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Post by doughervey on Jan 19, 2015 16:31:24 GMT -5
So I'm basically asking: what do people look for in a bassist or bass line when determining how they feel about the work or skill level? Is it about who can slap and tickle the funkiest lick, or who can slide, ever so elegantly, into the rhythm and seem almost ghost-like, or even anything in between? I'm curious to see what preferences are for the rhythm section, any thoughts?
- Doug
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Post by scottkahn on Jan 19, 2015 16:41:13 GMT -5
Great question. The question for me is... does the bass line tell a story, does it support the song? Or does it simply fill in some missing low frequencies? The great bands historically have bassists whose bass lines tell stories within songs. Listen to John Paul Jones or John Entwisle if you're inspired by classic rock. Those guys had grooves that didn't mirror the guitar lines. If you look at pop, Duran Duran's John Taylor or Level 42's Mark King wrote bass lines that were every bit as involved as a serious guitar player's creative work. Listen to bass lines from Sting in the Police, or Geddy Lee in Rush, and again, you've got bass lines that lock with the band when they need to and they create their own melodic structures when they don't have to hold the bottom.
It's not about how many notes are played, or in which style. Some of those guys popped and slapped, some plucked, some used picks. Each approach yields a different result.
What bass should not do is simply plod along as nothing more than the root below the guitar. That short-changes the song. Bass is critical to the emotional impact of a song. Does it move you? Make you want to dance, or make you want to pump your fists in the air? It should of course lock time-wise with the drummer. A ghost-like approach makes no sense for bass, though, to me. That's like a beginning bassist afraid to take chances. Playing bad/basic/beginner bass is easy. Playing GOOD bass is much harder.
Scott
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Post by doughervey on Jan 19, 2015 17:00:17 GMT -5
Great input and suggestions, and I agree completely! I like to think that the bass lines that tell stories define the more influential players as such. I've always loved listening JPJ and Entwisle, and it was actually JPJ that really sparked my interest and passion for the bass. Then of course the players like Geddy Lee and Sting, though varying in styles, display indisputable creativity in their playing. This, for me, makes the band stand out far more than others by making a collaborative creative effort to produce a sound that tickles the ears as well as the minds of listeners in more than just one aspect. These are all players that were the opposite of ghost-like, which I agree, hinders the credibility of that bassists creativity and effort. I like my bass lines to have a groove that moves me effortlessly, even if I don't want to move, and that express an emotion or a story, as you stated. It's those players that blaze trails for professional, as well as aspiring musicians. Great thoughts, thanks, Scott!
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