It's the same things that make a great comedian: timing, versatility, and just enough flash to be memorable. Too much flash and your Carrottop. Nobody wants Carrottop as their bass player.
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What Makes a Great Bass Player?
- Thread starter achassum
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I'd rather have killer groove than chops any time eg- Duck Dunn.
The right hat. Not one of those dumb, backwards berets. A stylin', workin' lid.
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Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
1) Good sense of rythm
2) Good sense of time
3) Note choice / duration
4) Playing the spaces
5) Being @Leland Sklar......
2) Good sense of time
3) Note choice / duration
4) Playing the spaces
5) Being @Leland Sklar......
I don't think there's much universal that I could point to. I mean, I think Jesse Keeler of Death From Above is a great bassist, but he doesn't play a traditional support role at all. It all depends on context.
I guess, making really good music? To me, great musicians have an original vision and are always working towards that. But then people in orchestras, cover bands etc. don't fit that bill. I wouldn't call them bad musicians, it's just not something I value.
I guess, making really good music? To me, great musicians have an original vision and are always working towards that. But then people in orchestras, cover bands etc. don't fit that bill. I wouldn't call them bad musicians, it's just not something I value.
Metaphorically like cooking; adding the right ingredients without overdoing any of them. Too much is just as bad as not enough.
Great and bass are two words that really don't jive very often. Sounds like everybody's describing good solid bass players.
Hells bells, there was this cat who played a Hammond B3 in the Cass corridor in Detroit back in the 60's by the name of Lymon Woodard. Dude was laying down bad arse bass lines with his feet all night long! As a bass player it made my job seem embarrassingly easy when that's the only thing i had to focus on, like being the triangle player in a symphony.
I think we mistake competent for great all to often because were so far from it.
Great? Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, that's string theory. Beyond imitation.
Duck Dunn? Jamerson? Jaco? All wonderful, I totally respect those cats, but many of us can at least copy what they achieved and quite understand it.
Great is once every 100 years and you can't quantify it.
Hells bells, there was this cat who played a Hammond B3 in the Cass corridor in Detroit back in the 60's by the name of Lymon Woodard. Dude was laying down bad arse bass lines with his feet all night long! As a bass player it made my job seem embarrassingly easy when that's the only thing i had to focus on, like being the triangle player in a symphony.
I think we mistake competent for great all to often because were so far from it.
Great? Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, that's string theory. Beyond imitation.
Duck Dunn? Jamerson? Jaco? All wonderful, I totally respect those cats, but many of us can at least copy what they achieved and quite understand it.
Great is once every 100 years and you can't quantify it.
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Well, fellow TBers, you've done it again. An apparent opening of the proverbial can o' worms thread results in a plethora of intelligent, concise, insightful responses. Good job! I think what makes a great bass player is the ability to play what is in your head immediately and correctly on your instrument, whether that is what's written as part of a classical piece, an accurate reproduction of a pop song's signature line, or a series of jazz improvisations at a gig. That should be the standard for a good bassist, though. Great bassists should also have the ability to create memorable lines and have a unique voice that you can pick out of a crowd. This is where you separate the Chris Squires from the Nikki Sixxes. Just as important as being able to play as fast and funky as Rocco, is the restraint needed not to play that way in many situations. This is quite a challenge, to acquire the technique, versatility, and wisdom needed, while simultaneously exercising your imagination and self control. Had you going! 
It's all about tort and flats.
It's all about tort and flats.
Not in order of importance.....
1. Knowing what to play and when to play (play what fits in the place where it fits)
2. Knowing when not to play (Brief moments of silence of each instrument is also a part of a song)
3. Good timing (know how & when to lead, lag, or play on top of the beat)
4. Knowing what good tone is and which tone fits the song. (Knowing the difference between the tones that should be used for Roundabout & Brown Eyed Girl and #5)
5. Knowing how to get multiple different tones using multiple methods (amp tone settings, effects settings, on-instrument tone settings, and perhaps most important, knowing how to alter tone by how you play the instrument)
If a player can MASTER three of these & get by on the other two, he or she will definitely be good, bordering on great. Mastery of 4 or 5 is really getting into the "great" zone
1. Knowing what to play and when to play (play what fits in the place where it fits)
2. Knowing when not to play (Brief moments of silence of each instrument is also a part of a song)
3. Good timing (know how & when to lead, lag, or play on top of the beat)
4. Knowing what good tone is and which tone fits the song. (Knowing the difference between the tones that should be used for Roundabout & Brown Eyed Girl and #5)
5. Knowing how to get multiple different tones using multiple methods (amp tone settings, effects settings, on-instrument tone settings, and perhaps most important, knowing how to alter tone by how you play the instrument)
If a player can MASTER three of these & get by on the other two, he or she will definitely be good, bordering on great. Mastery of 4 or 5 is really getting into the "great" zone
TL/DR: it depends.
Lots of good suggestions here, but it's ultimately impossible to give a definitive answer. Great chops + great restraint belong somewhere near the top of the list. Ability to play all styles and all techniques? Depends on how you define "great." A better approach might be to ask what makes a particular great bass player great. I love Lee Sklar's playing, but he's on record as saying he can't slap and doesn't care to learn. He'll recommend another bassist if the gig requires slapping. But he has some awesome chops and the good sense not to demonstrate them 99% of the time. His chops manifest themselves in his always being on the money, timewise, and he knows his instrument so intimately that he's able to go where his feel dictates without having to consciously figure out how to get there.
I love Chuck Rainey's playing, because he's always full of surprises that, once you've heard them, seem like the only possible place there was to go. His playing on Steely Dan stuff is absolute genius and really makes the groove. In my car I keep an old Joe Cocker cd (I can Stand a Little Rain) and Rainey's playing on "I Get Mad" is just sublime. I crank it when I'm on the highway alone, and then I look down at the dash and see I'm doing 95 mph.
Jaco is one of the greatest, for chops and innovation, if not restraint. He borrowed from other innovators like Rocco Prestia and Jamerson and fused it with non-bassist like Charlie Parker and created something that hadn't existed before, that ended up influencing a whole new generation of bassist. There are so many examples out there of him holding down the bottom while playing incredibly lyrical and harmonic lines. Restraint is not one of his signature qualities, though, and I would probably not hire him to do a classic country gig
Lots of great players, and every one of them is great in a different combination of ways. As many have said, taste (which IMHO is 90% restraint) is key. Chops need to be adequate for what the player is doing, but I wouldn't put them at the top of the list. Versatility is good, but I think Duck Dunn was one of the greats, and I don't know of him venturing far outside the R&B/Blues-rock vein. Pino, on the other hand...that guy seems to be able to do it all without breaking a sweat. Lyrical fretless stuff, slap, fingerstyle funk, jazz, you name it. Maybe not as innovative as a Jaco or Prestia or McCartney, but took things from them and forged something that is simultaneously his own sound and completely serving the song. He raises everything he plays on to a higher level. Maybe that's the best definition I can come up with: the ability to raise a song to a higher level than it was, without taking it over.
Lots of good suggestions here, but it's ultimately impossible to give a definitive answer. Great chops + great restraint belong somewhere near the top of the list. Ability to play all styles and all techniques? Depends on how you define "great." A better approach might be to ask what makes a particular great bass player great. I love Lee Sklar's playing, but he's on record as saying he can't slap and doesn't care to learn. He'll recommend another bassist if the gig requires slapping. But he has some awesome chops and the good sense not to demonstrate them 99% of the time. His chops manifest themselves in his always being on the money, timewise, and he knows his instrument so intimately that he's able to go where his feel dictates without having to consciously figure out how to get there.
I love Chuck Rainey's playing, because he's always full of surprises that, once you've heard them, seem like the only possible place there was to go. His playing on Steely Dan stuff is absolute genius and really makes the groove. In my car I keep an old Joe Cocker cd (I can Stand a Little Rain) and Rainey's playing on "I Get Mad" is just sublime. I crank it when I'm on the highway alone, and then I look down at the dash and see I'm doing 95 mph.
Jaco is one of the greatest, for chops and innovation, if not restraint. He borrowed from other innovators like Rocco Prestia and Jamerson and fused it with non-bassist like Charlie Parker and created something that hadn't existed before, that ended up influencing a whole new generation of bassist. There are so many examples out there of him holding down the bottom while playing incredibly lyrical and harmonic lines. Restraint is not one of his signature qualities, though, and I would probably not hire him to do a classic country gig
Lots of great players, and every one of them is great in a different combination of ways. As many have said, taste (which IMHO is 90% restraint) is key. Chops need to be adequate for what the player is doing, but I wouldn't put them at the top of the list. Versatility is good, but I think Duck Dunn was one of the greats, and I don't know of him venturing far outside the R&B/Blues-rock vein. Pino, on the other hand...that guy seems to be able to do it all without breaking a sweat. Lyrical fretless stuff, slap, fingerstyle funk, jazz, you name it. Maybe not as innovative as a Jaco or Prestia or McCartney, but took things from them and forged something that is simultaneously his own sound and completely serving the song. He raises everything he plays on to a higher level. Maybe that's the best definition I can come up with: the ability to raise a song to a higher level than it was, without taking it over.
