Bass Solos

[toneuc]

I know this has probably been discussed a million times on here, but I have a problem with soloing. My cousin is a pianist and as far as a drummer goes..well, we use a drum machine. I know it's priceless to play with a drummer, but it's the next best thing. Anyways, any advice would be awesome!

-Do you use a particular scale?
-Do you like a particular area of the neck to play or do you like to move up and down the neck?

*I know the answer to these questions depend on many factors, but any input would be great.

Thanks Guys,
toneuc

[Nev375]

My solo pieces are composed just like any other song, except they take months to develop instead of days.

No theory, no scales, no rules. Just play and keep whatever sounds kinda interesting and see what sort of things you can do with it.

I don't approach it like a guitar solo though. For me, it's never about sweeping fast scales up past the 12th fret. That's been done to death.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by toneuc

-Do you use a particular scale?

I think that should depend very much on the particular key in which one is playing, should it not?

Originally Posted by toneuc

-Do you like a particular area of the neck to play or do you like to move up and down the neck?

I personally don't find it terribly useful to think in terms of "neck territory". I find it much more useful to think in terms of what the ebb and flow of the music may suggest to me in the moment - and of how well I might intuitively respond to it in that moment. Any number of factors might influence whether one is playing high or low, ascending, descending, etc. etc.

One suggestion I might make is to take the advice of Jaco, from his instructional video Modern Electric Bass - to learn to play melody. Even if the only time you might play a melody is when you're soloing, study melody anyway - because melody is king. Melody generally determines harmony and rhythm - not the other way around...

MM

[toneuc]

MM,

Thanks so much for the info! About which scale to play in, I want to make sure I am saying the right thing for you to answer.

Ex. Key of C...would you stick to a particluar scale (maybe mode?) like major scale, pentatonic, blues..etc?

Also, what do you mean by "studying melody"?

Thanks Again,
TM

[MysticMichael]

TM,

I honestly can't answer your questions with much more specificity, largely because the "correct" answer(s) depend a lot on musical context. Depends an awful lot on the genre/style of material one is playing - and how creative one wishes to get.

That said, I think I know where you're going with this. And if you're playing mainstream classic rock or blues, 90+% of the time, you'll be safe sticking to a plain ol' pentatonic scale in a major key. It's just that this kind of thing has been done and overdone for so many years now, that it has long since ceased to hold much interest for me personally. Main reason I'm much more interested in postmodern rock, ambient/electronic stuff these days: it's much more open-ended and harmonically free...

"Study melody": I mean that as you listen to music, you should focus on how the melody generally determines and interacts with rhythm and harmony. You should notice how chord progressions support the melody and influence the musical environment in which the melody asserts itself. And if you're not doing it already, you should learn to play melodies - any melodies - on the bass...whether you're just jamming to a recording or noodling away to whatever comes up on the radio - or whatever. Helps you to start thinking like a soloist - and to better appreciate the role that the lead instruments in your band have to play.

One more thing: if/when you have the opportunity to study theory, then you should develop the ability to analyze and deconstruct music, so you can better understand the relationships between melody, harmony & rhythm - and the various creative choices that make up a given piece of music. (Study the circle of fifths - you'll see what I'm getting at...)

MM

[Psycho]

To me, a solo isn't a solo unless it fits.


A solo can either give the song a fullness and meaning, or flow alongside and provide the same things without being too stand-outish. (I know, seems contradictory to a solo).

Some songs just "fit" in with the rest of the song, and others seem to "define" the song.

Sorry, that's the best way I can describe by take on it.

[Cloverfield]

Solos should be melodic, yes. That's the best thing you can aim for (and something that I'm still struggling with / working on).

As a point of reference, "A Remark You Made" by Weather Report is a perfect example of this.
As the melody of the song plays down through the head and gets traded off by the different instruments, realize that it could all be one hell of a solo.

[ksandvik]

... I was forced to do a bass solo on Bob Segers Good Old Rock&Roll last Wednesday... That was fun/interesting and actually doable. You need to think of the style played when jumping in with a solo, that's one the keys to soloing.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by toneuc

...... Also, what do you mean by "studying melody"?

Sounds like you are near the starting line of your journey. No problem. Melody - the tune.

Improvising a solo - 1) play the tune and 2) embellish with 4 note phrases. Can you play the tune? If not grab the chord's pentatonic - like Michael said. Now with your pentatonic it is going to help if the tune (melody) slips in there somewhere. Three or four bars would be a start. Take the lead playing the tune, then move to your pentatonics and give the lead back playing the tune.

If you are just running scales it's going to sound like you are just running scales. Every song has a melody, use some if it. How? See if this helps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyP78...eature=channel You gotta know the tune first - then you can improvise from there.

On this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NehOx...eature=channel you join him in mid lesson stay with him to about 3:30 at which point we get into the meat and then again around 7:00 it gets interesting - check out what he says about 4 note patterns and chord tones.

All that was meant to give you some of the big picture. For now take the chords pentatonic and play the chord changes, i.e. Over the C chord play C major pentatonic. You now have the lead - are now playing melody you are not laying down a beat or groove - there is a difference - so play that pentatonic as melody. Follow the lyric phrases (pause) let the tune breath, someone else now has the groove - you are now playing melody. That's the point of this post. Then over the Dm chord play the D minor pentatonic and when it jumps to F and G use those pentatonics. Keep in the back of your mind that you gotta sooner or later get some of the tune in there somewhere. It's a process........

Have fun.

[lmfreeman9]

Originally Posted by ksandvik

... I was forced to do a bass solo on Bob Segers Good Old Rock&Roll last Wednesday... That was fun/interesting and actually doable. You need to think of the style played when jumping in with a solo, that's one the keys to soloing.

I'm in a band that covers this. I would love to hear your solo. Can you describe it at all? What bass line are you playing?

[ksandvik]

Originally Posted by lmfreeman9

I'm in a band that covers this. I would love to hear your solo. Can you describe it at all? What bass line are you playing?

This was at a jam and suddenly the singer pointed at me and said in the mic: bass solo!

I used an SX P/J bass, my main workhorse. I have some patches on my Zoom B2 that I drag around for sudden solos but this happened so fast I was not prepared so I just went along.

As this is a rock&roll song I did rock licks -- helps that I'm also a guitar player to understand how to do those rockabilly licks with bending, listen to Brian Seltzer as he plays those licks a lot. So the concept was to do the solo in the style of the song, rock/rockabilly licks with bends. Hope this helps.

[James Judson]

Perfect bass solo will only last 3 seconds. Any longer than that and you will lose your audience. Ever watch that extended drum solo. Most drum solos clear the dance floor in 3 seconds. There are exceptions like your mom or another bass player in the audience, etc. If you have to do a bass solo play melodic, Bach is a good start.

[puddin tame]

Originally Posted by James Judson

Perfect bass solo will only last 3 seconds. Any longer than that and you will lose your audience. Ever watch that extended drum solo. Most drum solos clear the dance floor in 3 seconds. There are exceptions like your mom or another bass player in the audience, etc. If you have to do a bass solo play melodic, Bach is a good start.

Yeah maybe if you suck

I kept the dance floor going with a 3 min bass solo just the other night....

[ksandvik]

I kind of agree that most bass solos are boring, so you need to put some thinking into them to entertain the audience.

[Rockmusician]

I am probably the odd man out in this but I hate solos. I have been asked to do them but I can't stand playing them and I hate watching and listening to them even more. To me, they are nothing more than self indulgent crap. They are boring for audiences and do nothing more than waste time so a band can limit the amount of songs they have to play in a given night.

Not trying to offend anyone. Just my opinion.

[Mayers]

You should check out Adam Nitti. He puts videos on Youtube and he has some DVD avalaible to talk about that kind of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9T_p7h8vd8

[dbase]

Originally Posted by James Judson

Perfect bass solo will only last 3 seconds. Any longer than that and you will lose your audience. Ever watch that extended drum solo. Most drum solos clear the dance floor in 3 seconds. There are exceptions like your mom or another bass player in the audience, etc. If you have to do a bass solo play melodic, Bach is a good start.

Except for Iron Butterfly's "Inagodadavida" .. heheh