Some people can’t deal with repetition. I am quite happy to just motor along on a simple line as long as necessary if that works for the song. It turns into a Zen thing.
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Busy bass playing
- Thread starter Mantis Tobaggan
- Start date
My daughter plays bass in a university orchestra and she has told me the same - it’s not unusual to find pieces where the composer hasn’t really thought out the bass part, so the bass section will modify it.
I always encourage younger players to try and play in as many different genres as they can. For example, I started out emulating my prog rock heroes as a kid. Super busy, lead bass type of playing. I tried to shoehorn it into everything, y'know, "my sound". But as I grew up I wanted to work. So over the years I logged time in everything from old school country to reggae to soul to various latin styles to punk...you name it. And not halfway-there rock "hybrids" of genres, but really digging deep into the pure forms. Invariably you learn from this what is "appropriate" in a given style, and what you don't play is as important as what you do. It can't help but lead you to a better understanding of how to arrange bass parts for any style of music you encounter. And things usually lean to the side of less is more in most genres.
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Careful, there are many who would whip you, with a B-String.
You post is colloquially expressed, but essentially true.
Being Jaco is nice. Being Bill Wyman supports the band.
Whenever I play on a song where I think a busy complicated bass part is appropriate, I almost always juxtapose it to something very simple in another part of the song.
It usually makes the busy part sound so much cooler. - and gives your fingers a moment to prepare.
It usually makes the busy part sound so much cooler. - and gives your fingers a moment to prepare.
Whenever I play on a song where I think a busy complicated bass part is appropriate, I almost always juxtapose it to something very simple in another part of the song.
It usually makes the busy part sound so much cooler. - and gives your fingers a moment to prepare.
Exactly how I have written all of my songs which I wrote on the bass!
^^^^^
Truth. End thread.
But, my measly little $0.02 - I used to overplay at times because I was coming from duos and trios where tactfully filling space was a good thing in some situations. But in a full band I had a tendency to crowd everyone out and occasionally throw off the groove. Then, when I was ar around 24, I started playing DB in a 6 piece bluegrass group and was scolded right from the jump about stepping on toes during the songs. So I had to dial it back and just play bass...which was amazing! I could just hold down the low end and let them fill in all the sonic spaces. That was a valuable experience that definitely improved my playing in all genres because I learned to let the song and even the bassline breathe by not playing every note on the fretboard.
Think Stanley Sheldon, on "Do You Feel Like We Do."
It seems to me that I have often heard veteran bass players say that when they were younger they strived to play as many notes as possible, but as they got older and more experienced they came to appreciate how much less is better than more. I can't remember a single example in which a veteran bass player said the opposite.
That pruning bit is a useful technique. I play primarily in a worship context now, and when we are playing older hymns or Christmas music which tends to be more classically influenced, I do exactly what you said. Listen and find the key notes. I did not appreciate this a 20 year old when I got going.
^this! I play in a jazz/jam trio, where at times I play many notes. But I enjoy sub gigs in other genres where the bass role is different. It kind of resets my brain to thinking about supporting the groove.
I play church gigs. There was a point, a few years ago, when I played two different churches for the first time on successive weekends.
First weekend: "You play less notes than the usual guy"
slight pause....
Me: Is that good?
Yeah, yeah - that's good.
Second weekend: "You play more notes that the usual guy"
slight pause....
Me: Is that good?
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
It is possible to overplay, and it's also possible to underplay. What constitutes overplaying or underplaying depends on context - how many other folks there are on stage, what the vibe is, etc. My approach is to overplay tastefully enough that noone complains. It worked well for Jamerson. So far, so good.
First weekend: "You play less notes than the usual guy"
slight pause....
Me: Is that good?
Yeah, yeah - that's good.
Second weekend: "You play more notes that the usual guy"
slight pause....
Me: Is that good?
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
It is possible to overplay, and it's also possible to underplay. What constitutes overplaying or underplaying depends on context - how many other folks there are on stage, what the vibe is, etc. My approach is to overplay tastefully enough that noone complains. It worked well for Jamerson. So far, so good.
Like to play busy bass lines?
Play Fusion,Prog Metal and/or Djent.
Play Fusion,Prog Metal and/or Djent.
Your comment reminds me of when Keyboards came out with useable Horn sounds, like Sax, let's say...you'd listen to it and start losing your breath...because the keyboardist would put really long phrases, without ever pausing for a Breath, like a Sax player would have to do! Lol!
So many have already made the case for "playing what fits". I concur. In my 2 year covid-imposed hiatus I chose to focus on, among other things, practicing restraint. Now, I'm more likely to focus on the groove and the signature licks, smooth transitions between sections, and keeping my ear open for the spots where I might add "a li'l sumpin' sumpin'" of my own. Funnily, I did that last night and the BL gave me a solo (!) which I did not want, but when you're thrown in the deep end - swim like mad! 
- The Bar Band Bassman
- The Bar Band Bassman
Where would Tower of Power be without the driving forces of David Garibaldi and Francis Rocco Prestia?
As much as busy bass playing seems to be frowned upon there is a certain energy that comes from a "busy" bass part. I play in a lot of trios where busy bass parts propel the song along, but there are also contrasts of simple parts that build as well as the use of dynamics. As bass players we are constantly balancing finding the most essential and fundamental and expanding that musically with in the context.
As much as busy bass playing seems to be frowned upon there is a certain energy that comes from a "busy" bass part. I play in a lot of trios where busy bass parts propel the song along, but there are also contrasts of simple parts that build as well as the use of dynamics. As bass players we are constantly balancing finding the most essential and fundamental and expanding that musically with in the context.
If you're Les Claypool, I want to hear you be busy. But if you're a session musician for Adele, you better keep it simple!
Nothing wrong with either in the right context.
I’m not a big fan of Jaco’s solo albums, but on Bright Size Life, and what I’ve heard him playing with Weather Report and Joni Mitchell he does so much more than just support the band or the song. Sometimes he is the song, the whole kit and caboodle, melodic and rhythmically fascinating. Nothing against Bill Wyman though.
