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Bassists don't solo, ever!

#41
JoZac21 said:
The problem I have w. taking a solo is that when everyone else is soloing, all I'm thinking about is making them sound better and keeping the groove going... but when I take a solo, who's backing me, helping me sound better? It just winds up being me and drums... nothing else... kinda sucks not to have much to play over.
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kreider204 said:
My thoughts exactly, esp. in jazz. When the, for example, sax player is soloing, everyone else is going crazy behind him - drums are kicking, keys and/or guitar comping, and of course the bass walking like crazy. Bass player's turn? Everyone drops out, except the drummer, who plays the softest most boring thing possible. No wonder everyone thinks it's just the bathroom break.
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Interestingly enough, the *drummer* in our Jazz trio loves it when the keyboardist and I are a bit more active during a drum solo. We're working on trying to interact more during solos like this.

Now...I probably should be getting them to do the same thing when I solo... :rolleyes:

Nashrakh said:
My band actually wants me to solo...

But thing is, I just can't! :hiding:

Oh, woe is me.
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Hey, I'm a jazzer and I'm being called on more and more to solo...it gets kind of boring in a trio if the keys are all that's playing the lead and soloing. I thought I wasn't much of a soloist, either, until I heard a scratch recording of some of my solo work last weekend and ...dang!--that actually didn't sound as "out" as I thought. :eek:

Thing is, you're never going to get comfortable soloing if you don't get out there and do it. It also helps to have really supportive band-mates (my guys are awesome! :smug:).
 
#42
kreider204 said:
My thoughts exactly, esp. in jazz. When the, for example, sax player is soloing, everyone else is going crazy behind him - drums are kicking, keys and/or guitar comping, and of course the bass walking like crazy. Bass player's turn? Everyone drops out, except the drummer, who plays the softest most boring thing possible. No wonder everyone thinks it's just the bathroom break.
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This^
 
#43
bassbrad said:
I have been convinced of the error of my ways, I am so talentless that I can only play bass because it's easy, but still so hard that I need help from the guitar player, yeah that's it. Soloing is the exclusive right of real musicians like guitar players, keyboardists and horn players, occasionally a really talented drummer, but no bassist is really a musician so is never deserving, ever, since I am just a bass player I have forever given up any chance to ever solo or be creative. Oh and yes I should forget about being a singer, bass players can't sing. Real bassists don't use effects, play anything not a Fender or SVT. Oh yeah and jazz can only be played on upright bass with out an amp.

Okay I said it but do I really believe any of it?
NOT ONE WORD and you should not either.
Consider this my Anti-Manifesto! :bassist:
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Simple solutions:
Turn one of the guitarist's tuning pegs and don't tell him which one. Should keep him busy for hours......:D
Next, call a Blues in B for the horn players......
Can't help you on the keys, other than calling "Giant Steps".....
In Nashville, you'll get the Hairy Eyeball if you're a bassplayer and you DON'T sing.....:eyebrow:
 
#44
As a proud bassist I don't mind being thrown a solo here and there, though I agree that having everyone else drop out is annoying (and I let my band mates know of that.) However, I will also concede that most of the time a bass solo does not accomplish much musically for a song.

However with the right song, the right players and the right crowd, a good bass solo can be nothing short of epic...case in point starting at 2:05 in this video!



You will notice that the keys are still going throughout the solo, and that the drummer and bassist are still groovin pretty hard. And that's what makes this particular solo so appropriate and successful IMO.

Just my $0.02
 
#47
Nowadays, if I hear "BASS SOLO" - I do a one measure drop down into it, see if whoever I'm playing with is still with me. If they are - awesome, work it into something. If not, I stop, which seems intentional...and either rope the guys into it, or do something else. Anything. Maybe a little jig. Play Taps. The Flintstone theme. Drum rudiments on my face in front of the mic. Show 'em a nipple. Try to juggle something obtuse.

Anyone who's had me in that position before knows it's not such a good idea to bail out. Except for my buddy Chuck-e, who seems to make a point of it. But, he plays a lot. If I played 7+ shows/week, I'd be dying for some alternative entertainment...heh.

Except if the drummer drops out on me. Then they find mental space lasers burning through their skull. Which is tremendously effective. Most people aren't aware that drummers skulls are laced with a reflective material which heartily facilitates mind control. You just have to remember to aim for the eye socket - otherwise, you may damage your audience. Unless they're also drummers, for there is no way to inflict further mental damage to a drummer.

:)
 
#54
Solo in brief shots, or make the entire line a solo that somehow just fits with all the other parts! There's alot to be said for a guy who can play all over the freakin' place, but still make it fit the bass need. I.E. Geddy Lee, Steve Harris, Chris Squire, etc. I do that with my band. It's necessary to fill the sound hole where a rhythm guitar would be, which is also why those previously mentioned greats did alot of what they do.
 
#55
To my mind, the role that bass fills in the music*is non-conducive to soloing. For lack of a better term, I find bass to be a "co-dependent" sort of instrument - it underpins what's going on elsewhere in a song, and serves a stronger function depending on how much lifting it's doing. This isn't to to say a bass shouldn't take leads - on the contrary, taking hold of the melody is one of the things that makes a good bassist - but from a listening standpoint, bass solos often sound to me like an inversion of the instrument's most natural function.

I do like the statement somebody made about a "3-second solo." Entwhistle on "My Generation" is a great example of that sort of thing. Very cool - I guess as much as anything I'm just saying I choose not to solo!
 
#56
ozacrot said:
- but from a listening standpoint, bass solos often sound to me like an inversion of the instrument's most natural function.
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Yes it is, but one of the things we can do to grab a listener is to do the unexpected while taking nothing away from the foundational role bass plays. Sometimes that may mean another player has to step up and fill that role while the bassist takes the lead, keyboard player or guitar with an octave pedal. One of the things we do in my jazz group is I will start a tune playing the melody leading into playing a bass line on the 2nd verse or 1st solo.
 
#58
taphappy said:
Except if the drummer drops out on me. Then they find mental space lasers burning through their skull. Which is tremendously effective. Most people aren't aware that drummers skulls are laced with a reflective material which heartily facilitates mind control. You just have to remember to aim for the eye socket - otherwise, you may damage your audience. Unless they're also drummers, for there is no way to inflict further mental damage to a drummer.

:)
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We do love to bash our drummers, pathetic souls that they are.
:hiding:
 
#59
What I see here is that for some people , bass take the role they always had in a more traditionnal american way of thinking...

I, for one, am happy to tear down traditionnalism, role and everything else ... to make music, not something that will get an "OK" for a radio.
 

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