Lead bass, what's the point?

[lilterier]

All these little kiddies who hang around on these kind of forums seems to wanna play the lead of the songs, play the main melody etc..

The reason why i dislike the bass as a lead instrument is simply because the quality of the sound of a bass played in the very high register that it takes to be heard as the "lead" is simply not good enough, there's no character in the sound and it sounds sooo weak..

To pick the bassplayer to play the melody of a song is in my opinion like choosing a guitar with bad distortion or a synth with bad patch or a singer who mumbles every word to do the lead..

Seems like the wannabe "lead" bassplayers really want to be the singer, keyboardist or guitarplayer instead..

The only bass i think sounds somewhat good when played in the higher register is the fretless bass, but i would not want to hear it as the main lead instrument..

[BenWC87]

Originally Posted by lilterier

Seems like the wannabe "lead" bassplayers really want to be the singer, keyboardist or guitarplayer instead..

Or maybe they want to be musicians.

Jaco said that he never learned bass lines to songs. He listened to melodies and figured them out. I think that's what made him a great musician and not just a bassplayer. Great for you if you don't like how the bass sounds, but it can't hurt to branch out musically.

[SirCanealot]

Rush. Iron Maiden. The Who (especially live). A lot of U2. A lot of the Beatles.

There's countless bands where the bass plays a lead melody wise, but a lead bass doesn't have to be played in the higher register. A bass can lead from the bottom, I mean what is a lot of R&B and motown? All very melodic, lead (and very groovy) bass.

But I mean, sometimes it's just a different sound to have the bass play a melody in a higher register. There's some songs when it's to add a bit of variety.

I'm sure there's countless examples of bassists not holding down the groove and bottom before they try to be melodic, but there's countless examples of it where it works too

[lilterier]

Originally Posted by SirCanealot

Rush. Iron Maiden. The Who (especially live). A lot of U2. A lot of the Beatles.

There's countless bands where the bass plays a lead melody wise, but a lead bass doesn't have to be played in the higher register. A bass can lead from the bottom, I mean what is a lot of R&B and motown? All very melodic, lead (and very groovy) bass.

But I mean, sometimes it's just a different sound to have the bass play a melody in a higher register. There's some songs when it's to add a bit of variety.

I'm sure there's countless examples of bassists not holding down the groove and bottom before they try to be melodic, but there's countless examples of it where it works too

What are u talking about?
There's a huge difference between playing bass melodicaly and playing the main melody of a song.

[lilterier]

Originally Posted by BenWC87

Or maybe they want to be musicians.

Jaco said that he never learned bass lines to songs. He listened to melodies and figured them out. I think that's what made him a great musician and not just a bassplayer. Great for you if you don't like how the bass sounds, but it can't hurt to branch out musically.

Learning melody and harmony is something u have to learn on any instrument, i haven't questioned that.

[pointbass]

There is great value in knowing and being able to play the head of any song. It helps to understand the structure of the song, how the melody is developed and how best to incorporate bass lines that compliment the melody. Whether or not the sound of the instument is pleasing to the listener's ear is a subjective matter .....

That said, I do agree that many young players are looking to shred the head simply to show how bas-a** they are. I'd much rather see younger cats learn to play the bass line to "My Girl" with the proper groove .....

[mkrtu9]

to each their own!! Creativity is the main character, how ever you get it done is your prerogative.

[SirCanealot]

Originally Posted by lilterier

What are u talking about?
There's a huge difference between playing bass melodicaly and playing the main melody of a song.

What are YOU talking about? All of the bands I mentioned have the bass playing a lead melody and the guitar just playing rhythem.

I mean, imo that's the thing a lot of people miss — the bass can be playing a lead melody under the singing while the singer sings the song. A lot of the time in music there isn't enough space for the guitar to constantly play lead melodies.

[Snarf]

The thing about this lead bass mentality is that a lot of really marginal, or just plain bad, players hear Victor Wooten or Matt Garrison and want to be just like them. But they can't even get near the ability of those other players.

If you can get a good tone on your bass, have the technical ability, and know your theory and licks inside and out, then what's wrong with lead bass if you can pull it off? Every bassist's focus in an ensemble setting should be bass line first, soloing second. But if you can solo, by all means. Are you going to argue that composers like Bottesini and Koussevitsky shouldn't have written melodies for bass?

If your bass sounds like crap in the high register, that's a problem with your technique more than anything else.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by mkrtu9

to each their own!! Creativity is the main character, how ever you get it done is your prerogative.

+1

If you don't like a certain style of play, get over it and stop hating.

[beggar98]

The point is to make good music.

[j-bass-kreep]

We are musicians , I like to consider myself this instead of just accompaniment . I'm not saying its ok to wank away (wanking sounds bad on any instrument) , but come on lets push the bar a little make something different.

[BellBottomBlues]

Originally Posted by SirCanealot

What are YOU talking about? All of the bands I mentioned have the bass playing a lead melody and the guitar just playing rhythem.

I mean, imo that's the thing a lot of people miss — the bass can be playing a lead melody under the singing while the singer sings the song. A lot of the time in music there isn't enough space for the guitar to constantly play lead melodies.

BTW Iron Maiden does not play lead bass. Anything but. Harris keeps the galloping rhythm on the band. There is only one song where he takes a bass solo, and thats their title track. Closest he gets from there is a bit of the main melody in some of their newer stuff.

To the OP if you wanna hear a bass player with a grooving lead bass sound, listen to some stuff by Jack Bruce in his Cream days. Fantastic playing where he and clapton feed off of eachother.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by lilterier

All these little kiddies who hang around on these kind of forums seems to wanna play the lead of the songs, play the main melody etc..

The reason why i dislike the bass as a lead instrument is simply because the quality of the sound of a bass played in the very high register that it takes to be heard as the "lead" is simply not good enough, there's no character in the sound and it sounds sooo weak..

To pick the bassplayer to play the melody of a song is in my opinion like choosing a guitar with bad distortion or a synth with bad patch or a singer who mumbles every word to do the lead..

Seems like the wannabe "lead" bassplayers really want to be the singer, keyboardist or guitarplayer instead..

The only bass i think sounds somewhat good when played in the higher register is the fretless bass, but i would not want to hear it as the main lead instrument..

little kiddies want to be just like Victor Wooten

wow, I didn't think lead bass still needed to be justified to some people. Try checking out some of these guys:

Adam Nitti
Bernard Harris
Wayman Tisadale
Alain Caron
Marcus Miller(his lead tone is definetly not "weak")
Stuart Hamm
Stanley Clarke
Michael Manring
Gerald Veasley

The point of lead bass is to play the melody and to play it well.

[Chili]

i for one really like listening to bass playing the meolody or a solo, i'm wanting to try and transcribe singing onto bass if thats even possible, note wise, or some backing singing melodies onto bass coz i really like them, theres nothing wrong with trying new things

[blankstare77]

Originally Posted by Grueber

little kiddies want to be just like Victor Wooten

wow, I didn't think lead bass still needed to be justified to some people. Try checking out some of these guys:

Adam Nitti
Bernard Harris
Wayman Tisadale
Alain Caron
Marcus Miller(his lead tone is definetly not "weak")
Stuart Hamm
Stanley Clarke
Michael Manring
Gerald Veasley

The point of lead bass is to play the melody and to play it well.

Most of those folks aren't rock bassists.

[helicops]

Joy Division
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Death From Above 1979
Kasabian
those are just afew reasons why people want to play lead bass because it works and when did trying to write something that people are gonna say was great about a song become a bad thing.

[T-MOST]

Originally Posted by lilterier

All these little kiddies who hang around on these kind of forums seems to wanna play the lead of the songs, play the main melody etc..

The reason why i dislike the bass as a lead instrument is simply because the quality of the sound of a bass played in the very high register that it takes to be heard as the "lead" is simply not good enough, there's no character in the sound and it sounds sooo weak..

To pick the bassplayer to play the melody of a song is in my opinion like choosing a guitar with bad distortion or a synth with bad patch or a singer who mumbles every word to do the lead..

Seems like the wannabe "lead" bassplayers really want to be the singer, keyboardist or guitarplayer instead..

The only bass i think sounds somewhat good when played in the higher register is the fretless bass, but i would not want to hear it as the main lead instrument..

Forgive him father, for he knows not of what he speaks.

[afinalfantasy]

Originally Posted by lilterier

All these little kiddies who hang around on these kind of forums seems to wanna play the lead of the songs, play the main melody etc..

The reason why i dislike the bass as a lead instrument is simply because the quality of the sound of a bass played in the very high register that it takes to be heard as the "lead" is simply not good enough, there's no character in the sound and it sounds sooo weak..

To pick the bassplayer to play the melody of a song is in my opinion like choosing a guitar with bad distortion or a synth with bad patch or a singer who mumbles every word to do the lead..

Seems like the wannabe "lead" bassplayers really want to be the singer, keyboardist or guitarplayer instead..

The only bass i think sounds somewhat good when played in the higher register is the fretless bass, but i would not want to hear it as the main lead instrument..

I have an honest question. Do you have anything else to post but insult people's opinions and people themselves?

Or do you know anything about bass for that matter?

[tonygrey]

A melody can sound beautiful on any instrument if played well.
The bass can be an amazing expressive instrument. Check out Gary Willis?