iconic Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 (edited) Why is Blues so important when learning bass, it must be me but it always reminds me of Croyde Bay Devon Holiday Camp, Butlins, Caravan Parks from when I was 7 years old, with bored looking bass players playing.....ba-bump-ba-bump-da-dump-da-dump sort of tunes with another guy on a Hammond Organ and a drummer. Seriously, almost every learning medium I have come across declares that blues is the mother of all modern funk/disco/rock, everything bar classical, but I can't hear the blues riffs in most of the funk and disco songs that I know and love. educate me please. Edited January 7, 2010 by iconic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 cause it rocks!! seriously though without getting into theory too much the standard blues progression is used in lots of styles from jazz to metal. learn some blues scales and you'll come across the blue notes, usually flat 3rd or 5th's. theres plenty of great blues artists around at the moment worth looking into. check out jim kirkpatrick.one of the best in the uk at the mo. [url="http://www.myspace.com/jimikirkpatrick"]http://www.myspace.com/jimikirkpatrick[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I've spent the last four years learning to play bass, completely from scratch (i.e. never having picked one up before Xmas 2005). Blues was the perfect place to start because it CAN be simple, repetitive and slow (and it CAN be a lot of other things, too) which makes it a type of music that's very beginner-friendly. As I moved out into rock & pop, funk & prog, I was surprised to find the same blues licks turning up [u][b]everywhere [/b][/u]... just played a bit differently. Playing blues doesn't mean you can suddenly play any other [i]genre[/i], but it does allow you to fake it while you learn to do it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='704550' date='Jan 7 2010, 06:21 PM']As I moved out into rock & pop, funk & prog, I was surprised to find the same blues licks turning up [u][b]everywhere [/b][/u]... just played a bit differently.[/quote] I think this is why it's recommended to learn the blues - I found the above statement to be very true too, even in folk and modern traditional music. The blues always gives you a good basis to fall back on when playing or writing - and blues bass guitar also helps develop the basic rhythmic element of our instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly deluxe Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 The Blues are only as boring as you make them IMO,it's horses for courses.Most of the Jazz that i've heard does nothing at all for me. As stated before,it's in all kinds of music,so you can learn something familiar from the start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodaxe Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 [quote name='iconic' post='704510' date='Jan 7 2010, 05:53 PM']Seriously, almost every learning medium I have come across declares that blues is the mother of all modern funk/disco/rock, everything bar classical, but I can't hear the blues riffs in most of the funk and disco songs that I know and love. educate me please.[/quote] Try these two... Not particularly funky, but the reason I went fretless... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I'm not a big fan of pure blues but it has undoubtedly influenced everyone I like so it's certainly useful. The best music comes from a melting pot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Blues bass can get slated a bit by musos as easy and boring, until you hear someone like Tommy Shannon or Roscoe Beck doing it. It is without doubt a great place to start as the lick library comes up so often in other genres of music. I spent 3 years in a blues band here on guitar and then swapped with the bassplayer as he fancied playing guitar again after 20 years. At first, I thought I'd made a mistake but then realised it could be as exciting as I wanted it to be. It seemed to lift the band a bit too as I was obviously playing differently to the previous bassplayer. Not necessarily better, just different. It encouraged one or two of them to play different stuff too. Especially the keyboard player. It doesn't have to be just "donk da donk da donk da donk" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 So gtrs will play with you...or rather you can hold them up while they piddle over everything.. You can then bin it and do something more interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 blues ueses a scale pattern which can be used in other genres...to effect for me blues is cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 [quote name='JTUK' post='704667' date='Jan 7 2010, 07:47 PM']So gtrs will play with you...or rather you can hold them up while they piddle over everything.. You can then bin it and do something more interesting[/quote] Sadly I think you might be right judging from some of the awful blues-rock outfits I've seen/heard over the years. Fortunately that's not the whole picture. Check out the rootsier contemporary blues outfits for better grooves, and better balance between the instruments, or head back and listen to the masters. I suspect that most of the blues I listen to on my iPod is piano/horn-led rather than guitar, f'rinstance. And not a 'donk-da-donk' anywhere to be heard. I think one of the best reasons for starting with blues is having a framework to quickly play with other musicians I did a quick look on youtube for some examples, I wanted one of the young Hubert Sumlin playing proto-funk with Howling Wolf back in the '50s, but can't find one. How about this one instead, kinda funky with electric bass riffing, cliched intro, but stick with it... ...and this, not exactly funky, but pure blues bass: some root and fifth, some walking, some riffing, all depending on what else is going on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 (edited) If I had a torch and a bonfire for everyone who said this sh*t I\\\'d be be in prison. Edited January 7, 2010 by bigjohn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 A whole lot of rock uses the Blues/altered blues scale. Riffs also translate well through the chord progression. The 12 bar pattern gives a good anchor and it's great for jam nights. It's also a genre that is, imo, underrated musically. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude_b Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 One take on this is that the blues scale isn't really found in classical music but, together with blues chord progressions, forms the bedrock of virtually all 20th century (popular) musical forms. Learning the blues is therefore a sensible place to get to grips with the blues scale (where else do you start?). (I'd be interested if anyone knows a pre 20th century classical piece which includes something like a blues scale - there's a Mozart piece with bluesy minor 3rd I can immediately think of, but I've never spotted anything else.) As far as dull blues basslines go, it depends on the bass player. Getting together interesting basslines for blues numbers, whilst also keeping it tasteful, is more difficult than it might naively appear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 You gotta start somewhere. And it depends what you do with the blues. I always end up playing a shuffle beat which p1sses the drummer I jam with off because he can't do shuffle very well - which I've always thought was odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Along with what;s already been said, it's strongly tied to groove, feel and dynamics, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='704975' date='Jan 7 2010, 11:21 PM']Along with what;s already been said, it's strongly tied to groove, feel and dynamics, too.[/quote] Indeed. Please don't think I'm being rude, but the Camel, any particular reason or just fancied a change. Deep apologies for going way off topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 play the gueetar... palay the blues... or play some jazz... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Marvin' post='704977' date='Jan 7 2010, 11:23 PM']Please don't think I'm being rude, but the Camel, any particular reason or just fancied a change.[/quote] Y'know, I'm not entirely sure.... I think he likes you, though. Edited January 7, 2010 by wateroftyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 [quote name='Marvin' post='704977' date='Jan 7 2010, 11:23 PM']Please don't think I'm being rude, but the Camel, any particular reason or just fancied a change.[/quote] Maybe he's got 'the hump'! Coat... getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 [quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='704563' date='Jan 7 2010, 06:30 PM']The Blues are only as boring as you make them[/quote] I've heard a lot of pub bands who must've worked their arses off then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='704986' date='Jan 7 2010, 11:30 PM']Y'know, I'm not entirely sure.... I think he likes you, though.[/quote] Cheers, give him a pat on the head from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Blues (and the precursor, Ragtime) are the foundations upon which all of our popular music is built. The basic chord useage of I-IV-V and the use of the pentatonic scale/minor blues scale are the building blocks for practically all popular music. As an accomplished classical player in my late teens/early twenties I learned to improvise at blues jams. I learned a lot of valuable life skills through "The Blues." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iconic Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 [quote name='teej' post='704740' date='Jan 7 2010, 08:41 PM'] [/quote] I wondered what the woman from the Tom and Jerry cartoons did during the week ? I agree that is fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 [quote name='iconic' post='705104' date='Jan 8 2010, 08:33 AM']I wondered what the woman from the Tom and Jerry cartoons did during the week ? I agree that is fantastic [/quote] Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog was written for her by Leiber & Stoller, who were scared stiff of her! Lyrically it's clearly a woman's song. There is a male response: 'Bear Cat', by Rufus Thomas (Walking the Dog). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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