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How do you vocalize a rhythm/bassline/drumbeat?

Bass Momma

Bass Momma

Dec 25, 2017
447
799
#1
How do you *vocalize* a rhythm/bassline/drumbeat? Literally, what sound do you make? My set task this week is to “sing” a tumbao rhythm as I’m clapping out a cascara rhythm. I’m going nuts figuring out what sound should come out of my mouth. Sounds crazy, but I’m so much not a singer that I might as well have taken a vow of vocal silence as I play - this is HARD. I’m trying tsch, bop, bap… all sound ugh! What do you do?

I’m working on Latin jazz rhythms with my teacher, using Oscar Stagnaro’s excellent book. I’ve got my foot tapping on 1 & 3 as I play, and now the voice. I’m thinking next week we’ll start on incorporating chewing gum!

I know it’ll feel natural soon, but right now this quasi-Trappist bassist is struggling…. :yawn:
 
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#3
After a bunch of trappists yeah I confirm you have to struggle a bit :D
bieCC80re-trappiste-all.jpg
 
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#4
Bass Momma said:
How do you *vocalize* a rhythm/bassline/drumbeat? Literally, what sound do you make? My set task this week is to “sing” a tumbao rhythm as I’m clapping out a cascara rhythm. I’m going nuts figuring out what sound should come out of my mouth. Sounds crazy, but I’m so much not a singer that I might as well have taken a vow of vocal silence as I play - this is HARD. I’m trying tsch, bop, bap… all sound ugh! What do you do?

I’m working on Latin jazz rhythms with my teacher, using Oscar Stagnaro’s excellent book. I’ve got my foot tapping on 1 & 3 as I play, and now the voice. I’m thinking next week we’ll start on incorporating chewing gum!

I know it’ll feel natural soon, but right now this quasi-Trappist bassist is struggling…. :yawn:
Click to expand...
Joke excluded, what Oscar's book are studying with ? to me it's like any other kind of music: you become familiar and "natural" with it by listening to a bunch of latin music, there's a damn lot of different claves to understand, plus the famous afro-cuban 6/8 rhythms, and so on...

First thing first: get the clave engrained in your head, mentally, and then sing the bass line, you can isolate the clave first, and loop it to help you, repetition again and again is the key to have it engrained. Then only after that is tapping/clapping the clave while singing the bassline at the same time.

Excellent podcast for the afro-cuban 6/8
PRX
 
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#5
BeMoreFrench said:
Joke excluded, what Oscar's book are studying with ? to me it's any other kind of music: you become familiar and "natural" with it by listening to a bunch of latin music, there's a damn lot of different claves to understand, plus the famous afro-cuban 6/8 rhythms, and so on...

First thing first: get the clave engrained in your head, mentally, and then sing the bass line, you can isolate the clave first, and loop it to help you, repetition again and again is the key to have it engrained. Then only after that is tapping/clapping the clave while singing the bassline at the same time.

Excellent podcast for the afro-cuban 6/8
PRX
Click to expand...

The Latin Bass Book. Thanks for the podcast reference. I am doing a lot of listening, but at this stage it feels like a tsunami; there’s so much going on it’s hard to figure out. Getting it engrained is going to take a bit of time.

But my, it feels good to play.
 
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#9
When I was a piano student, several pieces I had to work up were mind-bending on first glance, where I had to play in 2 against 3 and another was 4 against 5. Nuts!

So . . . I'd practice each hand separately against the metronome, then combine them. Eventually I had a sense of the interplay and it was fine.

I once read where Geddy Lee would practice his vocals, bass lines, and pedals if required, separately as well, then combined them until it flowed.

I can't think of a better way.
 
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#12
Bass Momma said:
The Latin Bass Book. Thanks for the podcast reference. I am doing a lot of listening, but at this stage it feels like a tsunami; there’s so much going on it’s hard to figure out. Getting it engrained is going to take a bit of time.

But my, it feels good to play.
Click to expand...
It's probably THE reference book for sure, I've studied it extensively in the early 2000's, there's a lot to absorb with it, so take it baby steps, there are tunes that are easier than others on the 1st CD that come sometimes after some harder ones placed at the beginning of the book, for example to me at the very beginning of the book study the CD 1 track 19 made more "sense" cos' it was melodically richer for the bassline at the intro that has that "hook" effect. It's a simple 2/3 son clave, it's called a pilon guaracha because of the percussions patterns that are played on that clave, but it shows how much you can explore melodically on bass with those kind of basic I-II-V chord progressions typical in latin jazz. So all in all, only I-II-V cadence, simple 2/3 son clave, I think it's a good start.
 
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#14
I have to imagine the feel and rhythm (and maybe approximating the relative pitch for a bassline) is more important than whatever specific sound you actually choose to make. I grew up singing along to vocals and instrumentals so it's not something I think about too much. In an earlier version of this post I wrote out a list of syllables I might use (pa, ta, doo, dum, etc...) but the list was *very* long and felt obvoxious, lol. The possibilities are truly endless, it depends on what sound I'm trying to mimick and what I'm feeling in the moment.

Maybe just watch some youtube videos of someone vocalizing rhythms/bass/drums to get some ideas. Jack Black seems to do this kind of thing constantly, for one.
 
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#18
Bass Momma said:
How do you *vocalize* a rhythm/bassline/drumbeat? Literally, what sound do you make? My set task this week is to “sing” a tumbao rhythm as I’m clapping out a cascara rhythm. I’m going nuts figuring out what sound should come out of my mouth. Sounds crazy, but I’m so much not a singer that I might as well have taken a vow of vocal silence as I play - this is HARD. I’m trying tsch, bop, bap… all sound ugh! What do you do?

I’m working on Latin jazz rhythms with my teacher, using Oscar Stagnaro’s excellent book. I’ve got my foot tapping on 1 & 3 as I play, and now the voice. I’m thinking next week we’ll start on incorporating chewing gum!

I know it’ll feel natural soon, but right now this quasi-Trappist bassist is struggling…. :yawn:
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter what sounds you make, but look up Van Canto; they are an a capella band.
 
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