if a bass player and drummer aren't playing together, is it always the bass player's fault...shouldn't they take some time together, even if it's just a few minutes, to work things out and come together? thanks!
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Not Together
- Thread starter tahoeskimonk
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DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Like any relationship, being out of sync is never a one-sided issue. Communication is the key to a happy relationship.
Both have to get a sense of where the other feels the groove.
Getting together and working through it will help. I used to play with a great drummer but some of our tunes are 9/4 which he was adept at playing however his hi-hat was always a little in front.
I mentioned this and he couldn’t understand it but at 3am after the gig he called me and said he played to a metronome and his hi-hat was a little ahead but very fractionally.
“How did you notice”? He asked.
After he was made aware of it he kind of auto-corrected, his feel on that groove changed.
Communicate and work together and you’ll find it will all come good.
Getting together and working through it will help. I used to play with a great drummer but some of our tunes are 9/4 which he was adept at playing however his hi-hat was always a little in front.
I mentioned this and he couldn’t understand it but at 3am after the gig he called me and said he played to a metronome and his hi-hat was a little ahead but very fractionally.
“How did you notice”? He asked.
After he was made aware of it he kind of auto-corrected, his feel on that groove changed.
Communicate and work together and you’ll find it will all come good.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Partial band rehearsal can help things get tighter. Bass and drums, band without vocalist (if the band can't play a song all the way through tightly without vocals, they don't really know the song), etc.
And, no, it is not necessarily the bassist's fault if things aren't tight.
And, no, it is not necessarily the bassist's fault if things aren't tight.
The “fault” lies with whoever notices that there are issues, and doesn’t bring them up to the other person/s involved.
I played with a drummer in the mid 70s that was very good. He and I were very tight. We communicated musically very well, but that was the extent of it. Off stage, we seldom talked. I didn't like him and he didn't like me. But, both being seasoned professionals we made it work because we had a working band making good money.
Certainly not. Sometime it's nobody's fault if both players are simply feeling the groove differently. I've experienced this with some regularity while writing/arranging.
It just takes a little bit of communication and sometimes compromise to get everybody on the same page.
When I first started playing in church, I played simple roots but could never lock in with the drummer who was in his teens and thought he knew it all because he was taking drum lessons. He had good chops but couldn't keep a steady beat. When we went to IEMs with click track, he finally straightened out and kept good time and I was finally able to lock in with him. If you have a decent sense of rhythm and are playing it fairly simple and straight, and the drummer and you still can't lock in then maybe it is time for a new drummer.
I spent more than a year playing with a crackerjack drummer for a few hours at least once a week. We’d get together and he’d kick off a groove and i’d jump in, then we’d play until we ran out of ideas for that particular jam and start something else. We would sometimes run through a song but mostly it was just working on that ancient Folksong “Together”. We’d throw curves at random to see how quick the other could recover and get back on time. That experience has allowed me to compensate for occasional minor variations from the drummer but no matter how hard i try i can’t maintain with a slinky drummer. If it’s constant ahead to behind or the other way round i’m hornswoggled.
IME nothing sounds worse than a band trying to find a slinky drummer.
IME nothing sounds worse than a band trying to find a slinky drummer.
I've played with a number of drummers, and most were at least okay--but some were not that good--and it can be tricky--is it best to match the drummer & play together-or to match everybody else.
Normally I think it is best to match everybody else, but some drummers are bad & overpowering.
Fortunately I have played with some very good drummers.
Now I most play with others at church & we have a young drummer with a great sense of timing & feel--so it is easy to play together with him.
I don't have to play along with him on purpose--it just happens.
That's a cool thing.
Normally I think it is best to match everybody else, but some drummers are bad & overpowering.
Fortunately I have played with some very good drummers.
Now I most play with others at church & we have a young drummer with a great sense of timing & feel--so it is easy to play together with him.
I don't have to play along with him on purpose--it just happens.
That's a cool thing.
