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Double Bass Opinions on my solo playing?

I

Ineedahobbie

Jul 22, 2010
16
0
#1
Hello!
I'm a 14 (turning 15 in August!) year old upright and electric bass player from the bay area. I'm just looking for some critiques/comments/ideas on my soloing!

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That link is just to a recording of me soloing over a G blues. If you could give me some advice, I'd be forever grateful!

-Logan :bassist:
 
#4
Bubba de bubba de bubba de boo.

Did I make sense. Neither did your solo. Lots of notes but you didn't say anything. Thats ok lots of guitards do that all the time. Jazz frequently does it as well.

I reccomend playing a melody that we could sing along with like (bubba de birthdaaaay to to to yooooou).

You have some great chops for your age and I think you'll be a great bass player one day. Just keep going.
 
#5
James Judson said:
Bubba de bubba de bubba de boo.

Did I make sense. Neither did your solo. Lots of notes but you didn't say anything. Thats ok lots of guitards do that all the time. Jazz frequently does it as well.

I reccomend playing a melody that we could sing along with like (bubba de birthdaaaay to to to yooooou).

You have some great chops for your age and I think you'll be a great bass player one day. Just keep going.
Click to expand...

Right on the money james. Practice, practice, and then practice some more. You will get there!
 
#6
I'm nowhere near your caliber as I just started a few weeks ago and frankly can pretty much just play a few scales in the first 3 positions. Don't take my advice too seriously when it comes to upright ;)

However, I agree that it does just sound like notes. I noticed that after a while you kind of just started playing more and more notes. Sometimes the most amazing thing you can play is a whole note. Or just rest for a few beats.

Overall, the overplaying and lack of direction aside, great job. The chops are good, just work on focusing those chops. I think I could do well from following my advice, too.

Well done :)

Just curious... What kind of bass do you have?
 
#7
I think it's really important to have fun and be happy with what you're doing. Another thing is to be aware of what you can do in this moment to ensure your happiness as well as the people you are communicating with.

It is a miracle that we are able to share music with the people we care about. When I was studying with Richard Davis one of the greatest lessons he ever gave me was away from the instrument. As a person he encouraged me to listen deeply to myself and follow what would make me happy and content. This can take you very far.

Something else he shares with all of his students is that if you take care of the bass the bass will take care of you.

what do YOU think this means?
 
#10
Mojo-Man said:
:cool:

Have fun, explore, it's all about time, and melody.
Let you solo breath, don't rush it.
Keep grooving my man.
Click to expand...

BREATHE!!!
You play well, don't mistake me, but you are really screaming though that solo.
Also, as a stranger to upright, I find the focus on the top octave of the instrument during solos and such to be distracting. There's a lot of music in the lower range as well, and if the cats you are playing with are really with you, they will let you have the room to fully explore a melody during a solo.
 
#11
Some use of repetition is good, but you're not doing anything motivic. Other than repeating some phrases, most of them don't have anything to do with eachother. Can you take one phrase and move it through the next 3 chords? As someone else one critiqued me said, "Lots of ideas get starting - but few actually got finished".

Call and response? Create responses to your own phrase? Breathing more would be good, but also playing less would help with that. I think there's definite intentional use of space going on, but it's like you go right back to beating out more chops right after a break. Kinda monotonous. A Jim Hall quote comes to mind, to paraphrase - don't be afraid of playing one note and holding onto it.

It's also easier to kinda BS you way through without a melody. Not to say that you should be throwing quotes into all your solos, but hanging your solo around something that has a little more structure might help the listener. Without a melody, IMO, the solo seems to lack alot of context.

Overall nice job - keep chopping that wood.
 
#12
hey man, i don't think your solo sounds like "just notes' at all.

i heard ideas, phrases set up in a non-generic style, reasonable intonation that will improve over time, playing in & around the chords...

a solid start!! keep it up. in this era, you can get instant global feedback, so provide links periodically as you develop. you're on the right track.
 
#14
That's a pretty messy solo, pretty grotesque actually since you asked. Forget about boring people with the importance of your age as an introduction, and concentrate on getting good solid tone with a beautiful pitch center. That will identify YOU to anybody that listens......
 
#15
I think it sounded damn good.

Of course there's always room for improvement, but honestly, there was some very interesting motivic development throughout, regardless of what a few other people said. You start off slow and build, repeating and elaborating on a couple different ideas, and I love when you get a bit crazy and quirky about halfway through. I also loved your tone; whatever you are doing when plucking, it sounds great.

You're clearly a dedicated musician, and I have no doubt that you will keep at it. I really look forward to hearing more in the future.

Find some good players around your area... a drummer and guitarist, or whatever crazy combo of good players you can find, and make something happen! You're better than many of the gigging bassists around here.

Best of luck!
 
#17
Etchbass said:
I think it sounded damn good.

Of course there's always room for improvement, but honestly, there was some very interesting motivic development throughout, regardless of what a few other people said. You start off slow and build, repeating and elaborating on a couple different ideas, and I love when you get a bit crazy and quirky about halfway through. I also loved your tone; whatever you are doing when plucking, it sounds great.

You're clearly a dedicated musician, and I have no doubt that you will keep at it. I really look forward to hearing more in the future.

Find some good players around your area... a drummer and guitarist, or whatever crazy combo of good players you can find, and make something happen! You're better than many of the gigging bassists around here.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Your words are kinder than mine!:) Best of luck for sure... Proclaiming him a better bassist than others based on one short blues solo is going a bit over on the positive attitude though.....that isn't doing him any favors. A video presentation of a live performance, even rough, would be a better way to give an idea of what he's REALLY doing......
 
#18
I think this does divide people - it's the Simon Cowell paradox!! :p

So is it best if young beginners are encouraged, told how great they are and then become convinced they are the best thing since sliced bread - or is it better that they get a good dose of "realism" early on and are brought down to earth by a harsh critic?
 
#19
How about neither? How about just an honest and objective assessment of the presentation made by folks who do this sort of thing a lot?
So, INEEDAHOBBY, you need to decide whether you want to hear stuff that's going to improve your approach or reinforce your good opinion of yourself. If it were me, the first thing I'd do is check out the profiles of anybody who posted a response and see how many actually play the kind of music you presented and how long they've been doing so. If they have any sound files to check out, what else they've posted on the subject, that sort of thing.
Or not, it will just mean one less on the train...
 
#20
There are things you can say about it, but if he is playing that way at 14 if he keeps going with it it will work itself out.

I think a slower blues isn't really served by all those fast runs, so I'd drop either the blues or some of the runs.
The thing about it is, if you can play that fast already it is easy to edit, rather than not be able to play that fast when you need it.

Try to make sure you can play all that arco as well. Being able to get around the instrument is important, now just try to make music. If you want to play that fast then create a situation where it makes sense.

"Rules" in music are created by context and it all comes down to our personal taste. However, David Holland playing that fast or faster in Circle is unquestionably awesome, a slow blues needs a different kind of awesome.
 

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