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What do you think about when taking a solo?

#121
Solo? :unsure: You mean that bit where I keep playing the same bass line I've been playing for the last three minutes but the rest of the band stops? :laugh:

I try not to do bass solos. I've certainly never put one in an original song. If I'm doing a cover with a bass solo I'll try to learn to play it as closely to the original as I can, so all I think about when I play it live is doing what I practised. But when I get to the last bar I'm often thinking "Come back in guys. You'd better come back in."
 
#122
The dirty looks I'm going to get from the guitarist.

freddie worth it.jpg
 
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#130
I try to at least have a beginning melody in line, and usually do variations on that. When I'm done, I just go back into the song's main groove, and look at the vocalist. Long bass solos are usually boring, and most of us don't have the chops for an extended solo. I also like doing something with the drummer, which can be more fun to play AND more interesting.
 
#133
This is a wierd question, do you mean just getting thrown a solo in a jam or writing a solo into a song?

I guess I just try to be me, but within the context of the song. I don't play as fast as I used to, but my technique is a lot better so I'll try to use that to make it interesting. I don't go more than a few bars, because while I might want that In not sure everyone else does :).

If I'm writing a solo in, I like to try to write a little mini song with a couple of distinct features that sits within the key framework the band is holding for me. Once, ONCE, the band I was in wrote the song around a solo and after that I could die happy.

On a more humorous note, I sometimes think, "I wish i'd been shedding more lately."
 
#134
OP has a valid point I suppose on the lack of seriousness in responses. I'm guilty myself.
Maybe it was the wording of the post, or the fact that we're snarkish bass players...
But it is a good question.
Idk why my first thought was that I was "stealing" it... ;)
 
#136
OK, in all seriousness I think of the melody and either mimic the rhythm of the melody but play a different melody or I sort of take some "quotes" from the melody and do my own thing. At the end I always try to bring it back to a recognizable phrase.
If you think of the chord changes and possible extensions and substitutions you can come up with something interesting. e.g. instead of starting on the root of the chord start your solo from the 9th.
 
#137
HELLonWHEELS said:
So i recently joined my first band and one of the songs on their setlist is Ben Harper's Steal My Kisses where the bass takes a solo towards the end of the song. While we were practicing it during a session it occurred to me that I don't really know what the idea is behind a bass solo in a "rock" type of setting. I know my grooves and scales, but what exactly is the bass player thinking in the song. So here's the question:


What do you think about when you take a solo?
Click to expand...

What did the last guy have to say, what do I have to add to that, and how am I going to set up the next guy to keep the conversation moving along?
 
#139
Bass solos of more than about 2 bars are objectively boring unless the player is a virtuoso, and even then they get stale quickly. I also don't enjoy playing them. That said, I try to make them super short or avoid them altogether.

When I am forced to play one, I'm usually looking at other band members ready to cue them back in at the earliest point. All I'm thinking is, "Let's get this over with ASAP."
 
#140
Normally, I have the three general thoughts when soloing.
#1 All of the "doing all the prep/knowing the snog/knowing your instrument" homework. The goal for me is "that was a melody played on the bass" and not "that was a lot of notes."

#2 "avoid my own personal cliches" - This is the only one I actively strive to think about consciously when soloing. If I find myself playing the lick I always play, make some decision to move away from that quickly.

#3 Get done and get out. I wrote a really long paragraph with explanation and backstory, but then I realized that was missing the point.
 

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