Help me with playing a bossa

[brake]

I can't play a Bossa to save my life. I'm a bit of a lazy, behind the beat kind of bass player, so I can't quite "get" a bossa.



Melodically, I know what's going on. Lots of I-V and soforth, but rhythmically, I can't do it very well. Any advice would be great.

[DocBop]

You just have to listen, listen, listen till you can feel it. Root and fifth is perfect for a Bossa. The basic feel is dotted quarter-eighth note, dotted quarter-eight note.

Put your bass down and step away from your instrument. Now clap the basic rhythm along with the recording. Bossa and other forms of Brazilian are easy because they still hit on the one. Try to feel the eighth note of the dotted-quarter-eighth note, it is anticipating the one and again the three. Try to hear it as And-One, And-Three. Clap it till you have the feel. Still having trouble try to sing the "and-one" and "and-three". Once you have the feel then pickup your bass and try playing Roots only with that rhythm. Keep thinking "and-one and-three" while you play the roots. Once comfortable with that now use the Roots and fifths. The And's are the fifths so long root, short fifth, root, short fifth. That is about as much as I can say in words, listening is the key.


Extra credit homework.

If you get the above down solid not to sound more authentic. Same line except instead of the fifth make it a percussive ghost note. Here's the hard part the ghost note should be louder than the root. That is what give the simple line a lot of forward motion.

Get a MP3 of a basic Bossa like Wave by Jobin and listen to the feel.

[buddyro57]

I totally agree with all of the good advice listed above; listening is key. I was struck by something you said, " I am a lazy, behind the beat kind of bass player". DONT BE! No one wants to play with that kind of underpinning. If you tell yourself that you play that way, you will believe it, and thus it becomes true. Better to listen to guys who have GREAT time, and that's most of the guys you hear on recordings. If they had lazy time, their tracks would never have been kept.
Here are some guys to listen to- each has an unreal inner sense of time- these are in no particular order and span all genres: (apologies in advance for misspelled names!)
McCartney ( Sir Paul)
Verdine White
James Jamerson
Jaco
Rocco Prestia
Chuck Rainey
Stanley Clarke
Berry Oakley
John Entwistle
Jack Bruce
Nathan East
Alphonso Johnson
Oscar Cartaya
Oh Man- they are way too numerous to keep going- just strive for great time, buy a drum machine- that will get your ass in gear. Wake up-

[bburk]

Originally Posted by buddyro57

I totally agree with all of the good advice listed above; listening is key. I was struck by something you said, " I am a lazy, behind the beat kind of bass player". DONT BE!

Unless I am mistaken, I don't think he meant that his time was bad particularly, but instead that he is used to playing 'behind the beat'. In other words, on the beat, but just a tiny bit late. This creates a bit of a 'lazy' feel, in contrast to a Bossa's 'pushing' feel which is usually referred to as playing 'in front' of the beat.

edit: I found a couple online articles that describe the idea of playing in 'front of' or 'behind' the beat.

http://www.basssessions.com/aug05/thebeat.html
http://wellyouneednot.blogspot.com/2006/03/beat.html

There are a bunch of others as well.

I also remember a passage about this concept in Tony Levin's book Beyond the Bass Clef, which is kind of a neat read, in a light hearted way.

[PocketGroove82]

Listen to the kick drum, then go:

"BOOM, boom boom...ba"
"BOOM, boom boom."

[jweiss]

1-2-3-4 ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait>

continue forever.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by jweiss

1-2-3-4 ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait> ba-dum <wait>

continue forever.

I don't know I think it more like daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit, daaa-dit......