Your "playing style"

[Thunderbird90DB]

Hi guys,
Whats your playing style?

When i play by myself i do like scale runs,like try to make up solos i suppose, getting from one end of the neck to the other going thru the notes of a scale. I am also exclusively in the major and minor scales, dont like pentatonics.

When i play to a record, which is good practise and i love doing, i tend to follow the guitars or the bassline of the song, and also improvise solos in little parts where i feel there's space, and also do little riffs before a chorus? like lead the verse into the chorus with a little riff. maybe i'll get a youtube account and do some covers, show you what i mean.

[lunarpollen]

You should check out esnips.com for posting sound or video files.

[Dark Horse]

Play whatever fits the song, not a single note more or a single note less. Bass can accent, support, and enhance - knowing when you're playing too much takes a lot of experience, as does knowing when you need to play more. If a song needs three notes, don't play four. OTOH, sometimes a song needs a counter melody that the bass can provide. I guess my "style" would be just trying to be the guy who plays the right thing all the time.

[Pilgrim]

I play simple. Duck Dunn is my role model. What my ear hears is a little different than some other players - so I drop in some melody notes every now and then. For instance, I double the guitar on a run up in "Walk Don't Run" and it sounds good...but the rest of the number, I'm playing quarter-notes with occasional syncopations.

[Holy War]

i play exclusivly finger style in 2 bands. One is a up and in your face rock band while the other is a more technical prog metal band. In both I try to create interesting bass lines tha fit the song. My rock band is a 3 piece, which really gives me a lot of room to work with. The other band is open too because we try to make pretty complex musi with counter melodies and such. I use a stigray in both bands pretty much exclussivly

[LlymboKO]

I strive to play what fits the song best first in foremost. Rhythmically I try to stick with the kick drum on most parts. Other wise I'll keep it driving using mostly 8th notes. I use to over play things way too much, thinking the crazier I could play the better. There are times for it, but I have to be cautious and make sure it doesn't take way from my primary function as a bass player. I play mainly hard rock/hard core and some metal. My perspective on playing in that genre is to make the crowd look at the bass differently. Most bands in that genre fill in the low frequencies and use a pick, which is great, but I use my fingers and incorporate some dissonant funk licks. As well as some tapping here and there. I just want people who don't know much about bass guitar to see a different side of it and notice truly how versatile of an instrument it is, not just a lower tuned guitar. I'm not great or anything, but I try to push myself toward that goal.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I do mostly looping stuff now, so I have to attempt to play basslines, chords, and melodies. I use a fair amount of effects and bass EQ twiddling to try to separate loops into different sounds. Mostly I try to play music that is interesting to listen to and often try to pull things off that I'm not good enough to play- I often fail miserably, but I'd rather fail trying to make something interesting than to succeed at playing it safe. If I was a for-hire guy, that would likely be completely different There's an endless amount of "good" music out there- I'm trying to figure out what I can find in my own music that stands out above just being on par. Haven't quite found it yet

[Dark Horse]

THIS is a rock song I played on fairly recently. The bass alternates between holding the bottom end during verse and pre-chorus sections, and then shifts to a counter melody during the chorus. The chorus needed something extra, so that's what I came up with. I was thinking about the bassline from Spacehogs' "Meantime" when I wrote the part.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Sounded great. By "I was thinking about the bassline from Spacehogs' "Meantime", did you really mean "I was thinking about sleeping with Liv Tyler"?

[Ryan L.]

Not Basses related. Moved.

[capnsandwich]

I look for a tight groove whenever I can and I'm always trying to add a little flavor to whatever I'm playing to. It's a fine line between adding flavor and overplaying but I think I'm doing pretty good so far. I also like to play a lot of octaves and 5ths when I can. I'll sometimes follow the melody up past the 7th fret if there's a little room to squeeze it in but sparingly and tastefully.

[Ric5]

What other people have said about my playing style ...

"You sound like Chris Squire even when you don't play with a pick or use a Rickenbacker.
"You sound like McCartney"
"You sound like Phil Lesh"

[embellisher]

My earliest influence other than guys I saw play in church was Geddy Lee.

Over the years, my influences grew, and today also include Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, James Felix, Herb Melton, Joe Osborne, Jaco, Doug Pinnick, Steve Harris, Billy Sheehan, Stuart Hamm, and Mike Dimin.

From these diverse influences, I have taken parts from each, and hopefully, come up with my own style. You can hear several recordings that I did at www.luciddreamer.net, a band that I was in until I moved to a small town. Unfortunately, they are not very representative of the way I play these days.

These days, I play mostly at church. Urban Gospel influenced Praise & Worship music, with the occasional funked up or blues arranged hymn.

I slap, pop, tap, play chords, arpeggios, scale based licks, whatever the Spirit moves me to do. Most would probably say that I overplay to an extreme, but my worship leader (who is also my Pastor and a killer pianist) loves what I do, and encourages me to continue to grow as an artist. I probably do overplay, but I never put myself ahead of the song, or my mission, which is praising my Lord on my stringed instrument.

[excane]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird90DB

Whats your playing style?

I believe I would fall into the category of "crappy" or "mediocre"

[mambo4]

I try to play as simply as i can, roots and chord tones, until I feel i really really know how the song goes..
once i feel I deeply understand the song, I look for phrases or moments that the rest of the band is creating and try to serve them, and the song.
once i feel i have finally achieved that, then and only then, I look for spaces that could be tastefully filled with my "style"

ideally, anyhow...
I try, but my jammy-noodley-poorman's jamerson wannabe-muscle habits keep poking out and I most often am restraining myself and trying to listen.

[TOOL460002]

last band i played with was reggae- so- lots of support/keep the song moving stuff. however- even in that i threw in some transitions that were really metal (reggae needs squealy false harmonics right?).

i liked the music and can find the right line for just about anything- but i tend towards eerie- odd time- key changing- weird scale type stuff (like if tool/elliott smith/prize fighter inferno had a baby). i also gravitate towards the mixolydian mode when i want to go brighter/happier- not sure why- just feels right.

i also tend to change up right hand technique frequently- and am a huge fan of indedx/thumb picking- especially when im just writing on my own- as it sounds fuller. i also gravitate towards higher register stuff- and then write the bassy bassline later.

[cowsgomoo]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird90DB

Hi guys,
Whats your playing style?

dramatic... or, to enhance the dramatic nature of the music, whatever that is at the time...

I've always admired musicians who weren't necessarily metronomically virtuosic, but who won you over with the character, energy and excitement of their playing...

i.e. Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Frank Zappa

they maybe couldn't execute perfectly all that they attempted - but it never mattered to me - what they were doing was dramatic and and exciting, and that's what I always aim for

[Sijjvra]

:| Started out with progressive rock, funk and classic 70's rock cover band years ago.

And now? In a death/black metal band... and I still tend to do a bit more "funk" style than the traditional black or death metal bassist...so it's a bit odd at times (but sounds really nifty).

[NS2A]

I subscribe to the "big guitar" sound, but I'll throw in a run or two where there's space.

If any of that makes sense.

[DeanAngerer]

I probably overplay. I try to keep a half-way decent groove going (with lots of 3rds and lower fifths). Then I'll usually throw a fill in after every bar or so. Lots and lots of fills, actually. And the pentatonic scale is my bread and butter. I love playing in E minor / G major and going nuts. Sometimes if I'm listening to a song, I'll just hear some really cool run and throw that in there. Tons of coiling in sets of 3. So in a scale that would be maybe like notes 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5, so on, stair-casing up or down a scale. You know, I wish I was wise enough to know if I'm just being an overplaying jerk or what.:-D