Busy bass playing

[GreyBeard]

I belong to the Tony Levin school of bass playing. Play no more or no less than the music demands.

 

[Bushrod Johnson]

Keep the beat; play the low notes.

 

[salmon256]

Common reggae technique is the "kotch" Jamaican and British slang for relax I believe to chill. You play bass as a rhythm instrument (which it is, but I say this because many bassist forget this, especially who come from a melody instrument or are new the styles of bass guitar type music.)


Devon explains it great. It's obv not limited to Reggae. It's so important to be basic and give air to other instruments in all genres IMO. Great post dude, I also went through a long musical journey. While I wish I could play bass and concertina more, I hope someday to have some time, till then! Have an amazing week!

 

[Paul New]

Which notes would you have me remove?

 

[coy garcia]

Since I do it for the hang and the music I need 2 bands to satisfy my needs. The pocket simple band and the out of control trio.

 

[BeMoreFrench]

So why some new acts like Dirty Loops, Domi and JD Beck (Domi's left hand is a bass player in itself right ?), Thundercat, Vulfpeck, Cory Wong, Knower/Louis cole with bassist Sam Wilkes, Nate Wood, Jacob Collier's bass guy Robin Mullarkey (or Jacob Collier even alone ?) are getting so much praise nowadays with rearranged covers or busy basslines in original songs ? simply because the OP cannot get what "evolution" means.

Anything has to evolve, or die. Period. You don't like it ? leave it.

 

[retslock]

There are times when I play simple and busy in the same song. It depends on the song and what else is going on around you. Musical choices are what make music interesting and sometimes the choice is space. Stay in the moment, listen to the other players and avoid switching to ‘auto’ and hopefully, good music will come out of it.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

I started getting a lot more gigs once I realised the importance of serving the song.

 

[Samatza]

I think many of us go through this phase of overplaying and then we mature and distill it down to what the song requires.

That may be busy and it may be very minimal. I usually record gigs and then listen back to what I played, mostly it's fine but there are times I simplify the line or change one or two notes that just serve the music better. It's a continuous improvement effort.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Or, how about Zydeco? There's ample opportunity to go crazy with pentatonics and melody-driven bass lines.

Playing simple is a skill. For a real challenge, play a simple line in a super slow song and make it swing without being obtrusive or losing interest. A slow, grinding blues can encourage dancing or sleeping . . .

I think we bassists sometimes forget that we're the glue between rhythm and melody, so sometimes we need to play more like a percussion instrument, sometimes we're in unison with the trumpet.

And, as many have said here, serve the song.

Sure.99% of music is simple.
What about the 1%?

 

[teh-slb]

I think if I started on guitar, I may have appreciated this sooner, but I wanted to be a dedicated bass player. My biggest regret in my playing is not learning the value of simple playing sooner.

I started playing classical guitar at eight and continued having lessons until I was seventeen. I picked up the electric bass at 23 or so and it took me several years to get comfortable playing "simple", repetitive bass lines
.
I think it just takes time and, in my case, confidence.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Busy is good when needed.

 

[5StringBlues]

strangled gato

Strangiato, my brother... Strangiato.

Which is why I included (sp).

 

[themickster]

I play bass primarily. However, I also play guitar and drums.

My experience playing bass basically went like this:

I had played trombone in middle school and high school band. I started bass at 15 and had no guitar experience. I took six months of lessons and started playing in a band. I'm 44 now. I am just a hobbyist who loves playing music.

I tried to get better and better, but I did not appreciate simplicity in bass playing. I never wanted to play the same note twice, I wanted to walk around and show my chops constantly.

After years of doing this, I felt I was hitting a plateau. I finally learned to appreciate simplicity, and it opened up the instrument so much to me.

I think if I started on guitar, I may have appreciated this sooner, but I wanted to be a dedicated bass player. My biggest regret in my playing is not learning the value of simple playing sooner. A friend came over to jam and was playing bass so busy that it reminded me. It crowds everyone out. When I am playing guitar, and the bass is busy, I feel relegated to pretty simple rhythm playing. Which is fine. BUT, it is best to serve the song, get playful when it is appropriate. Holding down the groove is the most important lane. Give the song room to breathe. Let the other players play too and only get busy when it best serves the song. Simplicity is a bass player's best friend.

JMHO

I've learned how to play busy but not too busy. Lots of fills and runs do the trick.

 

[Ekulati]

You can ruin a song by playing too much. You can also ruin a song by not playing enough.

Yes. There's learning to "play" an instrument ("I wanted to show my chops") then there's learning to play music.

 

[MrB64]

I play bass primarily. However, I also play guitar and drums.

My experience playing bass basically went like this:

I had played trombone in middle school and high school band. I started bass at 15 and had no guitar experience. I took six months of lessons and started playing in a band. I'm 44 now. I am just a hobbyist who loves playing music.

I tried to get better and better, but I did not appreciate simplicity in bass playing. I never wanted to play the same note twice, I wanted to walk around and show my chops constantly.

After years of doing this, I felt I was hitting a plateau. I finally learned to appreciate simplicity, and it opened up the instrument so much to me.

I think if I started on guitar, I may have appreciated this sooner, but I wanted to be a dedicated bass player. My biggest regret in my playing is not learning the value of simple playing sooner. A friend came over to jam and was playing bass so busy that it reminded me. It crowds everyone out. When I am playing guitar, and the bass is busy, I feel relegated to pretty simple rhythm playing. Which is fine. BUT, it is best to serve the song, get playful when it is appropriate. Holding down the groove is the most important lane. Give the song room to breathe. Let the other players play too and only get busy when it best serves the song. Simplicity is a bass player's best friend.

JMHO

I was the same. I think it came from my influences, who were also busy.

 

[Stranger Danger]

I play bass primarily. However, I also play guitar and drums.

My experience playing bass basically went like this:

I had played trombone in middle school and high school band. I started bass at 15 and had no guitar experience. I took six months of lessons and started playing in a band. I'm 44 now. I am just a hobbyist who loves playing music.

I tried to get better and better, but I did not appreciate simplicity in bass playing. I never wanted to play the same note twice, I wanted to walk around and show my chops constantly.

After years of doing this, I felt I was hitting a plateau. I finally learned to appreciate simplicity, and it opened up the instrument so much to me.

I think if I started on guitar, I may have appreciated this sooner, but I wanted to be a dedicated bass player. My biggest regret in my playing is not learning the value of simple playing sooner. A friend came over to jam and was playing bass so busy that it reminded me. It crowds everyone out. When I am playing guitar, and the bass is busy, I feel relegated to pretty simple rhythm playing. Which is fine. BUT, it is best to serve the song, get playful when it is appropriate. Holding down the groove is the most important lane. Give the song room to breathe. Let the other players play too and only get busy when it best serves the song. Simplicity is a bass player's best friend.

JMHO

I don’t agree and FWIW I’m older than you. Every context is different. Not only does it depend on the band and the genre, it also depends on the song and the arrangement of that song. There are no rules. None. Not a single one.

 

[chris_b]

IMO simple is the most effective way of playing a bass.

Listen to the likes of Chuck Rainey, Reggie McBride, Wilton Felder, Nathan East, Lee Sklar, Sean Hurley, Duck Dunn etc and the simplicity of their bass lines rules the songs.

 

[eddododo]

I play bass primarily. However, I also play guitar and drums.

My experience playing bass basically went like this:

I had played trombone in middle school and high school band. I started bass at 15 and had no guitar experience. I took six months of lessons and started playing in a band. I'm 44 now. I am just a hobbyist who loves playing music.

I tried to get better and better, but I did not appreciate simplicity in bass playing. I never wanted to play the same note twice, I wanted to walk around and show my chops constantly.

After years of doing this, I felt I was hitting a plateau. I finally learned to appreciate simplicity, and it opened up the instrument so much to me.

I think if I started on guitar, I may have appreciated this sooner, but I wanted to be a dedicated bass player. My biggest regret in my playing is not learning the value of simple playing sooner. A friend came over to jam and was playing bass so busy that it reminded me. It crowds everyone out. When I am playing guitar, and the bass is busy, I feel relegated to pretty simple rhythm playing. Which is fine. BUT, it is best to serve the song, get playful when it is appropriate. Holding down the groove is the most important lane. Give the song room to breathe. Let the other players play too and only get busy when it best serves the song. Simplicity is a bass player's best friend.

JMHO

I will forever advocate for bass being an instrument capable of much more than roots that match the kick pattern, but with the caveat that first you need to figure out how to play roots with the kick pattern.

music is diverse, and if you’re informed by things like classical music and anything else you should be aware that there are a billion ways to arrange music, many of which feature low-voices instruments doing things besides playing roots.. but there is a reason that the latter is so very common, and especially if you’re playing music with a pop, rock, songwriting lineage you’re simply not a good player if you can’t *hold it down*

 

[eddododo]

I don’t agree and FWIW I’m older than you. Every context is different. Not only does it depend on the band and the genre, it also depends on the song and the arrangement of that song. There are no rules. None. Not a single one.

I think people who harp about bass ‘needing’ to be a certain simple thing tend to have an extremely limited and non-diverse exposure to or appreciation for a variety of styles of music.