An Essay, August 2, 2009

+1000 on that

 

preach! ...appreciating the insight, as always. thanks brotha

 

Sounds like you might have run in to too many 'musical athletes'. Training to be the fastest slappers on the block for that one glory moment where they can showcase their skills around fellow bassists so that we will all be hugely impressed. Trying to make sure that guitar players, singers, keyboard players, that all know that in fact the bass is JUST as valid as a lead instrument as is any other, and will in fact try to prove that with every performance. I"m kind of sick of it too.

I got into this because of how great a thick, elemental bass line enhanced a song and made me as a listener have a physical reaction. There's a lot of these type of lines represented in that article. In particular, I remember my Dad playing Yes' Close to the Edge and being FLOORED by how cool and powerful Chris Squire sounded on that record. It moved me emotionally and made me have a definite physical reaction. Still does.

I NEVER heard the bass and said 'gee, that would sound really great shredding bebop solos'. I was completely content with playing big fat notes that made everyone in the band feel good and perform better. Then, I finally got hipped to Jaco, and I'll be the first to admit that I busted my buttsky trying to play like him and even developed an attitude that I would study how to solo like any other melodic instrument so that I could also show people a different potential for bass.

I started listening for material that had fast, intricate bass lines, even if the overall music produced was not that stellar. It didn't matter, and I wasn't paying attention anyways. I devoured fusion, Victor Wooten's CD's, any and all of the hot players I was reading about in Bass Player. I wanted to be in bands that would allow me to 'show my stuff', and the ones that wanted a more traditional player suffered greatly at my attempts to overplay, of that I"m sure. I thought I was doing 'what you were supposed to do' if you wanted to be a REAL bassplayer.

Thank GOD I got over all that. I realized that while electric bass is a relatively young instrument and there are many trying to constantly push the envelope of how this instrument can be played as a solo instrument, the IDEA and FUNCTION of bass is MUCH older and is more rooted in a supportive role. It just is, and it seems that when I make a conscious effort to economize my lines to best fit whatever song I'm playing, I seem to have more gigs, if not more respect from the local bass shredders.

 

I wish there was a deeper appreciation of music history in young musicians these days. When I got into music, I listened to everything...classical and schmaltzy big band stuff on my parents' old 78's...blues and Dixieland from the early 1900's, Django, Louis Jordan, early rock and roll (many artists of which I play with on a regular basis), R&B and country music...didn't like all of it but a lot of it was brilliant, and all of it added a level of depth to my playing that I didn't have before. There's a lot of cool music history on Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but there's a whole world of other stuff out there you should turn yourself onto.

Also, don't just listen to bass players for inspiration. Check out other musicians on other instruments and try to get some inspiration from them as well. You can get as much out of listening to Carlos Santana or Little Richard or Louis Armstrong as you can from listening to other bass players.

As for wanting to rip on bass, I can get behind it. I have a lot of respect for guys who can play anything you throw at them, no matter how complex or fast. But the thing about the best of them is that they will play 8 to the bar root notes or whole notes on the one if the song demands it, and they'll right on with them. I don't care how fast you are...if you can't play "Back In Black" without rushing, you need to go back to the basics. Gotta crawl before you run.

 

I waas pretty young when I got bit by the music bug, I grew up on my fathers Glen Miller, Dorsey Brothers, Scot Joplin, Bing Crosby. My mothers Jim Reeves, Hank Snow, Elvis and Johnny Cash, and yup, she liked Ray Charles.

I found a kind of elation in all of it, even the stuff I grew to think of as "not cool". Then as I grew to young adulthood in the mid 60'2 early 70's there was the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, that lead me to explore where this stuff that excited me so much came from and I found Son House, Little Walter, Bo Diddly, Fatha Hines and Alberta Hunter, Charlie Mingus, Miles, Bird.

I knew, I wanted to make music. Tried guitar, tried keyboards and finally found an instrument that would let me participate. The bass. I think my approach may have been good in the fact that I wanted to play the music, not be an instrumentalist. And maybe that was bad at the same time. because I still can't (and don't particularly want to) slap and pop. I'll never be a shredder, but I can play the stuff that talks to me, and not just the Beatles and Animals, I keep learning new bads, Cold Play, RHCP, Black Keys, etc...because they write music that speaks to me.

I guess for me it was always about the music; the song, and not about being a virtuoso.

Liked the rant!

 

Justin i agree dude. Music is meant to be an art, not a science. When did it start to become a science, where it was about speed and wankery??? Hey, anybody can work out on the "bass", just practice scales to a metronome everyday and just constantly work on ripping, solo etc. But what is the fun in that hey????
I dig the groove. I dig songs that communicate on a level that touches the soul. I dig bands and gigs that just blow everybody away.
People are trying to take the bass into the solo world, and sure that's great.
But if you wanna be a solo artist, what about the piano???
I would rather listen to a piano performance over bass anyday, and so would 95% of the population.
Bass players will probably disagree with me, but i see the bass as a supporting roll, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is a crucial part to a band, but imo it was never meant to be out front the whole time.
Anyways enough of my rant, i'm off to play some ac'dc

 

And the worst part is, is they're taking the most derivative parts of Jaco, and completely ignoring the rest of the dude - the parts where he actually supported the rest of the band, while all the other instruments soloed. There's stuff on his solo records that he didn't even play bass on, showcasing his arrangements.

Great, now I sound like a Jaco fanboy! I'm gonna go work on my whole notes.

 

Great thread. I'll add my 2 cents.

I've always summed it up this way. Great Bass playing is a combination of Complexity and Simplicity - I like to call it ComplexSimplicity. Serving a simple Groove - and killing it is as much of an accomplishment as playing a very challenging and complex line (somtime more so to do it every day consistently).

I also like to abolish Genre's per se - it is freaking Music first Period. Not to say the labels don't help in defining the style and heritage - but we as Musicians need to be so much more open minded, less critical and more open to all music. Not to say that I expect everyone to like everything - but there is some petty small minded stuff going on in music today.

Music is a gift - when I play I feel great and thankful that I was afforded the ability and the priveledge of playing music - particularly when it moves others and inspires them.

We need to be the Evangelists - to keep the History and to move forward to the Future and respect everything in the middle. I love what this thread is saying and hope I have added some food for thought.

Peace.

 

Dig it. I've been thinking about this notion of somehow having to choose between being a groove/pocket player and a flashy soloist. In truth you CAN do both, and for the expansion of your knowledge as a musician SHOULD do both. If the music calls for constant 16th-note slapping and fretboard-spanning unison riffs, then you should be prepared enough and well-versed enough to do it.

Still, I"ve noticed that other musicians will easily pigeon-hole you in one way or the other. If they only know you from your hard-hitting fusion band, IME they might be reticent to hire you for a singer/songwriter gig. That element of not knowing just who might come out to see you and how that might lead to more diverse musical opportunities, for me, makes me more focused at ALWAYS playing what the music NEEDS, not what I want to put over it that would satisfy my bass-jones. If the gig I'm playing requires playing 1/5 lines in whole notes, well I'm gonna play the #@$% out of those whole notes.

 

I'm just really surprised that this thread is getting not that much attention.
Kinda sad when you think about it.

 

this thread is fantastic!! If only more musicians across the board thought about these ideas for just a second... music.

 

thanks guys. good to hear these things said aloud.

 

Not really...201 views...not a bad take for a day.

 

YES. One of my biggest influences is Kevin Eubanks, and yet he would be referred to as a "gui****" by much of the talkbass population. I think I'm more influenced by drummers than bassists.

 

Thank you for this post. I read this when you first posted and immediately thought, "OH, SNAP!!" After I had some time to get my senses together, I remembered why I appreciate your playing style and your approach to bass. It's always tasteful and appropriate to the song.

Many of the songs that have bass lines that I love aren't necessarily the ones where the bassist is shredding, but usually the ones where they're laid back, in the pocket, and grooving—allowing the main melody or vocals to shine. Of course, even the ones where the bass is up front, it requires the other instruments to support the bass. There's a give and take—a balance.

Thanks again for a much needed and thoughtful post.

And I will forever adore this quote:
"Stop slapping, put the bass down. You sound like a bag of popcorn in the microwave."

 

It's getting plenty of attention. JMJ has put thoughts into words which other people find very hard to express, or do so inarticulately or crudely - hence, there isn't much to say.

I think it's better that there aren't a million vacuous replies.

 

I was not looking at the number of replies, just the number of people who read it.