What do YOU do when playing?

[kowski]

Here's my three-step 'riffless' program and would love to hear from y'all and steal good ideas, ending up with a four or five step program:

1.) Beat one, usually hit the root of the chord;

2.) After that, fill in with something melodious, or rhythmically intresting, or choral arpeggio -- something that helps the song and has some intracacies, but without intruding on the song;

3.) Toward the end of the measure or chord, start leading toward the next chord in order to end up nicely on the root, beat 1, #1 above.

And on and on.

What do You do?

Cheers, Michael

[Time Divider]

Huh? Not all music follows this cookie-cutter approach.

Might I even be bold enough to suggest that MOST music does not.

[karandy29]

I divided my practice time into 3 things :

1. Finger picking : I'll do anything that relating to finger picking, such as fingering, playing chord, creating melodies and even shredding, improvise with a song, creating song, arpeggios, practicing scale and many more!

2. Slapping : Anything related to it, Double thumping, creating grooves, Practicing speed, and etc. ( Right now i am in a mood for slapping so i spend most of my practice time with slap and pop )

3. Tapping : Practicing Two handed tapping, arranging some songs, creating melodies, playing some speedy tapping, etc! ( I am a big fan of tapping )

I do these kind of training every day, and if i am too lazy to do one part of it, i.e. Slapping, i'll just do it for 15 minutes and do something else

[Mr.Phil]

Although that "multi-step" procedure might work for some music, it won't cut it for all styles. I would also suggest that you avoid starting on the root of every measure. Doing so can make music boring and one dimensional. As for niffty little fills or arpegios, I would avoid doing that all the time too. Even if it doesn't intrude on the other instruments or vocals, that method can prevent the bass from laying down a really solid groove. Sometimes less is more. Then again, this are just my opnions and every player approaches things differently. Hope that helps!

[Correlli]

Originally Posted by Time Divider

Huh? Not all music follows this cookie-cutter approach.

Might I even be bold enough to suggest that MOST music does not.

And you are an idiot, if you don't.

Edit: I don't mean "you are" an idoit. I was just talking in the third person, like "you are" as in "I".

So just to clarify: And I am an idiot, if I don't.

[Correlli]

One thing I DON'T do is watch the audience!

[Edwcdc]

I don't eat while playing.

[Ozzyman]

Especially don't have hard candies in your mouth when jumping on stage.
Oh, and always obey the guitarist... he knows best because he has a higher voiced instrument and more strings
If you're out of time, always blame the drummer. I mean of all people in the band the drummer always has the worst rhythm/time.
Oh, and make sure your bass tone is of the "duggidy-dugutta" and "thumpity-thumpity" kind.
Good Luck making cookie-cutter (errr... i mean original) rock music
:-D

[ras1983]

Originally Posted by Ozzyman

Oh, and always obey the guitarist... he knows best because he has a higher voiced instrument and more strings

:-D

which is why we need 6+ stringers; then we have the BIGGER g***** as well as more strings

Also, i wouldn't recommend taking a shower onstage while you perform... the electricity isn't very freindly with the water

[heath_the_great]

1. watch the drummer and guitarists
2. dance
3. groove my ass off
4. improvise whenever and however possible
5. stare at boobs
6. think of boobs (funny story, at one of me jazz gigs my drummer quinny said to me "just think of boobs heathy, just think of boobs" mid song)
7. play stuff on my guitarists fretboard, ala steve vai/billy sheehan
8. play behind my back
9. repeat steps 5 and 6
10. get off stage and dance with chicks while still playing
11. drink lots of water
12. dont touch drugs
13. be a smart ass and imitate the guitar solos or vocal lines in parts
14. steps 5 and 6
15. have fun
16. steps 5 and 6

[Starbucker]

I try my best to have fun, look like I'm having fun, and rock my ass off.

Seriously, what else can you do?

[Aaron Saunders]

1. Swing.
2. Groove.
3. Have fun while doing both .

[Selta]

Originally Posted by kowski

What do YOU do when playing?

I play. It's all about theory, theory, theory, practice, practice, practice, and feel, feel, feel. Hardly any music will follow any kind of routine that you can just lay down. There's about a million different things you can do at any one time; it's choosing and executing the RIGHT thing that makes good music good. Sometimes you just want to lay back and support with root, sometimes you want to open up and lead around, other times you just wanna walk around. You can't really say do this this and this.

-Ray

[Selta]

Originally Posted by Ozzyman

Especially don't have hard candies in your mouth when jumping on stage.
Oh, and always obey the guitarist... he knows best because he has a higher voiced instrument and more strings
If you're out of time, always blame the drummer. I mean of all people in the band the drummer always has the worst rhythm/time.
Oh, and make sure your bass tone is of the "duggidy-dugutta" and "thumpity-thumpity" kind.
Good Luck making cookie-cutter (errr... i mean original) rock music
:-D

Best post in this thread.

-Ray

[DannyB]

Making sure to hit the root somewhere.. some other notes in the scale.. hit a leading note.. that's always good for me.
Sometimes just the root. Less CAN be more (but not always).
Also.. I always make sure to tune out the guitarist and concentrate on the drummer (faith is a virtue at times, at others it is a stretch..) and the vocalist. If I am bridging the two, the guitarist can wank whatever he so chooses and it works.
Chances are, I'm never playing the song the same way twice in row... It's all in my mood.
Perhaps I'm an idiot. But I'd rather be an idiot who loves bass playing than a genius with a guitar

[Whafrodamus]

I groove :-D.

[WalterBush]

Mainly, I listen, and try to compliment, accentuate, and ever-so-occasionally dominate whatever tune I'm playing.













And I look at the jibbly bits on the girls in the audience

[heath_the_great]

Originally Posted by jabberwock777

And I look at the jibbly bits on the girls in the audience

steps 5 and 6....repeat and repeat until content

[abaguer]

One thing I DON'T do is watch the audience!

It's a good idea to watch the audiece (provided you're not reading music onstage). Watching the audience helps you call songs. You can tell whether you have their attention; are they moving or nodding body parts to the music (lets you know the groove is strong); are they dancing, are they tired of dancing and want a slower song. I always watch them unless someone throws some music in front of me then it's first things first.

[kowski]

Wow! I did not realize the depth, understanding and care about music/musicians that these posts contain!

First, the humor really was welcome. And those posts were meant to be humorous, not musical, and that's cool.

The others mostly informed me that my 'cookie-cutter' approach was lower than pond scum. Fair enough. What was most interesting is all the detailed, informed, lucid and pertinent descriptions of how each of you 'do it.' I guess when you really know your stuff, it shows when you talk about it!

Thanks, all, for a very revealing set of posts.

See ya, Michael