Tips for Western swing?

[hublocker]

I've been drafted into a Western swing band as I seem to be pretty good at walking bass lines in that and the honky-tonk country style.

I'm always looking to improve though.

What can i do besides standard walking on the chord arpeggio notes, connecting tones, etc. etc.?

This kind of material:

 

[Gordon of Eden]

Just hold that pocket, keep it pretty straight and simple.
It can be cool to improv a little sometimes but keep it really melodic.

Did I mention about holding the pocket?

 

[Jim Campbell]

I've been drafted into a Western swing band as I seem to be pretty good at walking bass lines in that and the honky-tonk country style.

I'm always looking to improve though.

What can i do besides standard walking on the chord arpeggio notes, connecting tones, etc. etc.?

This kind of material:

sounds to me like the bass stays within the chord structure more than the jazz walking.....i hear r,3,5 a lot.....check out asleep at the wheel,bob wills,tex williams,jimmy bryant/speedy west....

 

[FromTheBassMent]

sounds to me like the bass stays within the chord structure more than the jazz walking.....i hear r,3,5 a lot.....check out asleep at the wheel,bob wills,tex williams....

Yup. If you're in a Western swing band with musicians who know what they're doing, they are basically jazz cats in cowboy hats (this is NOT a dis... I love this music). But unlike jazz, the bass player has to keep things much more rooted, or else you lose the connection with traditional country. Sounds like what you're already doing is just about right. If you start working 11ths and diminutions into your bass lines, you're just going to complicate things unnecessarily.

The suggestion to listen to Asleep At The Wheel is a great one. Those guys can do no wrong in this genre... aged veterans all of whom absolutely rip.

 

[bassbully]

[QUOTE What can i do besides standard walking on the chord arpeggio notes, connecting tones, etc. etc.?



Nothing!. In this kind of music it is your job to do the walks with the chords and hold it down..that's it. I played some of this for almost 2 years and If i stepped out of the box a bit the bandleader would look at me like :scowl:

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I call it the fish eye. Most country will stick to R-5 with walks to the next chord. Even a pentatonic will get the fish eye from the guys I play with.

Now I do not play in a Texas Swing band so I'm not an authority on swing - but like others have said, beyond echo melody, country bass has an established role and it's best to stick to that role.

Echo melody is echoing the vocalists efforts with short (after the fact) melodic runs, but staying out of the way of the vocalist and lead guitar - augmenting not competing. The old guys can do this, I'm an old guy, but a youngster on the bass - I'm still trying to pull off echo melody.

 

[jb63]

This is a fantastic Western Swing band:

http://www.thetimejumpers.com/

 

[Jim Campbell]

I call it the fish eye. Most country will stick to R-5 with walks to the next chord. Even a pentatonic will get the fish eye from the guys I play with.

Now I do not play in a Texas Swing band so I'm not an authority on swing - but like others have said, beyond echo melody, country bass has an established role and it's best to stick to that role.

Echo melody is echoing the vocalists efforts with short (after the fact) melodic runs, but staying out of the way of the vocalist and lead guitar - augmenting not competing. The old guys can do this, I'm an old guy, but a youngster on the bass - I'm still trying to pull off echo melody.

country swing allows for some walkin',but the outside stuff won't fly....

 

[MNAirHead]

I was raised on this stuff.. and keep coming back to it.

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Before going into structure etc.. I'd be scouring for early George Strait (modernized) and Bob Wills.. I'd be power listening to it to get the vibe in my brain.

Quite simple.. start singing and playing at the same time (kind of required)...

Every WS band I've sat in with are maniacs for timing.