'pocket' bass technique??!!??

mshea

mshea

New member
Greetings. I have been told i play excellent 'pocket' bass. What the HELL does that mean? And with that said and done, does anyone have any suggestions on some quick fast and in a hurry 'pocket' bass improvement books, tapes, CDs or downloads for me to practice with. I have an audition coming and am trying not to reinvent the wheel.
 
mshea said:
Greetings. I have been told i play excellent 'pocket' bass. What the HELL does that mean?
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Greetings. Whoever told you that was giving you a compliment. They meant that you are playing "in the pocket," i.e. that you are rhythmically "tight."

mshea said:
And with that said and done, does anyone have any suggestions on some quick fast and in a hurry 'pocket' bass improvement books, tapes, CDs or downloads for me to practice with. I have an audition coming and am trying not to reinvent the wheel.
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Well, I don't have a lot of recommendations for technique books, but if you want to keep your playing "in the pocket," then I would recommend practicing with a metronome. Also, do lots of jamming to stuff with really tight, funky rhythm sections. The Neville Brothers' "Live on Planet Earth" is a favorite of mine. That's GOT to be the tightest, funkiest band on the planet.
 
mshea said:
does anyone have any suggestions on some quick fast and in a hurry 'pocket' bass improvement books, tapes, CDs or downloads for me to practice with. I have an audition coming and am trying not to reinvent the wheel.
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There's the "Fast & Danger Book of Pocket Bass" by Willie Willis. ;)
 
I'd say just keep doing what you're doing.

You're obviously doing it right. If you try to stop and analyze it, sometimes you can't get it back. You don't think about riding a bike, you just do it.

Also, Bassman Brad, FWIW, the funkiest, tightest, baddest band on the planet is TOWER OF POWER.

So there. :p
 
Funky stuff

I suppose that there will be different opinions about who is the funkiest band on the planet. ToP is a fine choice. (I have a feeling that Parliment/Funkadelic would get quite a few votes in such a poll, too.) Personally, the Nevilles will always get my vote. However, I still say that the best way to keep your playing "in the pocket" is lots of practice on funk songs. Remember the Prime Directive of mastering the art of the bass: "Jazz is the Teacher; Funk is the Preacher." In other words, you study jazz to learn the theory stuff, and you study funk to learn to groove. Put these two things together and you can play ANYTHING. You have the "total package" as a bass player.

Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep playin' and remember to KEEP IT FUN-KAY!
 
I'd say that I progressed farther and faster by locking myself in my room for days on end learning old Duran Duran bass lines. I am dead serious! Listen to the bass part on 'Girls On Film', then tell me I'm full of shit. I am a huge fan of funk, but the bass lines in alot of old funk tunes are written simple, but in the pocket and locked on the kick drum.

The funkiest song ever written, IMHO, is Stevie Wonder's 'Superstitious'. Listen to the bass and drums on that song, it's all about the groove. The swing is in the Clavi part. A ton of WAR stuff, too.
 
Listen to some Roots basslines. There's nothing more in the pocket than those lines. HUB is the man.
 
Halion said:
Listen to some Roots basslines. There's nothing more in the pocket than those lines. HUB is the man.
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+1

Hub's playing is the modern definition of playing in the pocket. Playing in the pocket is not clearly defined, except that it doesn't involve playing flashy parts that verge on being (or are) solos. Playing in the pocket means keeping the time, the rhythm, and the rest of the band steady and together. Anyone can easily do this by playing consistent root notes, but a good pocket player will do all of those things while being interesting and worth listening to.

Being called a good pocket player is one of the highest compliments you can receive as a bass player.
 
Reggae is an interesting contrast, because the bass wanders all over the place. The guitar is more pockety than the bass. The lesson is that playing in the pocket means getting out quickly just as much as hitting the beat.

Read this article, this a not only a good read but also a good illustration of the dangers of jargon:

http://www.paulwertico.com/articles/fillingthepocket.php

Many drummers play a great pocket until they get into a longer fill. Then the feel seems to change until they go back to the groove again . . . To my way of thinking, a fill should be thought of as part of the groove. You may be playing more notes, or hitting different drums, but you should still feel the pocket inside your fills. This way you won't interrupt your time flow.
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So he defines "pocket" as playing on the established "groove", which is behind the beat on the 2 & 4, or the "backbeats". Note that funk usually isn't "backbeat", which means the 2 & 4 are accented; funk tends to have a big fat 1. So you have a frontbeat with a backbeat groove--and if you stay on THAT, that's in the pocket.

By deviating from that groove rhythm during a fill to be on the click, now you're out of the pocket :D

Yeah, it's best not to talk about this stuff :confused:
 
AH HA! I feel better now

That was great! I taught myself how to play bass by learning (please don't laugh at me) every Lenny Kravitz song i could get my hands on followed by James Brown...James Brown...James Brown and more James Brown. I found the basslines to be so repetitive that if i didn't pick it up by ear the first time around, by the end of the song i'd get it.

I am completely unable to play that fancy schmancy stuff i dream of in my head, my fingers are pretty retarded, but I have a chance to audition for a band looking for a female bass player and don't want to make a fool out of myself. I also picked up some Bass TAB for certain songs i liked. I will definitely check out the funk artists and try to play along, seems like the one thing you all agreed on was to play along with stuff and the majority of peoples suggestions were funky. Here goes nothing. :D
 
if you stay with the kick drum you are doing good....get away from the kick and it sounds like a cat fight..............bass players lead the band, the drums follow, the singer stays on time and the guitars are pretty much the parsley on the side of the plate!!!!
 
James Brown, HELL YES!

mshea said:
That was great! I taught myself how to play bass by learning (please don't laugh at me) every Lenny Kravitz song i could get my hands on followed by James Brown...James Brown...James Brown and more James Brown. I found the basslines to be so repetitive that if i didn't pick it up by ear the first time around, by the end of the song i'd get it.
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AHA!!! You studied at the School of James Brown. That explains a LOT! ;)
Nothing wrong with learning Lenny Kravitz songs. You should learn whatever kind of music floats your boat. Nobody should ever laugh at you for that. Still, I strongly suspect that it was that time you spent learning "James Brown...James Brown...James Brown and more James Brown" that made you into a solid "pocket bass player." And as others have already pointed out, it's obviously working for you -- so keep it up!!! :)

mshea said:
I am completely unable to play that fancy schmancy stuff i dream of in my head, my fingers are pretty retarded, but I have a chance to audition for a band looking for a female bass player and don't want to make a fool out of myself.
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Man, don't even worry about all that flashy bullshit. That's not what gets you gigs and pays the bills. Over the years, I've taken a lot of gigs away from other bassists who had a lot of technical proficiency, but thought that every song was just one long bass solo. (In truth, some of 'em were actually better bass players than I was at the time.) You will go much, much farther by simply keeping a tight groove. Now that I've been playing for close to three decades, I've got plenty of "flashy stuff" to toss out there when needed. But that's only for solos. The rest of the time, I just focus on keeping it tight and in the pocket. And THAT is what bands really care about when they are looking for a bass player. As long as you respect the groove and always keep it in the pocket, you'll always have all the work you could possibly want as a bass player.
 
I agree with what alot of the posts are saying... I have been playing way longer then i care to mention... but I can give you what i know. If you can groove and have a connection with the drummer you will always get work. Its the players that do not know how to listen that always suck. If you play tight with the drummer and listen for dynamics etc... your playing will always be on. I will not play with musicians that can not listen..... makes too much sense but you would not belive the amount of players that only hear themselves.. not only do they play out of time..... they sound horrible musicaly also.

Good Luck!

Let us know how you do...

sLY
 
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