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Advice on becoming a "real" bassist
- Thread starter chrose1201
- Start date
Even if your playing rock bass, it's good to take something from more grooved based music. Helps with your accents and stuff like that, even if your just chugging on 3 root notes, plus with bass you can get away with playing those 3 boring root notes in a cool rhythm that a guitar couldn't get away with so easily.
Plus since your part of the rhythm section you get to play fills all the time like the drummer, but with notes
nothing cool then a well mixed simultaneous drum and bass fill.
Plus since your part of the rhythm section you get to play fills all the time like the drummer, but with notes
nothing cool then a well mixed simultaneous drum and bass fill.Listen to great bass lines.
Before you pickup the bass, imagine a cool part you'd like to play and _THEN_ learn to play it. It is often a lot simpler than you'd think of or play with a bass in your hands.
A lot of people are suggesting thinking of the bass as a drumset with strings. I think it should actually be more of a cowbell with strings. You're pretty much going to be playing one note at a time, but you can play polyrhythms over the beat or off-beats, etc. One well-placed syncopated note can be more effective than three or four notes. You don't have to fill the entire canvas.
Go for a walk (take your dog!). Let your mind wander rhythmically over the 4/4 cadence of your stride. Hum a bass line in your head. When you get home, find that bass part if you can remember it. This is not a one time exercise. Take a walk every day!
Really to think like a bass player, start thinking like a bass player! Imagine the bassist you want to be and start working toward becoming that bassist.
I haven't yet arrived. Enjoy the journey.
KO
Before you pickup the bass, imagine a cool part you'd like to play and _THEN_ learn to play it. It is often a lot simpler than you'd think of or play with a bass in your hands.
A lot of people are suggesting thinking of the bass as a drumset with strings. I think it should actually be more of a cowbell with strings. You're pretty much going to be playing one note at a time, but you can play polyrhythms over the beat or off-beats, etc. One well-placed syncopated note can be more effective than three or four notes. You don't have to fill the entire canvas.
Go for a walk (take your dog!). Let your mind wander rhythmically over the 4/4 cadence of your stride. Hum a bass line in your head. When you get home, find that bass part if you can remember it. This is not a one time exercise. Take a walk every day!
Really to think like a bass player, start thinking like a bass player! Imagine the bassist you want to be and start working toward becoming that bassist.
I haven't yet arrived. Enjoy the journey.
KO
I think that, no matter what you decide to do, don't just do one thing. Play lots of different music. Funk, blues, jazz, rock, pop, world music and even hip-hop if you get the chance.
Thing is, I love jazz, I listen to jazz alot, and I practice jazz. Atleast I try. But the band I play with (who are like amateur-pros) plays very straight rock in the keys of A, G or D. Or H-minor. Thing is, to me this is starting to become unbearable boring after 2 years because there is no real sense of "challenge" in it. I've filled the role the way I should have (as a bassist), but it is starting to bore me to tears.
Play lots of different stuff. Please.
Thing is, I love jazz, I listen to jazz alot, and I practice jazz. Atleast I try. But the band I play with (who are like amateur-pros) plays very straight rock in the keys of A, G or D. Or H-minor. Thing is, to me this is starting to become unbearable boring after 2 years because there is no real sense of "challenge" in it. I've filled the role the way I should have (as a bassist), but it is starting to bore me to tears.
Play lots of different stuff. Please.
Fair enough.
Chrose, if your drummer is experienced he should know what a good bassist is about. Arrange some time to where you two just jam. When you're playing with him, tell him to play something cool, but simple, listen to the beats he enforces with the kick drum and the snare. Sit there for a few measures and just listen, then just play the root on the important notes. Then once you get the hang of it, stretch a little, but NEVER forget that original rhythm.
Also, relax, you want to make heads nod, not faces melt.
There's plenty you can do in a Rock context. I'm sure your very good at it and all, but when I play more straight up rock kinda stuff in my band between all the other stuff we get up to, theres loads of stuff you can try out.
One main thin I've been trying to do alot recently is think of really cool simple stuff, but inventive simple stuff, like playing different rhythms to the guitars, not playing at all and just playing the odd fill in some verses, sneaking slightly groove based stuff in straight rock beats etc etc.
Two cool bands that come to mind when I think of cool inventive rock bass are Fugazi and Bloc Party. Fugazi have some really cool Funk/Reggea/Dub influenced basslines over straight up rock beats and Bloc Partys bass is very Dub/Drum and Bass influence, he does cool stuff over rock beats too.
Depends just how straight up rock you are, sometimes it can be very hard to think of cool stuff to play, cos your restricted by everyone else. If their playing generic rock, is kinda hard for you to get away with not doing.
- Jan 23, 2008
- 960
- 7
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses
Know your place! You can still move more to one side or another, some percussive exploration with your drummer or something melodic with your guitarist/whoever. There is still that sweet spot in the middle where you're reinforcing the rhythm and accenting the melody that the bass really shines.
+1
In fact, listen to all kinds of music for their bass lines- And if there isn't one, make one up in your head.
Wrap your head around that one and you'll be allot closer to your goal.
I have been playing both all my life. I generally consider one my main instrument at a time and that time could be for years. The key is you have to think, and feel like a bassist when you play bass. That will affect how you look at music, listen to music, and listen to other player different. At first you almost have to forget you played guitar and for me even keep them out of sight. Once you start feeling and sounding like a bass player then can start pulling the guitar out and use it to help practice and do things you can't on bass. In long run playing both bass and a chordal instrument helps each other, you start understanding what the other does or needs. I know my rhythm guitar and comp'ing opened up once I understood the bass and could use smaller voicing and chord fills. Now I only have to deal with those dam piano player who are always in my way.
great observation!
One reason why "Less is More" is that sparser, simplified basslines really allow you to divert some attention to listening and responding to the music.
I recently changed bands and the music i'm playing now is often "boring" straight quarter notes and halves ect...so the attention I once had used for choosing lots of inbetween notes and runs is now spent on things like clean RH/LH technique, tone, and hearing/feeling the songs. Its actually quite refreshing.
Spoken like a true "failed guitarist." This playing like a "real bassist" nonsense really frosts my feathers. The OP should not even worry about **** like that and just focus on what he wants to accomplish with a given piece of music. He from his own admission needs quite a bit of instruction and studying of music in general.
Learning about general music theory is the best way to go. All this stuff about listening to this genre and that genre because it is "real" bass playing doesn't really illustrate the big picture at all. All it does is set limits without illustrating context.
Not all "real" bassplayers play funk and motown. Vague concepts like "finding the groove" and "learning when to not play" are limiting as well. As I said before learning as much about as many different approaches to music as possible is the key.
Listen to what funk players do, listen to what jazz players do, listen to reggae, hip hop, metal, latin, rock, progressive music, but listen to the CONTEXT. Think about why the bass player in each situation plays the way they do and what effect it has on the overall music. What you want to do as a bass player is understand how the way you play will effect the musical context you are playing in. Stylising yourself as a player is limiting, the more approaches you have the more options you have. In my opinion the player with more options is the better one, always.
That has little to do with whether you are playing "groove bass" or playing "less is more". Sometimes less is less and the "groove" is not at all about being a support role. It's knowing when playing more or playing less is appropriate and the way to understand that is to learn as much as you can about as many aspects of music as possible.
Pah! More is more, it's very simple logic 
Personally I like to get the best contrast possible, I like a song to contain some very sparse simple stuff, and then some intricate technical stuff. But I play in a band that gives me the opportunity to do that. If I was playing Reggea or Dub or something (which I absolutely love doing) I can happily play 2, maybe even 1, simple and cool bassline(s) for a good 5 minutes.
Personally I like to get the best contrast possible, I like a song to contain some very sparse simple stuff, and then some intricate technical stuff. But I play in a band that gives me the opportunity to do that. If I was playing Reggea or Dub or something (which I absolutely love doing) I can happily play 2, maybe even 1, simple and cool bassline(s) for a good 5 minutes.
A
afromoose
Guest
Another thing -
I played guitar before bass so I know what you're trying to approach. I had a few people say I sounded like a guitar player playing bass (not that I ever lost out on an opportunity in a band - I still made good bass lines).
Anyway one thing that I suddenly realised was that on guitar I'd learned a tendency to play notes ABOVE the root, but not too often below the root. In other words, if I was playing an E, I would rarely go DOWN to the major third of the scale, far more often UP to it. This (I think) was one of the main differences I started to hear between my bass playing and other more dedicated bass players.
Once I started deliberately using notes below the root it (I feel) improved my bass playing.
Learn styles/ don't learn styles
Learn theory/ don't learn theory
Be whatever you want to be. And before you take anyone's advice seriously remember to listen to their music. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say.
I played guitar before bass so I know what you're trying to approach. I had a few people say I sounded like a guitar player playing bass (not that I ever lost out on an opportunity in a band - I still made good bass lines).
Anyway one thing that I suddenly realised was that on guitar I'd learned a tendency to play notes ABOVE the root, but not too often below the root. In other words, if I was playing an E, I would rarely go DOWN to the major third of the scale, far more often UP to it. This (I think) was one of the main differences I started to hear between my bass playing and other more dedicated bass players.
Once I started deliberately using notes below the root it (I feel) improved my bass playing.
Learn styles/ don't learn styles
Learn theory/ don't learn theory
Be whatever you want to be. And before you take anyone's advice seriously remember to listen to their music. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say.
First: Focus less on what you are (eg. a bass player versus a guitar player playing bass) and focus more on what you do - i.e. play the bass. Some of my favorite bass players were once guitar players, and the sense of melody that they brought to the role I think is what made them the awesome bass players they are. Geezer Butler for one example..., Ron Woods (bass player with Rod Stewart, guitar player with the Stones) for another. Paul McCartney for yet another.
Note: I have never been a guitar player or an anything else player. Always a bass player.
Second: Listen to good bass players in as many different styles as you can. When I was a teen back in the 80s I received this advice, and the person giving it to me strongly recommended early Motown. I was a metalhead back then, and blew off the advice about Motown (which I hated for its pop-ishness), but did start listening to more good players from outside of metal - Jaco, Steely Dan's various players, Stu Cook from CCR (very simple stuff, but well-played), Ray Brown. Listen to how they use melody, how they use time, silence, how they phrase each note (letting it decay versus stopping/muting it), how they interact with the other instruments, especially the drummer and the melody. Doing this did not make me a better metal bass player, but it did make me a better player.
You'll find after a while that you listen to the bass first and formost in every song you hear, and you'll also learn the importance of well-played bass, and how poorly-played bass can ruin a performance for even the best bands. It ain't usually about flash, like melodic instruments can be, it is about holding the sh*t together, or kicking it apart - whichever is musically appropriate.
By the way, it was only recently that I started going back to Motown, and now I am hooked, I wish I had started listening to it when I was a long haired head banger like I was told to do. Jamerson.... omg. Stevie Wonder... omg. Booker T & the M.G.s... omg. (I do know they're Stax, not Motown.)
Third: Practice playing songs, not scales. Definitely learn your theory, it will make you a much more versatile player, and will allow you to enjoy levels of your playing that you can't even recognize without the theory, but learning theory is not about playing scales, it is about understanding scales. Practice songs with your iPod, with a metronome, with a drum machine, with a drummer. Record yourself too.
Note: I have never been a guitar player or an anything else player. Always a bass player.
Second: Listen to good bass players in as many different styles as you can. When I was a teen back in the 80s I received this advice, and the person giving it to me strongly recommended early Motown. I was a metalhead back then, and blew off the advice about Motown (which I hated for its pop-ishness), but did start listening to more good players from outside of metal - Jaco, Steely Dan's various players, Stu Cook from CCR (very simple stuff, but well-played), Ray Brown. Listen to how they use melody, how they use time, silence, how they phrase each note (letting it decay versus stopping/muting it), how they interact with the other instruments, especially the drummer and the melody. Doing this did not make me a better metal bass player, but it did make me a better player.
You'll find after a while that you listen to the bass first and formost in every song you hear, and you'll also learn the importance of well-played bass, and how poorly-played bass can ruin a performance for even the best bands. It ain't usually about flash, like melodic instruments can be, it is about holding the sh*t together, or kicking it apart - whichever is musically appropriate.
By the way, it was only recently that I started going back to Motown, and now I am hooked, I wish I had started listening to it when I was a long haired head banger like I was told to do. Jamerson.... omg. Stevie Wonder... omg. Booker T & the M.G.s... omg. (I do know they're Stax, not Motown.)
Third: Practice playing songs, not scales. Definitely learn your theory, it will make you a much more versatile player, and will allow you to enjoy levels of your playing that you can't even recognize without the theory, but learning theory is not about playing scales, it is about understanding scales. Practice songs with your iPod, with a metronome, with a drum machine, with a drummer. Record yourself too.
A
afromoose
Guest
One more thing
with regard the 'less is more' thing - it's a bit of a vague and inaccurate rule, since sometimes a truly mental and intricate bassline can make everyone feel SO GOOD!!
I prefer Flea's advice - "Don't be all flash and no smash".
Smash is okay
Flash + Smash is okay
Flash + no Smash is like getting high on the smell of your own farts.
with regard the 'less is more' thing - it's a bit of a vague and inaccurate rule, since sometimes a truly mental and intricate bassline can make everyone feel SO GOOD!!
I prefer Flea's advice - "Don't be all flash and no smash".
Smash is okay
Flash + Smash is okay
Flash + no Smash is like getting high on the smell of your own farts.
