Double Bass Less is more

[Bass Doc]

Oh My did I have an interesting experience last week-

Been playing Bluegrass with the same group (fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass) for almost 2 years. We are all middle aged guys. Playing out gigs having a great time.

Had a gig last week where I decided that i was totally bored playing Root /5s with the occasional passing fill. I decided to throw in some more interesting things. Nothing wild, just decided to sneak them in here and there to keep myself from going crazy.

Man my guitar player went crazy. He didn't know what was wrong but after the gig was steamed that we sounded "terrible" and we were completely "out of rhythm". He finally called me a few days ago to yell at me that he figured out what it was "The bass was too loud and drowning me out" In spite of the fact no significant changes in volume - OK, maybe a slight increase ;-) I checked with the other players and they also felt that the "bass was off"

So here is what I learned. The other players could not place their finger on it - but I know exactly what was wrong. I was playing something other than Root/5 for the whole 3 hours. These are VERY traditional folks and all they want is a strong Root/5. So I have to figure out if I can play Root/5 for the rest of my career or move on.


The only other problem is that none of them understand even the slightest theory or can read (I have a rudimentary ability to do both). It makes it difficult to communicate musical ideas. It usually ends up going like this:

Me- "Is that the V chord you are playing after the II, or the III"

Guitar player - blank stare "Its this" (plays chord again)

The thing is, these are really nice folks. No drugs, no drunks, almost never have a fight about anything. The banjo player is older and superb. Fiddler is pretty good, and continues to grow. Guitar player is not great but passable, but usually a really nice guy and supportive.


So what to do?

I am learning a lot of the Bluegrass repertoire from them, but sometimes feel like all they want is Root/5. Can anyone else relate to this?????

Bass Doc

 

[hhirbe]

Recently split with my old-time string band for this very reason. Often had good gigs that paid pretty well, but my god it bored the sh*t out of me. That's pretty much all a traditional old-time or traditional bluegrass band wants from the bass, root 5 or root walk to the 4 or 5.
There are other avenues to explore within the genre, and you might do well to find other players that want to play old school material with a different interpretation.

 

[Jay Corwin]

A couple of thoughts on this. I play in a old time band, and hammer a lot of root-5 lines. We play all kinds of old timey stuff though, not just bluegrass'ish stuff. So I get the opportunity to solo, walk, etc. We get downright jug band jazzy sometimes trading solos and such.

My first feeling on this is a pretty simple one. If you aren't happy doing what you have to do for a bluegrass ensemble, then it might be time to find something that lights your fire again. There's nothing wrong with wanting to spread your wings, and traditional/bluegrass usually isn't the place for a bass player to do that.

The other thing I was thinking is just more of a personal thing. If I'm hammering simple lines and the band is firing on all cylinders, I couldn't care less if my part is boring so to speak. My personal feeling on my band is that I want us to kick ass as a band, and if that means letting the singers and fiddle players take the glory - OK by me. I don't mind just being the time keeper on some songs. I'm saying that having more options in the set than it sounds like the OP has though.

As far as the theory part goes, that will always very in any group unless you're all true pros. Just find the right way to communicate what you want. If you know they can't express the chord changes to you in terms of 1, 4, 5, etc. - then just ask them what chord they are playing. So if you know the 4 chord should be a C, just ask them - "Hey are you going to C there?" In my younger, very musically uneducated days I played with a guitarist who was a theory monster (rock band ironically). Instead of spreading that knowledge he would talk down to me like I was jerk for not knowing what certain things meant, or he would hand me sheets he knew I couldn't read. I would be completely honest with him and tell him I didn't understand what he was asking. He would never just say - oh it's A minor, E.....you get the point. He took me on as a bass player that he knew had limited skills at that point and then expected me to be able to just show up at gigs and be able to back him on stuff without ever hearing it before. Needless to say the relationship ended quickly and bad. My point is that if you just learn how to communicate with your band mates on a level they are comfortable with, then things will flow much smoother. Some guys are not interested in learning any theory, but that doesn't mean they aren't interested in learning music.

 

[lnichols]

I don't consider myself a great bass player, but I've received a fair number of complements for my bluegrass playing. I do not strictly play root-five. I'm careful to play notes within the chord, and often it's a walk up or walk-down to the next chord. However, I think the important part is that I'm careful to only play on the one and the three beat of a 4/4 song. At least that seems to work for me.