How do I hang on a Blues G

LBronson · #1 05-12-2010, 07:30 PM

I sat in on a blues jam last night, which I don't do often. The last song was King bee, slow blues, and the guitar player asked me to hang on the G for the song. Maybe I'm the wrong guy for this but how would you do this without getting bored?

Mahumadi · #2 05-12-2010, 08:23 PM

subscribed, interested in hearing the replies.

acubass · #3 05-12-2010, 08:31 PM

Did he tell you before the song started? Close to the end? Did he stay on the G? Sorry for all the question marks I'm just trying to understand.

standupright · #4 05-12-2010, 08:32 PM

i didn't know that there wasn't a progression in king bee.

N.F.A. · #5 05-12-2010, 08:34 PM

Different G notes on the fretboard for slightly different flavors? I thought there was a progression too.

otis_thick · #6 05-12-2010, 09:06 PM

In blues your job is to make a pocket. If you are hanginging in G.....you can "throb" the G with the bass drum...take a walk but don't play all over the neck until its your time....the focus is on the lead (guitar,vocals, sax, organ etc.) Believe me in blues tyou may think the bass parts may be simple but those simple parts make a BIG impact if you play them right....if you are getting board then either Blues is not for you..... YET! It sounds like you don't play with FEEL If you don't a Blues audience will not feel it either. I know open stages can be a giant train wreck but remember you and the drums are the tracks

LBronson · #7 05-12-2010, 11:09 PM

Thanks for the reply's. Yes he did tell me before starting. He did stay on the G. Don't misunderstand me I like the blues but this was new to me. I tried to match the bass kick most of the time with a little walkng. It was a very subdued experience. Just looking to make the next time better for me and the audience. I had a great time at this jam and look forward to doing it again.

Stumbo · #8 05-12-2010, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBronson

I tried to match the bass kick most of the time with a little walkng. It was a very subdued experience.

That was probably exactly what the guitarist wanted. Sounds like he took and extended solo and wanted the bass to be in the background.

As far as being bored, if the audience was digging it, your job was done and done right.

Fergie Fulton · #9 05-13-2010, 03:01 AM

King Bee is a song that has many versions, each with there own flavour and distinctions, but in all cases they are about the delivery of the lyrics over a groove. In the link you will find a version in the music player in threes.

http://www.myspace.com/crazymixedupw0rld

In Blues no one instrument is the fore it is about the "big picture" that all the instruments create not one individual instrument.

With no direct reference to the OP but that feeling of bored if it comes into you mind.
Being "bored" is a state of mind in music that is based in being selfish, because a player feels they are not contributing anything because their part is not in the fore or dynamic a contribution as say another part.
In music it is the sum of all the parts that make the sound, its about layers and texture and that sometimes means that parts on there own sound not interesting but they are the foundation that let the other parts stand tall.
So think about how that would be in an orchestra or a big band situation if everybody took the attitude of seeing their part as boring?
In Blues music you are part of something you are not the something, even solo acts in Blues are part of something bigger than them.......the music.

JimK · #10 05-13-2010, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBronson

Maybe I'm the wrong guy for this but how would you do this without getting bored?

>Rhythmic variation?
>Vary your touch &/or articulation?
>Have a "conversation" with the drummer...change feels, dynamics, etc.

rodl2005 · #11 05-13-2010, 04:53 AM

Ya groove !!!!!!!! On G~!!!! Shut yr eyes, FEEEEL it, & as Otis says above- stick with the drums!

Deathblade Eric · #12 05-15-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBronson

...slow blues, and the guitar player asked me to hang on the G for the song. Maybe I'm the wrong guy for this but how would you do this without getting bored?

otis_thick has probably given the definitive answer on this one - the "one-note" progression is possibly the toughest thing to learn.

Sometimes it's not as tough as you might think though...

Exhibit A: Rory Gallagher - Seems To Me it's in E and you get a whole minute to stand around doing nothing in! But when it does kick in....

Then again there's the one where you're pinned in the corner & there's no escape until the end of the song & in this case that's about 3000 years next tuesday lunchtime. Exhibit B Bad To The Bone.

I have real trouble with this one - I need some room to move. I guess it's why I detest Freebird so much... plenty of space at the start for some sensitive harmonic interplay & that, but then it's G-Bb-C for the rest of time.

azureblue · #13 05-15-2010, 12:26 PM

but your viewpoint is the line between being a player and a musician.
Understand and grow.

Deathblade Eric · #14 05-15-2010, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azureblue

but your viewpoint is the line between being a player and a musician.
Understand and grow.

Assuming that's aimed at me, you may have a case. Up to a point. For a given value of "right". TBH it sounds a bit glib though. How do you differentiate 'twixt "player" & "musician"?

I think the dynamic of the tune has a lot to do with the situation. BTTB has virtually no dynamic - it's flat, one-dimensional & slightly pedestrian from start to finish. It's also a killer tune! I'll put up with it because of that, but it's a struggle (same applies to Cocaine & All Along The Watchtower).

The Rory number has dynamics by the lead-loaded sockfull & there's plenty of rhythmic interplay going on so it need never be quite the same tune twice.

Here's another one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4irHDxeAzQ - a cover of Etta James' "I'll Sing The Blues"
It hangs on the 1 for a goodly long time & there ain't much to do but go... Bap, Ba-dap, Ba-dap, Ba-dap on the root the whole way through. Boring???

Err... no. Again, it's got a certain dynamic that means pedalling the root never has a chance to become boring. Call that one out on me & I'll have a big wide grin making an E swing it's pants off.

Pete.

otis_thick · #15 05-20-2010, 12:25 AM

I was trying to find a clip of Tower of Power's "It all comes back" although not a "Blues" tune ... its a great example of what can be done with One note....I know its 2 but that is only in the "Hook".... chorus for the youngsters

Spin Doctor · #16 05-24-2010, 03:09 PM

I don't get that, "how do you keep from getting bored" thing. I have a friend who says this all the time and I tell him, maybe he needs to play something besides bass. He can't really play, but I feel as long as I'm doing my job and the people are diggin' it and the band mates dig it, why feel like you need to musically masturbate all over a song?

I can play scales and modal patterns at 400 notes a minute (100bpm 16notes) and it bothers me not at all to thump a low E all night if I have to... You just have to know how to do it, I guess...

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine...

JimmyM · #17 05-24-2010, 03:35 PM

+1 for spin doctor. if you don't want to be bored on bass, play jazz.

**251** · #18 05-24-2010, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spin Doctor

I don't get that, "how do you keep from getting bored" thing. I have a friend who says this all the time and I tell him, maybe he needs to play something besides bass. He can't really play, but I feel as long as I'm doing my job and the people are diggin' it and the band mates dig it, why feel like you need to musically masturbate all over a song?

I can play scales and modal patterns at 400 notes a minute (100bpm 16notes) and it bothers me not at all to thump a low E all night if I have to... You just have to know how to do it, I guess...

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine...

+1. Think of it as an opportunity to find new ways to deal with boring tasks. How long did that tune last? 10 minutes? 15? More?

I once played a 12 Bar F Blues behind a poet reciting, for 40 minutes. The drummer & I spent 15 minutes trading 6's to stay in the music. Now I have this story to tell ...