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Bass Lines - Simple vs Sophisticated

#61
I haven't read all the responses (which I usually like to do before I post) but I think it's a great topic!

I personally grew up listening to a variety of players and don't think that "complexity" is necessarily a bad thing. "Busy" might be another possibility. I like to use business as a color - you can introduce it to varying degrees as a song progresses, or in different sections. But you have to be listening to the band as a whole and the dynamics of what is being played.
 
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#62
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
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It typically starts simple and grows from there.
 
#63
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First of all, have no idea if Mingus really said this but it's quote I love nonetheless. I love jazz and classical music, music that is consider hard or not simple. But some of my favorite parts of those genres is a bassline or bass part is extremely simple and even hypnotic in a way. You see it in all genres. It's up to you but for me, a simple bassline that can pull someone in is more my thing personally, but I do also enjoy changing it up here and there...!
 
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#65
GretschWretch said:
"Dynamically impactful" is a phrase fraught with peril. I can just imagine you playing forteississimo where the rest of the band is playing piano. If that is not "dynamically impactful" I don't know what is.
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That is not what I mean, and you know it.

Dynamically impactful is when the other players are playing a loud passage behind a verse or chorus, you get to the next section, and you, the drummer or another player slips back into quiet, staccato ghost notes and the whole band follows, because you just had an unspoken conversation where you led to that change in dynamic in real time.

The part you didn't quote was the part about having a conversation.

As for playing a lot of notes or a few, it's rhythmic interplay. Sometimes a lot of notes work. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes whole notes work first, and then you build into something that's more complicated. This is the beauty of the thing.
 
#66
Willie5String said:
I’ve been playing just shy of 50 years (holy crap!). I play what I feel in each measure based on what everyone else in the band is doing. If there’s a little space, I take it, if the measure needs counterpoint or chords, I play that. The music and band speak to me and I speak back, I might play nothing but eighth note roots for a song, then if the band is tighter and has more air, I might play something more note dense for the same song.
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This guy gets it :)
 
#67
LBS-bass said:
That is not what I mean, and you know it.

Dynamically impactful is when the other players are playing a loud passage behind a verse or chorus, you get to the next section, and you, the drummer or another player slips back into quiet, staccato ghost notes and the whole band follows, because you just had an unspoken conversation where you led to that change in dynamic in real time.

The part you didn't quote was the part about having a conversation.

As for playing a lot of notes or a few, it's rhythmic interplay. Sometimes a lot of notes work. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes whole notes work first, and then you build into something that's more complicated. This is the beauty of the thing.
Click to expand...

Apologies tendered. My post was tongue-in-cheek; no offense intended.
 
#70
I usually like it to be simple, but I like some movement and melody in there. Maybe some counterpoint. I concentrate on lines that I can sing. I guess that what I like to play is usually simple, but that it's not always the most obvious thing.
 
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#71
Bass, root of the chord. Normal songs, oldies, country etc, bass is root, 5th, lead in, Not over playing, not continuous solos, you usually don’t hear much pop/slap in any song. (Sorry GC bass soloists)
To answer your quiestion, simple 1st, complex when it occasionally fits.
 
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#74
It has to groove. Job number 1 is keeping it all together.

Beyond that it depends on what space there is and how to appropriately fill it. In a trio I can put a lot more in and I’m also setting my sound to take up more harmonic space.
In a larger group I’m rounding off the tone and become the train engine.
 
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#75
LBS-bass said:
No worries, sorry if I misunderstood. In my defense I am probably cranky because of these steroids I'm taking for my back right now.
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That's tough. I feel bad for you. My life for the last six months has been throwing one gorilla out of the room only to have another one enter right after it. But it's one of those things I just have to get through. There's no going around it.
 
#76
I've always been, and always will be, a more simple player. I always enjoyed keeping it simple, finding a groove and letting the guitar player...play. I like to find small moments where I can throw in a little fill or a short run to the next phrase, or find places where I can move in the opposite direction from the guitarist to create more of a dynamic range.
But for the most part, I'm just holding the root and some 3rds/5ths.
 
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#77
GretschWretch said:
That's tough. I feel bad for you. My life for the last six months has been throwing one gorilla out of the room only to have another one enter right after it. But it's one of those things I just have to get through. There's no going around it.
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Very sorry to hear this. I hope you get past it soon.

My back is much better, so there's that. Twelve days ago I couldn't walk at all and I thought I might stay that way. So I'll take a little crankiness, for now.
 
#79
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
Click to expand...

This totally depends (for me) upon the drummer I'm working with and, as you mentioned: the genre of the band.

I can't see getting too intricate if I'm playing in a country band (although exceptions happen).
 
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#80
It depends on song and genre. If you're playing, when the saints go marching, in a jazz ensemble, then you're role will most likely be to keep it simple. If a jazz trio, you may be able to take a few more creative liberties, as there's more sonic space to fill.
If I'm writing my own lines, depends on the situation again, but I do prefer simple lines with subtle complexities, that float between the melody and the rhythm. Not all songs call for that, and I'm just as happy to pound roots to the beat, if that's what is needed.
 
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