"Take a solo...." Now f'ing what?

[mntngrown]

I am an anomaly on this subject. I went out and bought that Donny Hathaway album on vinyl when I read a review in the print media when I was living in the bay area as a teen. The reviewer called Willie Weeks solo pianisimic or some such thing. Listening I was appropriately impressed too. But listening again to the song thanks to the previous poster I was struck by how fantastic Willie Weeks played in the context of the whole band in the opening and after the intro of all the band members and their solos. To me I always regard how a collaboration gets the groove as a whole. In rock I understand guitar solos as a genre requirement but please no bass solos. I copied My Generation in high school so what. Short interludes like David Hood on "I'll take you there or Brown eyed Girl etc whoever did it are cool. But to me bass supports great singers and players like SRV and Hendrix and Clapton and on and on. To my knowledge Tommy Shannon Carl Radle Berry Oakley Johnnie B Gayden etc etc never took a solo. Why would they as their playing was magical and in support of the song

 

[IamGroot]

Yeah,
1. bass is not exactly a solo instrument
2. Mix a little root with a little melody

In Jazz, the bassist is usually expected to take at least one solo - maybe so the audience can have a break to reorder drinks..

@LBS-bass had a really good suggestion in Post #2. Don't fear your time in the spotlight.

 

[Richard_N]

Thank you, for all of this. I appreciate you taking the time to write this out, it is super helpful.

This exactly. I think a lot of people lose sight of the melody when they're soloing and that's when you lose a lot of the audience (and me) unless you are some great virtuoso like John McLaughlin or Jaco who can make things sound cool just by playing it faster. If you know the melody then when you go to solo, you will have some basic framework to construct your solos around. This is especially helpful if you learn the melody in the "normal" soloing portion of the fretboard (ie. above/around the 12 fret).

Two other things:
1) you should know exactly what key the song is in. Then make sure you can play that scale all over the fretboard. I think most people get intimidated by the thought of a solo and forget that every solo is just made up of notes from the scale (and maybe some chromatic notes for flavor). If you can get the scale that corresponds to the song under your hands and can play it all over the fretboard, then just try going for some scale notes and see where they take you. Often, after a bar or so you will find some phrases or note sets you like and you can build off those. Especially during rehearsals and practice, don't be afraid to just go for it and see where the scale etc. takes you. Try moving up and down the fretboard, try some double stops, and since you're on fretless, some tasteful slides will make anything sound better.
2) this happens to me often too. I play in a jazz combo, often on 4 string fretless, and the sax player/BL or the guitar player will often randomly tell me to take a solo after they finish theirs (sometimes during rehearsal, sometimes on the gig)... rarely do I have a scripted solo save for one or two tunes. I make sure I know the scale/key for each song as I said above, and try not to worry too much about playing a "wrong" note. If you hit a scale note it won't sound awful, and once I play around with a few notes, I find a couple things I like and go from there. Jazz is about improv, so don't be afraid to improvise! Really... being ready to take a risk or two will really improve your impromptu soloing abilities; I find that is something a lot of people don't teach you. At the worst, you hit a clunker–keep in mind you are always a half step away from a note in the scale so just skooch that finger up or down a fret and call it "jazz."

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Richard_N]

.

Really appreciate your comments. This is all very helpful to me and wanted to thank you for writing this all out.

Most bass solos suck because most bass players don't practice soloing. It's a skill to be developed like any other.

In my experience (which includes over 20 years of mostly trio work and a lot of solos) there are two kinds of bass solos: those where someone else is comping and you can solo freely, and those with zero comping that require you to keep the audience connected to the song structure. Note that when it's your turn to solo you can absolutely give direction. I mime playing the guitar, or shout out "give me the chords" if they drop out. I'll gesture for the drummer to bring the dynamics down if he's too loud.

A few steps to becoming a better soloist:

Listen to lots of solos from all instruments. Sing along. Internalize them. Work to reach the point where you can sing that solo or at least match the phrasing.

Study solos. Practice grabbing little chunks and learning to play them. Then work your way up to the entire solo, or at least the sections you want to take on. Listen to lots of bass players solo and pay attention to their phrasing, use of space, and how they utilize dynamics.

Practice soloing. Loop some chords or download iRealB and play over changes. Pick a few easy songs in your live show and ask for solos, then explain what support you want (IE key player walks the bass, guitar plays chords, etc.) Soloing is all about confidence, so gain experience so when it's your turn to step up and lead the band you aren't shy or unsure about what you're doing. If you play confidently you can get away with literally anything. Just watch Victor Wooten play a chromatic scale, it's literally all the notes, but it feels so good the audience loves it.

 

[bassdude51]

My advice is so simple that it might seem worthless.

Go to YouTube and listen to bass solos to the kind of music that your trio plays. To get an idea. You don't have to exactly copy what they are doing. Just get a feel/idea.

Keep in mind that in this day and age, generally speaking, folks no longer have much of an attention span for solos! Be it drums, guitar or bass, whatever. Just about everybody had some degree of ADD. Solos can be boring. Adjust your bass solos to this fact of reality.

IMHO

 

[MrLenny1]

learn the melody and then play off of that
also know the chords really well.

 

[Mushroo]

Teach the audience something about the song that they don't already know.

Pretend you are a tour guide at the zoo, and each measure of the song is an exotic animal in a cage. Your solo is an opportunity to show the audience what is "cool" about the song, whether it be the chords in the harmony, the notes of the melody, the rhythm/groove, etc.

 

[Snarf]

Mostly this:

 

[Marty Forrer]

Yeah,
1. bass is not exactly a solo instrument
2. Mix a little root with a little melody

1: Bass can be as much a solo instrument as any other.
2: A little root? I don't think so. Start each chord with a 3rd or 5th and lead off those will make you sound much more like a soloist. Starting on roots will put the audience to sleep. Look for chord groupings where you can use the same scale over a group of chords, eg: 1, 6, 2, 5.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

1: Bass can be as much a solo instrument as any other.
2: A little root? I don't think so. Start each chord with a 3rd or 5th and lead off those will make you sound much more like a soloist. Starting on roots will put the audience to sleep. Look for chord groupings where you can use the same scale over a group of chords, eg: 1, 6, 2, 5.

Yeah, I did play a solo on a tuba in high school band...