Is he swinging?

[cnltb]

To answer the question which makes the title of the video 'Can Electric Bass Swing?';

- It is never the instrument's fault if it doesn't.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

To answer the question which makes the title of the video 'Can Electric Bass Swing?';

- It is never the instrument's fault if it doesn't.

I think at times swinging is conflated with sounding like a double bass.

 

[lunarpollen]

when there is that amount of compression, it will never swing no matter what he plays

 

[cnltb]

I think at times swinging is conflated with sounding like a double bass.

Yes.

 

[onda'bass]

He most definitely swings, maybe not as hard as a bass player who only plays straight jazz on upright.

now does this swing? even on electric?

 

[jtg]

Makes me sometimes wonder if it’s possible for some people to get so good at playing their instrument that their music begins to suffer a little bit

I've always felt this way and accordingly have been dialing way down on the practicing for the last 30 years or so. You just can't be risking getting too good to swing

 

[bass12]

Gwizdala is very animated, for sure. He might take it to a level a bit beyond what I’d call necessary, but I appreciate the intent and I like what he does way better than when guys look at their feet the whole time and sway vaguely from side to side as they play.

I hear you about the looking at one's feet thing. I've definitely been guilty of that on many occasions. But I've noticed a lot of players "taking it over the top" in recent years. This seems to especially be the case with guys who look to have been influenced by Joe Dart. It's cool to be into what you're doing but contrived movement past a certain point tends to look... contrived.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

He most definitely swings, maybe not as hard as a bass player who only plays straight jazz on upright.

now does this swing? even on electric?

Sounds like Jaco is on his fretted Jazz. He is swinging, but not walking. I don’t think I have listened to this track in forty years.

 

[Carl Hillman]

…physical clowning around detracts from performances in my eye. ..,when it gets over the top, it's kind of like someone telling a joke, then saying, "See what I did there? Aren't I really clever? Pretty good, huh?"

That’s what is known as “digging yourself digging jazz”.

 

[Not yet]

Not even close

 

[Altitude]

I hear you about the looking at one's feet thing. I've definitely been guilty of that on many occasions. But I've noticed a lot of players "taking it over the top" in recent years. This seems to especially be the case with guys who look to have been influenced by Joe Dart. It's cool to be into what you're doing but contrived movement past a certain point tends to look... contrived.

That’s a whole different talk show, but yes…there’s a lot about Vulfpeck’s brand in general that comes across to me as contrived.

 

[ToddB1963]

Well, I thought about what I’d written there and I think the eights = triplets definition holds but there is a lot of room for fudging in a group where everyone is aware of the rules and whether they are choosing to bend them.

Check out this tune by Steve Morse Band, called “Cruise Missile.” One of the reasons I love it is that the drummer seems to be swinging for the entire tune, Steve himself sometimes is and other times isn’t, and the tempo is fast enough that it’s hard to tell, and the bass player Jerry Peek plays an iconic bass part that is 100% not swung. But then late in the song he takes a solo that is. Mayhem!

Great album. I've been listening to it since 1984 and still maintain Jerry's solo on "Cruise Missile" is one of the most musical solos I've ever heard on electric bass. And yes. 100% swung!

 

[Pocket Dave]

Awesome playing, just a nano-second too on top of the beat to swing IMO/FWIW.

 

[DWBass]

That's not swinging, really.

Definitely not traditional swinging.

 

[triplebass92]

There definitely are electric bassists who can swing!

Check out Dane Alderson with the Yellowjackets and the WDR big band!

 

[bwildt]

I have no problem hearing the swing in Janek's lines. His quarters and halves are on top, and his grace notes are swung when they need to be.

I agree with this. My understanding of swing is that it mostly concerns how eighth notes played, so how do you swing when playing half and quarter notes? In the example, when he plays eighths (mostly as short little hops, fills and grace/ghost notes), I hear hear him swinging.

 

[Guitalia]

Isn't that tune in 7/4? Swinging would be the least of my worries.

The "Does it swing?" debate reminds me of a thread a classic rock guy started (probably on a guitar site) where he described auditioning for what sounded from his description like a math rock band. Our guy scolded the bass player for being too busy and actually offered to pull up some YouTube videos of Duck Dunn backing, e.g., Otis Redding, to educate the guy on how bass is supposed to be played. He was miffed that his thread didn't get universal sympathy.

 

[5StringBlues]

Insert Garrett Morris gif: "Hey baby, wanna SWIIIING?"

 

[JimmyM]

First rule of swing - lay back - relax. Second play a little behind the beat, with emphasis on 2 and 4. Third do not play ahead of the beat. You push it, you lose your swing, as he demonstrates very well here. Go listen to Ray Brown's sense of time and placement. THAT's swing.

I was told the exact opposite by my hardcore jazz friends. They used to get on me for dragging when I would play without pushing. I thought they were nuts at first, but I tried pushing anyway, and son of a gun…it worked!

As for Janek, I thought it was great and the song swung. Whether he did or not is up for interpretation I guess, but honestly I don’t care if he is or not as long as it sounds good. And to me it did.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Janek’s bass lines does not really swing to my ears although the drummer is certainly swinging. That said, his playing is fine and fits the song.

Agreed. Sounds good in the band context, but when i want to hear hard swing i need a walking bass line. This sounds "swingish" i guess but is more of a funky groove to me. Like a New Orleans funk. If this were on a chart it would say "swing" in the top left corner IMO