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The Blues... and what to do about it

thepurpleblob

By thepurpleblob,
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thepurpleblob Proficient

thepurpleblob

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This is all really useful.

I've been a musician of one sort or another for over 40 years and can read and have pretty good theory knowledge. However, the 'freedom' of improvisation does not come easily to me (30 years of playing percussion in orchestras and brass bands).

It's something I aspire to. As I say, I get by, but I'd like to be better.

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Dad3353 Grand Master

Dad3353

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[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1479936074' post='3180465']...However, the 'freedom' of improvisation does not come easily to me...
[/quote]

One 'trick' to improve this is to sing along, or hum, an accompaniment to anything, anything at all, on the car radio, adverts on the telly, CD's you're listening to. Different melodies, different rhythms and/or beats, or just drone notes or harmonies... Let it come out naturally, without looking for any particular structure, and see how it develops. Not just bassy stuff, either; anything goes. Best practised when one is alone, rather than in a cinema, of course. Hope this helps.

Edited by Dad3353
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Grangur Mentor

Grangur

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Thank you Thepurpleblob, for starting this thread. I just checked out the BB King albums in the posts folks have posted, on YouTube.
Once you start a BB King video on there it just keeps playing more of his great music. Some of the line ups he had were amazing too.

You could do a lot worse than to do the same and sit there with your bass and play a simple bass line to it.

I guess something that does matter in your situation is the dynamic of your band. What IS expected of you?
Are you there as a rhythm keeper, or are you there as a lead?

If you take BB King's bass player he's not there to play anything fancy. He's only job is to provide the background for BB to look good. So you can do this by keeping a simple 4/4 going with a 145 bass line.

Have fun with it!!

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chris_b Grand Master

chris_b

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Checkout Tim Waites playing great solid bass with Lucky Peterson, who is as mad as a box of frogs but the band is a great example of a modern blues band.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alzAG7rCAQA[/media]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGbN8GUF7DA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGbN8GUF7DA[/url]

Also check out the Tedeschi Trucks Band for a different and fantastic take on the Blues.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eisYawGT4[/media]

Edited by chris_b
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blue Mentor

blue

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[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1479944008' post='3180560']


I was going to suggest this one too.
Jerry Jemmott absolutely kills on it. The studio album Completely Well should be mandatory also!
[/quote]

Yes indeedy, I forgot about Completely Well.

Blue

Edited by blue
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blue Mentor

blue

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[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1479936074' post='3180465']
This is all really useful.

I've been a musician of one sort or another for over 40 years and can read and have pretty good theory knowledge. However, the 'freedom' of improvisation does not come easily to me (30 years of playing percussion in orchestras and brass bands).

It's something I aspire to. As I say, I get by, but I'd like to be better.
[/quote]

Your knowledge of theory should help. I would think it would help a lot.

Blue

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RockfordStone Community Regular

RockfordStone

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when i was in a blues trio for a few years, i was blessed to have one of the best guitarists i've ever played with, which just left me to play and sing.

we were influenced a lot by the likes of clapton, hendrix, bonamassa, bb king, robert cray, sometimes it was complex, other times simple 12 bar based stuff.

for me, improvisation was key, because sometimes there is a lot of space that needs filling but you have to know when enough is enough. the biggest element is feel. some of our songs that went down the best were simple, when you get the feel right, 5 notes can speak more than 10.

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mikel Veteran

mikel

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1480003009' post='3180940']
+1. A very under rated bassist.

For anyone new to blues bass, all you need to do is listen to his contribution on the John Mayall "Beano" album (John Mayall & Eric Clapton).
[/quote]

+1 Listen to the very early Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. Some of the best white man blues on record.

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Hobbayne Mentor

Hobbayne

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1480003009' post='3180940']
+1. A very under rated bassist.

For anyone new to blues bass, all you need to do is listen to his contribution on the John Mayall "Beano" album (John Mayall & Eric Clapton).
[/quote]

And he was barely 20 - 21 when he made that record.

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ivansc Collaborator

ivansc

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I shared the same dentist with Delbert McClinton in Nashville years ago.

Dentist had me in stitches one day with the following story.
Delbert had dropped by and given the dentist a copy of his latest album, which the dentist really liked and was wearing out on the office musak system.

He asked one of his patients, an older black gentleman, what he thought of the music they were listening to.
"Sounds like some white boy trying to sing the blues to me" was the reply.

Which of course puts all the various unlikely suggestions as to who would be good to listen to, to get a handle on the blues, in a slightly different light.

:D

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Coilte Proficient

Coilte

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[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1480030503' post='3181234']
I shared the same dentist with Delbert McClinton in Nashville years ago.

Dentist had me in stitches one day with the following story.
Delbert had dropped by and given the dentist a copy of his latest album, which the dentist really liked and was wearing out on the office musak system.

He asked one of his patients, an older black gentleman, what he thought of the music they were listening to.
"Sounds like some white boy trying to sing the blues to me" was the reply.

Which of course puts all the various unlikely suggestions as to who would be good to listen to, to get a handle on the blues, in a slightly different light.

:D
[/quote]

The other myth about the blues is that you have to be poor and had a hard life, to be able to play convincingly. I personally don't accept either.

Miles Davis seemed to be in agreement with me when he once said, when asked do you have to be a "poor boy" in order to play the blues with conviction...."MY daddy's rich, and MY mamma's good looking, and I can play the blues".

Edited by Coilte
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ivansc Collaborator

ivansc

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1480068904' post='3181399']
Miles Davis seemed to be in agreement with me when he once said, when asked do you have to be a "poor boy" in order to play the blues with conviction...."MY daddy's rich, and MY mamma's good looking, and I can play the blues".
[/quote]
Miles Davis... the blues.... Hm. I prefer to think of him as the man who finally nailed the coffin shut on Jazz. :D

Just so you know, I worked for Big Bear Records in the seventies providing backing musicians for visiting chicago (mostly) blues players that BB Records brought over to do college gig tours. Big John Wrencher was the most memorable! One-armed harmonica player/singer with a penchant for emerald green suits, tyrolean hats and Courvoisier. What a character!
We were down in south wales and stopped so he could check out the scenery.
He stooped beside a mountian stream and scooped up some of the water for a drink.... a local who saw this said "Dont do that, boyo - there are sheep shitting in there, just upstream from you"
Due to his bottle a day habit, he finished up the last date of the tour at London`s City University with his foot resting on an inflatable model of the goodyear blimp, as he was suffering badly with "the gouch"!. You want to hear blues with a raw edge of pain in the vocal? He would get into it and start stomping his feet in the middle of a song....
A million miles from anything Miles Davis ever did in his life. He was about as far from, if not further from the roots of blues music as any of the white boy sing de blooze contenders.
But of course this is all just my opinion,

Edited by ivansc
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