Explain this voodoo to me...

[SMILEYSIXX]

I was practicing in a band long dead. My bass teacher was the drummer at the time. I was playing a simply bass line that basically set the melody for the song. My timing was just off the whole way through and I couldn't feel the music.

My bass teacher looks with complete seriousness and says "You're not bobbing your head."

I was confused. He told me to bob my head up and down like a 70's era funk player. I start bobbing my head and instantly, I can play it.

Can someone explain what the **** happened?

[BadB]

You're keeping the beat. I prefer to tap my foot, though.

[StrangerDanger]

Im a head bobber as well. Not a toe tapper. I think its genetic.

[SMILEYSIXX]

I started playing more metal, so I've since become a headbanger.

[bassteban]

I have used my upper body as a metronome for the rest of the band before- it works great if they all pay attention/give a rat's ace- and you have decent timing/rhythm.

[kr0n]

When you feel the beat, you feel it.
When you try to listen for it, you're already late.

[Nashrakh]

Haha, now that's funny!

Come to think of it, I either bob my head or tap my foot depending on the music... if it's funk, I bob my head; if it's rock , I tap my foot.

[sleeplessknight]

Don't forget a generous helping of 'bass-face'. That makes EVERYTHING better!

[willgroove2]

On a serious note there is a techniqe that people use called eurythmics,I learned it my freshmen year of music school

www.answers.com/topic/eurythmics

[willgroove2]

On a serious note there is a technique that people use called eurythmics,I learned it my freshmen year of music school

www.answers.com/topic/eurythmics

[mitchellprice]

im a toe tapper. i've been doing it so long i dont even notice. but when i stand i bob my head. weird!

[TortillaChip520]

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

I started playing more metal, so I've since become a headbanger.

I piss off old people, so i'm a whippersnapper.

[Raven2k360]

Originally Posted by willgroove2

On a serious note there is a technique that people use called eurythmics,I learned it my freshmen year of music school

www.answers.com/topic/eurythmics

Sweet dreams are made of these.....oh, wait....

[walterw]

ha! i always thought that band got its name because they were from europe (britian).

a big +1 to playing an instrument with your whole body, not just your hands. if you're standing there timidly, that's how your playing is going to sound, but if you're grooving, the audience will be grooving, too.

i've heard it referred to as "playing bass with your butt", and as silly as that sounds, it makes sense. after hearing that phrase, i started noticing how the best players of any instrument seemed to move their whole body with what they were playing, while the ones who were physically "stiff" sounded that way even when their playing was flawless.

(OK, maybe with the huge exception of entwistle.)

[Drop-the-One]

It's a beautiful thing.
toe tapping
head bobbing
when they bob their heads up on the downbeat (a lot of DJs do that)
clacking teeth (a drummer thing)


In Wooten's book... there's a kid in it that talks about "smiling". Just smiling... and if you do that while playing, you feel a better sense of locking in. It's weird, but it works.

[yontar]

i bob my head like crazy. it's called feeling the music man, nothing more to it than that.

[NKBassman]

I clack my teeth when I'm listening to music, or if I have a song stuck in my head.

When I'm playing it's a combo of head bobbing and heel tapping.

[julio.gamiz]

I've been known to uhm... hump my bass to what I'm playing.

[Gawd]

I remember reading an interview where Jonas Hellborg explained that it's best to keep time with your ass. According to Hindu teachings there's a certain chakra around there that has something to do with it. And also because it's the center of gravity for us.

[fish bulb]

Or you can swing your bass around like this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Swy7u2sopw (skip to 2:17, he's on the left).