"Bass is not played that way" ?!

[Mannyinnewyork]

I'd just lean in real close and say "that's not what your momma said".

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Hey all,
so I was playing a 16th note riff on the higher frets of the G and D string, then the guitarist comes to me and says: "man, bass is not played that way". I was so upset that there was someone making rules for an instrument haha. Have you experienced this as well, that someone said, stick to the root notes or anything like that?
Cheers

The only time I've taken it is when I was hired to play upright in the UK for a touring American folk band and they found my style a little busy... "root and 5th man, is how we like it". Well I gave them what they wanted and ended up spending a month in the US and recording an album, so I guess it was a good call.

 

[Ric5]

Hey all,
so I was playing a 16th note riff on the higher frets of the G and D string, then the guitarist comes to me and says: "man, bass is not played that way". I was so upset that there was someone making rules for an instrument haha. Have you experienced this as well, that someone said, stick to the root notes or anything like that?

Cheers

I hate talking to people with small minds

 

[NoiseNinja]

You could also have chosen to speed up and play 32th notes and then ask him if that was the correct way then.

The only time I've taken it is when I was hired to play upright in the UK for a touring American folk band and they found my style a little busy... "root and 5th man, is how we like it". Well I gave them what they wanted and ended up spending a month in the US and recording an album, so I guess it was a good call.

I guess this wasn't the band then:


(Yeah, the bass starts out nice and slow with only roots, but then slowly picks up pace. Great track and amazing bass by the way)

 

[tsheldon]

The correct answer depends on who you're working for and how much they're paying you. For $500 per night I'll play whole notes on the root all night long if that's what you'd prefer. Less than that and we have to have some dialog.

 

[NapaSmith]

There a few things I try to center on. First, if it is a cover song it was already produced by someone so I try to learn to play it note for note in order to best understand what's happening. (I find that when I don't I imply stuff that's not there for some reason.)

Once I feel like I've mastered the song, I don't always play it exactly as recorded unless I am asked to - and of course I'm ready to do so. If given freedom, I'll wander a little but I am keen to make sure that what I'm playing is authentic to the genre and song. One of my favorite music store cork board ads had this sentence: "Frustrated jazz players need not apply."

Finally, there's always the question of what the drummer is doing. If the drummer doesn't know the song or plays something different than the song I gently ask what the plan is. In the end I always play with the drummer.

 

[bassbully]

I agree with him.

 

[FMBassist]

Haha, I had almost the exact same thing happen with a different Petty song (American Girl). I have been playing it for YEARS with the last two notes of the intro (the d to e right before "well she was an American girl...) one octave lower than the record just because it sounds cool live and fills up the stage. I do this with other tunes here and there too, especially if I have a fiver around.

A few weeks ago our lead singer hits me with " why are you doing it differently, I can't find where to start singing!". I have literally been playing it this way for five years or so, but suddenly home boy can't feel eight and it's my fault

Hey all,
so I was playing a 16th note riff on the higher frets of the G and D string, then the guitarist comes to me and says: "man, bass is not played that way". I was so upset that there was someone making rules for an instrument haha. Have you experienced this as well, that someone said, stick to the root notes or anything like that?

Cheers

Well, I always heard from lead guitar players that "Bassists are just frustrated lead guitar players". So to all of those lead players that I've ever worked with: BITE ME!!!

 

[TheOxRocks]

Imagine if John Entwistle had actually LISTENED when someone told him that...

 

[Guiseppe]

I've been asked to dial it back, often with reason. I've been lucky not to have to deal with the Right Way to Play Bass mafia too much. I recall one time a classic rock band I was in recorded some demos, one of which was Mary Jane's Last Dance. I played it the same way I always played that song, which means, not having the full instrumentation of Tom Petty's band, I filled it out some. The BL (who had played it with me lots of times before) listens back to the demo and says, "Dude, what's with the Chris Squire bass line?", like he had never noticed before.

I smiled.

Actually, I think it sounded a bit more like Dani California, which would be a Flea bass line. But I'll take Chris Squire.

Have had a couple guitarists over the years try that. I quietly powered off my amp, unplugged, and began putting my ax away. When asked what I was doing, I simply stated that the way I play bass IS the way I play, and if there were style (or ego) issues, then I wished the band well and said I'd find a gig where my playing was appreciated. The drama stopped RIGHT there. FWIW, I've played 43+ years and IMHO my claim to fame is that a) I believe I'm very solid in the pocket, and b) that I'm good at managing rehearsals and making them productive. I can play all the Squire and Geddy and Ox licks, but really, my bread and butter is to lock heels with my drummer and make the song GROOVE.

Edit: If that sounds like drama, it's not. Another "law" I introduce is to MINIMIZE drama. My efforts are all about the songs, and I will squash drama (like "you're playing to much! They can't focus on me when you riff that way!")

 

[Mechanical]

I remember Lee Sklar saying something about playing above the 12th fret.

He said something like, "If you keep playing up there, you're going to need a bass player."

 

[InhumanResource]

Well, I always heard from lead guitar players that "Bassists are just frustrated lead guitar players". So to all of those lead players that I've ever worked with: BITE ME!!!

I usually respond to that with "actually, we're guitar players who can count to four"

 

[Josh Kneisel]

. Jazz also has plenty of songs with repetitive bass lines, and it is just as easy to get too busy when playing jazz - sometimes the improvisation means playing LESS. But there is nothing wrong with adding to the part as you go.

I play in a jazz trio and can vouch that there are songs where what is needed from me is bowing one note for like a whole section of the song(which is super boring for me, but it isn't about me wanking all the time) while the piano moves chords in order for the chord to sound right. Sometimes busy is good. Sometimes the song needs the bass to be boring... I wouldn't say there is a right or wrong way to play bass just depends on what the song needs in order to work.

 

[InhumanResource]

Some people get great satisfaction out of being able to copy the original lines as perfectly as possible. Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with doing your own thing.

I always have the "How close to the original do you want to play covers" discussion before I join a band. It makes things so much easier down the road.

Not to yuck anyone's yums but straight up replicating everything note for note isn't for me. I'll do it on a lot of songs, especially ones where you NEED to hear the right bassline but I reserve the right to breathe and embellish. I do get it that some people like to do this.

 

[Kmonk]

I have never had anybody tell me how to play anything. Either I'm playing correctly, don't surround myself with jerks, or I've just been lucky.

 

[Guiseppe]

^^^This is a great post!

One of the bands I was in was a YES tribute band, and we all strived to play everything note for note to pay tribute to YES music. It was so much fun it should have been illegal! We had a blast!

Some bassists in cover bands prefer note for note, and others prefer to add their own style to it. I happen to be the type of bassist who prefers the former rather than the latter. Pure personal preference there!

Great point. I'm the kind of bass player who will spend an inordinate amount of time experimenting with technique, gear, effects or whatever to absolutely comp the tone and groove of the player in the recording. I was fortunate enough for about 8 years to do cover gigs with a group of great musicians who were the same way, and if we wanted to cover a tune as the original we could do a credible job of it (and if locals travelling a town or two over to hear us play our cover band bar gigs means anything, we were pretty successful. The bar owners/casino managers sure liked us!).

Finally, as far as what is appropriate to the song, I think most of us know the rule "be appropriate". I'm not gonna go into a flailing run to the 19th fret when I'm playing honky tonk Tulsa blues, and I'm not going to play country shuffle if we cover some RHCP (unless the song called for it). I believe in the moniker, "It's all about the groove" to the point I've had it on my music business card for as long as I can remember!

 

[klejst]

Probably just jealous you were a better soloist then him...I would of told him to pound sand too.

 

[JimmyM]

I have had people tell me they didn't care for the bass line I came up with, and I try to come up with some new way or they show me what they want, and I'm cool with that. But for every example of some idiot telling me bass isn't played that way, I can find 1000 examples to show them that bass is, indeed, played that way.

 

[ripbobbysheehan]

There's a difference between being told to play roots and fifths and being told that what you're playing doesn't fit musically with what the band is doing. I love Victor Wooten as much as the next bassist but his usual style wouldn't work with Wilco. There are plenty of bassists who manage to play interesting lines that are still appropriate for the band and the song in question. I don't like bassists who do nothing but play root notes but when I'm not playing bass myself I much prefer a root note guy to an overly masturbatory bassist who has no sense of how to play to the song.

 

[Korladis]

I mean... is he paying you? If so, listen to him. If not, then he can buzz off.