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What riff do you play when trying a new bass
- Thread starter mr zee
- Start date
"Oh just buy it. You can always sell it later if you don't bond with it."
Mine says: You can buy what you want but you don' t wear those white socks with the black shoes!
Wise
I plug in turn it up full and slap all the strings open back and forth as fast as I can. Gotta see how fast a bass plays. Any bass is fine if you only know how to play one string at a time, it's important to know you can play all 4 strings at the same time in a machine gun repeat - this is why vintage P basses are so popular, the tort helps the strings rebound instantly when plucked in unison.
If I'm at guitar center, I'll turn the volume up high enough so that the employees out back taking a smoke break will hear me and start slapping off beat in no particular key.
Anywhere else I'd try some Motown or jaco.
Anywhere else I'd try some Motown or jaco.
This.
Firstly I'll have played it acoustically for awhile, until it's passed the "feel" test. Then I'll plug it in and play riffs and figures all over the neck to get an idea of the sound. I'm listening to the bass not playing a song.
You are very very lucky man this is not the normShe makes more money than I do. She don't need my card.
And when it comes to bass gear, she's an enabler! I'll be playing a bass I'm only mildly interested in and she'll say "Oh just buy it. You can always sell it later if you don't bond with it."
A little bit of ever song on the current sent list. If I'm not in a band at the time I'll just play some of my favorite lines from bands I've been in. Mostly all original stuffs
Always start with "Money" by Pink Floyd which is great to get a basic tone benchmark, plus there is good movement around the fretboard. Then usually some bars from "Tom Sawyer" (including the runs and riffs) to see how the bass responds to more aggressive play. From time to time, if playing through a nice amp, I like to play around with "Pump It Up". Then a lot of noodling and few bars from songs our band is currently playing thrown in for good measure.
I always start off with this song.
Perfect for that purpose, and playing the final 40 seconds is always a lot of fun.
Don't ask me why, but I play these all the time. Then some walking bass lines.
Whatever is in my head and fingers at the time. If it keeps my attention, I start checking out open strings (especially B if so equipped,) various areas of the neck, tone/eq capabilities, etc. Have been playing in a Spanglish rock band of late and the bass line from "El Satanic Dr. Cadillac"
is a good one to mess around with.
is a good one to mess around with.
Mostly basslines I've written over the years for original songs from bands I've played in - mainly tunes that are up and down the fretboard so I get a good sense for the full range. If I really dig a bass though and sit with it for a while, one of my old favorites does come out sometimes:
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D blues starting on the A string 5th fret. This allows me to play up and down the fret board in my normal range. Maybe the shake rattle n roll riff.
Born under a bad sign (in A) and/or Sultans... allows me to play muting and open strings.
E minor riffs, cause E minor.
Badge and Sir Duke, just cause those are my 2 favorite songs to play right now!
Born under a bad sign (in A) and/or Sultans... allows me to play muting and open strings.
E minor riffs, cause E minor.
Badge and Sir Duke, just cause those are my 2 favorite songs to play right now!
Firstly, if they actually have a lefty bass on the wall, I celebrate that. And if it's not the stock Ibanez with the "BOOM" card under the knob, I celebrate that as well. Then it's Iron Maiden, Violent Femmes, and /or Sir Duke from Stevie Wonder.
