Playing (on bass) and singing "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers simultaneously

[DaveParker39]

So this is a song our crowd would really like, and I'm the most Jakob Dylan-y voice in the band, so I would have to sing it.

The bassline is rather simple.

What I'm wrestling with is playing the bassline with the emphasis on the right beats while singing simultaneously. It's clearly supposed to have an emphasis like "DAH dadaDAH dadaDAH dadaDAH" and I'm having trouble playing the "dada" portion. I CAN just play one emphasized offbeat note while singing that would work with the rhythm, but it feels lacking. It would sound okay with "DAH daDAH daDAH daDAH" but even that is proving to be a challenge.

I can do it fine if I'm not singing but... that's not the problem here.

The chorus is relatively easy. It's the verses I'm wrestling with.

Suggestions?

 

[ebo]

I’ve done this one on bass and vocals. My only hope for this or any song is to have the bass part down pat and I mean being able to do it without giving any thought to it. Then my mind is with the vocals. If I’m having to give too much mental energy to getting the bass part right the vocals suffer every time. The audience will forgive (or not even notice) a bass line that’s not exactly true to the recording. They WILL notice a vocal that does off the rails. My latest tough song to do on bass and vocals is Pump It Up by Elvis Costello. Make it yours!

 

[Groove Doctor]

Can you play fingerstyle & thumb?

DAH = thumb pluck
dada = index then middle finger or vice versa.

I do this in disco band playing octave ‘gallup’. Same rhythm but ROOT octave/octave.

 

[Killing Floor]

I’d practice 1-2 bars at a time, then sing a line at a time. Practice each until you can combine. You’re right, it’s not a mega complicated line but we’re not all wired to go willingly into competing accents. It may just take repetition. Small bites.

 

[DaveParker39]

Can you play fingerstyle & thumb?

DAH = thumb pluck
dada = index then middle finger or vice versa.

I do this in disco band playing octave ‘gallup’. Same rhythm but ROOT octave/octave.

I'm picturing something similar to Da Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart?

 

[Groove Doctor]

Or it might be easier playing it with a plectrum.

Alternating cycles of
Down - Up Down Up - Don Up etc

Try several ways & let us know what suits you the best.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I'm picturing something similar to Da Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart?

Spot on. I play it
THUMB - Middle Index etc.

I just can’t do it any other way.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Can the guitarist do the chugging DAH dada pattern instead?

Can you simply not play bass in the verse (& have guitarist do that riff)?
Strip it back a bit & Really make the vocals the feature in this part of the song. Be the frontman. Use your stagecraft skills - move your arms, hand gestures, Grab/lean the mic stand, etc

See if your crowds actually do like this song first.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

practice very very slowly, and if were me, I'd try both pick and fingerstyle

 

[buldog5151bass]

I'm 95% fingers, but found this one works well with a pick.

 

[halcyo]

I might take for granted that I can multitask easily, so I won’t even come from that angle:

Why not change the bass line? Trust me that the audience doesn’t care about the accuracy of the bass part. It’s not particularly distinctive. Do something that lets you sell the vocal. That’s what the audience WILL notice.

 

[micguy]

You need to drill the bass part into muscle memory, which means lots of reps. For most of us, that kind of thing doesn't come easy. I have sung while playing, but it was a very simple bass part.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Great suggestions here! People regularly ask me how I play bass and sing simultaneously. Mostly it's deconstructing the song until I can do something like: "this note is bass, the next note is vox, the next 2 notes are both" etc. It was pretty tortuous at first but pretty routine now. Still, some stuff is really challenging, like the bass lick under the "woah, oh oh oh" on "Bad Case Of Lovin' You". You can do it! If you have to simplify at first, by all means do so. As you become more familiar with it I'll bet you will ultimately nail it! Let us know!

The Bar Band Bassman

 

[DaveParker39]

I might take for granted that I can multitask easily, so I won’t even come from that angle:

Why not change the bass line? Trust me that the audience doesn’t care about the accuracy of the bass part. It’s not particularly distinctive. Do something that lets you sell the vocal. That’s what the audience WILL notice.

The only hesitation is that I like it, but your solution might be right.

 

[halcyo]

The only hesitation is that I like it, but your solution might be right.

I think a lot of bassists come at this from the wrong side. It’s your lack of confidence/muscle memory with the VOCAL part that is preventing you from playing the otherwise easy bass part.

I mean, only simplify it enough to sing it. You’ll see, a few months from now when you have muscle memory/auto-pilot on the vocal part, you’ll be able to add the full bassline back in easy!

 

[SoCal80s]

I play it the way you described, except that I'm not singing. But if I was singing I would simplify the bass line. It might work if you do mostly UP beats (1& & & &|1& & & &) or (1& &3& &|1& &3& &) , or even try doing just quarter notes on the beats. Once you have that down, try to add some more notes when you can.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Simplify the bassline into simple triplets. The audience can't tell the difference.

 

[jbhaugh]

If the guitar part keeps the palm mute and rhythm/accent pattern from the recording you could probably play staccato quarter notes and no one would notice but you.

 

[J Wilson]

Geddy Lee, when asked how on Earth could he sing Neil's crazily-worded lyrics while playing ferocious bass lines with the two running in opposite directions or breath-taking syncopations, replied he'd practice the bass until he had it down cold, then the vocals down cold, and then begin to marry them.

I can't think of a better way.

 

[Queue]

I agree with those who suggest simplifying the bass line for the time being. I do that for Deep Purple's Hush, and I don't even know if my bandmates know I'm not playing it "right". Nailing the vocals is mandatory, nailing the bassline is optional. Ask your bandmates what they think about simplifying things, and even give them some choices.

...then, study the timing of the vox vs bass notes like @bill81255 suggested. If you have the ability to slow down the track to listen and play along, do that. I recently bought one of these AIRSTEP Play - Touch less. Play more. that makes it really easy to do this. Pull up the video on YouTube, and you can do all the controlling with your foot, including speed changes (with pitch maintained), looping, play/pause, etc. all from the footswitch.

Here's a great video with several "pro tips" on the topic.