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The magic behind awesome three-piece bands. How do they do it?

#84
It's actually really fun to play bass in 3 piece group. I find that I really need to stretch out a little bit - especially during guitar solos because there is no rhythm guitar to keep the chord progression alive so it falls on the bass to fill in sonically. It requires a bit more effort and as has been said: there's nowhere to hide, so you need to really have your stuff together.

You really need to have a guitar player that understands his role in a 3 piece as well for it to work. With the right people, 3 piece work is a real treat - if you're up for the task.
 
#86
JimmyM said:
There is an art to playing in a three-piece band that really can't be explained until you do it. I worked with great guitar players who couldn't play in a three-piece band to save their lives. And honestly, while there are things we can do to help, it's mostly on the guitar player. If you notice, most bassists and drummers just do what they ordinarily would do. There are certain exceptions but that's usually how they do it. I used to try to work in octaves to help fill things in. But I still believe it's mostly on the guitar player.
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I came up playing in either 3 pieces or 3 plus a singer and my playing style was what you would call "melodic". I tried to fill in space without overdoing it, so I would connect notes where I could, play a bit more, etc etc. However, you are right, the guitar player needs to play differently than most "guitar heroes". These days I play in cover bands and most of the guitarists couldnt do a 3 piece so they always want a 2 guitarist set up. Keys help though and I do some of that, I play some stuff with my feet while playing bass and then switch onto keys where I can for certain things.

Alex Lifeson said he really perfected the ringing arpeggio picking (think beginning of Closer to the Heart) to fill up space. He is amazing at that stuff.
 
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#87
While the White Stripes are not a three piece, I heard Jack White explain that having only two people in a band meant that he had to work harder to fill the space.

From my perspective, that “working hard” is what pushes musicians to excel. Species that live in harsh environments evolve adaptations that make survival possible.

My full band wedding gigs are much easier in the sense that the playing is so predictable whereas my 3 piece bar hits really challenge me. Of course there are boring parts sometimes.
 
#89
filmtex said:
I've been working with a pretty successful classic rock trio for almost five years now, we get compliments on our sound just about every show. And we're not musical savants by any stretch of the imagination. However, we do choose our repertoire very carefully, mainly 50's and 60's songs, and.....we all sing. Individually we're ok, but together, we do a nice job. My band mates are friendly, entertaining guys, we get along on and off stage very well, and we mix with the audience as much as we can- COVID not withstanding. Lots of return customers and long term, consistent bookings. I know, I know. Too many informations...
Oh, and we're bilingual, pretty handy in South Texas.
View attachment 3975366
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The secret is here in plain view: you need a righty bassist and a lefty guitarist...
 
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#90
JimmyM said:
There is an art to playing in a three-piece band that really can't be explained until you do it. I worked with great guitar players who couldn't play in a three-piece band to save their lives. And honestly, while there are things we can do to help, it's mostly on the guitar player. If you notice, most bassists and drummers just do what they ordinarily would do. There are certain exceptions but that's usually how they do it. I used to try to work in octaves to help fill things in. But I still believe it's mostly on the guitar player.
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Agree with this. Only time that I found an Octave Pedal really useful was in a trio setting. usually during guitar solos, used sparingly, just to add a bit to the space.
 
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#91
I love three piece bands where all members play instruments and one of those members sings. I suppose my second favorite would be the 3 piece plus a person that sings (Van Halen, for examples. I've been in a few of both, and I'm now in a 4 piece with two guitar players where one is also a lead singer. My preference is always to be in a band with only three members. I think the personal dynamics are better and it leaves more space for bass.
 
#98
Gravedigger Dav said:
Each player is playing a lot more than if they were in a larger band.
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In a nutshell this is your answer. You need not just be busy players but players who understand when to be busy and when to lay back. I’ve seen three piece bands with really accomplished players who each thought the whole thing was about them and it was a mishmash of competing for space, and then there are bands like Morphine. It was the first and so far only time I ever saw a triangle solo and it absolutely killed, but not just because the guy had it in him to sell it musically, but the other two members provided tasty accents throughout and it took the whole thing to a next level performance of beating in a bent steel rod while the other players knew exactly the right time to drop in a single note or a quick flourish. Not everyone can pull off a three piece, me among them. I can fake it a little but not for four bar sets.
 
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#99
TC 1983 001.jpg

Time: 1983. Place: Southern California.

In a three-piece, all members must be able to do a lot more than one thing. In our Trio, the Guitarist also played keyboards and did vocals, the Singer also played keyboards, and I played bass, keyboards, Moog Taurus Pedals, and did vocals. And, we loved every minute of it.

We did all-original music, and we made due with an Oberheim OB-8, DMX drum machine, a DSX digital sequencer (without which, we could not have done what we did), the aforementioned Taurus Pedals, a custom Mesa Boogie guitar combo, a Carvin Bassmaster head pushing two SVT810's, and we just went at it.

This was all before we eventually added a drummer, as booking agents did not yet understand digital drums, and they wanted a live body, behind a kit.
 
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#100
My favorite trios are piano/bass/drums. Listen to Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach on Money Jungle. That's my idea of the perfect trio. You can throw vocals in if you must (my current project, heh heh, I'm not totally opposed to the human voice as an instrument).

IMO for guitar rock, there's not much difference between one and two guitars. One crunched out guitar is a wall of sound. Really it comes down to the ability of bass and drums to keep the tune going during guitar solos when the wall of guitar suddenly drops. A Pianist can comp with his left hand while soloing; that's beyond the skills of most rock guitarists.

Of course I remember being a young lad listening to Rush and realizing they tracked rhythm guitar under Alex's solos on the records. It's all just rock and roll. Live, I guess they just played loud and nobody noticed the rhythm gtr dropping out during solos. Maybe they even played with backing tracks? Who knows/who cares. IMO it doesn't matter; the studio is part of the sound of pop/rock so no points deducted for using it well.
 
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