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Safe Notes

C

Cougar

Feb 15, 2014
87
28
#1
Hey Guys,

Was trying to wing it on a recorded song and got lost a few times on which chord was playing and which bass note to play. Question is: when this happens to you in a live situation, do you go back to the key note, go to specific note in the key (safe note) or play nothing?

Thanks
Cougar
 
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#3
Bass is great cuz there is lots you can do while train wrecking :)...

My 2 favorites have always been doing the Gene Simmons kind of whoooming around where I think I should be, or flubbing percussively. If you mute notes and do it confidently, often times it can be made to look intentional. Doesn't always work... but yeah. That's all I got.

And like @dreamadream99 says, the more you develop your ear, the less it happens. Once you know the songs in your head, and the intervals on the bass, things become a lot more intuitive. Everyone flubs from time to time though. Except classical musicians. They don't flub. :)
 
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#4
See, everywhere you look on the internet for advice, the top response is always "git gud" which is super helpful. Until you get there, here are my 2 cents.

In my experience, what'll work depends a lot on genre. If you know where the progression goes next, playing inside the key will often work well enough to fool most people. This flies right out the window if you have a lot of nondiatonic chords, but in that case I may apply "when in doubt, play chromatic" which has saved my butt a few times.

That said, this still relies on your ear. So I have to agree that ear training is time well spent.
 
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#6
I don’t do enough of it, but ear training as mentioned above is important

I find if I am trying to learn a song in my private practice space I can often work out a basic progression, start with root notes and then figure what chord tones fit in...

As a side issue, I avoid situations where I play live at a gig for music I am not familiar with

a safe note as you put it should be relevant in a harmonic sense and it’s ok if it isn’t as long as it falls in a line that is relevant and has direction and purpose

for me, I think hitting a wrong note is a better way to learn than not hitting anything at all. Unexpected holes in the bass line can be off putting for other people in the band...
 
#7
Safe notes - are notes within the key the song is using. I presume you know the key and if so roots and eights, R-8-R-8, are always safe. I think you are asking for specific notes. So:

If a major chord the 6 is safe.
If it is a major chord the 3 is safe.
If it is a minor chord the b3 is safe.
Fives are normally safe, unless you have a diminished progression going and that is not likely.

So the ole R-5-8-5 is generic to most any key. If I am lost I pound the tonic root to the beat until I can find my place... If I've lost the beat I lay out until I can get back in.

Hope that got close to what you were asking for. ;)
 
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#8
I don't waste mindfulness trying to find a note that's safe,
I focus on the next correct part , and play whatever It takes to get there
Practiced habit makes 'whatever It takes' more likely to fit musically.
Preparation is key.
If there's no gig, practice common chord progressions and song forms
When there's a gig, practice the material.

Mistakes happen, things will go off the rails.
Clear your mind and remember the song
The speed and grace of your recovery will be
proportional to the preparation you put into it.
 
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#10
mambo4 said:
Mistakes happen....
The speed and grace of your recovery will be proportional to the preparation you put into it.
Click to expand...
00001.jpg
 
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#11
mambo4 said:
I don't waste mindfulness trying to find a note that's safe,
I focus on the next correct part , and play whatever It takes to get there
Click to expand...

I like this part of the answer.

I find that trying to catch up usually doesn't work, but if I skip a beat or two I can usually get to the NEXT note that I'm confident about. I agree that aiming ahead is a good way to go.

Failing that, hit the root in that key once or twice to buy time to think. You may not be 100% right, but you'll be more than 50% right. And the lower the note, the harder it will be for the audience to hear that it's a wrong note. The E string can be your friend.
 
#13
I think I'm in with the "whooming" "thump" camp...

Half of being a good performer is looking like you know what you're doing... even when you don't.

The other half... never let them see you sweat... wait... that was an anti perspirant add...

Forget all that...Just practice more...
 
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#14
Malcolm35 said:
Safe notes - are notes within the key the song is using. I presume you know the key and if so roots and eights, R-8-R-8, are always safe. I think you are asking for specific notes. So:

If a major chord the 6 is safe.
If it is a major chord the 3 is safe.
If it is a minor chord the b3 is safe.
Fives are normally safe, unless you have a diminished progression going and that is not likely.

So the ole R-5-8-5 is generic to most any key. If I am lost I pound the tonic root to the beat until I can find my place... If I've lost the beat I lay out until I can get back in.

Hope that got close to what you were asking for. ;)
Click to expand...

What he said. Roots are always safe. Fifths are almost always safe. Thirds are safe, but whether the third is flatted or not depends on whether the chord is major or minor. If you have a chord chart or know the chord in your head, you can always get to the root. The 8 is just the root played an octave above.

I agree that you will improve on this as you develop your ear and learn which arpeggiated patterns match the chord being played. When I flub a root, I just quickly slide up or down to get to the correct note, but it requires ear training to know what the correct note is. It will come with time.
 
#15
just stop hitting notes and play drums on the bass while you figure things out by looking at the guitarists left hand. try what you think he's playing (looks like a G maybe?), and if that ain't right, try again if his hand is the same on a C, and so on until it makes sense, then see if you can remember waht part of the song has that note in it.

drums on the bass is a great way to not break the song though...
 
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#16
A lot of good advice here. But if you don't understand what is meant by "3rd" or "5th", etc., then that is what is tripping you up. Learn chord structures and keys and you'll be able to wing it more effectively.
 
#18
Was in an original metal band for about ten years. I screwed up on our very first song at our very first show.
Started the bass part for the guitar solo too early and got lost so I just kept my head down and played the note of the key that the song was in until I found my bearings.

I never screwed up again, I'm sure I flubbed a note here or there but never anything that bad again.
 
#19
Take comfort in the idea that the audience usually has no idea you're playing the wrong thing. Something might sound a little "off" to them but almost nobody will be able to figure out what the actual issue is. Put on a good performance and keep going.

Meanwhile, develop your ear, your knowledge of theory, your memory, etc. so you know where to go and what to do when (not if) something like that happens.
 

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