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Your opinion on bass soloes?

#21
Wow...thats a lot of replies in just one day, well, thanks everyone.

Well, I'll take another step further and saying that I think we're also culturally not used to bass soloes due to the lack of good bass soloists and because of the fact that the guitarist and keyboardist refuse to play anything behind the bassist, which is what I think leads to the train of thought "Bass soloes aren't meant to be", because Jaco, Stanley, John Pattitucci, Scott LaFaro, Paul Chambers, John Entwhistle, and a bunch of other great guys out there proved that bass soloes ARE meant to be and CAN be exciting and not boring IF they bother to play rhythm behind us while we're soloing, dont u think the guitar or piano or horn solo wud be boring if we stopped playing?
 
#22
I think that drummers, guitarisits, and keyboard players are secretly trained to stop playing during bass solos, so that bassists and audiences will get discouraged.

Bass solos can have just as much energy as any other solo, as long as we make it groove.
 
#23
Tnavis said:
I think that drummers, guitarisits, and keyboard players are secretly trained to stop playing during bass solos, so that bassists and audiences will get discouraged.
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Heh, too true :p

I personally think that any instrument can carry the song forward by a solo, as long as it is in context and done sensibly. No long 5 minute bass fretwank where it doesn't fit. Likewise, you wouldn't want a song with great energy and rythem to suddenly stop for 5 minutes of guitar solo - killing the energy and feel of the song.
 
#24
Personally, I think a bass solo is as valid as any instrument's.

However, I must admit myself that I am not a big fan of those "every single silence must be filled by a note" shredding solos... But that is true for any instrument, IMO. I mean, there are a lot of band that throws guitar solos in every song, and a lot of times I find them stale and repetitive. Listening to them you get the feeling that it's almost there "because a modern rock song HAS to have a guitar solo."

To me, that's not a valid argument. My favorite solos on guitar, for example, are usually the ones that convey a strong feeling and add to the music, and don't just fill a "shredding spot" in the middle of a song. And for bass, well, I think that a tasteful solo is very welcomed, and can add a lot to the song.

I think any musician, with any instrument, should be encouraged to express themselves and contribute to the song, by soloing if it fits the mood.

Hey, isn't expressing something through sounds what we do, as musicians ?
 
#27
lethifold said:
In general a very nice bass riff and a few cool fills are better than a stand alone bass solo (my opinion is the same for guitars and drums)
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I agree with that, it goes with my personnal preference also. I really like the fills and melodic parts Jeff Caxide do, for example. I think it really enhances the song as a whole... I just don't like the whole "There has to be this moment in the song where we show off" thing.
 
#28
werbo1 said:
I don't mind them at all, they have to be not wuite a solo though. Like not a hey look at what i can do, but a look what i can do while not showing off.

Mike Dimin is great at this, i saw him last night and it was ridiculous. Just being able to do all that looping stuff between all thos riffs
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Sam,
Thanks for the kind words. IT was great to meet you and your friends at the show. I think we'll be back in a few months.

Mike
 
#32
Personally, I love bass solos, and in a jazz (eg, 90% upright) context, I much prefer the rest of the instruments except for the drums dropping out. A little guitar or piano comping (sparse, please) but that's about it. For some REALLY great solos with very little accompaniment, check out the John Coltrane version of Summertime. An even better solo (IMO) is Ray Brown's on the Oscar Peterson Trio's Night Train. Devices left and right -- listening to these solos is like getting a masterclass in jazz bass soloing. Absolutely beautiful.

That said...in more rocky contexts, I like the rest of the instruments to keep playing. I'd love to hear a Mudvayne song with a ripping bass solo and the rest of the guys playing underneath. I can't say I've ever really listened to the Who, so I haven't heard My Generation.
 
#33
Any instrumeant can have a solo in my view, its just sometimes hard to gettogether with people who agree with you, i am in a band where everyboady apprisiates the bass and if i wonna put a solo in a song they will let me, i also am trying to do light bass solos, relaxing sow solo type things for a change.

has anybody heard coffee shop by the red hot chili peppers?, well that has a funky slappop solo in the middle of the song and a hardcor solo at the end to finish the song which last for about a minute or something, and the guitar keeps the rythem all the way behind that solo and it sounds awsome.
Also another chili pepper song is aeroplain has a good bass solo in, it isnt fast or crazy and has gaps in it and it works and suits the song perfectly, also stomp has a kool bass solo, i am mentioning a few i like just so people who say the dont like bass solo's or whatever can have a little listen to them in a song and see what they think.
 
#34
Like most of the others who have posted in this thread, I beleive that if it adds to the 'story' that the music is telling, without turning into an excuse to show off, a bass solo can be great. Just listen to 'Orion' by Metallica, Cliff Burton was a master of this. Having said that, I rarely have mid-song solos. I have some bass intros, and really short breaks though. Also I like to play 'lead bass', usually with busy bass lines. Not to the point of wankery though. Well... sometimes. ;)

Graeme :bassist:
 
#35
AZNBassist said:
. Now my guitarist's argument was that it sounds empty and boring when the bassist soloes and thats because it has a low frequency and duznt sound good compared to a guitarist or horn soloing. Well, i think the reason why bass soloes sound so empty and boring is because no one else even bothers trying to play rhythm behind the bass except for the drums. If you listen to some Return to Forever, Slam Stewart, Paul Chambers, or Stanley Clarke records, you see that when each of those guys starts soloing, the keyboard OR guitar immediately takes the bass's role and starts playing a solid rhythm, which is what most guitarists and keyboardists neglect to do, and just sit there and watch like the lazy bastards they are (just kidding :D).
Your thoughts/opinions?
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I've encountered this type of thing myself. I realize I'm still working on the whole soloing thing, but I'm finding it hard to develop while playing with guitarists who can't seem to do anything interesting unless they themselves are soloing. I realize it's not every guitar player, but do something with the rhythm! Maybe it's the people I've been jamming with, but why do guitar players seem to only want to do something interesting when they're soloing? There's a lot that can be done behind a bass player, but people seem to want to just lay out. Everyone quiets down, it's like "play something for me to interact with!" Know what's fun? Ask your guitar player to play his chords somewhere else on the neck, if he gets hung up, go show him. Then suggest some appropriate tensions to add to the top, they love that. They get a big kick out of it. :)
 
#36
NOLA Bass said:
Hell, I'm a bass player and I don't want to hear most bassists play a solo.
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I thought I was the only person that had this opinion. I totally agree. To me, it's much more impressive to see a bassist lay down an obese groove with a solid drummer than see a bassist try and make the bass look like a melodic instrument. Granted there are some bassists that do it very well, and they are usually a pleasure to listen to. But for the most part, everyone in the audience gets that "bass solo" mentality when they hear all of the other instruments drop out. Personally, I don't enjoy soloing in an ensemble at all because what makes a melody interesting to me is the way it reacts with the underlying chords. When the chords aren't there, it just sounds empty and the bassist is stuck playing a bunch of notes. Playing fills or playing through your line a few times by yourself as a short bridge section sounds great, but, even as a bassist, I lose interest in most bass solos.

Of course, there are two different types of "solos". There's the bass solo as a section of a song, and then there's songs that consist of the bass playing by itself (i.e. Portait of Tracy, U Can't Hold No Groove). The latter are actually very interesing to me because I get the "lets see what the background instrument can really do" mentality.

So I guess what I'm really trying to say is that, in a ensemble setting the bass should just hold the groove and in a truly solo setting you should go all out. But you don't have to listen to me. I'm just the bassist... :D
 
#37
Who says there must be set-in-stone roles for each musician? (Note I said musician, not guitarist, bassist, drummer, etc...)

IMO, we need to do whatever is necessary to serve the music (and audience) we're playing.

If it means playing solid quarter notes, then play the best darned quarter notes you can play. If it means laying out and only coming in during the chorus, do it. If it means absolutely tearing up the fretboard, give 110%.

I just got home from playing a Good Friday service at my church. Several songs were the usual root pounding. For one song, I didn't play at all. For another song, it was a pedal tone low D through the entire verse. For yet another, I played the melody part (6 string bass) while the guitarist picked lightly and the keyboard player held down the bottom. We all did whatever was necessary to make the music come to life and serve our congregation (or audience if you prefer a secular reference.)

Shouldn't we all be doing that?
 
#38
let me just say this, as soon as the bass stops, everyone starts complaining. do you NEED to do a solo? no. does that mean you can't do a solo? of course not :D . just keep the people on the dance floor. subconciously they're groovin to your bassline. bassically, you already have the spotight without the audience even knowing it! :)

don't forget that most tbers tend to first think of a solo as a victor wooten solo SONG. but in sinister minister vic threw in a short solo. go with it man. a short solo would be cool!!!
 
#39
I really believe that a short, melodic solo can fit in almost every song of every gerne (metal, rock, jazz, funk....). You just have to feel the rythm and the emotion of the song to play it.
The problem is if the rest of the band can support your solo... :rolleyes:

Generally, I think that the bass solo shouldn't be fast, like some guitar solos out there. It is supposed to be melodic.
 
#40
well, I think the problem with the bass solo is that, its not a question of "Can the bassist solo", its "Can the rest of the band support the bassist and keep the energy and song moving while the bassist is soloing" I think thats the real question, I know this for a fact, because I've heard trios w/ organs/keyboardists and drummers, who when the bassist soloed, kept the energy going (listen for urself, Stanley Clarke, Billy Sheehan, Marcus Miller, etc.) because the drummer and keyboardist/organist were good and smart enuf to play the rite rhythm & bassline behind the bassist to keep the song going, which the guitarists never do because theyre do damn lazy and caught up in their own spotlight to try to support the bassist.
 

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