Solo bass guitar for a beginner...

[petergales]

I often play the bass as a solo instrument. I'm not very good at it but I found the Bach Cello Suites a great source of inspiration and go from easy to very difficult. The Bassist magazine did some solo pieces of jazz and popular tunes some years ago but the magazine folded unfortunately. The guy that put those articles together was called Terry Gregory as I recall, so you may be able to google him.
The bass is a great instrument to play solo and I have hours of enjoyment with it. Best of luck with your search.

 

[Robert in Paris]

Thanks so much for these wonderful pieces, Clef de fa. They give a dimension to the solo bass that I had no idea was there. I might have a go at the Moonlight sonata as I play that already on guitar. I really appreciate your passing this treasure trove on to me. Best, R.

 

[Robert in Paris]

I often play the bass as a solo instrument. I'm not very good at it but I found the Bach Cello Suites a great source of inspiration and go from easy to very difficult. The Bassist magazine did some solo pieces of jazz and popular tunes some years ago but the magazine folded unfortunately. The guy that put those articles together was called Eric Gregory as I recall, so you may be able to google him.
The bass is a great instrument to play solo and I have hours of enjoyment with it. Best of luck with your search.

Many thanks for the information and for your encouragement, Peter. I'll see if I can't find a way through to Eric Gregory. I appreciate your note. Best, R.

 

[Robert in Paris]

Although this is one is on an ERB,the concept of what he's doing applies.
For inspiration.

What an instrument! An orchestra by itself. Thanks for passing it on. Best, R.

 

[Robert in Paris]

Many solo bassists rely heavily upon alternate tunings, natural and artificial harmonics, and various advanced techniques to expand the sonic capabilities of the instrument. Watching YouTube videos from guys like Michael Manring (already mentioned) and Zander Zon would be a good introduction to some of this.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, if you can name any reasonably popular piece of classical music, odds are you can find solo bass version of it on YouTube, and there are some books out there with solo bass arrangements of classical pieces as well (typically targeted toward upright bass, but still potentially useful).

Thanks for your note, MCS4. From all the kind replies I've received, it's very clear that the possibilities for playing solo bass are exceedingly rich. For the moment I'm just learning to crawl but, at the beginning at least, I'll be concentrating on classical music as it's already my principal guitar style. Best, R.

 

[petergales]

I often play the bass as a solo instrument. I'm not very good at it but I found the Bach Cello Suites a great source of inspiration and go from easy to very difficult. The Bassist magazine did some solo pieces of jazz and popular tunes some years ago but the magazine folded unfortunately. The guy that put those articles together was called Eric Gregory as I recall, so you may be able to google him.
The bass is a great instrument to play solo and I have hours of enjoyment with it. Best of luck with your search.

OOPS! I just checked one of the pieces I use and his name is Terry Gregory not "Eric" as I stated. My apologies.

 

[Robert in Paris]

OOPS! I just checked one of the pieces I use and his name is Terry Gregory not "Eric" as I stated. My apologies.

No problem. Thanks for being kind enough to get back to me. Best, R.

 

[James Collins]

Many thanks for the sage advice, Mushroo. I like the idea of Amazing Grace as I can play that on the guitar...should be able to transpose the 1 and 2 strings pretty easily. I'll give it a try this evening until the neighbours start banging things until I give them some peace (It's amazing how well bass notes carry...even through walls). Thanks again. R.

This is why I play most of the time with headphones.

 

[Robert in Paris]

This is why I play most of the time with headphones.

Yup...I'll be following your lead, James. Thanks for your note. Best, R.

 

[cchorney]

Welcome to the bass-ment! Here is what I would suggest. Some of it's been suggested.

Learn bass chords. Especially in solo play, a chord up above the 12th fret followed by melodic play sounds lovely and breaks up the "one note at a time" feel that is usually the bass we all know and love. Try the Jaco version of Black Bird by The Beatles - it's not that hard (mostly thirds) and its cool.

Learn melodies, and practice playing them from different positions, starting fingers, or limit the number of strings allowed. I've been playing the guitar part of the theme from The Munsters lately, trying it in different hand positions, or all on one string, just for the fun of it and to exercise my mind. It's in my brain because I am of that age, but if you're unfamiliar with it, it's on YouTube. Pretty much everything is. Including lessons and bass play thrus. YouTube is your friend, but I think the "listen, visualize, and figure it out yourself" old school method builds your skills better, so maybe try that first.

Find the harmonic spots and figure out what the tones are they represent. Tap harmonics too. Incorporate them into your melodies. Victor Wooten is a master at this. So is Zander Zon.

Mess with stuff. Learn a melody. Learn to play it in an open key and in a fretted key. Change it from major to minor or vice versa.

Buy a looper, have fun with it.

Edit: How could I forget this one!! Learn the bass part to "Bouree". Then learn the flute part.

 

[Ductapeman]

The fastest way I know to change how you think about how the bass fits into the soundscape-- is to buy a copy of a motion picture called Standing in the Shadows of Motown. It will lay it all out for you-- but I warn you, once you start pursuing the Groove you will never be the same-- but the rest is mostly just technique, which is improved by getting out and doing it!

 

[Robert in Paris]

Welcome to the bass-ment! Here is what I would suggest. Some of it's been suggested.

Learn bass chords. Especially in solo play, a chord up above the 12th fret followed by melodic play sounds lovely and breaks up the "one note at a time" feel that is usually the bass we all know and love. Try the Jaco version of Black Bird by The Beatles - it's not that hard (mostly thirds) and its cool.

Learn melodies, and practice playing them from different positions, starting fingers, or limit the number of strings allowed. I've been playing the guitar part of the theme from The Munsters lately, trying it in different hand positions, or all on one string, just for the fun of it and to exercise my mind. It's in my brain because I am of that age, but if you're unfamiliar with it, it's on YouTube. Pretty much everything is. Including lessons and bass play thrus. YouTube is your friend, but I think the "listen, visualize, and figure it out yourself" old school method builds your skills better, so maybe try that first.

Find the harmonic spots and figure out what the tones are they represent. Tap harmonics too. Incorporate them into your melodies. Victor Wooten is a master at this. So is Zander Zon.

Mess with stuff. Learn a melody. Learn to play it in an open key and in a fretted key. Change it from major to minor or vice versa.

Buy a looper, have fun with it.

Edit: How could I forget this one!! Learn the bass part to "Bouree". Then learn the flute part.

Many thanks for this and for the excellent videos. A lot of what you're describing I've already done on guitar...that doesn't mean, of course, that it will be easy on bass, but at least I know some of the waypoints along the road. I appreciate your note. Best, R.

 

[Robert in Paris]

The fastest way I know to change how you think about how the bass fits into the soundscape-- is to buy a copy of a motion picture called Standing in the Shadows of Motown. It will lay it all out for you-- but I warn you, once you start pursuing the Groove you will never be the same-- but the rest is mostly just technique, which is improved by getting out and doing it!

Thanks for the recommendation, Ductapenman. I don't know the film but I will get a copy and have a look. Also, thanks for the warning...I'm ready to try to pursue the groove. I appreciate your input. Best, R.

 

[WardEarth]

I fully understand where you're coming from, WardEarth, but keep in mind that I'm already a pretty active guitar player and play in ensemble all the time. I agree with you about playing and singing. That is something else that I do in jazz, but particularly in blues (yes, I sing in French and at the moment I'm working on a number of songs by Claude Nougaro). For the moment, I'm going to try to integrate the bass into my musical life, and we'll see what happens from there. Many thanks for your note. Best, R.

Clips or it didn't happen!
A lot of material can be found on youtube. I know there is some free online material on the interweb. And you could always buy the 'bass method' books plus cd. I might just recommend listening and trying to play along to songs that you like, seeing as you already have musical background, you probably have a developed ear for sound. But still it would probably be best if you could squeeze a few hours into your schedule to join a band playing bass or start your own.

 

[nonohmic]

I had to go find an example of what I meant here.

Check out Tommy Kennedy playing The Chicken with Weckl and Mike Stern. Tommy's solo begins at 2:45. It's busy to begin with but you can hear some interesting ideas. By 3:15, though, it's worthless as anything other than a display of chops. Not a lot to learn there.

Holy moly what a garbled mess. imho.

 

[Altitude]

Holy moly what a garbled mess. imho.

Yeah. Compare it to this John Patitucci solo. John also is playing lots of notes, and I still don't tell young people to transcribe his solos as the first thing they do - but you can tell that he is choosing every note carefully, that his ideas are fully formed, and that he is aware of the harmonic conversation taking place between Chick Corea and himself. As a soloist, Patitucci to my ears is the match of any horn player alive today. Combine this with his great writing (most of which has happened in the years since this video filmed) and you get a great musician who happens to be a bass player.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

And notice he is playing beyond the 12th fret ...... melody needs to be in the higher frequencies.

 

[jaymelewis]

Welcome to the world of bass!

My recommendation for learning to solo is to start with dirt-simple melodies: nursery rhymes, church hymns, holiday songs, patriotic tunes, TV/movie themes, etc. For example if you can play "Amazing Grace" with feeling and emotional content, then you are off to a good start!

Then the next step is to transcribe and study performances by solo-bass masters: Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten, Michael Manring, etc. But I would encourage you to "learn to crawl before you learn to run" and not rush into material that is too difficult. Maybe there are some tunes you already know quite well on guitar, that it would be a good exercise to adapt them for bass?

PS Jaco is dead, but Wooten and Manring are alive, and are excellent teachers. You could take lessons with someone of their caliber if you really want to excel! Many of the top instructors give Skype lessons these days.

+1 to everything

 

[Altitude]

Nobody has mentioned Jimmy Haslip. I think he is also very good and a little less frenetic. Mind-blowingly, he is left handed and plays his basses strung opposite of normal, with the highest strings on top. I love his mixture of simple pentatonic ideas with stuff that gets outside the chord here and there. He has beautiful phrasing; his solos sound like conversations.

 

[fishdreams]

Welcome to the wide-open world of solo bass. There is music you want to make and hear in your head, and there is an instrument in your hands to do it with. ALL bets relating to 'normal' bass are off and to me, that liberating realization has been exactly the beauty of it. Here's an example of my own.


Good luck with your solo project!