Tips For A Guitarist Who Has A Bass Gig Coming Up

[fretmeister]

Learn some simple walking patterns.

Try "Walking Home with Brother Bill" and "Bandstand Boogie"

Bass doesn't need to be simple to work, but it must serve the tune. 'The Real Me' is not a simple line. Most big band stuff / Rockerbilly etc is not simple but it powers the tune and gives it a pulse.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Be loud enough: many guitarists doing their first tentative bass gigs turn down to try and cover any ... er ... 'green' notes. The thing is if you turn down too much you can't hear yourself well enough or give the 'groove' to anyone else to feed off of. Play it on the beat, low down ... and mean it!

[paultheoneyoulove]

There is one time it becomes very much acceptable to move up the dusty end - if the guitar has a very simple chord thing going on (think jangly stuff) or even just a very simple melody, the bass can play more chordal things. I've just written something that works on this principle, but it took forever to get note choice right - it really sticks out when it's wrong, unlike guitar.

However, it's not easy (bass guitars are big) and it needs to fit the song. 'Hard to Concentrate' by the RHCP is an acoustic bass doing this. Just remember, you're not Flea.

[RocknRollDave]

Be loud enough: many guitarists doing their first tentative bass gigs turn down to try and cover any ... er ... 'green' notes. The thing is if you turn down too much you can't hear yourself well enough or give the 'groove' to anyone else to feed off of. Play it on the beat, low down ... and mean it!

Good thoughts..Will definitely bear this in mind, cheers!

There is one time it becomes very much acceptable to move up the dusty end - if the guitar has a very simple chord thing going on (think jangly stuff) or even just a very simple melody, the bass can play more chordal things. I've just written something that works on this principle, but it took forever to get note choice right - it really sticks out when it's wrong, unlike guitar.

However, it's not easy (bass guitars are big) and it needs to fit the song. 'Hard to Concentrate' by the RHCP is an acoustic bass doing this. Just remember, you're not Flea.

Interesting thoughts - I shall bear that in mind. In most cases it will probably be a case of playing unfussy, root-note stuff to fill out the bottom end, but there may well be moments where I need to head up the dusty end.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Good thoughts..Will definitely bear this in mind, cheers!



Interesting thoughts - I shall bear that in mind. In most cases it will probably be a case of playing unfussy, root-note stuff to fill out the bottom end, but there may well be moments where I need to head up the dusty end.

The first time I ever played bass live ... I was in a two guitarist band and the bass player had a car accident on the way to the gig (he was fine, his car wasn't) so we borrowed a bass from the support band and the other guitarist and I played Scissors Paper Stone as to who was going to play it! I lost, and though I'd only ever mucked about on a bass before in rehearsals etc, I did an hour plus of gig not really knowing what the f--k I was doing! Talk about learning curve!
The plus point was I was offered a regular (and well paying) bass gig by a guy who was in the audience ... and spent three years on bass after that! I attribute my 'relaxed' playing style that he seemed to like to the massive quantity of Scotch I'd downed to work up the courage to go on. I never forget being handed the Hohner headless bass we borrowed and thinking it wasn't big enough to hide behind!

[littlethoughts]

A lot of your expression comes from playing the same notes in different ways with syncopation, sustain etc. varying attack will keep a riff more fresh than wandering off up the neck!

[Dulcetjones]

All good advice here. My biggest problem when I got into bass was trying to jump in right off without using a pick. Having lots of classical/fingerstyle experience I thought this would be a snap but my first two fingers got worn down to flaming stubs half way through the first live set, luckily I had a couple of picks on me, one fairly heavy one, so I pulled that out and used it for the rest of the gig. I found I was able to get better tone with it than my fingers at that point. After a few years of owning and playing a bass more my fingers got better at it though.