Strumming a bass?

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Unsprung

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Okay, what possibilities are there, to strumming a bass like a regular guitar...other than what I discovered, last night, while just playing around? I THINK I might be able to get away with the "drum kit" sound I got, for a few songs. Between the bass, and Fat Tele with PODs, I may be able to get some decent "drum" tracks, albeit with 2 tracks.
 
I was going to say... if you play a bass that has good high-end and you play more experimental music i.e. TOOL, then strumming can work. But usually it's playing chord shapes in the upper "tessatura" of the bass.
 
more than two notes gets blurry easiliy on a bass... like PFD says in the upper range it's possible (I love the sixstring for that).


there's something called 'low interval limits' (LIL).
Though I don't know the exact numbers for this, it's a list of intervals and the lowest you can play them while not getting mud.

For seconds it's round the central C on a piano, fourths and thirds go lower, fifths and octaves lowest.

Try playing an 'open E' chord on a bass (E-B-E-G#)... yikes..

LIL is important when writing arrangements. You even have to take the LIL into account when playing inversions of chords - you'd always have to take the root as lowest note of the chord and compare root with second note.

(Damn, did I actually payed attention in arranging class ??)


Can't follow the 'drum kit bass strumming sound'-thing though.


Herweedig
 
you can play chords on a bass, i do that quite often. but they have to be up on the weee little strings, and arent that practicle, cuase it sounds cooler just to play a bass note of the chord.


that whole LIL thing is true. you cant go messin with way to many low notes at a time cuase its too much for the guitar and amp and ears.

so play around with the wee little strings. i like playing the a string open and play around with the 2, 3, 5 frets on the g string, it sounds cool when you play around with it...


freak
 
things that sound great on a bass are tenths: an octave plus a third. (not a turd ;) )

play for example low E and G# (first fret on Gstring). this is a major tenth. low E and Gnatural is a minor 10th.
Or try the high G and G# (12-13th frets)

Same with open A and C# (6th on G, 11th on D) or C
...and open D and F (11th on G)

Basic rule is: fret a note on the E string (eg. 3rd fret) and fret that note on you G string (3rd fret). This'll give you a minor 10th.
fretting root and same + 1 fret on the G string will give you a major 10th.

Nice little harmony-basstechnique lesson here, but should be the departure of many lovely new songs :cool: :cool:

check out the watermelon man by Herbie Hancock on the headhunters album. Great bass intro with 10ths. Same with a lot of Stanley Clarke stuff.

Know your octaves, 10ths and minor pentatonic nand you'll rule the world.


Herwig
 
The whole time I was experimeting, I kept the E string damped with my thumb, just concentrating on what I could coax out of the A, D & G strings. Once I have a chance, I'll record a few of these experiments, and see what I can build around it, on guitars. Otherwise, I'll work on increasing my speed, with finger picking and left hand work.
 
Will add a few other possibilities of playing chords on a bass:

Classic way to play maj7, min7 and dom7 chords on a bass is:

Over 3 strings: play root, 3rd and 7th of chord. Eg. C (15th fret on A) - E (14th on D) - B (16th on G) will give you a maj7 chord.

Change the B to a Bb (15th) and you'll have a dominant7 chord.

Now change the E in the dom7 chord to an Eb (13th) and you have instant Cmin7.

Over 4 strings: root, 7th and 3rd. Eg. E (12th on E) - D (12th on D) and G# (13th on G) will give you an E7 chord.

So playing a jazz II-V-I in the key of C is:
Dm7 (3string method: D-F-C or 17th on A - 15th on D - 17th on G)
G7 (4string method: G-F-B or 15th on E - 15th on D - 16th on G)
Cmaj7 (3 string method: C-E-B or 15th on A - 14th on D - 16th on G)

See how your 3rd and 7ths practically don't move at all... welcome to the wonderfull world of voice leading ;)

Other interesting chords: dim7: actually a dom7 of the chord a half tone down. Eg.: Fdim7 you play E7 but move the root a half step up, giving you: 4string method: F-D-G# (13th/E - 12th/D - 13th/G)

If your hands are big enough you could go trying 4-tone chords and implement tensions (9ths, 13ths, #11s).... scary stuff, and I've just started to get it...

practice, practice, practice... I think it's so important for a bass player to know how harmony works and sounds like. I'm no piano player so I learned myself to play some harmony on the bass which helped me a whole lot!

Hope anyone appreciates this.


Herwig
 
That show was one of the reason I started playing. Hate to admit it, but I still like some of those songs. Of course I would never admit it if I had to post my real name....hehe.
 
A good trick is to do 2 bass tracks if you are using the higher octave notes and still need the bottom end ones.....
 
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