i play in a P&W team myself and am helping teach one or two up and coming bass players at church. and this is exactly what i have told them to do. It is vital as a bass player that you are tight with the drummer. everything else comes crumbeling down. (this is very reliant on the drumming being consistant. But extremely good rule of thumb for all bass players i think. I play all sorts of genres, but i myself started off doing this exact thing.
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Only playing when kick drum does??
- Thread starter Redneck5
- Start date
Drink a fifth of scotch, then play something original, groovy, melodic, and exactly what the song needs.
Not entirely appropriate for a beginner playing church music to emulate. Especially the scotch part.When he first started I'm sure he stuck to the kick as well. Only later did he develop supreme chops and cirrhosis of the liver.
I play off the high hat as you can't always hear the bass drum clearly & position yourself beside the high hat as well! then you will find lockin in for fills & grooves alot of fun!
Excellent advise.
Your band leader, or Bass coach is trying to develop discipline and your tempo. In a few months you'll be able to keep the back beat.
I'll give you an example. I just started jamming with some friends at work. We're supposed to be Keyboardist; Lead Guitar, Drummer, and Bass(me).
Well our drummer has yet to show at 2 Jam sessions, and now I hear he doesn't have a Drum Kit
Well no problem, I just keep the tempo, and we play. Our Lead Guitarist gets lost, but is able to get right back in because I kept the tempo.
Your band leader, or Bass coach is trying to develop discipline and your tempo. In a few months you'll be able to keep the back beat.
I'll give you an example. I just started jamming with some friends at work. We're supposed to be Keyboardist; Lead Guitar, Drummer, and Bass(me).
Well our drummer has yet to show at 2 Jam sessions, and now I hear he doesn't have a Drum Kit
Well no problem, I just keep the tempo, and we play. Our Lead Guitarist gets lost, but is able to get right back in because I kept the tempo.
Ok, thanks for all the help. Thinking now, i believe he just wanted me to "lock into" the kick drum and to be able to develop rhythm, since we have a pretty new drummer also. I also agree that praise music should be pretty simple because the lyrics are the main focus.
This to me is the best point made in the thread. Not only do many drummers improvise somewhat with their kick, but it can be very hard to hear in many situations, especially recording settings.
I play with my attention placed with the snare. Most of the time, it is stuck on 2 and 4, and it is a very loud instrument. When a drummer places a fill on the snare, the break in the groove can then trickle down to the bass and the the guitar/piano/etc.
To me, locking with the drums means finding a convenient place in the drummers time to consistently accent if you do play on that beat and to end your sustained note if you don't.
The bass drum, in his set normally activated by a foot pedal thus a "kick" is what makes the sound
Sinomis666 said:
Yes, I think this is a more realistic way to do it, unless the kick drum part is extremely regular, you will get frustrated trying to match the kick.
Like Will Lee said in on BP interview, some songs have a busy kick and drum part; for those songs you need to have a tight and minimal bass part. Agree with the drummer ahead of time where the emphasis of the bass+kick pattern should fall and stick to just that. Other songs will be the other way around- a simple, steady drum part and a more organic and melodic bass part that flows cohesively out of that drum pattern. But the hi-hats let you lock into how the drummer is feeling the sub-divisions of the beat, and that you should lock into as tightly as possible.
Those of you who have a drummer who has completely inconsistent kick patterns needs to sit down and have a heart to heart with a drummer. They should, at least for worship music, have a consistent groove through various sections. When they are doing a fill obviously it will be hard to sync up, unless it is a planned fill. There job is to provide a solid, consistent groove for the band to play over.
Take time to learn how to hear the kick. It's hard at first and takes practice to pick it up. Like anything it takes time and practice. You cannot "lock in with the groove of the high hats". High hats, in worship music, are usually used to keep time. I feel that most rhythm is established by the kick which is why you will never hear a lot of bass players advise to lock in with the hats or snare. It just sounds awkward...
Take time to learn how to hear the kick. It's hard at first and takes practice to pick it up. Like anything it takes time and practice. You cannot "lock in with the groove of the high hats". High hats, in worship music, are usually used to keep time. I feel that most rhythm is established by the kick which is why you will never hear a lot of bass players advise to lock in with the hats or snare. It just sounds awkward...
I picked up the habit playin fast punk rock! Trust me I do play along to the kick drum/click track particularly when recording, but live I take what I can get which means that if I've got good moniters which sound like sticky drum beaters then that's normally as good as it gets!other wise I'm sharin moniters with vocals,guitars etc I refer back to the high hats!
+1 on many of these suggestions.
What helped me in exactly this situation (i.e., learning for the church praise brand) was to play with the kick drum ON THE BEAT. If the drummer only uses the kick on the 1 or 3, then rigorously lock in with that.
I don't worry about trying to lock in otherwise - unless the leader specifically asks for it.
