Disco style: Root-Octave jumps

[lexxmexx]

For the commonly used fast root-octave patterns we often hear in disco style music like Canned Heat by Jamiroquai, what is the proper technique to do it fast and still getting a full tone.

Do you sustain the root note while plucking the octave note? Or you just mute the root when playing the octave?

[JimmyM]

Mute each note when you play the other to make it funky.

[Funk 'N' Stein]

Another tip;

Say you are climbing up the board along a major scale (or any progression really)....

Every time you are about to play the root of the octave, hit the open string just before hammering onto the root.

Instead of sounding "doon dat...doon dat...doon dat...doon dat ", It'll sound "doon dat...ba doon dat...ba doon dat ...ba doon dat"". It sounds much less 'disco' and much hipper. Anthony Jackson is a great exponent of this technique.

It takes some stamina...but practise makes perfect !!

[lexxmexx]

Man, this kind of playing certainly requires a lot of stamina and coordination.

I've tried muting each note while playing the other but it sounded choppy and staccato-like...far from being funky

[Joel S.]

Originally Posted by lexxmexx

Man, this kind of playing certainly requires a lot of stamina and coordination.

I've tried muting each note while playing the other but it sounded choppy and staccato-like...far from being funky

Many funky bass lines are choppy and staccato-like.

[JTE]

The muting is vital to real disco, but it's gotta SWING! Despite the definition of diso ("Rhythm and blues for people who have neither"- thank you David Hungate!), real disco stuff has to swing. It helps if the drummer understand the function of the high-hat and the steady groove. Too many drummers play disco like rock music and get off the 'hat to put a fill in every four bars. That'll kill the flow real fast.

The timing of the mutes and the spacing between the notes is what you need to work on . And in the zen-like manner of so much music education, it's all about playing painfully slow in order to play fast.

jte

[Sahm]

Originally Posted by lexxmexx

Man, this kind of playing certainly requires a lot of stamina and coordination.

I've tried muting each note while playing the other but it sounded choppy and staccato-like...far from being funky

It's only staccato if you mute too soon. The root should get slightly more weight, then clip the octave. That's why someone wrote it as doon dat, and also why someone said to swing it.

If you aren't already doing it, I recommend muting with your fretting hand. If you think of doing a harmonic, but using two fingers instead of one, you'll mute with very little pressure. It allows you to mute with more dexterity, frees you up to play more complicated lines.

[joelc1319]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Mute each note when you play the other to make it funky.

+(a lot of numbers)

[ClassicRock55]

Out of curiosity, how do you guys finger those octaves? I have one on the root and my pinky on the octave. Is this wrong?

[joelc1319]

Originally Posted by ClassicRock55

Out of curiosity, how do you guys finger those octaves? I have one on the root and my pinky on the octave. Is this wrong?

that works, as does pointer and ring finger. Or if you're ascending you can do Pointer and ring and then middle and pinky. Whichever is most comfortable and allows for agility.

[bassrique]

A good [and funny] exercise I like to do is play octaves along with the synth here:

http://www2.b3ta.com/gayorstraight/

When you get good, double up [2 on the root and 2 on the octave].

What song is that ripped from?

[jaywa]

If you really want to give your self a challenge, play those octaves with a pick.

Personally, for right hand technique I "thumb" the root and use my middle finger for the octave... however, I believe (or at least it sure sounds like) a lot of those 70s disco recordings were done with a pick and for me at least, that commands a LOT more respect cause it is freaking tough to jump back and forth two strings with a pick and keep all the strings muted as they should be.

[DblG]

Originally Posted by bassrique

A good [and funny] exercise I like to do is play octaves along with the synth here:

http://www2.b3ta.com/gayorstraight/

When you get good, double up [2 on the root and 2 on the octave].

What song is that ripped from?

Dude...

[Funk 'N' Stein]

Originally Posted by ClassicRock55

Out of curiosity, how do you guys finger those octaves? I have one on the root and my pinky on the octave. Is this wrong?

No ...it isnt wrong. It's the most comfortable way to do it. Believe me...if you are playing a tune which requires you to finger octaves for several minutes without a break (i.e. Dance Dance Dance by CHIC) this is the only way!!!.

Here's some great 'octave style' bass playing for you...check this cat out . He's got it down....


http://youtube.com/watch?v=oEvwkR6_ptM

practice this fingerstyle (or you can thump it like Marlowedk/Larry Graham)

[Funk 'N' Stein]

Originally Posted by jaywa

If you really want to give your self a challenge, play those octaves with a pick.

Personally, for right hand technique I "thumb" the root and use my middle finger for the octave... however, I believe (or at least it sure sounds like) a lot of those 70s disco recordings were done with a pick and for me at least, that commands a LOT more respect cause it is freaking tough to jump back and forth two strings with a pick and keep all the strings muted as they should be.

You mean...LIKE THIS ONE.....???

This song typifies everything that was great about 'disco' bass IMO

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VOY-s9iaJjU

[rhix]

I also like to play octaves in another position, which gives me more access to lower pitches for fills and such. The most common way is to do them as you said but another way is to finger the lower pitch with your pinky and the octave with the one. An example is to play the B on the 7th fret of the E string with your pinky and the higher B with the first finger on the 4th fret of the G string. It's requires more stretch but also makes different notes available than the more common way.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

I play disco octaves like this (Fretting hand: Index - Pinky. Plucking hand: Index - Index - Middle). Hope the video is clear enough.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by DblG

Dude...

Even if you don't get the joke, it's still a great exercise. Turn off the monitor, leave the cheesy music on, and double up on the octaves at tempo. I can do it with my fingers, and for a couple minutes with my thumb [slapping], but with a pick I'm hopeless.

And I had no idea the greaseman [Village People, RIP] was straight.

Edit: I can't slap it at tempo I just found out -- I'm a little slow. Again, double up on the synth line, not the sparse bass.

[ga_edwards]

The octave disco groove I find particularly nasty is root 8th notes followed by 2 octave 16ths, as in Donna Summer's Hot Stuff.

The best I can manage is to play the root with my index finger the the 2 16th notes with ring followed my middle finger and sweep them across the strings whilst judiciously muting the other strings with my left hand.

Not pretty and prob sound awful solo'd (sp?) but gets me there in a band context!

[fishtx]

Originally Posted by Funk 'N' Stein

You mean...LIKE THIS ONE.....???

This song typifies everything that was great about 'disco' bass IMO

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VOY-s9iaJjU

thats a cool old disco tune...with a great bass line..