How on earth did Jamerson do it?

[TC2112]

I know Jamerson is discussed ad naseum on here, but I have been working on his style and transcribing some of his lines lately.

So much chromatic stuff and ghost notes that don't even fit into the chord or changes that he is playing in, 16ths and ghost notes so fast with one finger, and just stuff that should never work and would make any other bass player seem sloppy.

Jamerson made it perfect.

Any players have any tips, tabs, or exercises to get his chromatic style and ghost note technique?

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by TC2112

I know Jamerson is discussed ad naseum on here, but I have been working on his style and transcribing some of his lines lately.

So much chromatic stuff and ghost notes that don't even fit into the chord or changes that he is playing in, 16ths and ghost notes so fast with one finger, and just stuff that should never work and would make any other bass player seem sloppy.

Jamerson made it perfect.

Any players have any tips, tabs, or exercises to get his chromatic style and ghost note technique?

I love Tab, I can almost, not quite, capture the Beatles and MacCa. No one can can Tab and capture James.

His bass was so bad *and I mean the neck was so warped, that other bassists wouldn't touch it...for long. He never changed the strings, or for that matter, cleaned them. In short, he did everything that no one here would do with his axe or gear. And very simply, it worked. Better than anyone has made it work since.

Thats why he is a bass god, and you and I are players.

[Rudreax]

When you play a certain way for years and years and years, certain things become natural. This is what happened with Jamerson.

[paul_wolfe]

There's an exercise in SITSOM that Jamerson used to practice for the chromatiscism...there's a YOuTube clip of it on JamersonHook's channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chvin...e=channel_page

[TC2112]

Originally Posted by paul_wolfe

There's an exercise in SITSOM that Jamerson used to practice for the chromatiscism...there's a YOuTube clip of it on JamersonHook's channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chvin...e=channel_page

I've watched a ton of this guy, he has it about as close as any of the other play alongs on youtube. Do you happen to have that exercise written anywhere? that book is pretty tough to find and pretty expensive when you do

[Slapmesilly]

I think you can break down these things til your blue in the face. the reality is that Jamerson was one in a Million or maybe even one in a Billion.
The guy on youtube has done a great job copping his tone and feel. Phil Chen whos most famous for his gigs with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart Has got it down too.

I think that its 90% in your hands mind and heart.

I story I found most interesting in Standing in the shadows was the one where It was said that Jamerson would get on stage during the early motown tours and make the entire band come alive with the groove he layed down.

Thats probably the best thing you could ever say about any musician especially us rythm section guys.

I made the mistake of spending my lunch break at one of the BIg guitar shops locally- This guys walks in sits down right next to me and starts playing this really loud, really fast stuff. The guy certainly had better technique than most bassist I know but whos cares???? The guy couldent find the 1 if you counted it for him.

The guy could not get a gig in a cover band if he tried Why? No idea how to make the music about the music NOT about showing off your chops.

[jmac]

Originally Posted by TC2112

I've watched a ton of this guy, he has it about as close as any of the other play alongs on youtube. Do you happen to have that exercise written anywhere? that book is pretty tough to find and pretty expensive when you do

Most book stores can order it if not in stock. It's like 20-25 dollars. Is that expensive?

Plus on amazon you can buy used for $17.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by TC2112

I know Jamerson is discussed ad naseum on here, but I have been working on his style and transcribing some of his lines lately.

So much chromatic stuff and ghost notes that don't even fit into the chord or changes that he is playing in, 16ths and ghost notes so fast with one finger, and just stuff that should never work and would make any other bass player seem sloppy.

Jamerson made it perfect.

Any players have any tips, tabs, or exercises to get his chromatic style and ghost note technique?

There is one big thing that explains all this - before, he was a fully-functioning Jazz Double Bass player!

If you get all this harmonic and rhythmic information under your fingers on Double Bass, BG seems really small and easy to play!!

That would be my big tip - if you can play Jazz convincingly on DB then all Jamerson's lines make a lot more sense!

[KPAX]

Wasn't he originally an upright player?
If so, his influences probably lie in some jazz dudes.
Even so, John Paul Jones copped the Jamerson funk/ghost-note vibe pretty well, mainly from being into Jamerson.

Originally Posted by TC2112

I know Jamerson is discussed ad naseum on here, but I have been working on his style and transcribing some of his lines lately.

So much chromatic stuff and ghost notes that don't even fit into the chord or changes that he is playing in, 16ths and ghost notes so fast with one finger, and just stuff that should never work and would make any other bass player seem sloppy.

Jamerson made it perfect.

Any players have any tips, tabs, or exercises to get his chromatic style and ghost note technique?

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by KPAX

Wasn't he originally an upright player?
If so, his influences probably lie in some jazz dudes.
.

Duh! Did you actually read the post right above/before your own!!??

[UncleBalsamic]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Duh! Did you actually read the post right above/before your own!!??

Not if he hadn't refreshed his apge for 5 minutes.

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Duh! Did you actually read the post right above/before your own!!??

chill out Bruce, there was 5 minutes between those posts... I know I have spent more than 5 minutes putting together a posts. Especially if I'm googling some references at the same time.

But you have it answered... URB and Jazz theory is a big part.

[edit] just like my post... I watched the youtube vid and then the guy's Grapevine playalong before replying [/edit]

[jwbassman]

Originally Posted by Slapmesilly

I think that its 90% in your hands mind and heart.

I story I found most interesting in Standing in the shadows was the one where It was said that Jamerson would get on stage during the early Motown tours and make the entire band come alive with the groove he layed down.

That's probably the best thing you could ever say about any musician especially us rhythm section guys.

That's it. The stuff that Jamerson did worked because it grooved so well. I would agree with Bruce that his DB experience was a huge factor in his playing and style, especially his use of open string passing notes as he changed positions.

[mwiles30]

He was an avid follower of the Simandl DB technique even after he started playing the bass guitar, so most of his playing was done in around the first and half/open position. He pedaled on open strings a lot, which causes a lot of harmonic tension (especially in some of the flat keys that many motown hits were in).

Check out his line on the Jackson 5's 'Darling Dear'. It's one of my favorites.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by James Hart

chill out Bruce, there was 5 minutes between those posts... I know I have spent more than 5 minutes putting together a posts. Especially if I'm googling some references at the same time.

I wasn't annoyed - I was just saying that if he looked up then he would find the answer to the question he asked!

[LilRay]

James Jamerson is discussed "ad nauseum" here because he (and a few others) are the yard stick by which all of us that follow measure ourselves.

He (and those others) took an unusual instrument at the time and made it usual.

IMO You can theorize ways to do this or that and come close to Jamerson, but to my ears we all fall short.

Three words Heart, Soul, and WORK!

God Bless, Ray

[mark107]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

There is one big thing that explains all this - before, he was a fully-functioning Jazz Double Bass player!

If you get all this harmonic and rhythmic information under your fingers on Double Bass, BG seems really small and easy to play!!

That would be my big tip - if you can play Jazz convincingly on DB then all Jamerson's lines make a lot more sense!

This is true. But if you also add technique that is specific to DB, it makes even more sense. The heavy strings and high action are not an issue if you use string bass fingering (1-2-4, no third finger). Also, the "raking" approach is a major component. For those who don't know, that is simply playing two or more strings in a row, from high (higher pitch) to lower pitch, in rapid succession. In other words, after playing a note on the G string, your finger comes to rest on the D string, and you then strike that one to. (Never more than one note ringing out of course.) If you do this in a rhythmically interesting way, you can play what seems to be very fast passages with little effort. Take "Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Gladys Knight version). The chorus (and some of the verses) has a riff in them that seems monstrously fast and impossible to play, but in reality that riff involves raking across all four strings. What are the notes? Get some software that allows you to slow it down without changing the pitch, and prepare to be amazed when you find out that it only a C Major arpeggio! It takes some practice to do well, of course, but again it's based on a technique that all jazz string bass players know and use all the time. The use of ghost notes is just a crutch of sorts, to rake thru open strings, as well as provide a funky rhythmic element. Again, it's something that jazz DB players use all the time.

Another element is WHERE he plays rhythmically. He's a funky guy! Everything he plays is based on sixteenth notes, and he picks and chooses the most funky patterns (rhythmically speaking). That is as much a part of his "sound" as anything else. For most bass players, the concept is not at all difficult to play technically, but difficult to get around mentally. Especially for white people (I am white, so no racial stuff intended here at all). It's the same thing with Latin music and Reggae. If you didn't grow up in those cultures, those rhythmic patterns are just not under your fingers. It's not your "groove". It takes a serious, continuous effort to make up for that! And not everyone will be able to do that, no matter how hard they work at it. He was a black jazz player, who also grew up in the black (pop) culture of Detroit. Call that a recipe if you wish.

Combine the rhythmic thing with raking, and there's your right-hand technique in a nutshell. One finger will do it. Any good jazz DB player can do this, but generally doesn't play complex multiple sixteenth note patterns as the DB doesn't speak fast enough. At least not like an electric bass will. JJ took advantage of that.

It will be hard for most of you to really get close to what he did, not because of any lacking of talent, but simply because he was a jazz DB player, and grew up with the funk records of the day. So, he had DB technique, and a really cool rhythmic sense. He put it together on the Fender, which made him a trendsetter. And, he was a really good player. I hope this has taken some of the "mystery" out of this. :-)

[Bruce Lindfield]

Enrol in a Jazz course and buy a DB - that's the answer!

I was on Jazz Summerschool last week and playing Jazz on DB about 10 hours a day!

At one point I picked up my BG and it seemed ridicuslously easy to play fast funky lines and I could see looks of amazement on the faces of people around me, who had only heard me play DB thus far!!

[mark107]

As per my long post regarding raking and "funky" rhythms, here's a fun exercise that is also somewhat illuminating as to JJ's style:

Set a metronome for a medium tempo, like 100bpm. On one string, play two sixteenths, followed by an eighth note, per quarter note click. In other words, two short notes followed by a longer note, per metronome click. Slow the metronome down if it feels too fast. You can lay your left hand across the strings to mute them, as we are only concerned with the right hand.

Now, using the raking technique, start mixing up strings. Do the first note on a higher string, and the second and third notes on the lower string. Or, the first two on the higher, and the last on the lower. Do this on all combinations of strings. Strive to be rhythmically accurate! And remember, raking means that when you move to a lower string, you use the SAME FINGER that stuck the higher string. That finger simply passes across both strings in a continuous motion, hence the term "raking". Upright players and Jamerson use their first finger for this, so you might as well too :-)

Now, do the same, but on three strings. Use the G-D-A, and D-A E.

Now for some real fun. Instead of playing the first three sixteenth notes of the beat, play the second, third, and fourth instead. In other words, you will play nothing when the metronome clicks, and "fill in" the remaining three sixteenth notes. For most of you, I suspect this will be harder, even though your hands are not doing anything more difficult. This is the "mental" part of the exercise. Depending on what culture you grew up in, this might be challenging :-) Do all the combinations of the above. Once you get comfortable with this, try adding in notes with your left hand. After you get comfortable with that, try channeling JJ, and see what happens.

[JTE]

There's another aspect that's often missed here. Listen to the space he has. There's not often a guitar player chomping six string chords on every beat, the piano's left hand is clear and clean, and the chords aren't dense. The kick drum doesn't dominate like it does in the post-Bonham world either. A Motown mix was once described as "a happening bass line, a tambourine, hand-claps, or finger-snaps on 2 and 4, and those voices!".

Trying to play like that in the context of a band of typical rock players and it doesn't work nearly as well.

jte