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rock bassist who don't play root

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#46
I haven't really studdied this dood much.. it sounds like he usses distortion.. there are some of there songs for sure that are out of root... like he's simple ... but he dont follow guitar...
im more of like the rhythm dood in our "band" if you like to say that.. cause its like we have one guitarist which plays lead and i play rhythm on bass.. what would that be? would that be root? its nothing super complex like jaco but its not like 4 note stuff either?
does this typa stuff count?
sorry for getting off subject yall..
lemmy ... i love lemmy =*smiles evily* First song i ever learned was Ace of Spades..
 
#48
Sam Rivers- Limp Bizkit. Well, Just a few songs anyway, counterfeit, nookie, re-arranged, My way aswell as a few other songs that i havent mentioned. Oh yeah and the guy from Grinspoon (Aussie band) strays off a bit. :D























Have I opened up a hornets nest?? :D
 
#50
pardon my total n00bness, but what eaxctly is playing root? I'm guessing it's pretty much just playing the root note of the guitarist...but then again, don't most players play root every now and then? If this is the case, I'm sure no punk bassists apply here...
 
#53
The bassist HAS to play the roots... I mean, it is the bassist's job to play the foundation of the song, right? IMHO You can't do that if you're just playing whatever the hell you feel like. I don't know of any bassists who never play root notes...
 
#54
SlavaF said:
The bassist HAS to play the roots... I mean, it is the bassist's job to play the foundation of the song, right? IMHO You can't do that if you're just playing whatever the hell you feel like. I don't know of any bassists who never play root notes...
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+1, I think most the bassists mentioned are rock bassists and they at least touch on the roots or pass over them in thier runs. I feel you need to look outside rock to see bass players that truely do not utilize roots very much, like jazz bassists.
 
#55
0scar said:
pardon my total n00bness, but what eaxctly is playing root? I'm guessing it's pretty much just playing the root note of the guitarist...but then again, don't most players play root every now and then? If this is the case, I'm sure no punk bassists apply here...
Click to expand...

you pretty much answered your own question
 
#57
Anything I choose to play can be the root. It's not a chord until the bassist decides what chord it is. The guitarist may think he's playing Em7. Not when I put a C as the root and make him play a lovely Cmaj7 add 9.

Bassists control the harmony. Think about that. There will be times when playing a C as above will be wonderful. And there are times when it would suck, and you should just play the E. Know when. With great power comes great responsibility.
 
#59
Lyle Caldwell said:
Anything I choose to play can be the root. It's not a chord until the bassist decides what chord it is. The guitarist may think he's playing Em7. Not when I put a C as the root and make him play a lovely Cmaj7 add 9.

Bassists control the harmony. Think about that. There will be times when playing a C as above will be wonderful. And there are times when it would suck, and you should just play the E. Know when. With great power comes great responsibility.
Click to expand...

Everybody read that post again. Good one, Lyle.

A masterful example would be Brian Wilson (and later, the session bassists who followed his charts - afaik they played pretty much exactly what he told them to play).

My main bass teacher was a jazz/rock guitarist. I didn't like everything about working with him but he really got me thinking about how radically different chords can sound depending on what bass note you play, for which I am forever grateful.
 
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