Do you play songs exactly the same every time?

[zontar]

I don't even play it the same from verse to verse (Well sometimes)

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

theres a skill to knowing a song 100% and reproducing it as such but so boring for player and listener! Improvise to your hearts content.

Or put on the cd.

 

[devnulljp]

I never play a song the same way once, let alone every time.

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

As pointed out by many others: The signature licks, song hooks or other stuff that makes the other musicians feel comfortable or at home (like finding their way back to the 1 after whatever they have been doing), I try to get right every time. Everything else is up to interpretation, mood and response. Some audiences, rooms or times-of-night seem to require less notes than others...

 

[andruca]

Can't remember who was I read once said something along the lones of "I like playing the same thing over and over, that's why I'm a bassist". Can't find the quote really. Could it have been Tony Levin?

 

[gully_jones]

Mostly not. Lucky if I play in the same key every time.

 

[Jason Hollar]

Yes & No.

Certain gigs require an unwavering lockdown of the bass line & the groove all night long.

Other gigs are by nature more loose and improvisational. The trick is to know the difference.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I used to try to do that.
Then I asked myself if it's more important to do exactly what the recorded bassist is doing.
Or to to know why he's doing what he's doing.
But then,I am a Jazz Fusion kinda guy!

 

[Ian Lewis]

I guess it depends what sort of band you play in. My usual gig is playing from charts in a twenty piece band. We're expected to play exactly what's written, although the bass & drums have a bit of leeway as long as it still grooves. I like cover bands to sound like the record. Unfortunately some musicians think they can improve on platinum selling records! You want to improvise? Join a jazz group.

 

[thunderstation]

My band plays mostly originals. Some of the bass lines continue to evolve so they have changed over time. There are others I think I play the same every time. As for covers, I have never tried to really clone a bass part. If the song is suggested, I might have an idea on the original bass line and play what I think it sounded like. If I'm not so familiar with the song, I might listen to it a couple of times and then make my own cover of it. Based on that, I rarely play it the same exact way twice.

Pretty much how I do it as well - except I try to follow the same patterns because in an original song the other players might be basing their part on mine- so if I go off..their part might not fit as well- I has this issue with our keyboardist - he's a very good pianist but he changes his parts so my parts don't necessarily sound as well against his parts.

 

[Basically Bob]

Songs evolve for me. When learning something new, I tend to focus more on the roots, just to keep it really simple, so I'm not distracting the other guys in the band. Once I have the changes nailed, I will start playing around a bit, perhaps moving up or down the neck and adding fills to get the bass line where I feel really good about it. Often I ask for input from my band mates.

When I have the song down, I pretty much play it the same way (or close to it).

It's not about me - it's about the band ... and the guys I play with like consistancy.

 

[JR Roxx]

Nope. I play in trio most of the time and am always looking for the best way to fill in the gaps. While singing.

 

[klokker]

I'm in a cover band, and I pretty much play my songs the same way every time. There are some songs where there are more "free flow" sections where everyone does their own thing. There......no. But I have a bunch of fills or whatever that I've worked through and just go with that in whatever comes in the moment.

Some songs are just so well known and the bass part is so integral to the sound that I feel that I have to go pretty much note for note from memory. On other songs the bass part on the recording just doesn't work with our band. There I make up something else, but even then I'm pretty careful about what I play and pretty much stick to it.

 

[jacolyte]

for me, improvisation is crucial to music. regardless of whether i'm playing jazz or rock, i take a jazz mindset into it: know the chords and the bar lines, and play your imagination within that skeleton. repetition is boring.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

I'm in a tribute band and I mix it up a little. You don't jerk with iconic parts or bits that stand out, but you can make little changes that help keep your interest without losing lovers of the original music. Be subtle, be sparing.

IMO.

 

[SteveHeissner]

When I practice, I try out different fills, approaches, and rhythms, and incorporate the ones I like into my "vocabulary" for that song.

+1 Excellent approach. You get to improvise, have some fun, and learn all at the same time.

 

[HeadWind]

Opinionated question. Do you ever take the time to learn a song 100%?

Lot of relevant discussion there.

 

[bassinflorida]

It can be a struggle to reproduce the bass lines note for note when covering tunes. Almost everyone leaves some room for their technique (or lack of).
One comment that stuck with me was from a lead vocalist. He said it was a pleasure to have me play bass because I always learned the song and he could rely on the bass.
Food for though.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

It can be a struggle to reproduce the bass lines note for note when covering tunes. Almost everyone leaves some room for their technique (or lack of).
One comment that stuck with me was from a lead vocalist. He said it was a pleasure to have me play bass because I always learned the song and he could rely on the bass.
Food for though.

There's almost always something in even the most basic song that you won't hear for months after learning the song, 'note for note.' It's amazing the nuance that can be crammed into two and a half minutes.

 

[hover]

Unless I'm playing a multi-person syncopated passage like something proggy, or something locked-in funk that's dependent on it, I try to shake it up a tad, be it originals or covers, but not to the point of distraction or re-writing the part, just enough to play with the interplay with the drummer.