Pentatonics??

[LowActionHero]

My rule of thumb is, "when in doubt, learn the song." It's great to know which notes "might" sound good based on your knowledge of music theory, but even better to know which notes "will" sound good because they are the correct and accurate notes of the song. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced bassist, learning the bass lines to your favorite songs note for note is always a good use of practice time.

That's pretty much been my self teaching 'curriculum' forever. Learn a song as close as I can by ear or with some help from tabs or videos, and hope the patterns and ideas start making sense when I've learned enough from similar styles. Then interchange some of those patterns and ideas into other songs and see if they still work. I HAVE been trying to teach myself theory over the years too, but it hasn't totally clicked yet. Probably time for a better teacher than myself...

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Scot, maybe this is why you are having questions. Are you still living in the guitar world? This is NOT bass. This is guitar being played on a bass. Any bass player can do this. But it's not BASS. It's actually a guitar duet.

Whatever people here are telling you, it does not apply to this video. There is a huge divide between how guitarists and bassists approach music. I play guitar and plectrum banjo. But when I do, I don't play them as a guitar or bass. Each instrument must be approached in the way that it is accustomed to being played. Western music is a tradition. Every instrument has it's own way of being played. Bass and guitar are two completely different instruments. Yes, they are both tuned in fourths on the bottom four strings... but other instruments are tuned in fourths, also... but they are very differently played. The string bass comes from the European Orchestras to back up Violins, Violas and Cellos. This video is a guitar duet played on an electric bass guitar. Guitar players always think they can play bass. But few of them can. They should stick to what they know. I'm surprised that displayed this video of a bass being played like a guitar when you said earlier that you are a guitar player who wants to learn bass.

this guy didn't get the memo :

move at around 20min before he actually talks

This one neither I guess :


And this one wasn't there when this was official :


Oh and this composer obviously didn't know he should stick to what he knows :


This one is on double bass and played music composed for double bass ... I guess the composer didn't get the memo either ...


Bass like harmony, rythm and melody are just composants of music, every instrument ever conceived can do all those composants and can excel at it.

Also bass guitar and bass share more than Electric bass with DB ... in the way it is approach in modern music ... bass player are affraid of playing anything but the lowest thing when DB player play the melody, play the bass, play everything in between if it was written ... bass player are just sissies of the world

 

[scottrolf]

this guy didn't get the memo :

move at around 20min before he actually talks

This one neither I guess :


And this one wasn't there when this was official :


Oh and this composer obviously didn't know he should stick to what he knows :


This one is on double bass and played music composed for double bass ... I guess the composer didn't get the memo either ...


Bass like harmony, rythm and melody are just composants of music, every instrument ever conceived can do all those composants and can excel at it.

Also bass guitar and bass share more than Electric bass with DB ... in the way it is approach in modern music ... bass player are affraid of playing anything but the lowest thing when DB player play the melody, play the bass, play everything in between if it was written ... bass player are just sissies of the world

I just like the song and how he did it. That's all.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I just like the song and how he did it. That's all.

and that's fine with me, I just can't stand people saying bass guitar should be this or that.

 

[scottrolf]

This video may explain the original question. Guitarists live in a guitar world. And I don't hold it against them. I also play guitar as a SECOND instrument. Of course, this video is NOT bass. This is "guitar" being played on a bass. Any bass player can do this. But it's not BASS. It's actually a guitar duet, isn't it? Anyone who studied Mel Bay knows that.

Whatever people here are spending their valuable time to help out say, it does not apply to this video. There is a huge divide between how guitarists and bassists approach music. I play guitar and plectrum banjo. But when I do, I don't play banjo as a bass or guitar as a banjo. Each instrument should be approached in the way that it is accustomed to being played. In Western Music, being traditional, every instrument has it's own way of being played. Bass and guitar are two completely different instruments.

Yes, they are both tuned in fourths on the bottom four strings... They may even have the same body shape. But other instruments are tuned in fourths, also... but they are very differently played. The string bass came from the European Orchestras to back up Violins, Violas and Cellos. It was converted to Jazz and Popular music and Leo Fender converted it to become the Fender Bass.

This video is a guitar duet played on an electric bass guitar. Guitar players always think they can play bass. That it's easy. But rhythm is a talent. One cannot just walk into a bass store and walk out playing bass. But guitarists think they can. I laugh when guitarists tell me of their latest bass acquisition. I watch them play and laugh. They have no rhythm. You'll never hear a BP state that he can play drums because he plays bass. Or a marimba player competing with a pianist.

Guitarists should stick to what they know. If they wish to second on an instrument for added income, buy a banjo, mandolin or piano. Banging on barre chords will never make a BP out of a Leed Gutter Player...

I got surprised when I saw this video showing a bass being played like a guitar when we all thought that a guitar player wanted to learn bass. And also posting other videos of guitar solos on Talk Bass and trying to bring them into the Talk Bass discussion.

And BTW, being only a fret away from the right note does not apply to Bass. That is a comment best posted on a guitar player site. Believe me, we all hear those bum notes played one fret away from the true note. We just don't say anything, because the Leed Gutter Player will tell us that we are just bass players and can't understand Leed Gutter Player stuff.

A BP must play the right note EVERY TIME... or he gets fired. Something to remember for Leed Gutter Players who think they can learn bass in thirty minutes after reading "Bass Guitar For Dummies"...

It's a fortunate thing that your comments and videos in the Upright Bass section of Talk Bass. They have fingerboard players there that eat fretboard players for breakfast... when Leed Gutter Players try to hijack a Talk Bass Forum.

I would never say this to a beginner bassist, but to all Leed Gutter Players who think they can pick up a bass and become James Jamerson, I would insist that they go and pay a bass player to teach them how to play the bass. Don't waste BP's time by lecturing BP's with Leed Gutter Talk and Leed Gutter Videos from YouTube.

I only posted that simply because I happen to like the song and the way the guy presented it.
That's all. I'm not using it as an example of what I consider to be "bass playing".

If you're a guitarist entering the bass world to "stop thinking like a guitar player" is a lot easier said than done. Especially when that's all you've done for a very long time.

 

[StringNavigator]

bass player are affraid of playing anything but the lowest thing when DB player play the melody, play the bass, play everything in between if it was written ... bass player are just sissies of the world

I play Bass Guitar and Double Bass, also... with a bow. Many Bass Guitarists play Double Bass. I no longer know, myself, if I'm a bass guitarist or a double bassist. It's really no big deal. Most bass players play melodies, chords and sometimes even bass lines...

and there was nothing wrong with the bass guitar video... I object to the lead guitar video. He asked us for help and then he started chatting about guitar players and saying that one fret away is close enough. Don't ask people to help you with learning bass and then carry on conversations about guitar... it's off the OP topic... just as your "sissy" post is...

I played cello when I was younger. But I never thought, as your quote suggests, that playing anything other than a double bass made you a sissy... Good luck with that...

Or maybe some one is just mad at some English guy from Canada, eh...? You have a history of jumping on Talk Bass Bass Guitarists for not being artistic enough to your liking.

and if you wish to brand Bass guitarists as sissies, well this may work in certain parts of Canada, but you should apologize for coming on Talk Bass and calling Bass Guitar Players sissies... Who would do such a thing...? This is not Le Canadian Forum, eh...?

If you think that BP's are sissies... then why don't you conduct that kind of slander on the Double Bass forum?

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I play Bass Guitar and Double Bass, also... with a bow. Many Bass Guitarists play Double Bass. It's really no big deal.

Most bass players play melodies, chords and sometimes even bass lines...

I played cello when I was younger. But I never thought, as your quote suggests, that playing anything other than a double bass made you a sissy... Good luck with that...

Or maybe some one is just mad at some English guys, eh...?

No I was alluding to playing only what the "bass should do" as if the bass can't do anything else than pounding root because it sounds low ... come one it can do so much more. Some people seems affraid of stepping out

 

[Spidey2112]

Can't it be both?

"One thing leads to another..."

 

[LowActionHero]

"One thing leads to another..."

Yeah Yeah yeah

 

[Spidey2112]

No I was alluding to playing only what the "bass should do" as if the bass can't do anything else than pounding root because it sounds low ... come one it can do so much more. Some people seems affraid of stepping out

Some, yes... When I played out, we played what I considered classic rock, and sometimes the songs were a little underwhelming, i.e. not challenging to play... I was always amazed what the women would dance to, but they did. I started adding my own personal 'touch' to our set list, which really irked the singer... thought it was taking away from his... 'talent'...

... about two weekends of that, and the lead guitarist gave the vocalist the boot, the rest of the band divvied up songs to sing, and I worked on even more tasty personals...

... you know, in absence of all that talent.

 

[Spidey2112]

"Got Me Under Pressure" never sounded better...

... unless ZZ Top was doing a cover of us, doing a cover of them.

 

[StringNavigator]

Some people seems affraid of stepping out

That is simply wrong. You are not the only artist, mon ami... And you must read the entire post before making wrong judgements, especially if English is a foreign language.

I do not want to approach the bass as I would a lead guitar. i.e. I don't want to sound like I came from a guitar background as I know you folks can spot us a mile away. Any and all help will always be welcomed. Thanks,

The OP asked us how to play bass without sounding like a guitarist.
This had to apply to a band setting.
Many tried to offer advice on how to play bass in a band (not as a soloist...).
Then he posted a video showing someone playing a bass like a guitarist
But you just can't play bass like that in a band. That's for soloing.
I did not wish that he leave with a wrong impression.
Then you jumped in with rage and called bass guitarists sissies...
Bass Guitarists are not sissies... no matter what you wish to believe.

 

[BAG]

what I have gained the most from this post is to start dissecting the actual chords and not focus on scales and modes.

That's how I got into bass from a guitar background. Chord tones, then worry about the scales and modes.

As a musician, you can and absolutely should be entertaining and expressive, but as a bassist, you also have a job in the band to be the foundation, and that responsibility deserves equal if not greater attention.

This^
If you know all your arpeggios then you're set for the vast majority of the notes you need to play in any song and you'll be able to easily jam with a band that just gives you the song's chords.

"This one's a I IV V in C" and away you can go using the C, F and G arpeggios...... then....

it is a combo of All ... chords/chord notes , scales of whatever kind ...
if you're in the key of 'C' ... play away with all those Am Pentas ..!! and fun passing tones ...

....if there is room you can use the Am pentatonic to do fills or leading lines to the next chord.

 

[Spidey2112]

That is simply wrong. You are not the only artist, mon ami... And you must read the entire post before making wrong judgements, especially if English is a foreign language.



The OP asked us how to play bass without sounding like a guitarist.
This had to apply to a band setting.
Many tried to offer advice on how to play bass in a band (not as a soloist...).
Then he posted a video showing someone playing a bass like a guitarist
But you just can't play bass like that in a band. That's for soloing.
I did not wish that he leave with a wrong impression.
Then you jumped in with rage and called bass guitarists sissies...
Bass Guitarists are not sissies... no matter what you wish to believe.

That reminds me... I have to call my sissie... haven't heard from her in awhile.

 

[StringNavigator]

That reminds me... I have to call my sissie... haven't heard from her in awhile.

Does she play bass guitar...?

 

[lermgalieu]

Some people seems affraid of stepping out

while this might be true, music is not a competition. In fact, it's the opposite. And I have seen players "simply" hold down the bottom in a way that deeply impressed me more than any pyrothechnics ever could....you need look no further than tumbao....with all due respect I think it is a sign of musical immaturity to assume that those who dwell in the land of deceptively "simple" are doing so out of fear or inability as opposed to choice.

 

[Chicory Blue]

My, such tension...

I love this.

I'd like to revisit this, partly because it's gorgeous and partly because people seem to be missing something very important about it.

This isn't an example of a bassist failing to play like a bassist, or just a bassist playing like a guitarist. It's a bassist being pretty much the whole band, bass included- he's playing a beautiful bass line in the bottom left corner.

This actually does a pretty good job of illustrating the difference between "playing like a guitarist" and "playing like a bassist" in the same piece. Notice how even though the player is perfectly capable of making his instrument sing out in melodic bliss as a lead instrument, the low-end accompaniment is made of different stuff. It emphasizes chord tones to support the song, occasionally even focusing exclusively on well-timed roots. Yet, even so, it's still lovingly seasoned here and there with notes from beyond the arpeggio and flourishing fills, which make it all the more exciting to listen to.

It's not as though there are strict rules on what a bass should sound like, anyway- however complex or simple, so long as you're making the song better by being there, you're doing it right.

--^@

 

[chivsjawn]

I think somehow this thread got slightly derailed. I don't know if this input will be helpful but I'll give it a shot.

Pentatonics vs chord tones

Like most everyone else said, chord tones tend to work better for most styles of music. With that being said there are styles of music where you might incorporate pentatonics. But I think that time is better spent working on lines incorporating chord tones (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and an occasional 9th). Then I would spend time on chromatic leading tones. I play a lot of genres (jazz, country, rock, reggae, pop, etc.) and chord tones and chromatic leading tones get the job done.

Sticking to the "bass line" vs playing melodically

Been some heated arguments about whether you should stick to the bass-ic (haha, bet you never seen that one) lines, or play more solo-istically and push the limits of the instrument can do. Context, context, context. If your goal is be like Victor, Jaco, Marcus Miller, or some other freak of bass nature, then by all means play that Vanhal concerto to your hearts content. But, there isn't a huge market for virtuoso bassists.
I heard a story once in college, I think it came from Ron Carter, that students in a masterclass were asking him about soloing and complex lines and things like that. He took a dollar bill, stuck in between his strings and the fingerboard at the nut and started playing. The further up the neck he got the more the dollar bill started to slide. Moral of the story was: stick where the money is at. People pay for the bassist to lay down the line, and that usually doesn't require moving past the 5th fret (or the equivalent position on the upright). It's also, I'm sure one of the reasons that he appears on more than 2000 albums, while flashy bassists tend to be in less demand in the gigging sphere.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[jamro217]

You got me, 217... 'contrapuntal'... At first, I thought it was a resident of Nicaragua, being told to kick as many soccer balls as he could, then I realized the context was all wrong...

I learnt all them fancy werds frum the drummer.

 

[dgrizzly]

this guy didn't get the memo :

move at around 20min before he actually talks

Where's the G string??