How to make my playing more interesting

[Waster]

Hi guys,

So I'm playing in a rock band right now. We have a wide range of influences, so we're still finding our 'sound', but at the moment the only way I would describe us as is funk-punk (NOT like RHCP).

So in practice we've been playing some songs we've written, but I find myself playing mostly eighth notes on the root. I know there's nothing wrong with this; my favourite player is Adam Clayton of U2, but it's getting a bit dull and repetitive, especially when the song calls for more.

How did you learn to spice up your lines, to make them more soulful/funkier? I hope I'm making sense. I know all that I-III-V-bVII stuff, it's using it that's the problem.

Thanks!

Connor

 

[SteveHeissner]

I have the same issue since I play in an 80's hair band tribute... not the most exciting bass lines ever recorded. So I itry to listen to bass players in other genres of music from time to time and copy some of what they do even if it doesn't sound like how you play. Listen to jazz, old 70's motown and disco and R&B, even country to pick up other styles you might be able to steal riffs from. Good luck!

 

[Duckwater]

Syncopated chord tones

 

[PDGood]

I have the same issue since I play in an 80's hair band tribute... not the most exciting bass lines ever recorded.

No disco?
Popular in the 80s.
Very busy bass lines.

 

[mambo4]

I know all that I-III-V-bVII stuff, it's using it that's the problem.

Steal from bass lines you like.

find a bass line you enjoy, then identify the chord progression and analyze how the note choices relate to the progression.

another option for 8th note rock is to play even less. what if instead of steady eights you drop to quarters, or halves, or mix it up?

a final thought: pitch and rhythm are only part of what makes music. Victor Wooten identified 10 'elements of groove'

 

[tZer]

Steal from bass lines you like.

find a bass line you enjoy, then identify the chord progression and analyze how the note choices relate to the progression.

another option for 8th note rock is to play even less. what if instead of steady eights you drop to quarters, or halves, or mix it up?

a final thought: pitch and rhythm are only part of what makes music. Victor Wooten identified 10 'elements of groove'

+1 (as usual)

The thing I find to be most interesting in a player's arsenal is command of technique and confidence in playing. Study the funk masters (old-school, 70's era stuff) - focus on feel and technical precision. The goal is to sound totally relaxed and in control. Just watch how Rocco Prestia seems to play those 16th note funk lines so effortlessly.

Simple and solid is WAY better than complex and shaky. A super simple, but dead on funky groove is always better than a sort of solid complicated one. IMO and IME, less is almost always more and the only time more is more is in VERY small, very appropriate doses.

When you learn a great groovy line, practice it a LOT and internalize the groove as best you can. Try to get it on a 'reproducible' level where you feel more like you know why the player is playing that way, not so much how.

 

[isthimus]

i had this problem a while back, and i now consider myself to have (begun to) overcome it. coupla tips:

learn something far, far abve your skill level. even if you can only play it 1/2 or 1/4 speed, it still informs your playing and teches you how to construct busy lines without being too obtrusive

dont be afraid to sound bad. improvise fills, or just play a 5th or 3rd or something now and again, see how it sounds. stick to chord tones, get the hang of that. then start messing around with stuff that itsnt chordal. if it sounds bad, it sounds bad, an next time (hopefully) itll sound better . and dont think that I- III-V bVII is what you SHOULD do. its just what you CAN do, IF it fits.

get out of your comfort zone. you say your fav bassist is from u2. learn some metal, some jazz, some wierd hipstertish postrock, anything that seems interesting. you wont be able to play it well, maybe not full speed, but again, it teaches you new ways of lokingf at stuff, constructing riffs etc, an thatll inform your playing in your funk band

maybe learn some new right hand stuff? whenever im bored of what i can play/how im composing etc, i tend to try and make new sounds, rther than new riffs. start messing with timbre, tone, hand technique. maybe learn some slap or fingerstyle or picking or matthew garrison style four finger stuff or tapping or.. you get the idea. try and play an e and make it sound different from the last e you played. new riffs will start to flow naturally out of new sounds

talk to your guitarist. write one good bass riff, an build your next song round that rather than round guitar or vocals. at the very least, make it clear from the start that you need space for your lines. when theres more room for you in the mix, youll find that your lines expand naturally.

hope this helps