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Lost without a drummer. Need ideas.

ii7-V7

ii7-V7

Aug 4, 2002
748
258
Baltimore, MD
thedukeandduchesspodcast.com
#1
I've been recently asked to join up with a group that has a guitar player and ukelele player. The music is alt rock and alt country style, with some vocal harmonies. So, in this context I'd be singing and playing. We've had one practice so far. I have to admit that I'm a bit lost without a drummer(I don't mean that in a timing sense, I mean that I'm having a hard time figuring out what to play). I don't think I've ever played in a band setting without some percussion. I'm looking for ideas on how I can set the groove without a drummer.

I thought it might be a good idea to reference some songs/bands that play with a similar set ups, but I'm not sure of any small bands that don't have any percussion. I know that a lot of bluegrass bands are set up this way. But that is definitely not our style of music.

Alright Talkbass. Whatcha got for me?
 
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#5
hi , I have been playing in a band now for 14 months without a drummer , it sucked at first for me ,but I did get to grips with it ,and you will get use to it too. like henry2513 said , tap your foot .you will find that the other guys will look to you too keep it together timing wise .but you will also find you have more room to express yourself melodically and be more dominate in the overall sound you guys create . good luck .

if you want to check out my bands sound and my bass lines with no drums go to www.reverbnation.com/blackseasirens or facebook "Black Sea Sirens " and follow the link. the best two recordings to listen to are "Too Much" and "No Cliché" .cheers and all the power to you , ROCK ON!!!
 
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#7
Metronome in your ear. You kinda have to agree on the bpm for each song and then change the setting during the song break. That or let the vocalist or lead guitar set the bpm and you pick it up from there. Once established it should not be that much of a deal to keep it.

Forget about singing for now. If they insist fill in on the chorus only.

Good luck.
 
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#10
nzscott said:
if you want to check out my bands sound and my bass lines with no drums go to Link Removed or facebook "Black Sea Sirens " and follow the link. the best two recordings to listen to are "Too Much" and "No Cliché" .cheers and all the power to you , ROCK ON!!!
Click to expand...

Sounds good. But, you may want to fix the link. It's missing the ".com" Took me a second to catch it.
 
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#12
It's the snare that always lacks in that configuration.
What are the instruments playing with you?
As for me, if there is a guitar player, get him play stacatto chord stabs on 2 and 4. It sound cool and it's quite enough for many musical styles.
Yeah, and ghost notes in the spaces in your bassline.
You are the boss now, everyone must respect your athoritah!
 
#14
MD said:
Came across this vid in another thread. Ya just gotta keep track of one and work with the groove.
There's a lot of R-5 going on here.

Click to expand...


I think the guitar player does a good job of implying a percussive instrument. It seems like the bass player got thrown off when the guitar player started to do his solo.

As a bass player we should never have to "lean" on anyone else in the band to stay in time. We should be providing the rhythmic propulsion. Anyways I think ghost notes help alot when there is no percussive instrument. But it can be really good for you not to have the drummer, for your own development of holding the down the groove on your own.
 
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#15
We've had another practice. Seems that most of my concerns had more to do with singing and playing at the same time. I barely sang this time and had no issues. Having had more time with the songs helped tremendously as well.

Also, in the original question timing wasn't really the issue. For me it was note choice. In retrospect it seems pretty silly as to why I thought that a lack of drums would somehow change my note choices. I guess i just felt naked without a drummer.
 
#16
nzscott said:
hi , I have been playing in a band now for 14 months without a drummer , it sucked at first for me ,but I did get to grips with it ,and you will get use to it too. like henry2513 said , tap your foot .you will find that the other guys will look to you too keep it together timing wise .but you will also find you have more room to express yourself melodically and be more dominate in the overall sound you guys create . good luck .

if you want to check out my bands sound and my bass lines with no drums go to www.reverbnation.com/blackseasirens or facebook "Black Sea Sirens " and follow the link. the best two recordings to listen to are "Too Much" and "No Cliché" .cheers and all the power to you , ROCK ON!!!
Click to expand...
Nice
 
#17
A drummer really does help with choosing when to play certain notes, without one you may find yourself asking "Do i play along with the guitar, or do i try to fill in the missing drums?"

You can approach it where you are following along with the guitar just adding low end and filling out the sound, or you can play more rhythmically in an attempt to add percussion to the sound, or a bit of both.. a melody here, accenting there, its a chance to do really shine if you want to be creative haha I played some acoustic stuff with a band i was in, and it was just acoustic guitars and me on electric bass, and the songs changes a lot and suddenly become really folky, and this changed the needs of the bass line and it was tricky to find a balance, but once you do you're golden and people really start to love that tone the bass adds that can be hidden with electric bands!
 
#18
I have a couple suggestions...

1. Don't be afraid to tap your strings on the off-beat so your strings make a clacking noise. This is something you normally want to get rid of when you play with a drummer or do a recording, but it can actually make it sound like there is a percussion instrument with you.

2. Use your fingers, and use muted rythms/ghost notes in your let hand. This can create the feel of a kick drum or percussion instrument. I do this when we play ballads and our drummer can't seem to create a feel. It helps drive the band.
 
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#19
You've taken on the role of three musicians! Congrats! Recommend learning the vocal part separately. Now the bass part. As you mentioned, it wasn't as difficult when playing bass on its own. Now the consideration of groove and tonalities as there is no drummer. Everyone in the group is responsible and accountable for playing time and groove. Recognize that you are now the lowest voice and your beat one's (downbeats) are real important. The kick on 1 followed by a snare all while thinking internally of the high hat for a subdivision concept. 1e and a, 2 e and a, etc.
Speaking tonalities, root and fifth are solid of course. The sixth is a cool note. Also, sequences, like 1 2 3..
Or 1 3 4 3... Used repetatively these can develop into a hook, hooking the song and the listener...
Best of luck...how do McCartney and Sting do it? Watch them...they are able to multitask and that's due to lots of experience and practice...take your time working through your parts...sounds like a fun project..best to you!
 

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