I need to learn the blues... overnight.

[Benjamin Strange]

I may start playing bass with a roots and blues musician. I am probably the least bluesy musician on the planet, and I've never bothered to learn a blues vocabulary. I need help.

I can read music, so I was hoping that some TBers might recommend some instructional books that would have some standard lines and such to get me started. Any tips on who and what to listen to would be appreciated as well.

[AlphaMale]

Learn the blues scale:

G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-9-----------
You should know how to use this.

And this should help too

Bass Beginner

Blues Rhythm Theory:

Say “Frankenstein”. Don’t look at me funny, just do it. Now say it over and over pronouncing each syllable in an even time. Now imagine the “Frank” part being the 1. Tap your foot on the “Frank” or 1. Now replace the “en” with 2, and the “stein” with 3. So, now count “123123123123" while tapping your foot down each time you get to a 1. Congratulations, you are now counting and feeling triplets. It’s pretty easy to translate this to your bass.

What does this have anything to do with blues? Well, most blues rhythms are based on what’s called a “shuffle” rhythm. You get a shuffle by simply playing triplets but not playing on any of the 2's. To do a good shuffle, you want to make sure that the space that you leave when you don’t play the 2 is just as even in time as your 1's and 3's. In other words, feel and count the triplet, but play the shuffle. Again, it’s not too hard to get this down when you’re only playing one note.

Authentic blues players use dynamics a lot too. Dynamics in this case refer to changes in volume. Try accenting the 1's when you shuffle. Try it at different tempos. Slower tempos are actually harder to keep even. That’s why it’s really important to keep counting triplets in your head while you play the shuffle. Ok, Frankenstein?

Almost all early rock bands have bassists who play blues style.

Rock Blues Bassline would be like "Heart Breaker - Led Zeppelin"
A traditional Blues Bassline would be like "Crossroads - Cream"

Rock style plays the same thing as the guitarists, this doesn't really occur when there is one guitarists (like in blues bands)
Traditional Blues Basslines carry a rhythm and have the guitarist play melodies. (Or rhythms sometimes)

Rock Style blues is not a problem you already know that.
Traditional Blues style can be heard in songs like
"People of the sun - Rage Against the Machine"
"The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King"

[IAmTheDood]

shouldn't this
G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-9-----------

be:
G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-8-----------

?

pentatonic minor with a 5th in it?

I think ya got the 9th fret wrong, should be 8th instead.

[DocBop]

There is a similar thread on getting into Blues playing over in the Recording forum. Calling all blues bassists

No offence if your going to being playing with real Blues players what was told to you in the other post will getting them looking for another bass player. The B.B. King reference was on real Blues tune mentioned the rest were Rock with a Blues influence, not Blues.

As for the triplets he's trying to explain playing in 12/8 a common Blues feel. It still has a 4 feel, but three notes per beat. Most people learn to play triplets by just saying Trip-pul-let, trip-put-let, trip-pul-let or 1-2-3, 2-2-3, 3-2-3, 4-2-3 in time. In the drummer will probably count off saying One, two, three, four, but be clicking his sticks in the 12/8 triplet feel.

Play real Blues for bass is all about playing simple with a lot of feel. Check out some real Blues there are suggestions in the other thread. It requires keeping your eyes and ears open because whoever is singing or soloing is in charge and they will start playing around with dynamics and adding breaks.

Nothing can beat playing real Blues and the whole band locks in, its a real powerful thing.

[fettbass]

Originally Posted by IAmTheDood

shouldn't this
G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-9-----------

be:
G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-8-----------

?

pentatonic minor with a 5th in it?

I think ya got the 9th fret wrong, should be 8th instead.

Well you could play the pentatonic major as well.

[Dr Funk]

If that title is accurate and given this quote...

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

I may start playing bass with a roots and blues musician. I am probably the least bluesy musician on the planet, and I've never bothered to learn a blues vocabulary. I need help.

I'm thinkin' you're gonna get your first real blues lesson tommorow.

[Benjamin Strange]

Originally Posted by Dr Funk

If that title is accurate and given this quote...



I'm thinkin' you're gonna get your first real blues lesson tommorow.

That may be true... I have a gig with him on Thursday! Ha!

[bradjonesbass]

Jump in feet first. It's mostly I - IV - V, but watch out for that vi, ii, V turnaround. It'll jump up and bite you if you aren't paying attention. Keep It Simple Stupid. Or is that Keep It Stupid Simple?? Lock to the drummer and no matter how far out there the guitar player goes, stay solid - more solid the farther out he goes. If he really starts going off, you're doing your job. If he feels the need to keep it too simple, he may not trust your feel.

[lonote]

Avoid the temptation to play too much and too loud. If your gig is a blues and roots situation (as opposed to blues rock), you need to play sparsely. Generally speaking, you should be playing mostly 1/4 notes. That's the best advice I can give you now.

[AlphaMale]

G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-8-----------

yeah
That's what I mean

And yeah the standard blues chrod progression is a " I, IV V"
I don't know what that means but that's suppsoed ot be important.

[rjny36]

Who is the person influenced by?

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

G]--------------
D]----------5-7-
A]----5-6-7-----
E]5-8-----------

yeah
That's what I mean

And yeah the standard blues chrod progression is a " I, IV V"
I don't know what that means but that's suppsoed ot be important.

I IV V is the chord progression for most Blues and a lot of Rock and Roll.

Take a Blue in the key of A. In general you start on A then go to D, back to A and turn around is E to D back to A. The I is A, IV is D, and V is E. People talk about progressions in Roman numerial which represent the harmonized scale because talking in numbers its easy to tranpose to other keys instantly. Start backing up singers all the time and you hope they bring charts in numbers so you can switch keys fast. This system is sometimes called the Nashville Number charts.

[::::BASSIST::::]

I find myself playing a lot of blues-ish based music in my current band.

I find the key is to keep it VERY simple, but make every song sound different with completely different lines (though also play them as VERY simple lines as well). When say I simple, I dont mean just root it all the time. A walking line is good, but make sure its not busy.

I find alot of songs are E A B three chord type songs and its very easy for the basslines to all sound the same if you dont go out of your way to make them different.

The other thing is blues guys generally dont like it when bassists play above the 7th fret.

As said above, its simple, in the pocket groove playing. I like it.

[dlb1001]

Read up on 12 bar blues...should be familiar with quick changes, some basic turnarounds and intros. Might have to know how to read a Nashville chart. Didn't know what a Nashville chart was until my teacher opened up a song list that he was given to get ready for gig.

[Baird6869]

Learn SRV's Pride and Joy. Textbook blues bass using an open E. Easy and fun to play.

[jazzbo]

So, your basic blues format:

I | I | I | I
IV | IV | I | I
V7 | IV | I | I

That's a I-IV-V7. There are many variations to that.
A "quick turnaround" is replacing the second bar with the ii chord. You should know that.
Sometimes in the last 2 bars you'll see ii-V7-I patterns.
There are many variations.

If you knew this list of songs, it would give you a great variety of lines to play:

- BB King "The Thrill is Gone" - The chord changes here are slightly different from above. Listen for the turnaround on the last 4 bars.

- BB King "Stormy Monday" - Classic tune and a MUST know. Like Mustang Sally or something. Listen to how the bass kind of drags, kind of limps along. It's that half a nanosecond behind the drums. Really subtle. There's lots of space in that line. It's almost a walking pattern. You really don't need to know much about the pentatonic and other blues scales. As a bassist in classic blues, you'll play a lot of straight triad variations and 7th chord permutations. Diatonic walkdowns from the octave or fifth are common. Chromatic walkups or walkdowns are also used. But remember, these are fills.

Bobbi Gentry "Ode to Billie Joe" - Simplicity.

Blues Brothers & Ray Charles "Shake Your Tail Feather" - A little more jump boogie but with a shuffle-like line. This is Duck Dunn right? It's more busy but you can hear the form with minor variations.

Buddy Guy "Sweet Little Angel" - A great slow blues. Listen to how subtle it is. This is NOT Rage Against the Machine. Subtle subtle subtle.

Junior Wells "Messin' with the Kid" - Faster line, but uses a very common root-third-fifth pattern. The diatonic walkdown is very common, (think Jaco's version of "The Chicken")

Lou Ann Barton's "You Can Have My Husband" - Very very very common line. Know this and you'll get gigs.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy" - Another classic line. Very simple. Remember that with blues, you're really letting the guitar and horn/harmonica do all the fancy stuff. It's their vehicle, just keep 'er on the road.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Cold Shot" - Basically copies the guitar line, but a good variation to know. Sits on the I chord forever and a day.

Bonnie Raitt's "Mighty Tight Woman" - Shuffle.

[WillPlay4Food]

I thought the quick turnaround was a IV7 chord in the second bar?

i.e. I7|IV7|I|I

[Essexbass]

Originally Posted by jazzbo

So, your basic blues format:

I | I | I | I
IV | IV | I | I
V7 | IV | I | I

That's a I-IV-V7. There are many variations to that.
A "quick turnaround" is replacing the second bar with the ii chord. You should know that.
Sometimes in the last 2 bars you'll see ii-V7-I patterns.
There are many variations.

If you knew this list of songs, it would give you a great variety of lines to play:

- BB King "The Thrill is Gone" - The chord changes here are slightly different from above. Listen for the turnaround on the last 4 bars.

- BB King "Stormy Monday" - Classic tune and a MUST know. Like Mustang Sally or something. Listen to how the bass kind of drags, kind of limps along. It's that half a nanosecond behind the drums. Really subtle. There's lots of space in that line. It's almost a walking pattern. You really don't need to know much about the pentatonic and other blues scales. As a bassist in classic blues, you'll play a lot of straight triad variations and 7th chord permutations. Diatonic walkdowns from the octave or fifth are common. Chromatic walkups or walkdowns are also used. But remember, these are fills.

Bobbi Gentry "Ode to Billie Joe" - Simplicity.

Blues Brothers & Ray Charles "Shake Your Tail Feather" - A little more jump boogie but with a shuffle-like line. This is Duck Dunn right? It's more busy but you can hear the form with minor variations.

Buddy Guy "Sweet Little Angel" - A great slow blues. Listen to how subtle it is. This is NOT Rage Against the Machine. Subtle subtle subtle.

Junior Wells "Messin' with the Kid" - Faster line, but uses a very common root-third-fifth pattern. The diatonic walkdown is very common, (think Jaco's version of "The Chicken")

Lou Ann Barton's "You Can Have My Husband" - Very very very common line. Know this and you'll get gigs.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy" - Another classic line. Very simple. Remember that with blues, you're really letting the guitar and horn/harmonica do all the fancy stuff. It's their vehicle, just keep 'er on the road.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Cold Shot" - Basically copies the guitar line, but a good variation to know. Sits on the I chord forever and a day.

Bonnie Raitt's "Mighty Tight Woman" - Shuffle.

Can I add "Born In Chicago" (Paul Butterfield Blues Band), "Further On Up the Road" (Gary Moore version on "Live Blues" & Tore Down" (Clapton's version on "From the Cradle")?

Cheers,
Essexbass

[jazzbo]

Originally Posted by WillPlay4Food

I thought the quick turnaround was a IV7 chord in the second bar?

i.e. I7|IV7|I|I

You're very correct. My apologies for the brain fart. Perhaps too much jazz influence there.

[permagrin]

http://www.eden-electronics.com/foru...?TOPIC_ID=8392

Have a great gig.