Getting pushed around.......

[njgbass]

Thought I would open up a thread on what other people views are on the roll of a double bass player.

Ive played in Orchestras, Rock bands, Jazz groups, blue grass groups, Flamenco and so on. Yet I always feel like my role as a bass player (weather it be esential or not) is kind of lame. Who says we have to be the rhytm keepers, or the solid 1 and 3 beats. Why is it always I-IV-V-I?

I think it is our duties as bass players to branch our roles out there, and experience what the bass can do in so many other ways. Are we at a wall? or have we just came to the point where the instrument cannot be pushed anymore.

Any of you classical cats out there having problems with auditions, I urge you to branch off, take your technique to a new level, and create something that has never been created before. How many times do you hear a bass sing like violin? or as warm as a cello? then dropping the bow and walk.

I love the world of bass playing, I think we are incredible assets to the music world, I also think we have been in the back of the ensemble for too long. Make it yours.

Nick

[jallenbass]

This might be better off in the Miscellaneous sub-forum. The Basses sub-forum is for discussion of the instruments themselves.

[bocasfx]

Originally Posted by njgbass

Thought I would open up a thread on what other people views are on the roll of a double bass player.

Ive played in Orchestras, Rock bands, Jazz groups, blue grass groups, Flamenco and so on. Yet I always feel like my role as a bass player (weather it be esential or not) is kind of lame. Who says we have to be the rhytm keepers, or the solid 1 and 3 beats. Why is it always I-IV-V-I?

I think it is our duties as bass players to branch our roles out there, and experience what the bass can do in so many other ways. Are we at a wall? or have we just came to the point where the instrument cannot be pushed anymore.

Any of you classical cats out there having problems with auditions, I urge you to branch off, take your technique to a new level, and create something that has never been created before. How many times do you hear a bass sing like violin? or as warm as a cello? then dropping the bow and walk.

I love the world of bass playing, I think we are incredible assets to the music world, I also think we have been in the back of the ensemble for too long. Make it yours.

Nick

+1

[drurb]

Originally Posted by njgbass

Thought I would open up a thread on what other people views are on the roll of a double bass player.

Ive played in Orchestras, Rock bands, Jazz groups, blue grass groups, Flamenco and so on. Yet I always feel like my role as a bass player (weather it be esential or not) is kind of lame. Who says we have to be the rhytm keepers, or the solid 1 and 3 beats. Why is it always I-IV-V-I?

I think it is our duties as bass players to branch our roles out there, and experience what the bass can do in so many other ways. Are we at a wall? or have we just came to the point where the instrument cannot be pushed anymore.

Any of you classical cats out there having problems with auditions, I urge you to branch off, take your technique to a new level, and create something that has never been created before. How many times do you hear a bass sing like violin? or as warm as a cello? then dropping the bow and walk.

I love the world of bass playing, I think we are incredible assets to the music world, I also think we have been in the back of the ensemble for too long. Make it yours.

Nick

Yes, this thread should be moved. I must say that it strikes me as presumptuous. Who says a bass player has to be a rhythm keeper? I won't even go there. If you feel your role is "lame," then, with all due respect, that may be indicative of limitations in your own playing. As far as branching out beyond simple rhythmic constraints, I think the pros and virtuosos we all admire routinely demonstrate or have demonstrated their prowess at doing just that. "We" are certainly not at a wall. I respectfully suggest you listen more to great players.

[Phil Smith]

Originally Posted by njgbass

Ive played in Orchestras, Rock bands, Jazz groups, blue grass groups, Flamenco and so on. Yet I always feel like my role as a bass player (weather it be esential or not) is kind of lame.

Maybe it's time to play some music that means something to you perhaps then your experience will be different?

[Bruce Lindfield]

I agree with Phil - I find enormous satisfaction in playing maybe one note on DB that sounds great and fits the music perfectly!

If you need to play a million notes and elbow other players out of the way to push yourself to the fore - then that suggests a deep dissatisfaction with what you are doing and maybe you just haven't found what you need to ..yet?

[drurb]

I second what Bruce said. I, for one, relish the role of the DB in every genre I've played. A good walking line is a beautiful thing!

[bassist1962]

I agree with Phil and Bruce on this one. Find some music that is more fulfilling to you. I have always prefered simpler lines and phrases to fast an fancy playing. This goes for BG as well as DB. Hit that note and let it ring out for a beat or four. Good for the soul - your's and the music's.

[njgbass]

There are incredible people I look up to, one in particular is Renaud Garcia-Fons. A flamenco bass player that sound like a cello. If you havent heard of him, everyone must check it out.
My fustrartion doesnt branch from not being able to play what I want, it branches from working with ensembles and hitting a wall when I feel musicaly I am being held back.
I respect everyone who just likes to lay back in the pocket, feel the groove and walk the line (props to all of you). Sometimes when I play with groups, I wish I could do more, I want push the boundries of what most people see in the bass player. I think that they deserve to see somthing different, and I strive to try and give them somthing they have never seen before.
I am deeply sorry if I offended anyone with this post. I want you to know it was not my intention. I guess down to the line, we are all in this same game together.

Nick

[njgbass]

Thanks for the insight Jim, I have been playing in an un-traditional setting of piano bass and violin. It works out well with the piano being able to hold the bottom register and the violinist and I harmonize as two voices.

As for the different tunning, I have problems giving up the full register that the E provides. But I do want more of higher sound. I have a 5 string acoustic bass guitar where I turned the B to an E, and put a C on the top of it. I would do it to my upright, but its a bit of a costy expence right now. I think my ideal bass would be a 5 string, with an extention on the E and a high C.

Im still trying to figure out if Garcia-Fons tunes in fifths.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by jsbarber

Why don't you put together your own ensembe where you are the leader? That way you can define your own role as you please. If you don't want to fill the traditional role of the bassist, then either you will miss that or you will need another bassist. In the latter case, you might want to tune your bass A/D/G/C and play above the other bass for more melodic playing, and leave the lower notes for the other bassist to play the more traditional bass part.

That's a good idea - I have seen a few small Jazz groups where the bass player was leader and featured soloist!

I also have CDs where Henry Texier (French DB player) is leader and is joined by Steve Swallow on BG!

[David Kaczorowski]

Originally Posted by njgbass

My fustrartion doesnt branch from not being able to play what I want, it branches from working with ensembles and hitting a wall when I feel musicaly I am being held back.

Sometimes when I play with groups, I wish I could do more, I want push the boundries of what most people see in the bass player. I think that they deserve to see somthing different, and I strive to try and give them somthing they have never seen before.

You can be whatever you want, play whatever you want, you just might not get many calls. It's for you to decide. Happiness/fulfillment vs. lotsa gigs. The only wrong decision is the one that's wrong for you.