Bass Soloing Tips

[fendsboy417]

I was just wondering what important tips everyone on talkbass had to offer pertaining to bass solos, as I am currently working on writing one. Any tips at all are welcome, as I'm not looking for any in particular, just helpful, thoughtful tips on writing bass solos!
Thanks for your input!

 

[Deleted member 5551]

Transcribe your favorite people. Transcribe your not so favorite people [both who play bass & others]. The more of the language you learn from the greats, the better. This being said, I need to transcribe a lot more than I have.

Probably not quite the answer that you were looking for.

all the best.

 

[fendsboy417]

Transcribe your favorite people. Transcribe your not so favorite people [both who play bass & others]. The more of the language you learn from the greats, the better. This being said, I need to transcribe a lot more than I have.

Probably not quite the answer that you were looking for.

all the best.

It's all good, like I said, any tips are welcome.
Your comment did help, thanks.

 

[EADG mx]

Express, don't impress.

 

[SmittyG]

Melody, melody, melody. It starts and ends with the melody. Unless it is a slap solo, of course.

 

[Lewis22]

Express, don't impress.

+1

Even better, Express AND impress!

I like to find a set of notes that sound good together (scales etc.) and then all you need to do is get the rythm you want down. Rythm does alot more than speed! and do one section at a time and link em together!

Sicerely,

Lewie.

 

[Earthday]

#1) If your solo isn't adding anything to the song, don't do it. A hard thing for many bassists to get over is the simple fact that most people don't want to hear bass solos. You have to pick your spots wisely and make it interesting.

 

[brothertupelo]

write a **** ton of them. play the one that sticks in your head.

 

[DocBop]

Simple problem new bass soloists make is using roots and especially playing roots on one. When making bass lines roots on one are the norm, as a soloist you should avoid roots and avoid starting phrases on the one. Listen to any good soloist the don't start phrases on one, they tend to only play on one when the phrase crosses the bar line. Root and starting phrases are a definite sound of a rookie.

 

[jpark369]

docbop, can you explain that a little more, or give an example of a phrase that doesnt start on 1? thats a problem i have, i always go root or octave on 1. please inform me, thanks!

 

[Hoover]

Get an idea before you play or write a note.

 

[Phil Smith]

Simple problem new bass soloists make is using roots and especially playing roots on one. When making bass lines roots on one are the norm, as a soloist you should avoid roots and avoid starting phrases on the one. Listen to any good soloist the don't start phrases on one, they tend to only play on one when the phrase crosses the bar line. Root and starting phrases are a definite sound of a rookie.

This isn't true, just take a look at the Charlie Parker Ominibook, sometimes he starts a phrase on the one, sometimes he doesn't.

 

[Jake of Bass]

Jaco once said one of the best pieces of advice he could offer was to learn to melody of any song you can. The vast majority of the time we're so focussed on the bassline, on the drummer, on the next part of the song, on the pretty girl dancing in front of the stage that we forget to learn or even listen to the part of the song that everyone else listens to - the melody. Then when we're given something to improv out of the blue, we freak out and don't know what to play, so we tend to overplay or play something that is essentially a bassline with a modification that is nothing like a solo really. Kinda but not.

If we only took time to learn as much melody as possible, melodic phrasing would come a lot more naturally. Think of it as singing a song, but instead of your voice your using your bass.

 

[tZer]

To elaborate a little on what docbop and others are saying, learn some melodies of your favorite songs. You'll quickly notice that primary melodies rarely start on the root.

So take a song like "Take the 'A' Train" and learn the melody (the part the saxes or whatever section that is responsible for the melody is playing) then pay attention to how soloists take that melody and vary it when soloing. You can usually still identify the melody but you can definitely hear how it's being re-invented both melodically and rhythmically.

To apply it to what you're doing - if the solo you are writing is part of a song and not a solo unto itself (all bass solo - not a solo within a song) - then learn the melody of the song and begin playing with creating variations of it. If you learn the melody and get it down cold, reinventing it with new twists and turns - some interesting leaps - moving from one phrase to the next in new ways - should be pretty accessible to you.

But it starts with understanding the melody.

 

[Snerek]

sing what you want to play!

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[wnelson]

the greatest tool that has really progressed my solo playing was a loop station...lol....seriously,i would constantly write and record...then re-write, and so forth....able to loop my melody,then go back and layer some rhythm and harmony....its helped me a great deal roughing out some ideas.....
when i go back and put bass ''solos'' in my music.....i always hum lyrics...no words....just hum like i was trying to sing to my music....then i would follow my bass notes to the rhythm and key of my humming....make sense?....and presto!! i created a bass solo for the pharses where it compliments the music...
i like it cause it really brings out the soul....and it works really well for me

 

[kenlacam]

Simple problem new bass soloists make is using roots and especially playing roots on one. When making bass lines roots on one are the norm, as a soloist you should avoid roots and avoid starting phrases on the one. Listen to any good soloist the don't start phrases on one, they tend to only play on one when the phrase crosses the bar line. Root and starting phrases are a definite sound of a rookie.

I totally disagree. I've been playing bass for over 20 years, and I have started solos "on the one", as it were. It is a matter of preference.

 

[artistanbul]

I too recommend singing. Sing both before and during playing the bass.

 

[Jake of Bass]

To elaborate on the point about singing.

When we sing a song, from when we can first talk we're taught to sing melodies. Very simply ones at first, as in kid's nursery rhymes. Then later when we get into music, buying CDs and what not, we learn the songs and sing along to them.

If you were to make up something on the spot with your voice, it would naturally sound somehow melodic (even if you can't sing in tune I'm sure you'd hear it in your head). If you have a song you absolutely love to sing along to, I'm sure at some stage you've added a few extra notes or changed the melody a little when caught up in the moment (I find for me it's in the car with the stereo up on 11 )

The point about singing when soloing on bass is that it can be hard to translate what's in your head to the instrument. Singing helps this process by guiding you to play what comes a lot more naturally with your voice - melody. I used to solo with little phrasing; then I started focussing on phrasing and sometimes singing a line in practice then duplicating it as closely as possible on the bass immediately afterwards. Once you get the concept of phrasing and melody, your solos will take so much more musicality.

Hope that helps.

 

[artistanbul]

I agree. that's what I meant by saying "before and during playing".