I got a bass

gecko zzed said:
Quite so. If the notes belong there, well then they belong there, and that's all there is to it. But often notes are played just because they can be played, and not because they form a specific musical part of the piece. That's like a drummer doing a fill every four bars . . . it's usually unnecessary. In the interests of avoiding this, I advocate a minimalist approach to start with.
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Being a shitty guitar player myself, but I hope a decent bass player and drummer, I would agree that less is more in building the bass line for a song.

A bass player typically needs to combine the melody of the song (guitars/vocals/whatever) and still hold the drive of the song with the drums.

The basic idea is to keep the pulse of the song. But then add what works to give movement. Oh shit, I just had a movement. lol

Every song has it's own set of needs. Every genre of music has a completely different approach. Start with just holding down the beat as if you were a drummer with a stringed instrument. Then embellish where needed.

Most times I hear a guitar player try to play a bass line, it is just the same riff on a bass guitar... Listen to the drums and play with that alone first.


Find the groove. Just don't try to be too 'groovy'. :)
 
Greg_L said:
Dumb ^^^^
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I agree. I am mostly a finger player for 26 years, but that does not work on everything. Actually lately, picked bass has been more appropriate for the songs I am tracking.

We are not trying to breed a new bass player. No need to bias with fingers alone.

The finger technique does not make a bass player. His execution and use of notes do. Clanky finger picking does not work for every track. The song determines what is appropriate.
 
It's funny how finger players are so fucking snobby about finger playing. You never hear that kind of elitist dumbfuckery from pick users or slappers and poppers.
 
Greg_L said:
It's funny how finger players are so fucking snobby about finger playing. You never hear that kind of elitist dumbfuckery from pick users or slappers and poppers.
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Nope. We don't.

I suppose it stems from hearing bass players that are just not getting it. Finger playing is definitely a different style, but I never saw a great bass player who could not play great lines with either pick or pluck. To limit is to be stupid IMO.

Finger picking just does not fit every track. In fact it can be completely wrong...
 
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I find playing bass with my fingers to be much more difficult than with a pick. I've done it, and it sounded ok, just a little mushy and lacking in definition.

I started on guitar and only much later took up the bass, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Playing bass is really fun though. There's a lot of power there to either anchor the song, or completely throw things off. I've tried to simplify the parts I play so that I can really nail them. It seems like the bass is less forgiving of flubs and imperfections than the guitar. I have to really pay close attention to exactly how long I hold each note and whether I slide into a note or whatever. Any small fuck up can really derail a track. I probably should look at guitar the same way, but I don't. It just seems like you can be looser there and get away with it. Guess it depends on the track.

Anyway, congratulations on the new bass man. Enjoy!
 
I play bass with a pick, mainly cos I am a guitarist first I suppose. Suits me fine though but then I play a lot of punk
 
When I 1st bought a bass in 1974,(Coronet EB copy short scale AUS$70 on layby), and took the 3 free lessons that came with it. The teacher discussed fingers and picks with me but didn't push me either way. As a jobbing bassist he used a plectrum because he felt it allowed him to play faster. I saw him play a gig and noted that he was a little more audible & clear than some finger players I'd seen/heard. I basically stuck with pick from then but have made sure I can still play with fingers, thumb & thumb pick for when the occasion arises. I can't slap/pluck to save my life.
 
gecko zzed said:
But often notes are played just because they can be played, and not because they form a specific musical part of the piece.
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Hm. Can you give a couple examples? I'm not saying I haven't heard things I think of as exemplifying that, but I'm interested in how you and others distinguish the difference.


gecko zzed said:
That's like a drummer doing a fill every four bars . . . it's usually unnecessary.
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Ha! To each his own, I'll take Keith Moon over Charlie Watts any day. And their bass equivalents.
 
fat_fleet said:
Hm. Can you give a couple examples? I'm not saying I haven't heard things I think of as exemplifying that, but I'm interested in how you and others distinguish the difference.
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I can give examples, but you need to give me time to find one. You tend not to hear overplaying on commercial recordings. You would more likely find it in, say, the MP3 clinic, but I won't be wading through that.

You distinguish it in the same way that, when someone speaks, you can distinguish between words that add to a conversation, and words (or noises) that don't, like "er, um, you know" etc.

fat_fleet said:
Ha! To each his own, I'll take Keith Moon over Charlie Watts any day. And their bass equivalents.
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To each his own indeed. My leaning is, unsurprisingly, to Charlie Watts. But, I don't mind Moon-like exuberant playing if it makes musical sense.
 
gecko zzed said:
I can give examples, but you need to give me time to find one. You tend not to hear overplaying on commercial recordings. You would more likely find it in, say, the MP3 clinic, but I won't be wading through that.
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The reason I asked is I suspected your example would be something by another amateur musician.. One tends to accept pretty much any excess from an artist who is "successful" in the way we think of success (eg money, fame). For example the drum/bass breakdown in My Generation...that trainwreck Ringo drum solo in The End- all totally unnecessary, and sloppy, but who's gonna criticize the old masters and their "bravery"?
 
gecko zzed said:
To each his own indeed. My leaning is, unsurprisingly, to Charlie Watts. But, I don't mind Moon-like exuberant playing if it makes musical sense.
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The only place I don't really like flamboyant playing is in metal guitar.. tapping, sweep picking, stuff like that. Also not crazy about pop/slap bass.. but I don't think it"s the overplaying angle.. in those cases I guess I dislike the genre/style affectations.
 
fat_fleet said:
The reason I asked is I suspected your example would be something by another amateur musician.. One tends to accept pretty much any excess from an artist who is "successful" in the way we think of success (eg money, fame). For example the drum/bass breakdown in My Generation...that trainwreck Ringo drum solo in The End- all totally unnecessary, and sloppy, but who's gonna criticize the old masters and their "bravery"?
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fat_fleet said:
The reason I asked is I suspected your example would be something by another amateur musician.. One tends to accept pretty much any excess from an artist who is "successful" in the way we think of success (eg money, fame). For example the drum/bass breakdown in My Generation...that trainwreck Ringo drum solo in The End- all totally unnecessary, and sloppy, but who's gonna criticize the old masters and their "bravery"?
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I expect we're not talking about exactly the same thing. The Who and Ringo examples seem more to be cases of 'musical wankery", which I can take ot leave. I don't mind the occasional self-indulgent burst of excess.

I'm referring more to musicians who don't realise they are playing stuff they sholdn't (or at best, need to); i.e. musical incompetence, rather than virtuosity. They don't appreciate when enough is enough.

Here is an illustration. I had a friend who was a great jazz pianist: dextrous, fluid and tasteful. His forte was playing solo. But when he played in a band, he didn't quite get that drums, bass and guitar were all doing stuff that he was accusomed to emulating through his playing when solo. He brought his solo style into the ensemble, and consequently things often got very messy.

Learing to hear what is needed for a song is important, and it's such a temptation, once you have an instrument in your hand, to keep playing, just because you can.
 
gecko zzed said:
I expect we're not talking about exactly the same thing. The Who and Ringo examples seem more to be cases of 'musical wankery", which I can take ot leave. I don't mind the occasional self-indulgent burst of excess.

I'm referring more to musicians who don't realise they are playing stuff they sholdn't (or at best, need to); i.e. musical incompetence, rather than virtuosity. They don't appreciate when enough is enough.

Here is an illustration. I had a friend who was a great jazz pianist: dextrous, fluid and tasteful. His forte was playing solo. But when he played in a band, he didn't quite get that drums, bass and guitar were all doing stuff that he was accusomed to emulating through his playing when solo. He brought his solo style into the ensemble, and consequently things often got very messy.

Learing to hear what is needed for a song is important, and it's such a temptation, once you have an instrument in your hand, to keep playing, just because you can.
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You know, I was talking about what you were talking about at first, but see that I kinda gave lousy examples.. But I do know someone like your piano guy, also great player with jazz leanings, but he just rips solos over everything. I have a tough time playing with the guy and sometimes suspect my biases, but also wonder if that shred-over-everything mentality's a thing with "jazz guys", because they're used to the shit show free-for-all... but I still think ultimately it's which notes and not how many. In any given situation it should be possible to play something that fits gorgeously and adds to the piece, and if you play something that doesn't, you're playing the wrong notes. I grew up in a strict household.
 
fat_fleet said:
Nice! :D
Always wanted a Jazz bass but never owned one.. but I've lucked out with mim Fenders in general. Some nice ones out there!
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Jazz bass does not equate to jazz hands. :)


Replace of the pups would be my only suggestion. But that is just my personal opinion.
 
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