I don't get it, but then again, maybe I do ....

[abngourmet]

I was looking at an online ad, and I came across a guy looking for a bass player. His ad was, shall we say, very specific. On soloing, I posited the following, and the following exchange ensued:

Me: "Of course, if this guy is capable of soloing he’ll never get the chance, right?"


Respondent: "Dang straight. Never, ever will there be a bass solo on any music I write. Ever. In fact, I never take more than 8 bars for a solo if I can help it. I try to write songs WITHOUT solos. Has McCartney ever taken a bass solo? As insane as a chops machine John Entwistle was, did he ever solo? Did John Paul Jones? Tom Petersson? John Deacon? Greg Ridley? Johnnie Colt?

I corrected him after the fact (can you say My Generation, Good Times Bad Times?). He was nice enough about it, but geez - Never Ever? I don't get it.

In other words, no solo for ANYONE, for the most part. I guess we'll have to listen to boring chord progressions and root note bass lines. Nice.

Is it me, or is there a prejudice against bass solos? I mean, we don't get to do them that often, and when we do, they're usually short. This guy is like, "no way, no bass solos, no solos at all." Personally I think that is a very limiting approach. Thoughts?

Alan

[Munjibunga]

So are you going to audition?

[heroincredible]

It is a limiting approach, depending on the music. I'm not comfortable with soloing, and I've been asked to add a bass solo into a couple of songs. Usually 16 bars for the solo, which is too long for me...not enough ideas to keep a solo going that long, especially improvised. Then when I started jamming with this dude a couple months ago, he wanted me to add some bass solos to several tunes, which is strange, because he's a lead guitarist. Although for the songs its a nice change of pace to have a bass solo instead of guitar solos every song, which is where I think he's going with it.

What style of music is this guy looking for? Maybe solos don't fit in with what he's hoping to achieve.

[Marcury]

Depends on the tunes and style of music. Must everything have solos?

[BillMason]

IME, drunk women dancing really like bass solos, regardless of the style of music. You can do what you like, but I prefer to play with more open-minded people.

[Kimpini]

The Police have very few solos, even for the guitar