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Is "soloing" an essential learning tool?

#22
trevcda said:
I've gotten many a gig over much better players because I could also sing.
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singing has been super important to me as well, especially harmonies. lead singers...eh, there's better than me. i do some lead singing in every band i'm in, but it's because i can do harmonies that gets me the work. if you can't sing, i recommend learning how to do it as well as you can, even if it's croaking out a low harmony now and then.
 
#23
JimmyM said:
singing has been super important to me as well, especially harmonies. lead singers...eh, there's better than me. i do some lead singing in every band i'm in, but it's because i can do harmonies that gets me the work. if you can't sing, i recommend learning how to do it as well as you can, even if it's croaking out a low harmony now and then.
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And singing your solos is a tried and true method of learning to play solos on an instrument.
 
#25
My main interest is in instrumental music, jazz progressive or whatever it's called these days, imo the better a soloist I become the better a supportive and creative bassist i become because I have a better understanding of where the music or a soloist is going whatever the style. Even in a rock or C&W context where i rarely solo it makes me a more intuitive and complete player.
There are the traditional style bass solos and then there are other styles of soloing melodic or riff based and even blues or modal approaches and even purely improvised styles like bebop or more contemporary jazz or fusion styles it pays to study them all not just bass players.
 
#26
A wealthy American businessman decides to spend his family vacation on an African wilderness tour. He packs up the wife, two kids, and off they go to spend a weekend in the African jungle.

Upon arrival in Africa, they meet their tour guide, a local who speaks good English and seems friendly enough. But way off in the distance they hear faint tribal drumming. The couple look worried but the tour guide assures them "don't worry, drumming is good. As long as they are drumming everything is fine".

After some local cuisine, the tour group checks their gear and off they head into the jungle. As they get closer to the jungle the drumming continues, still in the distance but it doesn't seem so far away now. "dont worry" the tour guide reassures them "drumming is good, as long as there is drumming everything is fine".

After a day in the densest jungle any urban family will ever see, the tour group sets up camp, all the while the tribal drumming continues only now it seems just out of site. "drumming is good" the tour guide says "nothing to fear when they continue to drum".

As darkness falls, the american family has never felt so out of place. The jungle is filled dangerous wild beasts, humongous snakes, and the fear of the unknown. On top of that, the total darkness adds another element of terror. The campfire is the only source of light and beyond ten feet or so from the fire's glow, there is nothing but pitch blackness. The family is terrified and now the endless tribal drumming seems like it's right on top of them, just beyond the light of the campfire, louder and more ominous than ever! Despite the tour guides reassurance that everything is fine, and the drumming is nothing to worry about, the family cannot sleep. They remain huddled around the fire until sunrise, scared to death. And the drumming doesn't stop.

The next morning the tour guide awakens to find the family huddled around the now smoldering fire pit, huddled like frightened puppies, looking tired and at wits end. The drumming now seems to be comming from every direction, surrounding the tourists, louder and even more persitant than the night before. The tour guide says "Don't let the drumming scare you, drumming is good. As long as they continue drumming there is nothing to fear"

The group breaks camp and gets in their canoe. As they paddle down what should be the most breathtaking scenery they have ever witnessed, they can't enjoy it because the ominous tribal drumming appears to be following them down the banks of the great river, relentless in it's beat and ominous as ever, when all of the sudden the drumming stops!

Just when the amercans feel like they can finally breathe a sigh of relief they notice that the tour guide is now the nervous one! He is almost as white as they are, and sweating profusely! The guide cannot hide his fear as he drops his paddle and screams..............."OH NO, NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE BASS SOLO"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#30
I go thru phases on this whole "I want a bass solo" in bands. Currently I'm feeling like I don't need them, but I may swing back and want them again. I think I'm at the point where knowing how do do some basic soloing, it better positions me to make interesting counterpoints while the guitar or keys (or vocals) are doing their thing. I suspect in the end it really depends on if you WANT to have solo spots. But for the overall question, I think being able to solo pretty much means you've learned the fretboard and some music theory and you know how to make a solo flow - all good things to position you to be able to play your role as the bass player in the group better.

So yes you should learn to solo. But once you learn how to do so, it doesn't necessarily follow that you need to have your own distinct solo space cut out for you in songs. Hopefully that makes sense.
 
#31
My mentor and friend always pushes me to solo. He is presently making me work through Ray Brown's book. Ultimately, as many have stated before, knowing how to solo helps me to craft more interesting bass lines.
 
#32
I have been playing bass for 33 years and usually do not solo. I was in an original blues band several years ago and the leader wanted me to do a solo so I made one up and played it at gigs.

When I go see a famous band, I feel that the most boring parts of the show are when most of the members of the band walk off the stage and the remaining member does their solo. Usually it's the guitar player first, then the bass player and finally the drummer. To me it is nothing more than self indulgent crap. It looks cool for about 30 seconds but then it gets boring. Especially since most of the guys doing solos are using multiple effects in order to make what they are playing sound more impressive than it really is.
 
#33
If you assume a solo is mostly about flashy chops, speed and playing scales/modes in upper registers then no.
But I feel a truly good solo and a truly good bass line will have much in common and draw on the same combo of skills, knowledge, and taste.
Support the main melody, outline the harmony, serve the song, build a coherent musical phrases.
The biggest difference is that a bass line must also serve the rhythm, while a solo not so much.

But I never solo, so what do I know...
 
#34
JimmyM said:
knowing how to solo makes you a better all around bass player, even if you never solo on a gig.
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True, but I waited once I started playing again to work on soloing until I had a really solid groove and/or swing mentality for the music that calls for it.

Groove and swing gets me hired a helluva lot more than solos.
 
#36
Playing bass is like a conversation with a girl whose pants you really wanna get into: Success depends mostly on listening and when you do speak it's to support her ideas. Only tell your own stories when it's really gonna be beneficial to the overall effort and that won't be very often. When you go for it though it'd better be a good one.
 
#37
jeff arddun said:
Playing bass is like a conversation with a girl whose pants you really wanna get into: Success depends mostly on listening and when you do speak it's to support her ideas. Only tell your own stories when it's really gonna be beneficial to the overall effort and that won't be very often. When you go for it though it'd better be a good one.
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+1
 
#38
Rockmusician said:
I have been playing bass for 33 years and usually do not solo. I was in an original blues band several years ago and the leader wanted me to do a solo so I made one up and played it at gigs.

When I go see a famous band, I feel that the most boring parts of the show are when most of the members of the band walk off the stage and the remaining member does their solo. Usually it's the guitar player first, then the bass player and finally the drummer. To me it is nothing more than self indulgent crap. It looks cool for about 30 seconds but then it gets boring. Especially since most of the guys doing solos are using multiple effects in order to make what they are playing sound more impressive than it really is.
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I totally agree with you about the everyone leaving the stage baloney. That gets old fast. To me it's not necessary and not very musical. I much rather hear solo chops integrated into turnarounds and short breaks and part of bars. It makes the music much more vital and relevant (to the song).
 
#39
I'm able to solo but I'm only good with certain tonality. A lot of what I do sounds good, but a lot of it also sounds cookie cutter. I can't stand the annoying pentatonic solo with no direction or tension. I'm trying to develop a better sense of harmony and direction with my solos. Let's not forget rhythm here either. David Gilmour is an idol in this respect. His solos are always so damn tasteful. I think we can learn a lot about soloing from non bass players.

I'm trying to get away from thinking about music in patterns. When people tell me to play like a F#m7b5 for example. I can figure it out but I rely on my fretboard too much. I look around at all the patterns I know to be a minor seventh or flat fifth interval and then I'll be like ah-ha! it's X note! rather tIhan, boom! just knowing what the minor seventh or a flat five of a F# is for example. It's like counting keys on a keyboard, a little faster but still not truly effective.

I spent a year in music school in college and learned a ton. It really hammers it in being tested and doing music all day everyday in every which way. I've been spending the last year trying to tastefully implement what I've absorbed. Learning has been described as a permanent way we do things. So I'd like to learn to play good.

How do you solo experts think about music while you're playing? I know a lot of it must be intuition and feel by now but who knows, maybe you guys still think mechanically. I've always been curious about it.
 
#40
Mharris said:
How do you solo experts think about music while you're playing? I know a lot of it must be intuition and feel by now but who knows, maybe you guys still think mechanically. I've always been curious about it.
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Both.
Thinking about the mechanics comes when you're learning the tune. To solo over it you need to know it so well you could never make a mistake even though you're acting intuitively purely in terms of melody at that point. If you need to think about the mechanics of a tune while you solo over it chances are your solo going to sound mechanical.
For an excellent treatise on the mechanical part look here.
The melodic intuitive part is your contribution to this reality and you're on yer own there :D
 

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