Just joined a great band. Originals with a classic rock feel. The other three have been together writing songs for about a year but they’ve never played a gig or had a bass player for more than a few weeks. Guitarist is the band leader and wrote most of the music.
So I’ve learned about 15 songs, which is all of them, in six weeks. I like them; they’re good. Only three came with officially written bass parts, but others came with “suggested” bass parts. I am reproducing them as best I can.
It’s been a challenge (see sig), but I’ve accepted it and risen to it. The shredder wrote the bass parts and while his groove might be a little bit lacking, the notes are played very smoothly. I’m doing the best I can.
On most of the songs, we kill. We sound tight and good. We have all expressed this.
This morning, in response to the guitarist’s latest wave of suggestions/feedback, I sent an email to him alone that said, basically, “I am used to collaboration and am fine with trying the songs the way you hear them in your head but I am hoping that at some point the focus shifts to whether what I am playing works for the song.” There shouldn’t be any problem with how I said it. I thought about starting this thread before I sent it, but it was time for me to say something, in terms of how much more direction I am going to take from this guy about how he hears the bass parts in his head. In case this does not go without saying, I am not a salaried employee, and it isn’t an Army band or something. Just four private citizens who love playing music.
I am happy to learn songs, but I also enjoy expressing myself and sounding a way that, when I hear it, I think “That’s a sweet bass part” before I even remember it was me. And I think that I am doing that successfully. I am sure that even the shredder would say that he is happy with 90% of what I am playing, and not terribly unhappy with very much of the rest at all.
We are really mostly talking about the expectation in his head, not the notes in his ears. If something I am playing doesn’t work, I won’t play it.
My question is, How much have you guys allowed yourselves to be bound by a bandmate’s subjective idea of how a bass part should go? I’m not talking feel or even general performance. I am really talking note for note. “Play the note this way instead of the way you’re playing it now even though what you are playing sounds good because I hear it this way in my head.” Like that.
I don’t understand why someone would expect me to feel obligated to completely fulfill his personal vision for no money. I mean, it doesn’t hurt to ask, but fortunately saying no feels great. Am I missing something?
FYI, recently I threw a song into the mix and it was accepted. I didn’t write a guitar part, and I kind of don’t care what he plays, as long as it sounds good. I wrote a drum part but I’m going to really try to just let the drummer make it his own. But he’s a really good drummer and I’m—again, see sig.
WWYD?
Thanks! I’m afraid this post is just troll bait, but, we’ll see.
--Bomb
