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How close am I to being kicked out?
- Thread starter SweetKetchup
- Start date
Agree with everyone who said "relax". If you and the drummer are tight, when you play notes may actually be more important than the notes you play. If you have been doing covers, you know how many great songs have simple bass lines.
We write as a band by noodling over a riff as well. Our lead singer is fantastic with coming up with a vocal melody quickly, so things can take shape after a couple of passes. I have bass lines that have written themselves, they just fit right away, and I have lines that I have tried 10 or so combinations and still hate them. It just takes time.
But step one is never write something that doesn't fit the song. You are there to hold the chord down, fit with the drummer, and to add momentum (turnarounds are probably the most important thing you'll write). If it ain't blues, don't think you have to walk the whole song. Also, space is important. A whole song of 8th notes is the least rememberable line you can write.
We write as a band by noodling over a riff as well. Our lead singer is fantastic with coming up with a vocal melody quickly, so things can take shape after a couple of passes. I have bass lines that have written themselves, they just fit right away, and I have lines that I have tried 10 or so combinations and still hate them. It just takes time.
But step one is never write something that doesn't fit the song. You are there to hold the chord down, fit with the drummer, and to add momentum (turnarounds are probably the most important thing you'll write). If it ain't blues, don't think you have to walk the whole song. Also, space is important. A whole song of 8th notes is the least rememberable line you can write.
If the guitarist is just soloing, he's likely only listening to himself. Actually playing *less* is better in that case so the song has a solid foundation if the top half is flailing around in the wind. 
Besides root-5th-octave, and variations of that order, you can do a simple walk between chord changes. Say from G to C, you sit on the G for nearly a full measure, then walk up A, Bb, C. (depending on the key you are in) Or you could walk down from the octave: G, F, D, C. (again depending on the key).
If you have constantly changing chords, you can nearly be constantly walking between the notes. That said, I get the feeling you guys might be sitting on each chord way too long and relying on soloing to make the song more interesting. For a lot of mainstream bass playing, you sit in a pocket, maintain that foundation, lock in with the drummer, and drive the song forward - without the need to write complex walking bass lines. Depends on the style of music though. My rule of thumb: when others are playing more, play less. (and the opposite too - if there's just a sustained chord for a measure, you can add a little something to it. Think intro to War Pigs.)
Besides root-5th-octave, and variations of that order, you can do a simple walk between chord changes. Say from G to C, you sit on the G for nearly a full measure, then walk up A, Bb, C. (depending on the key you are in) Or you could walk down from the octave: G, F, D, C. (again depending on the key).
If you have constantly changing chords, you can nearly be constantly walking between the notes. That said, I get the feeling you guys might be sitting on each chord way too long and relying on soloing to make the song more interesting. For a lot of mainstream bass playing, you sit in a pocket, maintain that foundation, lock in with the drummer, and drive the song forward - without the need to write complex walking bass lines. Depends on the style of music though. My rule of thumb: when others are playing more, play less. (and the opposite too - if there's just a sustained chord for a measure, you can add a little something to it. Think intro to War Pigs.)
Just read an interview with the angry, hateful EVH. Among the other angry, hateful things he said, one of them was he wrote all the bass lines and he had to show Michael note for note how to play them. Michael's backup vocals weren't nothing special because they were mostly Eddie making them sound good. He probably had to tune his bass and plug it in too. He should have got a chimp to play bass, cause that's what he made it out to be, I guess when you loose your 2 best friends (cocaine & vodka) you get kinda angry
Take it easy, keep it minimal. If I can get through a number playing three notes, moving up a fourth and back down, I'm perfectly happy. If I get a single (correct) note in as a passing note, I'm feeling really good.
Bass is at least as much rhythm as pitch. Keep it simple.
Talk with everyone. Don't try to be a mind reader and don't expect them to do it either!
Bass is at least as much rhythm as pitch. Keep it simple.
Talk with everyone. Don't try to be a mind reader and don't expect them to do it either!
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Well, I think that's depend on the band needs, as some others say, "less is more" and I unless that the band ask you for more arrengments, you can keep on roots, if that do the job with the song.
And of course the much that you play the song yourself will found if is a need to add more complex structure.
Of course feedback from your partners is always an important part.
remember that for some songs a flat line with some 5ths works, and for others you may need to go complete funky and go up and down all freths, again that depends on the song and band needs.
Keep practicing, and try some stuffs between rehearsals, at the end you may find something worth or just realize that you already have a great lick.
And of course the much that you play the song yourself will found if is a need to add more complex structure.
Of course feedback from your partners is always an important part.
remember that for some songs a flat line with some 5ths works, and for others you may need to go complete funky and go up and down all freths, again that depends on the song and band needs.
Keep practicing, and try some stuffs between rehearsals, at the end you may find something worth or just realize that you already have a great lick.
Indeed. A very minor deity.
He's right up there with Bulge.
She's the goddess of human fertility and other minor disasters.
If you are trying to get a bit away from the basic, the two things I come back to again and again are syncopation and chord inversion
Mike
Mike
Check out this three-part lesson from Scott Devine on creating bass lines over a simple 4-chord progression. In Part 1 he demonstrates how to do so using only roots, then using only roots and fifths, and finally by using only roots, thirds, and fifths. In Part 2 he shows how to add chromatic approaches to each of these notes, and in Part 3 he shows how to "displace the root" by playing the 3rd on the first beat of a bar and then moving to the root later in the bar. It's a really eye-opener in terms of how much you can do with just chord tones and two little "tricks."
