestingly, a further questions I asked showed that bass guitar is significantly easier than a regular guitar. And 76.2% people said that bass guitar is easier than guitar.