Got an audition for blues band

[deathpanda]

Found an ad in the shop window asking for a musician for a blues band, so I rung up and luckily they're just looking for a bass player. Got an audition on monday, and I asked if there were any tunes I should know, and he said it will be mostly 12 bar so I just said okay.

Now I've played basic 12 bar stuff on bass in a band before, usually just root notes with octaves and fifths thrown in (with taste, I might add) and the odd scale run, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me some licks and grooves to throw in, walking basslines, all that stuff, just so I don't end up playing the same thing every song.

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

[OldGit]

Hey DP, good luck with that ,mate.
We covered a very similar situation for stevie a while back
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=87900&view=findpost&p=836042"]Thread on Blues band standards..[/url]

[Stingray5]

All Blues chords are 7th's, so just make sure you include the (dominant) 7th in your runs, too.

[deathpanda]

[quote name='OldGit' post='882268' date='Jun 30 2010, 06:46 PM']Hey DP, good luck with that ,mate.
We covered a very similar situation for stevie a while back
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=87900&view=findpost&p=836042"]Thread on Blues band standards..[/url][/quote]

Thanks a lot, did a little search before making this thread but didn't come across that one. Some good advice in there, I guess I need to just keep listening to 12 bar stuff until I finally get what it's all about. Cheers again.

[Faithless]

adding a 6th is also quite tasty..

There some chromatic tricks to do, but, then you gotta be familar with walking bass stuff..

[OliverBlackman]

6ths n 7ths all the way for that one. Its often nice to go alternate the 6th, 7th and 5th.... typical guitar thing in blues

[OldGit]

[quote name='deathpanda' post='882292' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:12 PM']Thanks a lot, did a little search before making this thread but didn't come across that one. Some good advice in there, I guess I need to just keep listening to 12 bar stuff until I finally get what it's all about. Cheers again.[/quote]


Have a listen to some of the ones listed on that thread, especially the ones everyone plays that are not straight 12 bars; specifically Stormy Monday and Need your love so bad. They are very well known and popular with blues bands and will bite your bum if you don't have some idea of the odd way the chords go.
They are certainly not straight I - IV - V structures.

If you know them you'll score brownie points from the off.

Edited June 30, 2010 by OldGit

[ironside1966]

Dont always go for the 3rd above is the one below also.
Dav marks has some good stuff on youtube [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ7MfADYRmg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ7MfADYRmg[/url]
use all the lessons

[stevie]

[quote name='OldGit' post='882268' date='Jun 30 2010, 06:46 PM']We covered a very similar situation for stevie a while back[/quote]

I found the advice in that thread very useful indeed. I'd recommend you also get hold of the Blues Bass book by Ed Friedland, which some of the guys recommended on that thread. It's all in there, including transcriptions of all the standards you'll need to know, together with backing tracks to practice with. Great book! I'll post a review when I get a minute. The book and CD cost me less than £7 delivered from Amazon.

By the way, I got the gig!

Edited June 30, 2010 by stevie

[JTUK]

So, once you get the chords sorted...get to know what grooves they require.

Shuffles, swing etc ..all liven up the some old song, in some ways.

If you are the only thing underpinning a 12 bar, then stacked 4ths can be interesting... you might freak the guitar
like this, so only in solos, unless he is comfortable with this..

Blues gigs are as easy or hard as you want to make them...but good blues isn't the one-trick pony you might think..

[OldGit]

[quote name='JTUK' post='882372' date='Jun 30 2010, 08:20 PM']If you are the only thing underpinning a 12 bar, then stacked 4ths can be interesting... you might freak the guitar
like this, so only in solos, unless he is comfortable with this.. [/quote]

Ah! two of my favourite passtime - both stacked 4ths and worrying guitarists

However I'd probably wait 'til you get the gig before trying that either

[Captain Rumble]

you could do worse than listen to some Robben Ford Roscoe beck plays some mean bass

[xilddx]

IMnsHO 12bar blues is all about feel, not books and lessons and videos and learning walking bass. In terms of bass I'd listen to as much blues as I possible, play along with loads of classics and FEEL what you are doing. The only thing you really need to learn are the songs and their keys and chord progressions. But if you play enough of it, you will get the instinct for it.

The OP sounds like he knows what he's doing, the hardest part about this blues gig is using personal judgment about when to augment and when to hang back. That's the pleasure of blues, simplicity and hanging with them kick and snare drums.

I say all this, but I have very little interest or experience playing blues bass. But if it's done well it can be a damn good listen. Play your 12 bars for hours but sing the blues to yourself for even more hours and the notes will come to you.

Does that make sense?

[discreet]

[quote name='deathpanda' post='882292' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:12 PM']I guess I need to just keep listening to 12 bar stuff until I finally get what it's all about.[/quote]

It helps if your woman done left you, so you can wake up in the morning and find your baby gone. Ohh-woah!

[JTUK]

[quote name='OldGit' post='882381' date='Jun 30 2010, 08:27 PM']Ah! two of my favourite passtime - both stacked 4ths and worrying guitarists

However I'd probably wait 'til you get the gig before trying that either [/quote]

see, now horn players don't give a damn if you do this to them...and I almost always will do so.
In fact, the only thing that would hold me back doing this..if I felt it was applicable, is that gtrs have less of a clue here
and would get in the way and stuck around 4th and 5ths and the root

It just shows that your know your way round sequences and have had a bit more of a listen to things that the norm..
so jams and rehearsals are perfect for it...IMO.

Play with a decent keyboard player on a few jazz dates will soon get you up to speed...

or ..listen to some Richard Tee..... DO IT NOW.. building blocks..!!!



To the OP... if they say this is just a 12bar and the gtr is on his eleventh solo..just ask him for a differnet turnaround..and when he goes duh...!! tell him... or don't...either way, you'll teach him something...hopefully

[xilddx]

[quote name='discreet' post='882405' date='Jun 30 2010, 08:49 PM']It helps if your woman done left you, so you can wake up in the morning and find your baby gone. Ohh-woah! [/quote]
An yo shrimps ain't workin, and the bottle done gone drah. And de gubnint drop mah paycheck and an de chicken done flah. LOAHD HA MERCY! Mah chitlins is burning and mah bitch she done say gudbye.

That sort of thing, old chap.

[JTUK]

[quote name='deathpanda' post='882292' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:12 PM'].......................I guess I need to just keep listening to 12 bar stuff until I finally get what it's all about. Cheers again.[/quote]


Listen to some jazzers who can really go through some changes. I managed to get all my stuff on gigs from decent piano players but you want to listen to a whole load of stuff rather than 12 bar gtrs based stuff.

It is all in the ears...this gig, IMO

[chris_b]

Just go onto YouTube and play along with as much BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Luther Allison and Sherman Robertson etc as you can.

Edited June 30, 2010 by chris_b

[lowdown]

[quote name='discreet' post='882405' date='Jun 30 2010, 08:49 PM']It helps if your woman done left you, so you can wake up in the morning and find your baby gone. Ohh-woah! [/quote]

Or the Epitaph for the Blues Guitarist...
Dah dahdahdah dah " i didn't wake up one morning" dah dahdahdah dah...

And dont forget some Roscoe Beck triple stops...Root/7th/10th's



Garry

Edited June 30, 2010 by lowdown

[gjones]

Don't let these guys fool you into thinking it's easy to play 12 bar blues well. This is some dude on youtube who wrote down John Paul Jone's bass line note for note from the Lemon song and reproduced it for this video. It's dauntingly brilliant but don't let it put you off .......enjoy [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw[/url]

[OldGit]

[quote name='JTUK' post='882413' date='Jun 30 2010, 08:55 PM']see, now horn players don't give a damn if you do this to them...and I almost always will do so.
In fact, the only thing that would hold me back doing this..if I felt it was applicable, is that gtrs have less of a clue here
and would get in the way and stuck around 4th and 5ths and the root

It just shows that your know your way round sequences and have had a bit more of a listen to things that the norm..
so jams and rehearsals are perfect for it...IMO.

Play with a decent keyboard player on a few jazz dates will soon get you up to speed...

or ..listen to some Richard Tee..... DO IT NOW.. building blocks..!!!



To the OP... if they say this is just a 12bar and the gtr is on his eleventh solo..just ask him for a differnet turnaround..and when he goes duh...!! tell him... or don't...either way, you'll teach him something...hopefully[/quote]


Was the first part for me JTUK?
When I have my big horn on nothing throws me


Anyway .. for the audition generally it's best to play less rather than more in da bloose bass.
Blues guitarists, even more than normal guitarists, seem to think that the rest of the band, music and irritants like words, are just there to build anticipation for their next 12 verse solo.

but I love blues and play it too...

[JTUK]

ha ha....

yeah..I guess it is always a good idea to suss out the gtr and I assume it will be the gtr driving the band/gig/audition.

I must admit, I pay very little attention to the songs..would hardly know the names of them from Adam, but I'll pick up the riff pretty quickly and have it sorted for the turn-round if a gtr is leading as they don't make it complicated as the race is on for the solo.

all I want from the off, is key and groove and let the drummer start if unclear

There are a couple a very good guys round here that make it fun and a pleasure to do, so you need to know who they are and go from there.

I wouldn't be interested very often in a 3 piece gig though...

Getting the riffs for Messin' with the kid, Stormy, etc and songs from your list will be enough to get this gig started, I'd think.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='OldGit' post='882463' date='Jun 30 2010, 09:27 PM']Anyway .. for the audition generally it's best to play less rather than more in da bloose bass.[/quote]
Indeed. Particularly if there's more than one guitarist, or some keys or harp floating around too. OTOH, if it's just you, a gtr and a drummer then there's a bit more latitude at this stage.

For a fair few numbers, you probably want to be just sitting tight with the drummer, thudding the roots with a fair bit of mute. Open it up to ring a little and fill out under the solos, then back to the visceral thud when the guitarist has finished their 108 bars of 'self-expression'. If you get the feeling they're a bit unimpressed by your rootsy Shamanic pulse, just ask them if they want things busying up a bit. They probably won't.

Once you've got the gig, slowly phase in the interesting stuff over a period of weeks and be ready to default back to simplistic thudding. It's quite satisfying in a trance-y sort of way.

Edited July 1, 2010 by skankdelvar

[OldGit]

Funny how Blues guitarists 9even the kids) are stuck back in the 60's & 70's when 20 minute solos were considered short ....

[Wil]

[quote name='gjones' post='882461' date='Jun 30 2010, 09:27 PM']Don't let these guys fool you into thinking it's easy to play 12 bar blues well. This is some dude on youtube who wrote down John Paul Jone's bass line note for note from the Lemon song and reproduced it for this video. It's dauntingly brilliant but don't let it put you off .......enjoy [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw[/url][/quote]

That vid is great! Is that a modulus?