"Demoted" to bass

[Robbo1909]

I have been playing bass ever since the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan & being left handed I had a great teacher (P McCartney).
I own a 74 Ricky 4001 & Fender Jazz & still jam when someones looking for a bplayer (hard to find guys to jam with at 59).

There have been a lot of bands I have played in over the years & some always treated bass as a secondary instrument like drums.

I have always looked at it as if I were the goaltender, pitcher or quarterback meaning I'm the guy along with the drummer to hold it all together. & wee met as many girls as the guitars & singers (go figure)

[redcoats1976]

getting ready to go down this road,a friend who is a great bass player is going to show me how its done...

[FrankJohnson]

getting ready to go down this road,a friend who is a great bass player is going to show me how its done...

Chuck or Doc are the experts!

[chuckocaster]

you are too kind FJ.

redcoats, i may have posted this earlier. but, i'll share what i do:

1. learn to lock in with the drummer, you might want to get ya a metronome. but groove is key, "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" and that's the bottom line!

2. it's important to know your scales, or at least your way around the fretboard. every not you play is crucial, it's not like guitar where you can goof off and it'll be okay. that doesn't work on bass, if you hit a wrong note, well, YOU hit a wrong note. the bass sets up the harmonic content for the other instruments.

3. work on your technique, this ties into numero uno. but you have to be solid, you are the base upon which everything else is built.

4. go and listen to some essential recordings, what you'll be playing will determine what you should listen to. but you're gonna want to learn the idioms and moves that great bass players use to fill out the song, set up a change, and the motifs they use to keep it interesting.

5. don't over think it. people want to hear the bass layin it down FAT. there are way too many bass players who think they're soloist. it's musical masturbation, and it distracts from the vocals and melodies. a counter melody here and there is cool, but you don't need to showboat.

6. tone, tone, tone. same as the above, you set it all up to make the other guys sound great. if you sound like shit, they are going to also.

all this stuff ties together, but don't think of bass as an "easy" instrument, it's far from it. it is SO hard to just lay back, chill, and groove the shit out of a song. whether you like them or not, ZZ Top and AC/DC are my two go to bands to listen to. it takes a lot of restraint to just lay it down like their rhythm sections, and because they do those bands rock so damn hard. but there are other awesome rhythm sections, bonham and jones come to mind. those guys could play it straight, or get a little out if they needed to.

just remember, you are there to set it up so the other guys can know it down. "here's the pitch, the swing, it's going, going, GONE!"

[Wilko]

All good points.

What part of the drummer's beat? follow his kick. dDo as it does for each song.

It might be dum..... dum, dum, or it might be dum, dum.....dum. ya know?

[chuckocaster]

or dum dum, dum dum dum. LOL!

[FrankJohnson]

you are too kind FJ.

redcoats, i may have posted this earlier. but, i'll share what i do:

1. learn to lock in with the drummer, you might want to get ya a metronome. but groove is key, "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" and that's the bottom line!

2. it's important to know your scales, or at least your way around the fretboard. every not you play is crucial, it's not like guitar where you can goof off and it'll be okay. that doesn't work on bass, if you hit a wrong note, well, YOU hit a wrong note. the bass sets up the harmonic content for the other instruments.

3. work on your technique, this ties into numero uno. but you have to be solid, you are the base upon which everything else is built.

4. go and listen to some essential recordings, what you'll be playing will determine what you should listen to. but you're gonna want to learn the idioms and moves that great bass players use to fill out the song, set up a change, and the motifs they use to keep it interesting.

5. don't over think it. people want to hear the bass layin it down FAT. there are way too many bass players who think they're soloist. it's musical masturbation, and it distracts from the vocals and melodies. a counter melody here and there is cool, but you don't need to showboat.

6. tone, tone, tone. same as the above, you set it all up to make the other guys sound great. if you sound like shit, they are going to also.

all this stuff ties together, but don't think of bass as an "easy" instrument, it's far from it. it is SO hard to just lay back, chill, and groove the shit out of a song. whether you like them or not, ZZ Top and AC/DC are my two go to bands to listen to. it takes a lot of restraint to just lay it down like their rhythm sections, and because they do those bands rock so damn hard. but there are other awesome rhythm sections, bonham and jones come to mind. those guys could play it straight, or get a little out if they needed to.

just remember, you are there to set it up so the other guys can know it down. "here's the pitch, the swing, it's going, going, GONE!"

WOW -

Nice job Chuck! I could not do this any justice.

My hands know more than my head does....I think they have a link directly to my heart.

I alwasy think of the bas as the rails of the train track.....the drums are the ties.........everything else rides on them. If they aren't smooth and steadym neither is the ride.

Only thing I can add that you actually did touch on......you must remain pretty steady and repetitive in the background. It seems mundane to some, but is crucial to keep the song......as the song it is. You can change up a little for variety, but need to keep it steady, solid and on time. Trying to get fancy usually means breaking that.

Or something like that anyway!

[redcoats1976]

thanks for the advice...first lesson is tomorrow.apparently i will be getting some theory which i need.since i worry about screwing up i doubt i will get too fancy.i would like to get up on stage and get through a song without screwing it up,not used to playing in front of people.but i am excited about this...

[FrankJohnson]

thanks for the advice...first lesson is tomorrow.apparently i will be getting some theory which i need.since i worry about screwing up i doubt i will get too fancy.i would like to get up on stage and get through a song without screwing it up,not used to playing in front of people.but i am excited about this...

You'll be fine. Worry about nothing. enjoy the groove. Hold down the bottom - you own it. After all - they don't call it a treble!

Seriously - develop "with" the groove.

What kind of stuff are you playing again?

BTW - I started when I was 38-39 - had tried in High school and never really followed up til then.

[redcoats1976]

british invasion music,maybe some heavier stuff.first thing will be learning my way around on it!i have been playing guitar for my dogs for years and a good friend told me i would have a better chance of playing out if i learned bass because there are fewer bass players out there...made sense to me.

[chuckocaster]

always a need for a good bass player.
if you already play guitar well then you're half way there. now you just need to wrap your head around the bass part, which like frank said is just holding down the bottom.

[redcoats1976]

had a pretty good first lesson,now i have a picture with the fretboard on it and names of all the notes to learn.spent about 3 hours trying to play some songs and get this... my teacher lent me a precision bass and a small amp to practice through.if i cant learn this it sure wont be his fault...i never really learned the theory with guitar but want to catch all of it i can on bass as i think i cheated myself not learning it on guitar.

[chuckocaster]

you'll be able to do it man, it's really not that hard. i picture the neck in patterns, if that makes sense. there are "moves" into and out of root notes, and there are also arpeggios. if your buddy can show you these, and take the time to really show you how they lay out on the fretboard you'll be golden. i did the whole music school thing, and i'm so glad that i was self taught before i went. that allowed me to take what i was being taught, filter it through the way i think of things, and make sense of it all. all the theory in the world doesn't mean anything if you can't apply it. and on the other end of the spectrum there are the dudes who can't tell you what note they are playing, but will play circles around some guy with a music degree. music is all about feeling, and playing from the heart. sure i can tell you all the notes on the board, but i had a couple great teachers who told me "learn all this, and then forget it!" meaning, know what you're doing, but don't over think it, it's supposed to be fun after all.

hope your lessons go well!

[redcoats1976]

so far i have learned a couple of patterns and walk-ups.i will practice these till i can do them well and learn the notes then see about another lesson.

[FrankJohnson]

I have trouble taking what I see in a book, and applying it to real playing. I have trouble learning when someone shows me, and says here....play this. I get the concept, but on the spot, sometimes, it isn't clicking. its the "later factor" for me. learn pieces....see the interval (I have trouble hearing some intervals) and apply it, learn the feal, and add it to the toolbox.

That being said - My hands and heart know more than my head does. Manytimes, in a live setting, where it is a new feel, new song, sit in, whatever.....My hands take over and I can't stop to think about it. If I do - I stumble and fall.

Patterns = Good
Muscle memory = good
Feel = Good
Ear training = good
sense of time = good

these and so many more are valuable. If you have them, book smarts aren't always as imortant but man.....I wish I had at least "some" theory. Take advantage of this.

Also - waht Chuck said is way cool about filtering the info and translating it to your mind set and way of processing it.

[Charles Obscure]

I've been playing guitar for 30 years and started picking up on bass a couple years ago, for a change of pace. I often lurk in threads like this in order to pick up valuable tips. Much of what chuckocaster says is similar to what I've read elsewhere. Good advice for newbs like myself to know where to focus my valuable practice time.
I'm self-taught on guitar, and as a result I don't have a strong music theory background. I can't read music either.
One of my goals with bass playing is to use the concept of "starting over" as an incentive to learn what I've been missing all these years. One immediately noticeable change since I picked up bass, is that my fretting hand strength has improved considerably, which has also improved my guitar playing.
I think I need to take lessons, as it's often difficult for me to gauge my progress without some kind of plan. Self-teaching has made me a mediocre guitar player. It would be refreshing to take bass playing to a higher level. I'll be 49 this year, and I think this old hound dog can still learn a few new tricks.

[juniorspecial]

I figure if you have a keyboard player, who needs a bass player?

lol

[FrankJohnson]

I figure if you have a keyboard player, who needs a bass player?

lol

Why I oughtta....!!!!!

[pseudocat]

I figure if you have a keyboard player, who needs a bass player?

lol

Every time the Seinfeld theme airs, God kills a kitten.

[pseudocat]

I've been playing guitar for 30 years and started picking up on bass a couple years ago, for a change of pace. I often lurk in threads like this in order to pick up valuable tips. Much of what chuckocaster says is similar to what I've read elsewhere. Good advice for newbs like myself to know where to focus my valuable practice time.
I'm self-taught on guitar, and as a result I don't have a strong music theory background. I can't read music either.
One of my goals with bass playing is to use the concept of "starting over" as an incentive to learn what I've been missing all these years. One immediately noticeable change since I picked up bass, is that my fretting hand strength has improved considerably, which has also improved my guitar playing.
I think I need to take lessons, as it's often difficult for me to gauge my progress without some kind of plan. Self-teaching has made me a mediocre guitar player. It would be refreshing to take bass playing to a higher level. I'll be 49 this year, and I think this old hound dog can still learn a few new tricks.

I went through something similar a while back (30+ yrs on guitar, etc.), and now I would much rather play bass. For me, providing a strong groove or pulse, and locking in with a drummer, are pure heaven.

[refin]

I went through something similar a while back (30+ yrs on guitar, etc.), and now I would much rather play bass. For me, providing a strong groove or pulse, and locking in with a drummer, are pure heaven.

I love playing bass.........in fact,just put up an ad on the local CL to see if anyone needs a bassist.

[Charles Obscure]

...For me, providing a strong groove or pulse, and locking in with a drummer, are pure heaven.

Amen!