AntLockyer Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Occasionally (like once a month) I get pointed at in the middle of a song and everyone else stops playing. Anyone got some approaches to take here? It is generally 12 bar blues but occasionally might be a funk jam (cissy strut or something), I know the major scale with a flat 7, I know the chord tones of the dominant 7 in all the keys. I'm getting better and knowing the notes all over the neck rather than patterns. So what is next? Just play things that come in my head? I know my guitarist friends learn licks and incorporate them when they see fit. I have been watching some gospel stuff and again they have runs that are practiced. Any help would be appreciated. I'm practicing a couple of hours a day and don't just want to noodle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 nice and simple bit of a riff, bit of a run, bit more of riff, bit more of run etc. or if doing a more traditional solo start slow and simple and build it up. You can go wrong with an old fashioned pentatonic with an added flat five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I always just build up from a simple phrase.....just try and make the solo have a beginning/middle/end. Once it has this structure it doesn't have to be anything too complicated. Have a listen to Willie Weeks solo at 8mins in [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdglxtW8Lg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdglxtW8Lg[/url].....perfect example for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) That is a great solo, I think I have trouble with the building up slow bit because I get 24 bars or maybe because I do build up slow and have no where else to go in my vocab and run out of ideas. Rabbit in the headlights situation starts at about 2:45 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-82T7cEDGo[/media] Edited October 19, 2013 by AntLockyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I would have freaked at the drummer for stopping.....its different if its a jazz gig but its horrible soloing with no beat behind you. Even if the drummer just kept the bass drum going that would help a huge amount. You can just build up a simple groove then......put some basslines from other songs into your solo, that help if your stuck for ideas. I used to throw in Groove is in the heart....it got me out of some sticky situations. I'd definitely recommend soloing with a beat behind you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 Just done an hour of playing over a backing track in A and came up with a few ideas that worked. Once I get back from swimming will try the same thing with just a drum track and see how that feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Bass solo..? [size=4] Nah! No-one wants to hear that![/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 +1 about EVERYBODY stopping.. could be worth mentioning that at a rehearsal - 'hey chaps, I'm feeling my way into this thing but how about just a skeleton framework for me to work with?' Playing completely solo is mightily exposed! To my mind, you hit the nail on the head with 'vocabulary'; whether playing a bassline or taking a break you draw on your stock of riffs, lines and phrases. The more you learn, the bigger the store. Two of the most useful things I ever heard/saw on the subject.. Victor Wooten, in some masterclass video clip I saw on YT then have never been able to find again(!) really stresses this thing where everyone else in the band stops and you're left on your own.. what do you do? Flurry of notes to relieve the pressure of being in total control all the rest of the song.. WRONG! Keep the groove and build on it, otherwise it makes absolutely no sense. A one-note groove-like-a-badger bass break will move people far more than some rhythmically random spray of notes. David Grier, teaching a guitar picking masterclass.. get so you can think of a melody (indeed, hum a tune) and play it. Sounds daft, but he made his point with Happy Birthday - none of the guitarists in his class could just play it off the top of their heads. 'If you can't just bring up such a well-ingrained tune, how are you expecting to bring up an improvised line that makes any sense.?' Start with simple lines and let yourself get more complex as you go on. It'll get easier as you do more of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) [quote name='Mook' timestamp='1382173386' post='2248846'] I would have freaked at the drummer for stopping.....its different if its a jazz gig but its horrible soloing with no beat behind you. Even if the drummer just kept the bass drum going that would help a huge amount. You can just build up a simple groove then......put some basslines from other songs into your solo, that help if your stuck for ideas. I used to throw in Groove is in the heart....it got me out of some sticky situations. I'd definitely recommend soloing with a beat behind you though. [/quote] It's this, if the drummer had just cut the volume a bit but carried on playing your solo would have worked fine. Him stopping killed the song Edited October 19, 2013 by Fat Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) Brings to mind a little incident that happened in the middle of a gig a few years back. I was playing in a covers band which consisted of bass (moi), drums, guitarist and singer. All had been going well, it was our second gig at the place and we were doing about 2 and a half hours. We were winding up the first half with 'Alright now' by Free. I just put in the intro bit to the guitar solo and all of a sudden. .........no guitar! I looked round to see a bemused looking guitarist still trying his damnest to play with no sound coming out. You could almost see the cogs whirring as he went though a sort of check list. Lead in guitar = check Lead in amp = check Leads in and out of effects pedals =check What the f*#@!! I don't stop for anything, broken strings, flying bottles or Police raids so me and the drummer ploughed on through a 5 minute improvised drum and bass solo whilst the twat fumbled around in bags and cases until he eventual managed to replace the battery in an effects pedal. There is a moral to this story.... I'm buggered if I can remember what it is. Edited October 19, 2013 by Nick Riffed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Switch on all your distortion pedals at once. Run around the stage waving your bass above your head getting different pitches of feedback and end by setting fire to your bass and amp. Alternatively 8 bars of 1/4 notes on the open E string... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 "Switch on all your distortion pedals at once. Run around the stage waving your bass above your head getting different pitches of feedback and end by setting fire to your bass and amp." Works for me but could get a tad expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowender Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The bass is the last instrument that should solo unaccompanied within a song form, but for some reason some band mates feel that's exactly what should happen. I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Whilst the bass obviously is the best instrument ever for a solo, I vehemently hate this approach where people are asked to learn gazillions of standard licks. So many solos are marred by these safe havens that most of the time have nothing to do with the melodies and the development within the song. I'm not interested to hear fragments that could have been part of just about any song. I wanna hear some inspired reflection of what [b]this[/b] song is about. My own approach is like this: play some weird notes in order or as a chord. Check what you just have done. Now make something musical with that, whatever it was - - you always can. I always remember a remark made by some musician on tv about the difference between musicians and others, that musicians can pick up any instrument - any instrument - and do something musical with it, despite maybe never even having touched such an instrument before. Now of course that "something musical" is hardly gonna be a good funk groove in a certain style. But it will still be musical. Me, I rather listen to a drummer investigating the violin this way, than to a sax soloist doing "Four Brothers" with pre-rehearsed fragments of emptiness. OK, so maybe I exagerated just a trifle. Not much though. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I just realised I've posted a reply that should be here but is obviously somewhere else! If you know where the missing post is, please send me a postcard. Or a PM. It's these new meds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Learn a little tune like the intro to the south bank show and just play that and then back to the song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 [quote name='Nick Riffed' timestamp='1382184784' post='2249008'] Works for me but could get a tad expensive. [/quote] In most bands you'll only get to do it once. After that the singer and guitarist will conspire to make sure that you never get the chance again. Of course in my band Mr venom would probably expect me to do it at every gig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I'm against solos on almost all occasions by almost all instruaments. Instrumental section to the music is fine but solos or soloing over the rest of the band, no, it's boring. Solo allowed as long as it's no more than eight bars and is based around the melody line of the song. There will be exceptions which prove the rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I went to a pub that I won't mention to see a well known blues/rock covers band, whose name I also won't mention. They played some great stuff but in each number all 3 guitarists, the drummer, the keyboard guy and the bass player all took a solo spot. A close to 3 hour gig and they played 7 numbers. It all started getting predictable and more than a bit tedious which distracted from their obvious talents. If a solo fits fine, but this self indulgent type of musical masturbation.......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 [quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1382186737' post='2249039'] The bass is the last instrument that should solo unaccompanied within a song form, but for some reason some band mates feel that's exactly what should happen. I don't get it. [/quote] Maybe a change of Band mates is required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Steve Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Last time someone tried to give me a solo, the band stopped and so did I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 [quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1382199899' post='2249237'] Last time someone tried to give me a solo, the band stopped and so did I. [/quote] Lol. Never stop until you come to what you believe to be the end of the song, sod the rest of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 I have to say, thanks so much for the advice and laughs. The situation here is a blues jam that I do go to every week. In a real band situation it would never happen to me (at least for blues). I am a musical person, I can take anything and make music with it (once I played a reverb on a DJ mixer for over 20 minutes and had people captivated). So I took that approach and just played stuff over the changes and any notes I didn't like I didn't repeat. This worked great over the backing track, take it away and the whole thing collapses. An interesting experiment and I have to say I totally agree with those of you that say no bass solos. Like I said I get put in the situation and want to make as best a musical expression as I can. It is on;y ever one guy who calls me out so I'll ask him to keep the changes going with some rhythm guitar next time and ensure the drummer keeps up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) [size=4][quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1382197137' post='2249184'] I'm against solos on almost all occasions by almost all instruaments. Instrumental section to the music is fine but solos or soloing over the rest of the band, no, it's boring. Solo allowed as long as it's no more than eight bars and is based around the melody line of the song. There will be exceptions which prove the rule. [/quote] Ha! Great minds. From an only slightly different thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220136-better-soloing/page__view__findpost__p__2249091"]http://basschat.co.u...ost__p__2249091[/url][/size] Edited October 19, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 One should solo at every inappropriate moment throughout a song, the more inappropriate the better. Showboating and overplaying are becoming a lost art form up down the pubs and clubs of this (insert adjectives here) country. It's even better if you've no idea what you're doing. Soloing in a completely different key makes for great mirth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.e37b70c1ff9c3312286fa3a2525da8e3.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.