JPS Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I'm hoping to be auditioning for a ska band, or two, in the near future. Have never played ska in anger before, although know plenty of songs etc. I'd greatly appreciate any top tips from experienced ska bassists therefore, be it on playing styles and dos and don'ts, gear, types of gigs/venues that ska bands commonly play or whatever. Great - and perhaps underrated - style of bass playing and good fun to play as well. Cheers JPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexbasscat Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Don't know answers to your questions in detail but I agree, Ska is great fun and I'd love to be in a Ska band myself. I'll be watching this one with interest T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Are we talking classic ska like the specials, or modern ska like streetlight manifesto?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) [quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='920199' date='Aug 9 2010, 11:29 PM']Are we talking classic ska like Byron Lee, or American sh*te like Reel Big Fish??[/quote] Fixed for you. Edited August 9, 2010 by thisnameistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='920201' date='Aug 9 2010, 11:38 PM']Fixed for you.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Learn your arpeggios and if you're playing in a modern ska band (excuse the people who don't know how to seperate opinion from facts) then learn to do them quickly. I play in a "Zydeco" (loosely, some songs are basically ska with an accordian) band and basically if you can keep arpeggios and scales moving around with the chords, then it's a lot of fun. If you're not too fast, don't worry, so long as you try and stay fairly busy it should be ok. All bands vary though, try playing it for yourself and see what works with your band mates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray5 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 You might want to practice playing whilst running on the spot, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted August 10, 2010 Author Share Posted August 10, 2010 Ha ha. More first and second wave ska than, erm, modern/contemporary ska i.e. The Maytals/Bryon Lee through to 2-Tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Don't forget to listen to all the other Jamaican pop music sounds to broaden the range of what you can do on bass. Especially the souly feel of rocksteady and the simple and powerful bass in dub and roots reggae. A lot of it is just 1 and 5 but the feel is what makes it work. Don't be shy of mixing it up a bit (ska is a fairly limited sound after all) but only go where you can take the drummer with you. Avoid blues licks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo-London Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Maintain lots of energy on stage. That should get you the gig. Davo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 So to summarise - learn to play arpeggios and scales confidently and quickly, don't over complicate things, maintain lots of energy, practise playing whilst running on the spot and don't try not to get involved in arguments about what constitutes "real" ska. Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 [quote name='JPS' post='921252' date='Aug 11 2010, 08:18 AM']So to summarise - learn to play arpeggios and scales confidently and quickly, don't over complicate things, maintain lots of energy, practise playing whilst running on the spot and don't try not to get involved in arguments about what constitutes "real" ska. Cool![/quote] And wear a pork pie hat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted August 11, 2010 Author Share Posted August 11, 2010 Ah good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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