PLAYING THE BLUES

[youngblues]

APSIRING BLUES BASSIST ANY TIPS LIKE MUSICIANS AND TECNIQUES THANKS

[jansenh]

Hi.

I am not really sure what kinds of advise or at what level you are looking for, but these books really got me started a couple of years ago. Both books has play-along CD and simple tabs. A great resource.

http://www.amazon.com/Blues-Bass-Ess...4621497&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/101-Blues-Patt...4621497&sr=8-3

The next step is finding someone to play with. Playing along a CD at home will help you a bit on the way, but playing in a band is the real thing. A mentor, an experienced blues bassist is a really valuable resource, which can be hard to find. I got lucky an have a mentor that I meet at least once a month.

Another thing that has been inspiring to me is seeing live bluesbands. In a small venue you'll get a good feel of the craftsmanship of musicians.


regards. jansenh

[DocBop]

Blues just get some classic Blues CDs and figure out the tunes and play. Best education in time, ear, feeling changes, holding the down the groove. Check out Robben Ford stuff with Roscoe Beck on bass for modern Blues. When I started playing ages ago I got some Paul Butterfield Blues Band albums and jammed and figured out all their tunes. Start searching out Blues jams. Playing Blues builds a real solid foundation.

The best lesson to learn from playing real Blues with the cats that have been doing it forever is there is such thing as too simple. Groove is everything.

[BellBottomBlues]

A good blues bassist to look into is Tommy Shannon of Double Trouble.

[Frankjohnson]

Originally Posted by jansenh

Hi.

The next step is finding someone to play with. Playing along a CD at home will help you a bit on the way, but playing in a band is the real thing.

Another thing that has been inspiring to me is seeing live bluesbands. In a small venue you'll get a good feel of the craftsmanship of musicians.regards. jansenh

These are great comments. not much to add right off.....

I started playing really late (in 2002 at 39). I spent the first 2 years spinning my wheels at home, learning bad habits and pieces of songs by myself. About three years ago, I played wiht a drummer for teh first time, and played out the next night at an open mic jam. I went back repeatedly.

I hooked up with diffeent people to play with. some were helpful and worked out, others were not. I learned from both types of people though. You can leanr what "not to do" and it is a lesson also. always remember that.

I would add......try to record yourself to hear if what you thought sounded good while you were playign sounds good in playback. This is good while learning material with a CD. You can hear if what you are playing meshes, and is solid (in the pocket), or too busy, or just doesn't work.

I play at a blues open mic venue about an hour away as part of the house band. I am still learning (My 3rd year in bass now - the first two were struggling with guitar, and I get to do that some too now.). I get to play with some awsome people, and some nights are crap. You have to take the good and bad, if you take any at all.

Things I have learned at an alarming rate:
- how and what to pack for a gig
- how to use my equipment effectively
- when to lay back
- spontanaty (sp?)
- gratitude
- humillity
- improvisation
- flexibillity
- A LOT of material
- to do my homework when I had a night that I struggled with material
- That there are a lot of people out there better than me
- That there are a lot of people out there I can help to get better
- That everyone struggels with "some material"
- ya still have to enjoy the ride, even when it rains, and the top won't go up!

[dvh]

All good advice. My own .02: learn to hear and perceive the spaces in the same way you hear and pereceive the notes. They are of equal value and internalizing that is the foundation of groove.

[txbasschik]

Learn your scales, most particularly the major/minor pentatonics and blues scales. Learn to connect them...practice them, then take them apart and play them out of order. Then, for example, play your E blues scale and your A blues scales, rearrange them, have them resolve into each other.

Listen to blues recordings...different artists, eras, and styles. Play along, and apply your blues scale practice. Some bassists stick to traditional blues progressions, but most like to tweak 'em some. Tommy Shannon is a master at this. Learning your scales, and how to break them down and connect them in different ways, will help your ear and enable you to hear these things.

Tommy Shannon recommended to following to another local bassist, and she passed it along to me: Listen to, and try to play, "The Ghetto" and "Everything Is Everything", by Donnie Hathaway, from his Live album. The bassist is Willie Weeks. There's no way you'll be able to play the solo in "Everything" right now, but that isn't the point. Both songs are excellent groove practice, and "Everything" gives us a high point to reach for.

Have fun!

Cherie

[youngblues]

thanks great tips

[AveryHorton]

Do Not:

1) play too fast

2) play too loud

3) play too much

Learn to play from the heart. Either you feel it or you don't. If you do, so will the listener.

[Frankjohnson]

Originally Posted by AveryHorton

Do Not:

1) play too fast

2) play too loud

3) play too much

Learn to play from the heart. Either you feel it or you don't. If you do, so will the listener.

well put -

Kind of like less is more?
(there are a lot of things I just let the drums and guitar do, because it just fumbles me up!)