Do bassists want to hear bass solos?

[skankdelvar]

In any event, it's just quicker and easier if the singer gets his gob very close to the mic and goes 'Fbdum-fbdum-fbdum-fbdum'.

[RhysP]

To be honest I don't want to hear any instrument play a solo - certainly wouldn't bother me if I never heard another guitar solo again.

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1438798433' post='2837496']
Yes I like a good bass solo. Some are great. Some aren't. Same goes for guitar, keys, drums, etc solos.

Here's one of my favourites, seeing as someone mentioned Alain Caron (solo about 1m20s in)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QD9y8fw9l8[/media]
[/quote]

Love listening to this guy and that's a good example of not a stand alone solo but a lead instrument as part of the song.

Dave

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='bobbytodd' timestamp='1438792252' post='2837422']
its a no from me.but that no covers all solos not just bass.as a youngster I always jumped at the chance to go see metallica.usually a great show until the solos they were boring/dull and seemed never ending.id rather they just played 3 or 4 more songs
[/quote]

Their guitar, drums and bass solos weren't driven exclusively by their egos. James needed breaks to rest his voice, and obviously the other bandmembers who weren't playing a solo at any one time could rest for a few minutes too. Jason usually played some nice melodic solos which stopped just before becoming boring!

[Cato]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1438806929' post='2837643']
Their guitar, drums and bass solos weren't driven exclusively by their egos. James needed breaks to rest his voice, and obviously the other bandmembers who weren't playing a solo at any one time could rest for a few minutes too. Jason usually played some nice melodic solos which stopped just before becoming boring!
[/quote]

I saw Metallica on the Black Album tour at the NEC in Birmingham. During Jason's Bass solo me & a friend left our spot in the stands, [color=#000000]queued [/color] up at the bar, bought a round of drinks for the rest of our group & returned to the stands and still had to wait a couple of minutes before he finally finished.

Still it was better than Lars' Drum solo. Played at a physically painful ear splitting volume complete with strobing lights I have wondered if the effect it produced is similar to those employed by the CIA on Guantanamo inmates.

Still one of the best gigs ever though.

[Lynottfan]

I can listen to Smooth Operator by Sade, great little bass solo in that, or I can listen to Marcel Jacob (RIP Marre) burn away, if the solo moves me and has great taste, I love it, the thinking of the bass guitar as purely acting as accompanying, I find alien, if its good and the solo is good, I don't mind on what it is played, taste is the bottom line, but I can appreciate the opinions here, solo Jazz bass moves a lot of people, some of this to me I find cacophonic, but I can respect the abilities shown. Do I want to hear a bass solo? Yes please but make it a good one.

[inthedoghouse]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1438777713' post='2837128']

All that Jaco/Manring/Wootten stuff leaves me cold...
[/quote]And I thought I was the only one

[Muzz]

With due respect to the craft displayed by Mssrs Wilkenfeld and Caron, still ain't heard anything I like.

If there absolutely have to be solos in a live context, I'd be in favour of making them at least four or five minutes long, so I can get to the bog and then the bar...

[Chaos Daveo]

When everyone else stops playing and I'm in the drummers pocket id rather groove the main rhythm with him.if solos are your thing cool, I'd rather drive the song than go ooooo look at me

[jonnythenotes]

I think I have said it before, but bass solos are the handbrake turns or wheel spins of the music world.... Pointless egotistical crap.

[seashell]

Yes, I love a nice solo me. Drum solos as well. It's best not to let them go on too long though. Keep it short and sweet.

[Twincam]

Bass solos are best enjoyed when there tastefully done. Not over the top and not slapped (bass not player).
There is certainly a place for them even though I'm very old school in thought of the roll of bass.

[JoeEvans]

I'm guessing that everyone must know the joke about the drums on the Polynesian island?

[cheddatom]

When I play with a band, on whatever instrument, I listen to what everyone else is playing, and do whatever I feel is "right" for the music at that time. Sometimes that's holding down a simple bassline. Sometimes It's playing 5 or 6 note chords and using 5 effects pedals. Sometimes it's playing high up the neck, playing melodies, bending notes etc. You might call that a "bass solo". When I play on drums there are some sections where I just play mad fills. You might call it a "drum solo" but it fits in the groove, and is right for that part of the song.

It's not showing off!

I guess most posters here are talking about a rock band where the whole band drops out, or the singer introduces the players, and then someone fret-w***s for a couple of minutes. I'd agree that there's nothing cool about that

On the point of "suitability" - I get the historical point but double bass works well in jazz as it can generally cut through. As long as the playing isn't too fast it sounds cool. Amplified electric bass is just as suitable to soloing as any other instrument

[toneknob]

Another favourite of mine. Would you consider this to be a "solo"? (same goes for The Fish by Chris Squire).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RunHx-LTgo

[dlloyd]

It depends... Refuge of the Roads, for instance, is packed full of short improvised, melodic bass breaks... but they are an integral part of the tune. Are they technically solos though? Probably not. The bass is playing a slightly different role than it more usually does. More like an improvised counterpoint.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mZErvdXVM[/media]

Edited August 6, 2015 by dlloyd

[bassace]

This couple were in trouble; they hadn't spoken to each other for years. When they finally went to Relate the counsellor sat them down and took out a bass from a cupboard and played a solo........













because everyone talks during the bass solo

[Bilbo]

I like good bass solos and don't like bad ones.

The trouble is, I don't know which it is going to be until I have heard it.

If I hear it and like it, I am glad I heard it.

If I hear it but don't like it, I am still glad I heard the guy or girl try. Not all music performance is about perfect execution every time (although some is). Sometimes it is about just trying. Improvisation is a high risk undertaking and, sometimes, the results are sublime. At times, however, it can be painful. The art is in the attempt and not in the success.

In terms of the debate, there are composed solos (Stu Hamm's 'Country', Jeff Berlin's 'Dixie' or Michael Manring's 'Red Right Returning'). There are improvised solos (Scott LaFaro's 'Gloria's Step', Jaco's 'Donna Lee'; there are millions of examples). There are 'solos' that are featured parts of songs (the melodic bass in 'A Remark You Made', the opening of 'Motherlode' by Jeff Berlin or Duff McKagan's part on 'Sweet Child Of Mine') which amount to melodic hooks played by the bass rather than solos per se. There are bass solos that are essentially substanive compositions written around the instrument ('Bottesini's Double Bass Concerto' or Squire's 'The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)'). To paraphrase Duke Ellington, there are only two kinds of bass solos; good ones and bad ones. I like the good ones. That is, I accept, a subjective position but, I propose it is one that we all share. Like all music, there are some performances that I 'get' and some that I don't. Some bass solos are about entertainment and not art. If you are looking to be entertained, they will work better for you. If you don't like Jazz, you are probably not going to like a be-bop orientated bass solo. The boundaries we place around the music we listen to are likely to be mirrored in the bass solos we prefer to listen to (or not). If you don't like guitar solos, why would bass solos appeal? If your preference is 'song' orientated genres, solos will appeal less. If your preference is for 'melodic' material (a dumb concept if ever I heard one - all music is melodic, some is just more accessible than others. A furious Coltrane solo is chock full of melody if you know how to listen), then a rhythmically complex solo played over complex chord sequences will leave you cold. Like all art, it is all entirely subjective.

As for the 'bass is made to be a supportive instrument not a solo instrument' comments. Sorry guys but who put you in charge? All instruments are made for whatever the artist chooses to use them for. No instrument inventor I know of ever put conditions on it's use. Your preference may be for solid bass lines underpinning a song but that isn't everyone's bag and composers and performers alike are entitled to use them for whatever context their vision suggests. My own preference is for improvisation in context as opposed to featured soloing (Anthony Jackson in Steve Khan's band is a great example) but, if anyone genuinely loves music, the only defensible position is 'I like good solos and don't like bad ones but it is entirely down to me to decide which is which'.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1438854854' post='2837976']
...if anyone genuinely loves music, the only defensible position is 'I like good solos and don't like bad ones but it is entirely down to me to decide which is which'.
[/quote]

nailed it again Bilbo

[TimR]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1438854854' post='2837976']
...

As for the 'bass is made to be a supportive instrument not a solo instrument' comments. Sorry guys but who put you in charge? All instruments are made for whatever the artist chooses to use them for. No instrument inventor I know of ever put conditions on it's use. Your preference may be for solid bass lines underpinning a song but that isn't everyone's bag and composers and performers alike are entitled to use them for whatever context their vision suggests.

...
[/quote]

I agree.

I'm really hoping you have misunderstood what some posters have written. I really can't believe anyone actually does believe bass should only be a supporting instrument.

Particularly any decent bass player who regards themself as a musician.

Scary.

Edited August 6, 2015 by TimR

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1438855961' post='2837989']
nailed it again Bilbo
[/quote]

Absolutely.

[seashell]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1438855961' post='2837989']
nailed it again Bilbo
[/quote]

Yep, end of thread.

[MarkW]

Every now and then I wish I had the ability to solo, but I'm hopeless at it: I have neither the proficiency to be melodic nor the technique to be flashy.

But to my ears a bass solo can be every bit as pleasing as a guitar solo, provided that technique isn't used as a surrogate for musicality. Stu Hamm's solo at the end of 'Love Thing' is a very simple but beautiful piece of playing, whereas the pyrotechnics of Mark King et al, whilst hugely technically impressive, just leave me cold.

That said, even if I could solo I'd never get the chance - our 'rock god' guitarist would be too busy starching his pants at the front of the stage to let me get a look in...

[Rich]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1438854854' post='2837976']
if anyone genuinely loves music, the only defensible position is 'I like good solos and don't like bad ones but it is entirely down to me to decide which is which'.
[/quote]
I don't think it's the only defensible position -- to my mind, another one is 'I don't particularly like solos of any sort, but hey, each to his own'. Other than that, brilliant post.
As ever, the trouble begins when opinion starts to be presented as fact...

[Leonard Smalls]

As Bilbo says, you can't beat a good bass solo...
I prefer one with a groove going on behind it, which goes somewhere and has some sort of reason behind it (even if that reason is only that it sounds excellent!).
For me, the best bass solos are by Bootsy as they're always in context, the show builds to it and it sounds like no-one else.
Like this - bass solo has a short build up from 4'50" on; there's a good 8 minutes of it with vocal interludes and it's all pretty darned awesome in the true sense of the word!

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YuSo7467mA[/MEDIA}