Bass Playing in Folk Music

Edgar Meyer... "Uncommon Ritual"!
Be creative with it, follow the same rules as a bass guitarist would in a pop song, try strong roots and 5ths. to start with. Then use major and minor scales to add notes.Don't forget to think rhythmically.

 

Depends on what type of church your playing at. If you go to a black church like me they want a jazzier "crunker" style that is in rythem with the corus (the drummer will kill you though). If it's a white church (i know i'm 1/2 white even know I look and claim my white side) then it's more of a classic rock(been to a few white churches with friends). Or if you go to a hickier countrier church well... you know. Well, thats down here in the south don't quite know how it is in ohio. Good luck though.

 

Hi--

It doesn't matter if it is electric or double bass, IMHO. Check out the
archive of webcasts at www.woodsongs.com .

 

Brian;

When I hear the term "folk music", I'm inclined to think along the lines of classic 50-60's era folk music. Such groups as the Limelighters, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc. If that is the kind of thing you are talking about, listen to music by both of the above groups. PP&M had a bass player that played with them most of the time. If you are playing more modern acoustic music, I can think of no better example than The above mentioned Edgar Meyer. You might check out a cd he is on titled "Skip, Hop and Wobble" Acoustic music at it's finest.

Blessings

 

I really, really reccomend Danny Thompson, who can be found on records by Pentangle, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson and countless others...
wondeful player, with a gorgeous tone. he was the first person to make me want to play the double bass.

 

For some modern Americana kind of music, check out the Wood Brothers' new CD - Ways not to Lose. It's pretty much just double bass and resonator guitar and good old front-porch singing.

 

A good cd for this is Alan Jackson's "Precious Memories." Has a lot of timeless standards in pretty short versions. The chord charts are availabe at www.gospelmusic.org. This is a fun break from what most of us usually play.

 

This is a really creative three-person group of singer-songwriters working out of the Chicago area.

I've been listening to folk music for forty years or more, and the bass part on their song "Consequence of Speech" (CD by the same name) is one of the sweetest bass parts I've ever heard in the genre.

 

Gotta love this place!! You guys have given me some new music ideas to listen to. Thanks!!

 

Don't forget what Louis Armstrong said about folk music,
"All music's folk music, I ain't never seen no singin' horse."

 

How about Harry Shearer in "A Mighty Wind"? His bass (and singing) in "e** a* *oes" and "Never Did No Wanderin' " are classic examples of the genre.

 

I have very mixed feelings about that movie.

 

I currently have Pentangle's anthology on my MP3 player as well as The Blind Boys of Alabama's 'Spirit of the Century'. Danny Thompson plays well throughout.

 

I've been out of the picture for awhile but this post caught my eye. I don't know the groups you are referring to but I get the idea that we are using the word "folk" here to describe a sixties kind of singer/songwriter/folk/revival sort of music. There is some good music there to be sure but my inclination would be to go beyond that to earlier folk forms and learn closer to the source. Folk music is such a broad term. Like a person who is first getting into jazz it can be daunting. My advice would be to possibly start with some folk samplers like the Putamayo label etc and sample folk music from around the world. For more american stuff browse the Alan Lomax recordings, oldtime-fiddle/stringbands, early blues, shapenote singing, early gospel, western swing and even the earliest jazz recordings such as Louis Armstrongs Hot Fives and Sevens, The Jean Goldkette Band and Jelly Roll Morton. The idea is to build a musical foundation which will inform your folk playing and inturn, all of your playing. For more modern listening try Charlie Hadens "Steal Away" album. There along with Hank Jones you will find some stripped down folk songs played by two of the best, most restrained, tasteful players in the business.

 

Bruce Robison has an album called 'Country Sunshine' that has some really beautiful, simple DB playing on it. The album came out a few years ago and is really more in the traditional country style (isn't that folk music?). But the basslines are really good examples of how something simple can really shine.

 

IMO, the players that really shine in this genre are the ones that pretty much ignored existing rules and made their own. Now the singers might not agree....

 

Nor the guitarists, or drummers.