What is a pocket player?

[Mike151]

Originally Posted by bassteban

*Have you ever been called a pocket player?* & *What is a pocket player?* are two entirely different questions. I vote 'invisible'.

Agreed that they are two questions. I just wanted to see how common the comment was.

[bassbully]

My fav pocket playing is shuffles or walks with a tight kick drum pattern and hi-hat snare

[hbarcat]

Telling someone they are a 'pocket player' is a wonderful complement.

As in:

"I like Dan's bass playing. He is a pocket player."


This is similar to some other great complements, such as:

"Fred is okay. He really means well."

and

"Sarah isn't so bad. She has a great personality"

[metalstorm]

I've seen it used more as an excuse...

"Oh, I don't try to play anything fast or hard or challenge myself, I'm a pocket player."

[bassplayer22]

The drummer I play with has been drumming for about 35 years and is amazing. It only took a couple of songs before we really connected and knew where each other were going, musically speaking. My definition of "the pocket" is not over-playing, playing with the kick, filling the void and bringing the low end. The drummer/bass relationship in my opinion, is the most important one in the band.

The better your connection (with a good drummer) gets, the bigger the pocket gets. Once that pocket opens up, the sky is the limit. I've found that with a big pocket, it is so easy to just play and groove. It especially prevents over playing, which I have seen a lot of bass players do. Ahhh... the art of silence. :-)

Tim

[ilikethump]

That's the problem with being a bassist...

The better you get, the less people like your playing!

[etoncrow]

I have been playing drums for 50 years; bass for twenty-five. I once played drums with a guy who everyone praised as an amazing bass player. He did most of the lead work in the trio. He did not have a clue as to what it was to play in the pocket. He never listened to what I was doing. I found it more comfortable to just play in sync with the rhythm guitar player. This guy was also a noodler at practice which irritated the living bejesus out of me...

[dougjwray]

Pocket player: exhibit A: Carl Radle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOxy3TF3OY

[Silas Martinez]

Originally Posted by ilikethump

That's the problem with being a bassist...

The better you get, the less drummers like your playing!

Fixed.

[spindizzy]

It is one thing to describe yourself as a "pocket player" and another to think that it is unique in some way to bass players.

Actually "the pocket" is an equal opportunity place of existance within the music itself that is often palpable to the listening audience. It is not just unity but a place where a group of folks become "the faucet through which music flows".

I think it is this concept that we bass players often mix up with "the groove" in some ways. With the so called "groove" the relationship between the drummer and the bassist is pivitol because the groove has always represented (at least to me) the rhythmic pulse of a piece.

The pocket is something else (again IMHO) perhaps even harder to define. The article at the end of this link is one of the best I ever read on the subject so I thought that would be interesting to someone:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17487

Nontheless I absolutely agree that for most folks being told they are a "pocket player" should be taken as a compliment. As it is not about how much or how little you play, or even the style of music...it is about a state of being.

Spin

[dvh]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Like one fairly "busy" drummer told me one time, "I can pretty much go off and do whatever I want cause I know when I come back you'll be where you're supposed to". (BTW, it is not always the easiest to play with drummers of that mindset and I'm not sure I would advise it, but you know what I'm getting at.)

One of my projects has a drummer like this.

I'm definitely a pocket player. A good band with good musicians appreciates that.

[HelloJerk]

I like to establish myself in the pocket at some point so that people don’t think all I do is wank.

[Jamz]

I think being a pocket player is the most important thing. You can play a really busy line but as long as it fits in the pocket it's great. The pocket really just emphasizes that the core rhythm insruments aren't fighting against each other and are working to play together as one over all line instead of two different lines trying to come together.