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What is overplaying ?

#61
Overplaying: trying to play like Chris Squire or Geddy Lee when you're not even playing prog rock :hiding:

really though, it's trying to add in WAY too many fills and little fancy sequences when all that you should be doing is laying down a good bass line. It usually makes people look like a**es (funny enough, most people do it thinking it makes them look good)

:hiding::hiding: once again, bracing the fort for assault. lol
 
#63
Since I want to try this out anyways would you call this overplaying?

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2091796

I think I was over playing a bit on both the guitar and the bass tracks but other than being a little sloppy I like the way it sounds. It might not be marketable but Its what I like and I'd rather work a day job and spend my evenings wanking in the spare room than tour the country playing Nickle Back covers. That to me is the musical equivilent of sucking wang for pennys. Just for me though, if thats your thing than by all means cash in on it.
 
#64
it's entirely subjective and situational. It's not simply the number of notes you play, or the complexity of your rhythms and harmonies, but how well it fits within the framework of the song. I would posit that the sum total of the song impacts the individual pieces and vice versa.

That said, I really need to listen and concentrate to not overplay. My fingers run away from me sometimes.
 
#66
Using too many notes for a groove where only a few would do. When the bass line becomes distracting instead of being the foundation.

I do this a lot! I'm thinkin' maybe I'm hearing rhythm guitar parts in my head instead of bass lines. :/

It's amazing how cats like Prestia, Entwistle, Casady, Palladino, et al can play so much and still stay out of the way!
 
#69
^ makes sense. Some of the most simple bass lines are the most dynamic. NIB from Black Sabbath is case and point. Geezer plays it simple yet unforgettable, like Jack Bruce and the song Badge. Or even Victor Wooten's Ari's Eyes.
 
#70
To me overplaying states that you are in the honeymoon stages of learning scales and techniques, or in other words immature on the bass.

My favorite example of a bassist who you will never find overplay is Chuck Rainey- He, in my opinion, is the most disciplined bassist I've heard and can pull off the top of my head except maybe Pino

 
#75
The beauty of Pink Floyd to me is the simplistic approach and letting the song breathe and flow more naturally.
I think it is a bit subjective, but people generally have an idea of what a bass player does and aren't terribly interested in hearing them gum up the song with slapping parts and licks where there shouldn't be.
MOST of the best selling bands of all time have a moderate bassist holding down the song, and that bassist is playing FOR the song.
 
#77
Overplaying is like porno - it's hard to define but I know it when I hear/see it. The job of a bass player (if you want the band to groove, anyway) is to "lock in" with the drummer's bass drum, and provide a symmetry that your audience can lock into as well. With "busy", overplaying drummers you often have to play even more simply just to give your audience something to hold on to, and I hate that. It's exhausting. I think Berry Oakley was one who really had a grasp on that fine line between over and underplaying.
 
#78
Benthoven said:
Overplaying is like porno - it's hard to define but I know it when I hear/see it. The job of a bass player (if you want the band to groove, anyway) is to "lock in" with the drummer's bass drum, and provide a symmetry that your audience can lock into as well. With "busy", overplaying drummers you often have to play even more simply just to give your audience something to hold on to, and I hate that. It's exhausting. I think Berry Oakley was one who really had a grasp on that fine line between over and underplaying.
Click to expand...

I heard a band called Agora (which sounds like it should be a metal band but isnt) and the bass player could lock some pretty good basslines into some incredibly buisy beats and still sound groovy. I think for a bass player to get buisy without over playing the rest of the band has to mak some space for him and help the line sound good, the same way they do for the guitar player. I think a band working togeather to showcase all its players is a far more beautifull sound than the regular "back up the guitarist" type sound.
 

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