Tactus, how does it apply to Bass Guitar?

[treekiller]

I was at a discussion recently led by a retired sacred music professor on the subject of tactus vs. timing as it related to 16th century hymnody.

Since my music theory skills are limited, can any of you help explain to me how this can apply to bass playing in secular music(ie: rock, blues, etc.)?

[mambo4]

I have no idea what the discussion entailed, and never heard of "tactus" before, but wikipedia sez it is synonymous with "pulse"
Further elaboration from ohio state university describes tactus as :
"The rate at which a listener will spontaneously tap while listening to music.
The tactus commonly coincides with the beat rate.
However, where beats are perceived as stronger or weaker events within a recurring meter,
the tactus remains an undifferentiated pulse."

so if it is fair to rephrase the question :
"how does pulse vs timing relate to bass playing?"

But then there is the fluid, vague and fuzzy term "timing" which means too many things to different people.

I would equate "pulse" with simply accurate tempo
and "timing" with rhythmic feel or rhythmic style

in other words the pulse is constant and doesn't change
the rhythmic feel is a result of where within that pulse you place the notes

Rhthmic feel is dependant on accurate tempo

[uethanian]

although i've also never heard the term 'tactus' before, this is a very important concept for bassists especially.

in jazz walking, you can very consciously put your notes in front of the beat (pushing), on the beat, or behind the beat (laying back). provided you have a decent drummer, this does not actually change the pulse of the music, you are just consistently shifted off the beat by however many milliseconds.

it also matters for anything that is swung...swing can range from shuffle (almost triplets) to bebop (almost straight). in any case, a good feeling swing is something that cant be quantized. it's more like the sensation of a timing discrepancy between on-tactus and off-tactus.

in rock/pop it's typically much more straight. but there's tons of nuance going on whether or not the musicians are consciously aware of it. the same singer can sound lazy or energetic depending on where they place their syllables.

[treekiller]

Thanks for the replies!

I don't conciously "count" when I'm playing, so I rely more on "feel". I am fully aware of the time signature, etc. as I'm playing but I just let it flow naturally if that makes any sense....

[mambo4]

Beyond just the slight rushing or dragging of playign ahead or behind the beat,
(which even after decades of playing is still somewhat subtle and elusive to me)
there are lots of ways to change up the rhythmic feel at more "rough" levels with syncopation, anticipated downbeats, use of staccatto vs legato, dynamic variation...it goes on and on...

altho I'm not sure what the original lecture was about, so some of this may not be exactly the concept spoken of.

[treekiller]

The original lecture was in the context of singing sacred music/hymns of the reformation(16th century) and its application today. The lecturer has a doctorate in music and was explaining the difference of singing by "feel" vs. counting/ rigidly following the "beat". In other words, allowing the music to "flow". Clear as mud, right???

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by treekiller

. The lecturer has a doctorate in music and was explaining the difference of singing by "feel" vs. counting/ rigidly following the "beat".

ok, so to re-re-rephrase the question

"how do I play bass with feel instead of rigidly following the beat?"

which leads my response in a different direction.
...there's plenty of "technique vs feel" threads that crop up here from time to time,
and I have always espoused the idea that they are two sides of the a coin:
you can't play what you feel without the technique to execute it.

When you first learn a new song, riff, or technique,
you "feel" is obstructed because you are too distracted by all the basic mechanics :
where do my fingers go? where's the down beat?
how hard do I need to pluck? etc etc
...at that point you are more likely to be "rigidly following the beat"

But as your control of the mechanics improves, it moves from a distracting conscious level to an internalized, unconscious, automatic level.
At this point, many players "get bored" and seek new material, but I feel that's a mistake.
Once you no longer have to think about what you play, that's your golden opportunity to start feeling it.
And the best guide to how you should develop the feel is to listen & respond to the rest of the music.
(this idea is why I'm never really bored with playing anything.)

Or, put more tersely:

Q:"how do I play bass with feel instead of rigidly following the beat?"
A: practice

at least thats how I feel about...

[treekiller]

Ok, I think we are close to the same page here. As someone not from a classically trained background, sometimes explaining the obvious goes over my head at times. I guess I was looking for confirmation of what I already knew. Thanks!!!

[Toronto Bassist]

I thought Tactus was that band that Tim Bogert used to be in.