Sarah5string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 .. how the hell I'm supposed to 'not follow the guitar'? I've been working with riffs sent over from my guitarist and apparently everything is following the guitar.. no matter how different I try to make it???? Surely the whole point of bass is to hold down the root note (with added flair and pizazz ).... it's doing my head in and really frustrating me as it's making me feel like a sh*t bassist!!! Grrrrrr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 play a different song... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Sarah5string' post='268886' date='Aug 24 2008, 02:36 PM'].. how the hell I'm supposed to 'not follow the guitar'? I've been working with riffs sent over from my guitarist and apparently everything is following the guitar.. no matter how different I try to make it???? Surely the whole point of bass is to hold down the root note (with added flair and pizazz ).... it's doing my head in and really frustrating me as it's making me feel like a sh*t bassist!!! Grrrrrr![/quote] Don't worry about what you are or what you aren't supposed to do, there is no right or wrong, that only exists in some peoples narrow minds. Bass is a wonderous and majestic instrument, and if you want your part to follow the guitar then feel free, and if the guitarist wants you to then what more of an excuse do you need ?. I don't have a guitarist or keyboard player in my one band, it's just me, a sax player and a drummer, so I can do whatever I like, which is nice. We play jazz stuff, and I'm free to play chords, bass and solo. Edited August 24, 2008 by 6stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='6stringbassist' post='268889' date='Aug 24 2008, 02:43 PM']if you want your part to follow the guitar then feel free, and if the guitarist wants you to then what more of an excuse do you need ?.[/quote] From what I can gather I think she is being told that the basslines she's coming up are 'just following the guitar' and the band are after something different. Try putting your bass down and listen to the guitar riff and imagine in your head how the bassline would go and hum it to yourself [u]then[/u] pick up your bass and try and play it. A lot of top bands have syncopated guitar and bass runs. Audioslave springs to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) play the riff or line in the same key but on a different part of the neck for example if you need to play an open E try replacing it with the twelth fret on the E string or the 7th on the A string... all 3 are E but sound different... i rarely play the open E now un-less the song requires it play around get to know the neck and play the riff in a completely different way to the guitarist... just have some fun with it... Edited August 24, 2008 by teen t-shirt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Try taking the guitar riff and then replacing some of the root notes with octaves and fifths (up one string and two frets or down one string same fret) to build a more melodic bassline that moves around that riff. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='teen t-shirt' post='268907' date='Aug 24 2008, 03:26 PM']play the riff or line in the same key but on a different part of the neck for example if you need to play an open E try replacing it with the twelth fret on the E string or the 7th on the A string... all 3 are E but sound different... i rarely play the open E now un-less the song requires it play around get to know the neck and play the riff in a completely different way to the guitarist... just have some fun with it... [/quote] I do that already though, I rarely play just root notes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 You seem to be getting an awful lot of 'guidance' from the band/guitarist... my response to them by now would be close to being expressed in 2 short words If you have more patience than me and you are going to co-operate then you could consider playing basslines that descent in the key you are playing in whilst the guitar riff/line ascends (or vice-versa). I really have no idea of the level of your skill/competence so I'll shut up and see if that makes sense to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbass Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Throw in a 5th, or an octave here and there, the odd slap and pop, run down a scale, or run up one, throw in a slide here and there, see what works what doesnt, if the guitarist is playing up high, you play down low and vice versa, I think it sounds quite good where the bass and guitar double up in certain parts of the song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) Visceral root-ists of the world unite! Is this some sort of horrid stinky fusion jazz rock with surly little augmented chords - usually a sign the band's about to break up. 1) If it's in 4/4, only play on the 1 and the 3, rather than the usual 2 and 4, but let the note ring across the evens... 2) Play either half as many (or twice as many notes) as you were playing before 3) Wait till rehearsal when, using your fretting hand only, pedal one hideously clashing note all the way through, while pointedly reading a very long classic novel such as Don Quixote. Then nut him. Edited August 24, 2008 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='skankdelvar' post='268949' date='Aug 24 2008, 04:55 PM']Visceral root-ists of the world unite! Is this some sort of horrid stinky fusion jazz rock with surly little augmented chords - usually a sign the band's about to break up. 1) If it's in 4/4, only play on the 1 and the 3, rather than the usual 2 and 4, but let the note ring across the evens... 2) Play either half as many (or twice as many notes) as you were playing before 3) Wait till rehearsal when, using your fretting hand only, pedal one hideously clashing note all the way through, while pointedly reading a very long classic novel such as Don Quixote. Then nut him.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
small_lump_of_green_putty Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 3 min bass solo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebeat Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='skankdelvar' post='268949' date='Aug 24 2008, 04:55 PM']3) Wait till rehearsal when, using your fretting hand only, pedal one hideously clashing note all the way through, while pointedly reading a very long classic novel such as Don Quixote. Then nut him.[/quote] This is the best piece of music related advice that i've ever read....though may i suggest something by Emile Zola instead of Cervantes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 One Drop, mon - try the old Reggae trick of not playing on the One. The occasional minor or major 6th (8 or 9 semitones above the root, depending on the key) can liven things up a little, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Alternatively turn it on its head and ask the guitarist(s) to come up with a different guitar part to go with 'your' bassline (even if the riff/lick came first and constitutes the whole song) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 An interesting experiment would be to post the recording of the guitar riff on here and see what everyone else would put to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbloke Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 As a bass player, chord inversions and contrary motion are two of your greatest friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 All the above advice is great, including kicking the guitards in the nuts if they contribute too much 'advice'. Listen to Steve Harris for great examples of when to double the guitar riff, when to pound the root notes, and when to play something completely different. In a song like Wrathchild, even when on the root notes he leads into the root note [D to E on the A string] then the plays open E - it's a simple trick but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Write out the notation for his gtr line. Then ask him to play it. You wont here a peep out of him all night. Best way to keep a guitarist quite , Is make him sight read! Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3V17C Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='bassman2790' post='269075' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:14 PM']An interesting experiment would be to post the recording of the guitar riff on here and see what everyone else would put to it. [/quote] sounds like a plan i reckon...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markytbass Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Guitarists are a funny breed, some of them expect other band members to be mind readres. Have you asked them what exactly it is they want? Oddly enough the guitarist /singer in the band I'm in came out with something similar a few weeks ago. It was directed at me and the drummer, we asked him what we were doing wrong to which he answered "I don't know" hence we got nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 If this fails... "kick him in the nurts!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) quit playing in a rock/goth band.meeeeowwww Edited August 24, 2008 by YouMa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARGH Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thing is in Metal,you are literally CHAINED to the 'holy' riff,you wander from it too far and the 'Heavy' just goes,and its a damn hard thing to just wander off,in metal,and STILL have the 'Heavy'. If you are in a 1 guitar band it makes it more than doubley hard,because guitarists love easy structure to play along with,f*** with it too much and they tend to shrink and get stroppy..... Sarah,best advice I can give you,is listen to the 1st 4 Sabbath lps.....then get the 'Dio' era stuff including Dehumanizer. Try to learn the 1st 3 note for note,Rip them to pieces,then dive into Vol 4 etc etc,Geezers tone is also a lesson to everyone,watch live vids of him,see his hand positioning,where he plays,anything that gives you more 'umph' is in the Geezer technique. Listen to Harris,Angelripper,Burton,and for a real lesson Athiest's Patterson (Who piss's on Burton from a great height). But it all comes from the Butler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 I came so close to buying one of Geezers jaydee prototypes a few years back. But my conscience got the better of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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