if you had to choose timing vs. the right note

[ericmknight1906]

If you had to choose timing vs. hitting the right note which would it be??

I was watching victor wooten's workshop and it seems that Timing and being insnyc w/ the drummer is more important. He had a segment where he was fretting wrong notes and it still sounded good. that doesn't mean dwell on wrong notes forever. But from what I understand wrong notes are more forgiving than timing.

I tried this theory and I also took into consideration, Bootsie Collin's "on the 1 baby" approach. As a result it seems that I was automatically more creative when playing songs w/o even trying hard just because I stayed in time and on the 1.

It seems that timing and drummer synchopation is everything.

Does anybody agree or disagree? Is that the right approach or is there a different or better way to look at?

thanks

 

[pacojas]

i drop out for that beat if i am lost or late, YMMV.

 

[stratovani]

Timing, always timing. Everyone hits a clam (a wrong note) once in a while, and while it's not good it's excusable. However, bad time is inexcusible. Your audience will wince if you hit a bad note, but if you don't play in time they'll get up and leave! :scowl:

 

[BigDaddyMick]

Another vote for timing.
Ya gotta stay in the pocket, and keep that groove line going. Make 'em shake their rumps.

Bad notes happen sometimes. The more the crowd drinks, the less noticeable it becomes.

 

[fractiouslowend]

as long as your timing is on, if you hit a wrong note you can just call it jazz

 

[gai113]

groove > Notes always for bass

 

[Rage1331]

Timing is first and foremost for a bass player.

 

[topo morto]

Yep, tick tock, timing, timing.

And you can't really play a wrong note as a bassist. If you play something... unpredictable, it just makes everyone else wrong.

 

[benthughes]

I think timing. All the right notes in the world can't make up for bad timing.

 

[Jeffrey Wash]

Definitely voting with the majority on this one. Timing is paramount.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Timing. This is exactly why you & I sound so much better when performing with certain drummers. Pushes, pulls, sitting slightly ahead / behind the beat, "drop the one, mon!"....all part of playing in the pocket.

Riis

 

[lfmn16]

I don't think I'd disagree with Victor.

 

[BassChuck]

There is no such thing as a 'right note' at the wrong time.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

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[john_g]

I dont know...yes timing is very important and something my initial teacher 25 years ago stressed heavily and Im thankful he did. However, in a band mix, if you are hitting the wrong notes you will be playing by yourself in your bedroom very quickly. So they are equally important IMO and I couldnt say one is more than the other.

 

[sammyp]

Wooten's approach to time vs note isn't new.....at music school in the 90s the profs used to tell us to focus on swing.....the right notes would come later.

 

[gre107]

It's not the note you are playing that is important it's the next one. Timing is more important. If you play a "bad" note the next note you play should be supporting it. Don't loose the groove!

 

[baileyboy]

If I had to choose, I'd prefer to be in time over hitting the correct notes. In my opinion, "wrong" notes can be played here and there without much notice if they are 1/8 or 1/16 notes.

 

[hdracer]

It is funny this came up today.
Last night at my lesson my teacher gave me a long lecture on this.
I was so proud of what I had worked on, thought I had it nailed.I worked on the bass line he laid out for me all week. It involved some triplets and some odd syncopation.

His words are still ringing in my ears.

It doesn't matter that you nailed the triplets, You MISSED THE ONE!

 

[dalkowski]

as long as your timing is on, if you hit a wrong note you can just call it jazz

+1. Didn't Victor himself say something like, "You're never more than a half-step away from the right note?"

Bad timing is nails on a chalkboard through a Marshall stack. By comparison, the occasional clam is a cute little kitten fart.