is there something wrong with me?

[louieeadg]

Donna Lee! groovy...

I might get yelled at for this but...listen to some Dave Matthews Band. Their bassist is phenominal. He masters subtleties, simplicity, & complication while keeping it all groovy.

[lamarjones]

Originally Posted by A Minor

do you guys think i should try to expand my playing to be able to play in situations like that though, i mean is there a way to groove in fusion/punkish type of music?

yes, but let me qualify a little.

you are ahead of the game by having that desire to be supportive and let others do their thing, that is a mental aspect that most immature (not necessarily beginners, but people who don't want the music to sound as good as it could instead of wanting to be showcased) fall prey to. This is good.


BUT, if you can't shine when asked to shine, you'll always wonder when the time comes up for you to do something cool, if you could have done it better or blah blah blah. If you got the skills to keep in the pocket now, great. You should work on being able to NAIL the extra credit lines, cause honestly technique wise that just takes more work. this is by no means a necessity, but if you want to practice something, pumping out 16th notes at 140-160 bps constantly and fluidly is a great skill to have, and only broades what you can do. Actually, it can provide alternative pocket grooves instead of just shining as well.

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Yes. As a bassist, you are supposed to be able to adjust to what your guitarist and other instrumentalist plays. You're supposed to study all types of music, not just ones you like, but also the ones you don't like, and change between the types or combine them when the situation comes. That's the theory I live by.

[tswd]

Originally Posted by A Minor

i can play walking basslines pretty well but that wouldn't have went over well at all with the music that they were playin i don't think. Thanks for all the recommendations guys, and since we're on the subject of the groove i have another question, i read an earlier post by fishtx and he said that normally the bassist locks in with the guitarist instead of the drummer, my question is, is it still possible to create a pocket while locking in with the guitarist or is the pocket strictly for the bassist and the drummer to make?

To me, "the pocket" simply refers to playing the notes, and hitting the chord changes, at the right time. What is the right time? It could be syncing up with the drums or it could be syncing with the guitar. Usually, it's actually both. The drum is more important because the guitar will often times go off into la-la land doing crazy solos and fills.

As an example, if the guitar is playing a blues shuffle but the bass is playing straight eighth notes. It's going to sound out of sync. Also, say the drummer is playing the kick drum on each beat. In this case, the bass is synced with the drum, but not the guitar. It'll won't sound right.

You need to find that balance where your bass lines fit in between the drums and guitar. What you do with them from there depends on the band your in, your abilities, etc.

This is one of the things that makes guys like Jaco and Wooten so amazing. They can play some really crazy stuff, but it still fits the song like a glove. That's hard to do.