New to quarter notes, I always played half notes. (tips?)

[JKos]

I'm speaking of 4/4 time sig.

Surprisingly the Bob Wills stuff has two quarter notes per measure.

You understand that would have to be 2/4, not 4/4, right?

If the bass line was written on the staff as 2/2 time sig.

Huh? Again, I think you need some review of time signatures and "quarter" notes.

 

[thewildest]

@talkinboutpizza , welcome to the low end of the sound spectrum. I also come from playing guitar for many years and have learned to appreciate that the best bass lines - regardless of style - sustain their own melody. They flow independently from the drummers beat, chords or melody.

I applaud you venturing into quarter notes but i would investigate beyond the obvious root/3rd/5th choices and try 7th, 4th/-5th/5th, -3th/3th/5th, etc. preferably syncopating some beats and trying 8th and 16th note patterns.

Enjoy!!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm just trying to understand '4 on the floor' since it is rarely used in guitar riffs. Those 3 Bob Wills songs have an 8 bar A section. If you count 8 bars you will hear that the bass plays two quarter notes every 4 beats. '4 on the floor', 4 bass hits per measure is something that interests me but I now realize there is very very few examples of it.

My interest in counting measures is because I like to write 16 bar verses and it is interesting when the bass line is very quick like the "In Dreams" song I posted. but it is hard to write melody to the rarely used '4 on the floor' bass pattern.

You don't have to stick to one note signature. You can mix it up a little. You'll have much more fun that way. Everyone will.

 

[talkinboutpizza]

You understand that would have to be 2/4, not 4/4, right?


Huh? Again, I think you need some review of time signatures and "quarter" notes.

I meant one measure had two quarter notes as in (quarter note- rest - quarter note - rest)

This is all in reference to how a 16 bar verse would fit into a bass line. In the youtube video I posted the bass line has 4 quarter notes per bar. In all the Bob Wills stuff there is 2 quarter notes and two rests per bar. Changing the time signature to 2/2 would make a 16 bar verse 32 bars and is confusing to match up with the vocal melody.

Being a guitarist I think my definitions are all off. I think what I am trying to talk and learn about is "double time feel"

 

[talkinboutpizza]

Guitar is always taught as
(4/4)root-strum-root-strum

so basically the bass line is
(4/4)quarternote-rest-quarternote-rest

In the video I posted they are playing the guitar as
(4/4)root-strum-root-strum-root-strum-root-strum

which is 8th notes or maybe even "double time feel"

It just confused me like crazy and caused me to forget how to count bars. I think I'm starting to get it though because if you count the 8th note strum as super fast (quarter note - rest - quarter note - rest) then the tempo hits over 200bpm which is unrealistic for melody writing.

Yes I think I need a new thread talking about "double time feel"

 

[AGCurry]

I'm almost ready to give up, but ...

Guitar is always taught as
(4/4)root-strum-root-strum

Always?
"Pure" four-beat swing - check master rhythm guitarist Freddie Green of the Count Basie Band - has the guitar strumming downwards on all four beats of the measure. There is no "boom-chick" or "root-strum." The drummer's basic pattern is equal on all four beats. Sheet music in that swing style would indicate both bass and guitar playing four quarter notes per measure, with guitar doing "strum strum strum strum."

The shuffle is a variation on that, adding the upstroked "and" of each beat to the guitar's strum pattern, but it's still usually considered in a 4/4 time signature.

Now, considering the "root-strum" or "boom-chick" pattern: Yes, sometimes these are written in 4/4, but it's better written in 2/2 (two half notes in the bass), and even better in 2/4 (two quarter notes in the bass). Why? It lets the musician reading the music know off the bat how the piece is supposed to feel.

 

[Rob1957]

I think you would benefit from a very basic bass book that would teach you the value of notes and time signatures and basic musical terminology so that can communicate effectively.
Also some basic simple jazz and blues to hear actual examples of 4/4 walking bass lines and shuffles

 

[mambo4]

The notation makes it clear that you are asking about double time feel in old school country. Your English description was easily confused, it happens when describing music. Always post notation if you can, notation avoids all confusion.

A two feel R -5 bass line converted to double time is probably not The same thing as a walking country bass line. Probably just want To stick with combinations of R,5,8 and remember that you can also play the 5th from below the root.

 

[consectaneus]

I find myself wanting to get into this discussion because it's all music I'm familiar with--I started out playing bluegrass rhythm (boom chick), became a fan (though not a player) of western swing, and finally as a bass player I'm doing a dive into walking jazz bass and the work of Paul Chambers in particular.

At the risk of muddying the waters, since Roly Poly was mentioned, here is a version by the Quebe Sisters which I think expertly demonstrates the use of double time, and a two feel, and 4/4 in the same tune to add dynamics and propel the music where needed. Is this at all pertinent?

 

[AGCurry]

I find myself wanting to get into this discussion because it's all music I'm familiar with--I started out playing bluegrass rhythm (boom chick), became a fan (though not a player) of western swing, and finally as a bass player I'm doing a dive into walking jazz bass and the work of Paul Chambers in particular.

At the risk of muddying the waters, since Roly Poly was mentioned, here is a version by the Quebe Sisters which I think expertly demonstrates the use of double time, and a two feel, and 4/4 in the same tune to add dynamics and propel the music where needed. Is this at all pertinent?

Yes, absolutely pertinent, except the performance doesn't have "double time." True double time would involve not just the bassist changing from 2 to 4 but the guitarist going to 8th notes (playing the "and" of every beat) - which would make it a fast and messy shuffle.

Another more playable way of taking a song double time is to play it "8-to-the-bar", without the swing element. The bassist can then play 1/4 notes or 1/8 notes. Wouldn't recommend this for "Roly Poly," but generations of rock musicians have done this to songs which originally swung.

The bassist on this video is pretty competent but a little undisciplined IMO; he should save his "4" for the fiddle breaks rather than breaking into it and out of it seemingly at random. Ideally, when he goes to 4, the guitarist should do so as well.