Power Trio

[pbass40]

How many of you currently or have played in a Power Trio? I am in one now that plays primarily Blues,and Classic Rock.What do you do to help fill out the sound.

[MalcolmAmos]

IMHO filling out a measure is a feel thing, I'm not big on filling the air with scales, modes, even pentatonics. Blues, because of all the sevenths a R-3-5-7 works. Rock R-3-5-3 works for me. Depending on the beat perhaps R-R-3-3-5-5-6-5, or something on that order.

Most everything I grab involves the root plus chord tones.
My main concern is to keep the beat and don't step on anyone's toes. I feel how full a measure is depends on the beat, a plain ole root nothing has it's place.

[Billnc]

I personally enjoy the sonic space. I play New Orleans funk, blues and blues based stuff, guitar player plays a lot of slide. We get jazzy so I'll walk a lot. Once in a while I'll throw in some 10ths. Our drummer does a lot of percussion type playing on the kit, so things are filled out a bit. Unless it's called for in a riff tune, I don't always emphasize the root, I do a lot of stuff emphasizing the third etc. Fretless bass also adds a timbre change. We also rely heavily on dynamics to keep things interesting. In a slow blues I'll drop out for an entire chorus and the drummer will keep light time for the dancers in the audience.

The coolest thing about trio's, it's my favorite format, is three guys can read each other pretty easily, you are free to improvise on set parts rather than keep to your given part. Songs really develop their own personality over time. Most covers have to be arranged to fit the format.

A jittery rambling coffee in the morning reply I guess.

[bassandbeyond]

I've found that using the 5-string can be helpful in this situation. Usually, I'm more of a 4-string guy, but those really low B string notes can sometimes help to make the band sound bigger.

[CrispyDelicious]

Fill out the sound? In my last power trio, there was a far amount of soloing which I compensated for via overdrive and chords.

[WuvMuffin72]

It doesnt necessarily need to be a walking bassline type thing. You can be like Geezer Butler and just riff your way out of things, but doing so means your riff isnt also just a riff, but a riff that contributes to the key, the rhythm and/or the melody.

But I'd say you can do a lot more a bassist can do, which also means you can occasionnally play melody if you arent taking away from the song. My favorite bassist who plays like that, and the band is basically a bluesy power trio (unless a keyboardist is accompanying them) is Ana Popovic's bassist Ronald Jonker, who is simply stunning.

[phatbass]

One act I play in is a dinosaur Blues/Rock power trio (sorta Cream/Vanilla Fudge/Mountain) - totally pre-historic and loadsa fun 'coz while it's only about 20% originals, we turn just about everything into an improv to some degree anyway.

Very self-indulgent 'coz we say up front that we do what we do; while we will play occasional requests if they're part of this band's repertoire, we DON'T play Dinner music/Top 40/Indie/Country/etc. (I play with enough acts that do the crowd-pleasing thing). And we keep getting return gigs...

I don't try to fill out the sonic landscape totally with effects (although I do use a Big Muff and an Electronix Messdrive for some stuff), chords, or flurries of notes; I find it's much more important to lock in as tight as possible with the Drummer and give the music room to breathe. In fact playing simple groovy parts gives a much better result. And with less instrumentation, it makes your choice of notes and phrasing a lot more important.

[Groovy Bastard]

It helps to have a "big" sound, but apart from that I think its just playing 'smart parts'. With this I mean that if everybody is playing something that is very clear, and rhythmically strong the music will be there. Clear (often simple) harmonic outlining in your lines can also help giving the impression that there's more going on, but even steady 8th note roots can do a lot.
And of course, all the parts need to lock in a certain way. If you make clear distinctions between sections where you play really complementary stuff, and others where you double eachother you can create a lot of texture.

Yesterday I posted a link to a live performance by my own trio, you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGxAbbAAtf0

Also check out these guys!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSU5N...eature=related

[george.c.]

i have only ever played in a power trio situations so have never known what it is to have a second guitar or keyboards etc to fill out.

i believe the most important thing is song choice.we cover songs from cream,zep,jeff beck,beatles,hendrix and some fusion numbers (mainly because we are old farts)that adapt well to three piece.the songs have to have a certain degree of intensity and be very riff orientated.

as far as playing technique goes i find that playing alot of muted notes sounds like the bass is busy without sounding like its trying to play too many notes to try to fill a void....locking in with the drummer is very important also....being able to read your guitarist is also important during their solo or during improvisation.you have to compliment eachother.if they are soloing it is important for the bass and drums to be locked in together very solidly without any space or it just falls flat on its face and when the guitarist proves some space then the bass can throw in some well timed licks...effects can come in handy also but i believe they should be used very subtly or they unbalance the sound..

[1dgbass]

I play in a power trio with my cousins and it's one of those rare cases where I play lead bass in most of the songs. It's helped me developed into such a better player.

If I don't play lead I will usually play straight 8th notes.

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