Quite literally one of the stupidest things ive ever read on TB......A competent bass player is one that does his job, locks in with the drummer, and lays down the phat groove.....if this includes just playing root notes, so be it
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Am I an "incompetent" bass player?
- Thread starter Broke
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Quite literally one of the stupidest things ive ever read on TB......A competent bass player is one that does his job, locks in with the drummer, and lays down the phat groove.....if this includes just playing root notes, so be it
In 1970 (a while back for sure) a guy me and my father new needed an emergency sit bass player for a Polka band. As a long hair Junior in Highschool polka's were not my thing. The gig was in two hours and the venue about 8 or 9 minutes drive time.
My asks me why I didn't take it, and I said it is boompa, boompa umpapa, and everyone can do it. My dad replied something like "yes, but can they do it with feeling?" I took the gig and it payed $70 Realizing that union scale at the time would have been about $32.50.
My asks me why I didn't take it, and I said it is boompa, boompa umpapa, and everyone can do it. My dad replied something like "yes, but can they do it with feeling?" I took the gig and it payed $70 Realizing that union scale at the time would have been about $32.50.
If I can be blunt, there is no excuse, other than not having the time, for not knowing a few critical scales as well as when and how to use them. The information is out there in droves.
The one excusable reason for being a poor bassist is lack of talent. By that I mean having bad time, lacking the skill to create and maintain a groove, but even that can be overcome to a degree. I've known a few of these musicians and they're kind of sad. They know some scales and theory but they are unable to make pleasing music.
The one excusable reason for being a poor bassist is lack of talent. By that I mean having bad time, lacking the skill to create and maintain a groove, but even that can be overcome to a degree. I've known a few of these musicians and they're kind of sad. They know some scales and theory but they are unable to make pleasing music.
Hi there. First of all as others said you're already playing in two bands and that shows you're doing the right things as a bass player! If you're happy with what you're doing and your current level, just keep having fun. But of course there's always a ton of things to learn if you'd like to expand your capabilities. If you don't know what a 5th or a 3rd is, you can take basic theory lessons. There's good stuff online.
What you're doing there is working for the song. As others have said, there's all the information you need out there to learn more, so get to it!
Ive lost more auditions by playing too many notes than too few. Keep it in the pocket.
Man, it's all about your frame of reference. I'm sure there's a couple folks in my area who would consider me incompetent because I can't slap or pop my way out of a paper bag. Nobody else seems to care. I keep getting gigs despite it. I'm sure you do too.
Don't let the haters get you down. You do you.
Don't let the haters get you down. You do you.
A bass player (pretty like me) which plays roots only is doing a very narrow job.
A competent bass player is able to discern the situations in which is better to stick to the basics and the ones in which you need to add more meat to the table.
Knowing chords tones at least could be pretty damn useful and can still being considered "basic".
IMHO It's a pity, on the converse, spending many years playin' an instrument without knowing the bare minumum about it.
It's not that you news to know more it's just that tuo might got bored of being ignorant.
Wow. Someone needs to explain to Ian Hill in Judas Priest that he's incompetent. Or Stu Cooke from CCR. Or most 80s metal bass players. And many others.
There are many, many times when the right thing to play is the root and nothing but. Too much harmonic movement in the lower register can often derail the harmony and the rhythm, depending on the context. Most of country and a lot of early rock and roll is based on a dotted quarter note-eighth note-half note bass rhythm on the root of the chord. Many other times the fifth of the chord is also thrown in, and you may have a dotted quarter note-eighth note-dotted quarter note-eighth note kind of rhythm like we hear in "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Margaritaville". Plus a lot of Latin jazz. Staying on the root (and fifth) and gluing your note attack to the kick drum is called "playing in the pocket." It is the *essence* of competence when it comes to bass. There are of course levels and aspects of mastery beyond this, but that's it, right there. Master this level, and you learn timing and feel - after that, learn how to create a walking bass line, which introduces other chord tones, then start messing with rhythm.
Any musician who makes this kind of blanket bold statement about bass does *not* understand bass. Or music. They're d**k-measuring against other bass players, or they're a guitar player, but regardless, they're just really immature and inexperienced. Try not to allow your pride to become engaged by these half-wits.
The OP said he can only play root notes not that he deliberately decided to play them 'cause its fitting the music.
You're just encouraging this guy to stop learning and eventually having less tools in his pocket to do his job and I disagree.
I once heard that when Jaco was starting out in Miami some people thought he sucked. Anyone know more about this? I feel I am so overbearing and ambitious in my playing I can't pocket properly. Often the best guys are the ones who don't overthink and can relax and let it all happen. That is the key. Also make sure you can execute what you are doing or don't do it at all. That is what practicing is for. Good thread, we need more about actually PLAYING bass.
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Thanks for the context - I think this other thread's comment may be referring to a band that plays covers. I've seen lots of bass players (who gig!) ignore or maybe have never heard the original artist's bass line and just play along with the chords. Often this happens because they need to prepare for a gig on short notice and didn't have time to learn the bass lines, so they learned just the chords. I gigged for six months with a touring country/60s-70s pop rock band back in the late 80s this way - fresh out of Jazz school too, but had never listened to much country or old school rock bass lines. There are reasons why I only gigged for six months with that band, and my "refreshing take on classic songs" may be one of the reasons. I was 19, and didn't deserve the opportunity. It didn't make me incompetent, it meant I was not committed. If you're playing "Brown Eyed Girl", "Margaritaville", or "Lodi", it's good to learn the bass line. They're still mostly root notes and fifths, however.
If your band is playing "Saw Her Standing There" or "Day Tripper" however, you need to learn those bass lines. I *have* seen bass players try to get by on those songs with just the root and a mystified look at the guitar player's left hand. I've been that bass player. Don't be that bass player.
The rest of your life, is how long, same as the rest of us - just have fun. Make sure everyone else is having fun. That's the whole point.
PS - I'm turning 49 this year.
I suggest, if you want to get a good grip on this quickly you either
A: find an online school like Scott's Bass Lessons
or
B: find a local school and take a few one on one lessons for a couple of weeks.
Leaning root 3rd 5th stuff will open your eyes and ears to what works. Soon as you get the feel the rest will fall into place and then you won't give a poop what other people say or think.
And who ever said it before is correct. If booties are shaking and people are smiling, then your doing something right.
An interval of a 4th down is "oom-pah"; the note is still the 5th of the chord. You never really play the 4th of the chord except for a passing tone while walking, or playing a melody. I know *you* know this, but others might be confused about what you wrote, so I wanted to clarify.
Wow. Amazing how many people misunderstood the original quote. @Modler didn't say "bassists who play root notes are incompetent"!
He is an experienced musician who knows what's what, and his words are being taken completely out of context in this thread.
He is an experienced musician who knows what's what, and his words are being taken completely out of context in this thread.
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