For some maybe. I find him virtually unlistenable.
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What Makes a Great Bass Player?
- Thread starter achassum
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When I was younger and first heard Jaco, (this was 20-25 years ago), I really didn't get it...I was more into classic bass playing (Jamerson, etc). It wasn't until years later I finally "got" Jaco...
As for the O.P.s question...I really think it's subjective. Some people will look at a slap happy chops oriented player slapping away on a bass and call that "great", I'd call it noise as the sound of a slapped bass generally does very little for me.
I.M.O. what makes a great bass player is the ability to groove and create tasteful, articulate bass lines that outline the harmony of the song. It doesn't have to be a chops oriented bass line to accomplish that.
Making youself heard and respected. Seriously. So many musicians complain about how difficult it is to find bass players, much less good ones. But once we show up, the sound guys somehow don't realize we're there, or the other musicians try to drown us out, or the guitarists get really pissed if we actually try to sound good and divert attention away from them in the process.
I'm a bit jaded....
I'm a bit jaded....
Stage moves and mastering the concrete method of "groove" supplemented with ability to play all modes in 16ths at 180 bpm in one octave followed distantly by a great ear and/or deep knowledge of harmony and rhythm.. Whoops, reverse that and throw the superficial and nebulous out the window.
It's hard to be objective when the adjective you are defining is subjective.
To some, Victor Wooten is among the greatest players ever, others can't stand him.
The same can be said of Jaco.
Entwistle was great to many, but he played bass all wrong according to himself.
Some think Claypool sounds amazing, others think he sounds sloppy.
So who or what are you calling "great"?
Playing exactly what is needed for the music you are a part of.
Victor Wooten and Dusty Hill are both well known, highly regarded
a by most counts, quite successful bassists.
Very different styles.
Both do a fine job of filling in the bottom, in the contest of what they do.
Victor Wooten and Dusty Hill are both well known, highly regarded
a by most counts, quite successful bassists.
Very different styles.
Both do a fine job of filling in the bottom, in the contest of what they do.
1. Musicality - if I like the choices of notes I hear and it supports the song.
2. Techniques - chops, left and right hand technique, ability to play fast if needed.
3. Rhythm - groove, ability to lock with drums.
4. Tone - if the tone is nice, it's an extra points for me.
2. Techniques - chops, left and right hand technique, ability to play fast if needed.
3. Rhythm - groove, ability to lock with drums.
4. Tone - if the tone is nice, it's an extra points for me.
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It’s situational. For 90% of us it’s locking in with your drummer, keep the Mickey Mouse tricks to a minimum and get the girls dancing. And if the girls are dancing the boys will follow. No one dances to the lead guitar.
As for the other 10%, how to be Jaco, Geddy, Chris great? Many are called but only a few can soar in that rarified air. It’s definitely not just hard work and practice or we’d all be great. It takes a rare combination of effort, talent and luck to reach Boomstick greatness. It doesn’t stop us from trying!
As for the other 10%, how to be Jaco, Geddy, Chris great? Many are called but only a few can soar in that rarified air. It’s definitely not just hard work and practice or we’d all be great. It takes a rare combination of effort, talent and luck to reach Boomstick greatness. It doesn’t stop us from trying!
A Fender Precision, Ampeg SVT with 810, and great personality.
All this time I thought it was about doing what's right the song, but apparently it's really all about fast you can slap. Period. Nothing else. I know this to be true because all the videos for 'world's best bass player' on youtube are guys slapping.
It's brand-based? Good to know...
Desire, personality, natural interest and practice, practice, practice.
Just no way to get around practicing if you want to be great.
Just no way to get around practicing if you want to be great.
For me the bass player has to bring something to the band and song. If you took their bass part out would the song be the same? It doesn't have to be anything complicated either...imagine "Crazy Train" without the steady quarter notes in the bass during the verse, or "Penny Lane" without the walking bass part, Duran Duran "Rio" without the funky bass.
Love of the instrument. And an ability to project that love thru the instrument. Emotional content in ones playing. Be it another's composition or one's own. Anyone, ANY-one, can master the fretboard, memorize a theory and spend too much on gear. Another facet? How fast can you put what's in your mind's ear into your hands and upon the fingerboard and into others ears. And feel/groove. Can you control the feel in any given situation. I was taught to make a metronome swing. If yer drummer is the metronome? You gotta make his time feel real. And if yer drummer is a faulty metronome? You still must make his time feel real. My fave players are the ones that make the emotional content in their playing too obvious to ignore. They draw folk in with the conversation they're having with the rest of the band. And make me wanna be a part of it.
I always tell my children if you are able to do something that not everyone can do, anything as simple as running, cooking, singing, carpentry, then people will pay attention to you. If one love music, has the discipline to spend time studying and practice, then he/she will become a good musician, if this musician has the "brain" to go along with it, then he/she will be great. The truly great one definitely has something more in their blood, something you cannot teach.
Intelligent, appropriate, uncluttered, yet interesting bass lines.
