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New to country, help please!!

N

NewCountryBassist

Guest
Aug 19, 2015
5
1
47
#1
Hi everyone,

I have been given the chance to work with an original country artist as part of their new band, but have never really played country before!
I am more of a hard rock type of player, but jumped at this as a chance to expand my playing, as I am a fan in general of coutnry music (just never learned to play anything!)

I am aware of the "typical" country feel of the 1, 5 type of thing, but can anyone gve me any other usefull advice on how to get up to speed?

I am going to start practicing my chart reading, particulary the nashville number system, and also pick out some of the tunes i enjoy listening to, but any other advice would be greatly appreciated. The general feel is a dixie chicks style of coutry if that halps!

thanks in advance!
 
#2
Country is R-5 with chromatic, or diatonic runs to the next chord. Scott Groves has a good how to play country video that goes into detail on the chromatic walk.

It's simply target the next root note and then miss it by 3 frets -- then walk to the root one fret at a time and land on it for the chord change. Simple, but, the timing of when to leave early and hit the chord change will have to be worked on.

Yes to Nashville numbers and the major scale degree box. For example:

Major Scale Box.

G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string
Nashville numbers are 1, 2, 3 and so is the major scale box. They go hand in hand. You will have to transpose your fake chord over to Nashville numbers. Just takes a couple of minutes per song. I use a black marks-a-lot and mark over the chord name with the 1, 2 and 3's.

Anything beyond root, five and the chromatic walk gets me fish eyes from the guys. Now I play classic Country. The new stuff is just rock with a country lyrics.

In ole time Country less is more. Good luck.
 
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#3
Find out who are your bandleader's musical influences (you mention Dixie Chicks... anyone else? and who were the Dixie Chick's influences?) then learn a few dozen tunes by those influences. If you can play like the players on the records the bandleader loves and grew up listening to, then you have a greater chance of making your boss happy and being asked back for more gigs. :)
 
#5
Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. I take a proper look at the groves video tomorow night (at wrk now, then off to rehearsal), and will start cracking on some tunes.

I didnt mean my comments regarding root/5th to be derogatory towards country music by any stretch, apologies if it came across that way. Not sure I could pull off the cowboy hat look either ;-)
 
#6
I do classic country in two different projects. It ain't rocket science, ie, not technically difficult at all. What IS difficult for some players is the feel. Some guys can play all the right notes, but not with the right groove (ie, it's the WHEN ... on, before, after the beat, etc). I've played with "drummer-less" projects all my life (as is one of these projects) and getting the right groove when the bass is the rhythm section is essential. It isn't just 1-5 all night either. There's the country shuffle (1-3-5-3; 1-3-5-6-5-3; 1-3-5-7; etc, etc), the Mexican southwest sound (a little syncopated), the straight ahead country blues, rockabilly ... and more. Knowing what to play and when is what I mean by "feel".
 
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#8
MalcolmAmos said:
Gotta have cow poop on your boots, to qualify for a hat. Feed store cap is OK, hat no.
Click to expand...
You're talkin' about modern "bro country". That ain't us. Never will be. We weren't even really in our stage dress in the video I posted, that was just a private party at a little general store. You should see us in our Scully shirts! Sure, we're "all hat and no cattle" ... so were Hank, Willie, Wayon, Ferlin, Vern, etc, etc, etc.
 
#9
Listen to the kick drum and lock in. Other genres are good with a little space between the two, but in country, the bass and kick need to be one unit.

As far as attire--wear what you want to wear, but be respectful to the genre. A pair of ropers, long (not baggy!) blue jeans, and a western button down shirt will be just fine almost anywhere.
 
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#17
NewCountryBassist said:
Hi everyone,

I have been given the chance to work with an original country artist as part of their new band, but have never really played country before!
I am more of a hard rock type of player, but jumped at this as a chance to expand my playing, as I am a fan in general of coutnry music (just never learned to play anything!)

I am aware of the "typical" country feel of the 1, 5 type of thing, but can anyone gve me any other usefull advice on how to get up to speed?

I am going to start practicing my chart reading, particulary the nashville number system, and also pick out some of the tunes i enjoy listening to, but any other advice would be greatly appreciated. The general feel is a dixie chicks style of coutry if that halps!

thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you've got a good general plan. Make sure you include listening along with learning the number system though.

I was called to do this session a couple of years ago and was given a number chart that, due to my inexperience with that kind of thing, I had to rewrite.
Beyond the changes of the tune, it took some doing for me to settle into a groove with the (great) drum track. There seems to be a very real and different kind of "laid back" in country music that isn't the same in other genres, and feel isn't something you can cop without having a reference in your head.

In the end, due to the patience of the producer and a subtle (almost subliminal) bass mix, I think it came off OK.

 
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#19
Hey everyone, thanks for the responses and encouragement. It has given me a few other things to think about/work on in the next week before our first full rehearsal. The more I listen, the more I get the laid back feel of a lot of country bass, appreciate the less is more approach. Will keep you posted and update after the first practice!
 

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