Hey folks, for those new to the diary, I am a middle aged musician enjoying a bit of a musical renaissance, including finally picking up the bass as a secondary instrument. I have been learning mostly on the fly gigging in a duo/trio, and documenting my gigs with brief writeups. See the links to past entries below!
SO, we are back again! After the *drama* (click here) at the start of the month, I wasn't sure where I was going as a bassist. I had definitely went a *wee* bit crazy with GAS, and the roster had grown to three basses, and several pedals. Long story short for those who don't want to read the lengthy background above, I was part of a trio that came together out of a poorly-defined open jam that fell apart due to a lack of pay for at least two of the three of us.
The singer/guitarist who hosts is Frank, and despite some of the issues that happened with us, I still consider him a friend, and enjoy playing with him. When we sync up, magic can happen IMHO! I had intended to drop down last week and play with him as a duo, and just wasn't feeling up to it. So I went down last night, wanting to try out my brand spanking new Line 6 Pod Express Bass. Let's get a short review of it out of the way first:
It's great. I went Beatbuddy 2 Mini => Pod Express => house, and I thought the tone was *huge*. We didn't end up using the Beatbuddy. I didn't get too crazy with the Pod, I think I kept it on the "vintage" amp all night, with a dash of optocomp. I added a bit of chorus/drive/boost here and there, using at least some chorus most of the night. I honestly can't imagine the pedal being any better than it is. It's *literally* a one stop-shop for what I want/need and then some!
Back to the Diary!
I started out *the ******. Like, horrible, I hadn't played in a few weeks, and it showed. Frank kindof shook me out of it, and suggested a couple of basslines by looping his rhythm track, and demonstrating a suggested line, which was a subtler way of "correcting" on the fly than he normally does.
I leaned in to a lot of arpeggios, and note duration to differentiate bars of the same/similar notes. I had a secret weapon ready to unleash however
I had mentioned to him casually that we should do "Gimme Shelter", which we had done as a trio several times. Frank said we would do it later. He is a bit of a dictator when it comes to song order, tho not song choice (as long as he knows it).
Things were going well, but after about 90 minutes, I felt like he was feeling frustrated having to pick songs that I could handle. Keep in mind that he expects bassists to more or less know the key/bassline/chords without telling you the song title, which is just a strange personality quirk that I razz him about continually! So I said to him off mic "no problem, it's a jam, let's do one more, and you can finish the night off solo". I think that kindof caught him off guard, and he called out Gimme Shelter.... (for a TLDR version, skip ahead to the ***!)
I have played guitar for 30+ years, and bass casually for about 10-12, only really taking it seriously for the last ten months. But I never learned a *lick* of theory. Not one bit. Any theory I knew was by feel, and I couldn't articulate. But I had been working on the blues scale *all* month, mainly on guitar, and making *major* connections. I am an oddball, in that I can speak the language, but lack the vocabulary. I have been working on correcting that, and making *major* jumps in ability. All of this had happened since we last played together at the start of this month.
I had the "aha" moment when learning the *proper* bassline to GS that it's in the blues scale, and then I was just off to the races. So as we launched into it, and I did the ascending run in the second bar, Frank looked over at me with his eyebrows held high. Halfway through the verse, during which I had been riffing that differently every iteration, always coming right back to that root note, he actually exclaimed "nice" over the mic.
We felt like a different act, Not just having a set line to follow, or reaching for notes by instinct, without knowing why, I felt like I had been given a little fragment of power cosmic, and I was using it. Gimme Shelter is the *perfect* song for my ability, and we *jammed* that poopie out. During the first solo, I went all over the place riffing it out, and we locked in tight, prompting Frank to throw us back to a second solo after the last chorus.
At the end of the song, he was looking at me like I had been pranking him this entire time. I said to him "I told you I was working on that song, and it's in the blues scale, which i've been practicing hard". He goes "well it's all in the blues scale", and launches into "Sympathy for the Devil". I stumbled over my "words" a little with that one, but it worked. We went straight into "After Midnight", and I just let loose on that one, riffing all over the place, while still defining the chord changes (John Entwistle's bassist as opposed to a bass guitarist). Frank extended the solo, saying on the mic that I was "funking out", lol.
I think we both saw a vision of the bassist I have in me last night, even if we both took a rocky road to get there. Now guys, let me get something straight. At my *best*, I am a rookie at most. BUT, at my best it turns out that i'm competent at least, and I feel that I have tons of room to grow yet.
And man oh man, the funnest parts of last night was about as much fun as I have had playing on a stage ever. I absolutely love the instrumental breaks, getting to just jam the frig out, losing yourself in the communal experience. I am not comparing myself to them, but I have always *completely* loved the way Blackmore and Lord would just toss it back and forth with no more communication or pre-arrangement than a simple nod. Neither Frank or I are a pimple on a pimple on the arse of those greats, but I feel like I have enough skill to be a part of a *very* rudimentary version of that, and I don't think a better drug exists!
*** So I guess the takeaway is that knowing your scales is *really* important, and that even just the basic blues scale will let you do a hell of a lot!
Fun night, exactly what I want out of playing bass right here, right now, and something to build on! Cya on the next one!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight | Facebook
2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
16th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-16-coda.1658000/#post-28611190
SO, we are back again! After the *drama* (click here) at the start of the month, I wasn't sure where I was going as a bassist. I had definitely went a *wee* bit crazy with GAS, and the roster had grown to three basses, and several pedals. Long story short for those who don't want to read the lengthy background above, I was part of a trio that came together out of a poorly-defined open jam that fell apart due to a lack of pay for at least two of the three of us.
The singer/guitarist who hosts is Frank, and despite some of the issues that happened with us, I still consider him a friend, and enjoy playing with him. When we sync up, magic can happen IMHO! I had intended to drop down last week and play with him as a duo, and just wasn't feeling up to it. So I went down last night, wanting to try out my brand spanking new Line 6 Pod Express Bass. Let's get a short review of it out of the way first:
It's great. I went Beatbuddy 2 Mini => Pod Express => house, and I thought the tone was *huge*. We didn't end up using the Beatbuddy. I didn't get too crazy with the Pod, I think I kept it on the "vintage" amp all night, with a dash of optocomp. I added a bit of chorus/drive/boost here and there, using at least some chorus most of the night. I honestly can't imagine the pedal being any better than it is. It's *literally* a one stop-shop for what I want/need and then some!
Back to the Diary!
I started out *the ******. Like, horrible, I hadn't played in a few weeks, and it showed. Frank kindof shook me out of it, and suggested a couple of basslines by looping his rhythm track, and demonstrating a suggested line, which was a subtler way of "correcting" on the fly than he normally does.
I leaned in to a lot of arpeggios, and note duration to differentiate bars of the same/similar notes. I had a secret weapon ready to unleash however
I had mentioned to him casually that we should do "Gimme Shelter", which we had done as a trio several times. Frank said we would do it later. He is a bit of a dictator when it comes to song order, tho not song choice (as long as he knows it).
Things were going well, but after about 90 minutes, I felt like he was feeling frustrated having to pick songs that I could handle. Keep in mind that he expects bassists to more or less know the key/bassline/chords without telling you the song title, which is just a strange personality quirk that I razz him about continually! So I said to him off mic "no problem, it's a jam, let's do one more, and you can finish the night off solo". I think that kindof caught him off guard, and he called out Gimme Shelter.... (for a TLDR version, skip ahead to the ***!)
I have played guitar for 30+ years, and bass casually for about 10-12, only really taking it seriously for the last ten months. But I never learned a *lick* of theory. Not one bit. Any theory I knew was by feel, and I couldn't articulate. But I had been working on the blues scale *all* month, mainly on guitar, and making *major* connections. I am an oddball, in that I can speak the language, but lack the vocabulary. I have been working on correcting that, and making *major* jumps in ability. All of this had happened since we last played together at the start of this month.
I had the "aha" moment when learning the *proper* bassline to GS that it's in the blues scale, and then I was just off to the races. So as we launched into it, and I did the ascending run in the second bar, Frank looked over at me with his eyebrows held high. Halfway through the verse, during which I had been riffing that differently every iteration, always coming right back to that root note, he actually exclaimed "nice" over the mic.
We felt like a different act, Not just having a set line to follow, or reaching for notes by instinct, without knowing why, I felt like I had been given a little fragment of power cosmic, and I was using it. Gimme Shelter is the *perfect* song for my ability, and we *jammed* that poopie out. During the first solo, I went all over the place riffing it out, and we locked in tight, prompting Frank to throw us back to a second solo after the last chorus.
At the end of the song, he was looking at me like I had been pranking him this entire time. I said to him "I told you I was working on that song, and it's in the blues scale, which i've been practicing hard". He goes "well it's all in the blues scale", and launches into "Sympathy for the Devil". I stumbled over my "words" a little with that one, but it worked. We went straight into "After Midnight", and I just let loose on that one, riffing all over the place, while still defining the chord changes (John Entwistle's bassist as opposed to a bass guitarist). Frank extended the solo, saying on the mic that I was "funking out", lol.
I think we both saw a vision of the bassist I have in me last night, even if we both took a rocky road to get there. Now guys, let me get something straight. At my *best*, I am a rookie at most. BUT, at my best it turns out that i'm competent at least, and I feel that I have tons of room to grow yet.
And man oh man, the funnest parts of last night was about as much fun as I have had playing on a stage ever. I absolutely love the instrumental breaks, getting to just jam the frig out, losing yourself in the communal experience. I am not comparing myself to them, but I have always *completely* loved the way Blackmore and Lord would just toss it back and forth with no more communication or pre-arrangement than a simple nod. Neither Frank or I are a pimple on a pimple on the arse of those greats, but I feel like I have enough skill to be a part of a *very* rudimentary version of that, and I don't think a better drug exists!
*** So I guess the takeaway is that knowing your scales is *really* important, and that even just the basic blues scale will let you do a hell of a lot!
Fun night, exactly what I want out of playing bass right here, right now, and something to build on! Cya on the next one!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight
| Facebook2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
16th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-16-coda.1658000/#post-28611190
![giphy(6)[1].gif](https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/giphy-6-1-gif.7011701/ "giphy(6)[1].gif")
