Bass Solos

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='lowdown' post='443823' date='Mar 24 2009, 02:43 PM']And where was this?
Rampton?

Garry[/quote]

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='lowdown' post='443823' date='Mar 24 2009, 02:43 PM']And where was this?
Rampton?[/quote]

Actually the first time I got called for a solo I was busy sulking in a foul mood because my current squeeze was dancing in a particularly unsavoury way with a guy I knew as a crack dealer, so I refused, but they insisted, and that's how I ended up playing my first bass solo. I expected it to go down pretty badly with the crowd because I was very angry and I basically stepped up with a Jazz fretless and went ballistic fror 16 bars but I got a much bigger round of applause than what had gone before and it lifted my spirits no end.

I still skulked back to my stool at the back of the stage and fumed for the rest of the night (whereas usually I'd be gagging for oxygen at the end of a set), but it was a reassuring response.

It was in some place in New Brunswick, New Jersey, near the Rutgers campus. I forget exactly where.

Edited March 26, 2009 by thisnameistaken

[YouMa]

I have bach for bass and learned a few but no one wants to listen to it on a bass guitar,paganini you might get away with.

[Guest subaudio]

[quote name='urb' post='444800' date='Mar 25 2009, 10:30 AM']Yeah I was going to suggest try learning some blues lines - Billy Sheehan has a pretty cool Hammond Trio called Niacin that mix funk, blues and rock with a touch of jazz as well - he does some nice stuff and is actually in the pocket a lot of the time - have a look here:



And you'll probably hate this - but this is Vic Wooten in a fairly tasteful mood live with the Dave Matthews band - check out the spaces between the phrases and the repetition how he builds the dynamics with some actually very simple phrases - mostly derived from an E minor scale... with you extra 'jazz' notes for interest;



Hope they give you some food for thought

M[/quote]

Wow liking both of them, not heard Niacin before, not a masive double thumbing fan but it sounds quite nice in parts there.

[steve]

[quote name='YouMa' post='445627' date='Mar 26 2009, 02:07 AM']I have bach for bass and learned a few but no one wants to listen to it on a bass guitar,paganini you might get away with.[/quote]

The OP didn't say it was to gig. Did you try it live and get a bad response?

[RobEvansBass]

I know 'no jazz' has been mentioned but i'm going to add a few names into the pot. I've learned a lot from listening to these guys and all the theory knowledge you pick up can be applied to any genre.

Check out Janek Gwizdala for melodic bass solos. It's kind of jazzy lines over funk/hip-hop grooves. The BassdayUK '08 videos of him are worth checking out (Oli Rockberger on keys and Shaun Rickman on drums), also there's an insight into how he thinks about soloing over changes in one of his podcasts. There's a load of guys worth checking out on myspace and youtube... Hadrien Feraud, Yves Carbone, Avishai Cohen to name a couple but Janek is just killing at the moment.

Also start transcribing solos from guys like Coltrane, the Brecker Brothers, John Schofield etc etc. Anyone you can think of and apply them to bass. They don't have to be used in a jazz style but it will get your ears working then you can just plays what comes into your head when it's time to solo. This works for rock guitar solos too...why not work them out for bass, it all helps.

Peace,
Rob

Edited March 26, 2009 by RobEvansBass

[Guest leebass69]

[quote name='Eight' post='443579' date='Mar 24 2009, 11:40 AM']There's only so much stuff I can cover in lessons (I ask a LOT of questions) so this is something we've not really looked at yet but it keeps getting mentioned.

I need to work on bass solos (hell I need to work on improvising bass riffs as well ) but whilst I know the main scales etc. I'm just not feeling the solo vibe yet. Can you recommend any tracks or artists that might be good inspiration?

Er... no jazz please (no offense intended).

Cheers guys.[/quote]

Hey.. As far as solos are concerned I don't think there's a rule as such, I know they'll never please everyone all of the time cus some would say they're self indulgent, an exercise in showing off etc. I'm a big fan of Neil Peart's drumming, the short and sweet there is he sounds amazingly colourful, it's entertaining and downright clever but as far as bass solos goes the nature of the instrument itself as I've learned being in bands is there's an expectancy to hang back and not as I've been told 'a bit less showing' off so.....f*** it, if you think it fits with the whole rhythm, the beat you're coming up with yourself, then it fits.

As for tracks one of my favourites is still Sheehan's NV43345, an old Talas track from High Speed On Ice but as we all know he gets slated to high heaven due to being perceived as anything but a bass player by many-to me he's just stretched the whole concept of four strings more than anyone else I could name.

Hope this helps my mate, Lee