Do Bands Need Two Guitar Players?

I’ve always loved 3 piece bands, and I never knew why until I really analyzed the details of what I was hearing and why it delighted me so much- 

I could HEAR the bass! I’m a bassist, and the last thing I want to do is hear what the guitarist is doing and then assume THAT is the bassline.

I learned to play by listening to songs and figuring out the basslines. So you can understand my dismay when all I could hear were guitars. As a beginner, you don’t fully learn the FUNCTION of a bassist if the literal bass line is simply the rhythm guitar line, or if “low end” just refers to how far down in the mix it is. 

Think of basslines that stand out to you. Why do they stand out? Because they STAND OUT. No one ever said: “that bassline that is exactly like the guitar line is so unique”!

Think about bands with EPIC bass players! Rush’s Geddy Lee, The Police’s Sting, Muse’s Chris Wolstenholme, Motorhead’s Lemmy. I could go on- Babes in Toyland, Green Day, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Nirvana. What do they have in common? They’re all three piece bands. They fill the room without needing to fill the stage.

These are ICONIC bassists. They don’t just get away with playing what the guitarist plays. They have to WRITE A BASSLINE. LEGIT. Since writing a great bassline is another story for another article, let’s get back to the question.

Do we really need another guitarist? Think of Black Sabbath. They aren’t a trio, but they had one guitarist, and GEEZER. The almighty Geezer! Geezer carrying half the melodic weight as well as tying Iommi to Ward (while also giving Ozzy words to sing). If you listen to “Wicked World”, you’ll clearly hear the bass setting up the tempo and vibe of the jam while the guitarist plays the theme riff. After the guitar and bass briefly play the same line, the bass does a pick up riff between the guitar riffs that ties in with the drums almost like a call and response. The parts come together only to set up the first verse where the guitar simply chugs and Geezer plays his classic 1-5-octave followed by a quick riff. For me, this is the non plus ultra of bass playing: the bass is its own instrument doing something clearly as important and uniquely separate from the guitar bringing its own angle on the melody AND tying it in with the drums while keeping the drive of the song at the correct cadence. Then there’s a long guitar thing that happens, clearly set up so Geezer can take a quick sip of an icy cold beverage as he’s probably parched at this point. I learned every Black Sabbath song and that’s what taught me the bass. Not only because I loved the lines and the songs, but I could actually hear  the bass. Do you remember the day when you didn’t know what the “bass” was, you just heard music? Well Geezer changed that for me. I knew what his bass was doing and I was all about it. 

BTW: Did you know Geezer wrote the lyrics for most of the songs we all know and love? “War Pigs”, “N.I.B.”, “Snowblind”, “Changes”, “Killing Yourself to Live”, the list goes on! He is a master lyricist. It’s obvious that he has an eye for the song as a whole which is an essential skill for a bassist. 

Think about some epic songs by the bands listed above and then listen to the solo section. There’s the guitar going wild explaining its life story “Look at me! Look at me!” while the bass holds it all down! After all, that’s its job in life.

So, the answer is obviously no. You don’t need another guitarist. Since I’m the bassist and lead singer of my band, (and the songwriter, and the musical director and the executive producer…sigh) I need a STRONG guitarist. If you decide to go the way of one guitarist, you will need someone competent to hold down the rhythm and the lead and know when to plug in each one. So let’s dive into that and look at what a bassist and drummer should look for in a guitarist as well as what you’ll need to keep in mind when composing for a three piece band. 

Blanket of Sound (Will the song translate live?)

There are three components of a recorded song that many guitarists who aren’t used to carrying the whole six string load will have trouble transposing to a live situation. These are the rhythm guitar part, the guitar solo, and the melodic riff, and they can play together in very interesting ways, often making or breaking a song live even if it works fine on the record. 

Songs are normally built from the rhythm riff. That’s the bedrock of the song. The melodic riff is when the guitar moves away from the basic rhythm. The rhythm is still there, probably carried by us, once again serving the song as a whole, but as a listener, this is what you sing along to, and what captures your attention at that moment. In the studio, you most likely have recorded the rhythm riff and then added this melodic riff on top. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be taking advantage of the 50,000 tracks you have to use, and oh yeah, it sounds bomb. BUT, this is where the guitarist will need direction on emulating this in a live situation regarding when to hone in on that melodic riff, and when to hone in on the main rhythm riff. In many instances the vocals will define when to do this. 

For example: In my song “Suicide Note” the guitarist always plays the rhythm. If you listen to the song, there’s a riff that basically makes up the whole song. When we play live, I have them do the riff during the entire intro, I play the rhythmic bassline, then when the vocals come in, they start playing the rhythm part with the bass. On the pre-chorus, there’s a vocal part singing “hey hey...” where between each vocal the riff and rhythm parts are played simultaneously on the recording, but it’s imperative for the guitarist to play the melodic riff and not the rhythm because the melodic riff is what catches the listener’s ear. It’s the memorable part of the song. The part of the song that when asked: “How does that song go?” This is what you sing. It sounds simple and obvious, but many things are taken for granted until you have to deliver it with one guitar and a bass. This means that as the bass player you need to understand what your role is in the song so that you can explain it to the guitar player and then you both can slowly and clearly spell it out for the drummer. Pictures will probably be involved.

There are also choices to make as bass players during the part of every song that the guitar player thinks the whole song is for- the solo. When you’re in the studio there are times when you will want to drop the rhythm guitar completely during the solo. This not only  allows the music to feature the bass, but when you play live this is a glorious moment because the live song sounds just like the record. For example, the single “Trapped Inside” from my latest album “Heaven Is A Ghost Town” has no rhythm guitar on the solo, and the bass just pops! Think about the epic “Tom Sawyer” by Rush. During the solo, Geddy Lee is going wild underneath the solo with his incredible tone!

In closing, think before you hire that second guitar player. What bass playing chances are you passing up by filling in the mix like that? We all know bass needs more respect, so push that second guitar player out of the way and step up. Yeah, Megadeth and Slayer are fine, but Sabbath and Motorhead (for the most part) didn't need two guitar players. Oh the second guitar thickens up your sound? Turn the bass up, get a better tone and stop paying one too many guys. *doesn't make eye contact with Maiden fans and their three (THREE!) guitar attack*

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Nicki Tedesco is the newest member of The Bass Channel’s team. Look for her on our YouTube channel as well as on her own channel, and be sure to go grab her new album “Heaven is a Ghost Town” on her Bandcamp, stream her music here, and hit up her website here.