I'm stuck in a rut as far as my bass playing goes. ...

I'm 23 years old and have been playing bass for 7 years now. Like most kids I initially learned to play through tabs. Wanting to earn respect as a musician, I took the time to educate myself about scales, notation, chord construction and pretty much all the stuff you'd find in a "Music Theory for Dummies" book. From that I graduated my basic playing phase and went into a overly busy 'I know my scales' style, then into annoying lead bass, a back to basics period and now I'm just trying to be tastefully creative.

The problem is I find myself playing the same patterns, licks, and riffs. There are really only 12 notes to choose from and at any given point in a song half of them wouldn't sound very good. The band I'm in now is straight rock, which I enjoy but obviously isn't the best grounds for challenging bass playing.

As much as I'd love to explore other styles, I could never really get into much other than rock music. Jazz is interesting but I'm too in love with sing-along vocals to go that way. Thanks to Guitar Center I hate funky slap bass playing (just go there and sit in the bass section for an hour, you'll know what I mean). All those wierd bass-centric styles like Vic Wooten or anyone similiar I'm definitely not interested in either.

Does anyone know of a book, CD, DVD or anything that would help a rock and roll bassist expand his creativity? Just something to get away from root bashing, appropriately placed melodic lines and the usual fills. I'm starting to get bored as a bassist and that sucks because I've always loved it. :confused:

you may need to look away from the bass to get some inspiration, or look at the bass played by people that dont normally play bass. Eddie Van Halen plays bass on Sammy Hagar's album "Never Said Goodbye". Look at Michael Anthony, Van Halen's bassist, He may have been a root basher but he also had some decent licks.

Look into classical music for direction. It may not suite your style or taste but it's something that might help you out, and until you try it, you cant say it wont help you in your plight.

The problem is I find myself playing the same patterns, licks, and riffs. There are really only 12 notes to choose from and at any given point

But there are an almost unlimited amount rhythms you could play with those notes.

Try focusing on the different types of space you can put between the notes.

For insperation try listening to wind music where a tuba provides the low end. Those guys have to use space for breathing purposes.

I'm stuck in a rut as far as my bass playing goes. ...
The band I'm in now is straight rock, which I enjoy but obviously isn't the best grounds for challenging bass playing.


You might want to take a bit of time to really think about what you mean by 'challenging'. No doubt its true that the finger speed and dexterity needed for rock and pop bass playing is mostly very basic. But truthfully the things that separate the good bass players from the OK players are very subtle. Mostly it has to do with time.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I've played bass for 35 years, have two degrees in music. I can cover the fingerboard pretty well and know a lot of styles. Recently I joined a 50's and 60's R+B band. These guys are NOT into a lot of technique and really busted my chops about playing too many notes. Now I go on a gig and really concentrate on time, and groove. MORE MUSIC, LESS NOTES has become my mantra. As I've done that, I get more and more compliments on my playing from people outside the band. Its not about the compliments though, its about serving the music well.

Of course, one of the key ingredients of good time is really good technique. If you think about it, the difference between a good solid groove and just playing the parts has to do with time tolerances of less than 1/128 note (probably way less).

I got a fretless about 2 months ago and that has really 'awakened' my finger placement. As my intonation on fretless has improved, my control and tone on fretted has improved. I'm starting to work on the Bach Suites on fretless. That's a great goal and they are really wonderful music, I used to play them on French Horn back in student days.

I find that going on a gig and laying down a solid groove is a very Zen thing, a musically generous thing, and an intellectual thing. After years of orchestral, jazz and theater pits... I'm more challenged than ever.

I'm learning bass myself, so I'm just throwing this out there. Have you learned Cliff Burton's stuff? I would love to learn Orion (Ride The Lightning), or his bass solo track from Kill 'em All.

Ironically, I can learned a lot of those songs on guitar like 15 years ago, solos and all, but now that I'm learning bass, I'm finding Cliff's bass parts are more challenging than than the GTR parts.

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I know exactly what you are talking about. I've played bass for 35 years, have two degrees in music. I can cover the fingerboard pretty well and know a lot of styles. Recently I joined a 50's and 60's R+B band. These guys are NOT into a lot of technique and really busted my chops about playing too many notes. Now I go on a gig and really concentrate on time, and groove. MORE MUSIC, LESS NOTES has become my mantra. As I've done that, I get more and more compliments on my playing from people outside the band. Its not about the compliments though, its about serving the music well.
...

In my regular jam, one guy that usually plays guitar was a gigging bassist for several years and every now and then he likes to trade off (though I really don't play guitar, so I either sit out or play rhythm on my mandolin). Another guitarist, who is pretty much our leader, suggested that Bill (the guy who likes to play bass also) bring his bass along so that I could keep playing mine. I kidded him about not liking my mandolin playing and he said "It's not that; when Bill plays bass, he is all over the place slapping and popping. It usually sounds good, but we still need somebody playing the bass line that provides the foundation." That made me feel pretty good. I am the least experienced player, but apparantly I am actually useful sometimes. :cool:
:hyper:

I'm a fan of the Arctic Monkeys bass lines. They are usually pretty simple and really catchy. They seem to be a good middle ground between playing the root and slapping all over the place.