• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Ok, well, then how does Stanley Clarke do it?!

#41
Planet Boulder said:
I've been playing for about 25 years now and Stanley was probably my first true bass "hero", yet I have learned a lot of stuff on this thread about his style that I actually never knew.

Not hard to see why it's so easy to get addicted to this site! :hyper:
Click to expand...
I second that! As I mentioned earlier, I quickly identified with Stanley Clarke and learned School Days on my Univox EB 'pencil neck' copy! Jaco was cool but it just wasn't my style. A little too complicated for a 15 year old who just wanted to play what was on the radio. At least I came across some funk grooves with Stanley. And I dug the 'slapping' thang! Jaco didn't slap (that I know of). I heard that he did but just never publicly.
 
#42
Jim T. said:
Well...considering that in theory, proper synchronization of the left and right hands when playing, consists of plucking and fretting a "new" note simultaneously to keep "absolute" time and good articulation, the shorter scale can't hurt to make that even easier.
Click to expand...
Missing my point.
I believe most people can finger notes faster (fretting hand) than they can pluck them (plucking hand).
i.e. The fretting hand essentially can only finger the notes as fast as the plucking hand will allow.
The fretting hand is already ahead of the game so the shorter scale would be irrelevant as the plucking hand is still trying to keep up anyway.
i.e. The plucking hand has no idea what scale the bass is, just what the string spacing is.
 
#43
I've been around long enough to have seen Stanley in '73, Jaco in '76 and was strongly influenced by them and almost everybody else who played great bass since or before them.[Scott Lefaro]. When those guys came out, they where mind blowers!!! I'm just happy to have grown up in such a fertile period of bassplaying :bassist: I watch a show on Showtime called Soulfood, and Stanley does the soundtrack for that show, sometimes it just a synth bass....but it still works for the show. I like Stanley's soundtrack work :cool:
Aloha, Jerry
 
#44
Phatbastard,

I guess this fretting hand vs. picking hand thang differs from person to person... even if one finds one's fretting hand faster or easier to manipulate than one's plucking hand, I don't find this to be universal with everyone I've played with.

On a standard scaled bass (34") or larger, I have a hard time having my fretting hand keep up with my picking hand due to short digits. At least as far as playing "correctly" on the actual fret every time, etc. I've always had to play inefficiently, rolling my fretting hand a bit, making little jumps to play a minor third with my pinky, etc. for many years.

I've played in a professional capacity for 20+ years and at least for me, my plucking hand far outspeeds my fretting hand with a standard scale length, so I guess this varies from player to player. After trying different thumb on the back of the neck positions, curved fingers vs. flatter, etc. I've come to the conclusion that a short scale six is where I should be and probably should have been for years so I'm having one built for me. I certainly won't have to "think" as much which is often a downfall anyway! :smug:

Stanley has long enough fingers that he probably doesn't need a short scale but obviously he prefers them, for whatever reason(s).
 
#45
narud said:
sliding up and down strings and not articulated notes or lines. a friend of mine referred to them as b.s. runs.
Click to expand...
I love doing those, they're really useful if you're playing in a rock song and your note choice is very limited, but you still want to stand out a bit. They're really great for doubling fast snare fills. I thought I stole them from Les Claypool, though. :o

P.S.: I love Stanley's music, but prefer Mr. Miller's playing, whose music tends to put me to sleep. I guess I have a dilemma... :D
 
#47
I've never heard anything about Stanley Clarke having a classical guitar background. Every article I ever saw on him mentioned his training on the various orchestral string instruments where ended up on bass because of his height. What is your source?
 
#48
Dr. Cheese said:
I've never heard anything about Stanley Clarke having a classical guitar background. Every article I ever saw on him mentioned his training on the various orchestral string instruments where ended up on bass because of his height. What is your source?
Click to expand...
The "classical guitar" thing is a new one on me also, and I've done a ton of reading on Stanley over the years.
 
#50
phxlbrmpf said:
I love doing those, they're really useful if you're playing in a rock song and your note choice is very limited, but you still want to stand out a bit. They're really great for doubling fast snare fills. I thought I stole them from Les Claypool, though. :o
Click to expand...
...or how 'bout Entwistle?

The "sliding up/down" the strings rapidly works great for those of us who have a far better PLUCKING hand than fretting hand.
I will tend to use 'em for those "In Concert" endings; what I have noticed-
People will react like ***...'til they actually SEE what you're doing.
FWIW, I am not attempting to play 'notes' with that technique, per se. It's about sound.

I'm not hip to Stanley's Classical guitar background, either. I do recall him once having a wife that also played Classical-style bass.
 
#52
Woodchuck said:
I remember reading something about him playing classical guitar very early in life. It was in an article I read about 6 or 7 years ago. Maybe the writer meant "bass" and wrote "guitar". It was new to me as well. I'll try to find the article.
Click to expand...

I think the writer meant bass because he played double bass in the school orchestra, which is where he met his wife. I remember reading her describing how beautifully he played with the bow.
 
#55
I love Stanley Clarke, but that's a bit much. How was he the first bassist to headline tours. Ever heard of Charles Mingus among others? I think Jamie Jamerson was a heck of doubler also. The basic idea that he is great is beyond dispute, however.
 
#56
Dr. Cheese said:
Ever heard of Charles Mingus among others? I think Jamie Jamerson was a heck of doubler also. The basic idea that he is great is beyond dispute, however.
Click to expand...


I thought about that as well. James played both upright AND electric @ Motown. Monk Montgomery doubled as well, before switching mainly to electric.
 
#57
Stan's aggressive fingerstyle faux-slap sound was a huge influence on me. The same with Marcus Miller's and Geddy Lee's takes on that style.

Man, I remember fumbling around in my formative years trying to get that sound, until I figured out that I just simply wasn't plucking the strings hard enough (duh!). Low action and lower-tension strings certainly help a lot too (as well as helping to delay the onset of CTS :ninja: )
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back