Double Bass Playing with a drummer

[Slaphound]

I’m looking for some advice to give to my drummer. We play a few rockabilly song in our set and with the upright bass being slapped. . But last gig we had he decided he was going to try a train beat. But the train beat was really messed up, not practiced, and it didn’t work. Less then halfway through the song I asked. No. I begged, him to stop. And we finished the song without me feeling like I was riding a bull. I always tell him to stay away from the closed highhat in lock stop with me. What can I tell him to try?

 

[Skeet6]

What can I tell him to try?

Lessons.

(Drummer for 48 years, I can say that with a smirk)
Seriously, though... its easy enough, he needs to simply practice it (slow, at first, alone) with a metronome to get it together, THEN practice it with you. Ask him not to try it live again until you guys get it smooth at rehearsal. (OR during his own practice time!) I always told my students not to rush ahead (pun intended) and try to play beats or patterns too fast. If ya can't play it cleanly at a slow tempo, you sure can't play it clean, fast.
Mike

 

[Wasnex]

Depends on how receptive he is to mentoring.

I suggest referencing feel of the original recordings...keep in mind that train beats are not all the same; so it's not one-and-done.

If he's not receptive to mentoring, then either learn to deal with it or make the choice to find another group.

 

[brianrost]

I suggest referencing feel of the original recordings...keep in mind that train beats are not all the same; so it's not one-and-done.

A lot of rhythm section players new to “simple” styles like blues, country, bluegrass and rockabilly aren’t familiar with the nuances of the style. Listening to recordings is always the best way to get them to understand the style.

 

[Slaphound]

For the people who need to see this in this thread, this is a drummers perspective on rockabilly drumming.

@Wasnex He is very open to mentoring and we already had him go for lessons as his skill to pick up the drums was nil. We brought him in thinking he already had a grasp on the instrument and being a member of my family, we decided to continue on with him. So far it was uncomfortably rocky for a while in the beginning but has mostly added to the band and not detracted. But we have a ways to go still.

 

[Slaphound]

No. Different band. This is my blues band that does rockabilly songs as well as The Beatles, the Allmans, The Dead and a variety of other things.

 

[Wasnex]

We brought him in thinking he already had a grasp on the instrument and being a member of my family, we decided to continue on with him. So far it was uncomfortably rocky for a while in the beginning but has mostly added to the band and not detracted. But we have a ways to go still.

The last drummer in the country band I used to run played like a Tejano drummer. The weird thing is he claimed to hate Tejano.

It took a while, but he learned to play country pretty well...and that means he developed a good train beat.

Country is not hard IMHO, but you have to know the style and you have to put in the work.

 

[AGCurry]

... last gig we had he decided he was going to try a train beat. But the train beat was ... not practiced ...

There you go, right there: Not practiced.

If it's like the "train beats" I'm thinking of, here's a thought: Drums don't have to be played with sticks, and you don't have to play the bass drum and high hat all the time. I can play a pretty good "train beat" with my fingers on a snare drum, and I'm just a bass player. Once he gets the rhythmic feel, he can progress (regress?) to brushes or rods.