What are you thinking when playing a riff?

GroovinOnFunk · #1 02-22-2013, 08:16 AM

Ok, very vague question, right? Allow me to elaborate.

I've recently become really happy with my note choices when I decide to do a bass riff/fill in a song (something that usually gets tucked in nicely when there aren't any vocals singing or someone isn't soloing and there is some space to step out a bit). However, as I've been getting more ambitious and playing more complicated riffs, I've noticed that I sometimes miss the next chord or miss the downbeat (the 1).

Obviously the best bass fill in the world is pointless if the groove gets lost.

So my question: When playing a riff/fill, so you rely on muscle memory for the fill and actively THINK about your "landing spot" and the not you need to land on for the next chord or the next measure? I guess I get so caught up in the riff that I flail when its time to land safely and move onto the next chord/measure/whatever...

aftec · #2 02-22-2013, 08:22 AM

I rely on muscle memory and countless hours of rehearsals, if you play a tune long enough you can think of anything. For me it's usually hookers and blow

SolarMan · #3 02-22-2013, 08:27 AM

Yep. Play it enough and you can play it in your sleep.

hotbass57 · #4 02-22-2013, 08:27 AM

+1 with above..............muscle memory...................Don't think, Just Play!!!!

totallyfrozen · #5 02-22-2013, 08:50 AM

DON'T THINK!....FEEEEEEL!

It's like a finger point the way to the moon. If you look at the finger, you'll miss all that heavenly glory.

Liam76 · #6 02-22-2013, 08:55 AM

I think "oh ****, here it comes"

Rattman · #7 02-22-2013, 08:59 AM

I'm listening with half an ear for the changes, but mostly I'm just feeling all the instruments as I serve the song. Yeah.. "muscle memory" is at the helm for the most part.

GroovinOnFunk · #8 02-22-2013, 09:30 AM

what about if we think of this in terms of a jam session, for example, where you are familiar with the chords, but certainly don't know them dead to rights.

or a cover gig where i've had 3 days to learn 60 tunes and so only "kind of" know them and might still have to use cheat sheets for one or two?

so like, I want to impress the people that are at the jam session because there is a guy that needs a bass player there, and i wanted to impress the cover band so they'll hire me for more gigs.

I feel like I already know the answer though... A cool riff isn't worth wrecking the groove, right? So if i'm not familiar with the song I should just keep it simple and not try to do runs/riffs/fills?

GroovinOnFunk · #9 02-22-2013, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liam76

I think "oh ****, here it comes"

Yes! this is usually me. Or I find myself thinking "woah, that run I just played was aweso... ... ... CRAP! I missed the next chord"

avvie · #10 02-22-2013, 09:42 AM

So you wanna impress but don't know all the material?..
Riff away at warmup, be rock solid in the groove. Best of both worlds displayed.

GroovinOnFunk · #11 02-22-2013, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avvie

So you wanna impress but don't know all the material?..
Riff away at warmup, be rock solid in the groove. Best of both worlds displayed.

Booya! Simple, but yet effective.

Definitely need to keep the top priority as "serving the music" and making sure not to lose the groove. I do agree.

I'm going to try to implement a sort of "spot your landing well in advance" kind of approach where while I'm doing the riff, I'll consciously think of the note I need to land on at the end. Worth an experimental shot just for fun... what have I got to lose? (besides the groove

)

rubbadubdub · #12 02-22-2013, 12:14 PM

My best music happens when I am NOT thinking. Robert Fripp has this concept whereupon the musician and the instrument are merely channels through which the music passes or something like that.
A good example perhaps is how I can tell when my drummer is about to do a fill by the way there is a barely perceptible change in the feel of the groove. His groove can be mesmeric but as soon as he goes into thinking mode there is a tiny degree of latency as he plans which of his large repetoir of fills he's going to play. I have been playing with him for years and I wonder wether other people , particularly non musicians, would notice this happening.
I turn the monitor off when recording on computers for a similiar reason. I think that as humans are attracted to movement and pretty colours they can be distracted by the screen. Anything that comes between you and the feel of the music is a potential blockage. I'm not promoting the use of drugs but I wonder wether a lot of their use by creative people is because they help the flow to happen unhindered. Meditation may be a better way of achieving this as well as just plain old experience of playing.
It can work the other way round also. Music can help some people achieve a meditative state.
What amazes me about musicians like Miles Davis, for example, is that they can play such complicated music without pausing to think 'oh this will be a flattened 9th' or whatever.

Basshappi · #13 02-22-2013, 01:33 PM

Do you think about every word, its spelling and its inflection before you say something or do you just speak?

It's like that.

onosson · #14 02-22-2013, 01:38 PM

I sing the melody in my head.

Hobobob · #15 02-22-2013, 01:43 PM

As long as I know the meter and the key, I can fill away. Sometimes the song allows for a fill I've used before, sometimes not. My key is listening to the rest of the band, then playing notes that feel right or interesting with a rhythm that hopefully accentuates that. I'm not a thinking player, I'm a 'go with my gut' player. I approach a fill by going off of how the song makes me feel, and then putting that feeling into my note and rhythm choices. It's much less complicated than it sounds. I'm like the Joker: 'I just...do.'

chubfarm2001 · #16 02-22-2013, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aftec

I rely on muscle memory and countless hours of rehearsals, if you play a tune long enough you can think of anything. For me it's usually hookers and blow

If I start thinking about hookers and blow I start playing way too fast.

Once I get really comfortable with a song I no longer think about it, and if I want to show off, I always stay in the groove and try to keep it to a minimum. Less is more. You would be surprised how many compliments you get for doing things that honestly are not that technically impressive.

BobaFret · #17 02-22-2013, 01:48 PM

"look at those beautiful ladies out there tonight"

rubbadubdub · #18 02-22-2013, 03:45 PM

"Look at all those beautiful ladies out there..."
Same thing .. don't think about just do it. let the love flow just like the music but make sure you have the lines together before you go for it or you will be missing more than the one lol.

GroovinOnFunk · #19 02-22-2013, 04:10 PM

To be clearer, the fills aren't the issue. I'm content with them. It's coming out of a complex fill and landing solidly on the downbeat of the 1 of the next chord

Schmorgy · #20 02-22-2013, 04:18 PM

Play the fill with feeling appropriate to the rhythm then. If you don't feel like your fills will make it in time, keep it simple. There's a lot to be said for filling a gap with something as simple as two slap/pop combos if it keeps time and removes an absence of sound.