Here’s some practical information on some common issues when playing bass in a band. I’m not trying to be like mr. all knowing bass guru or anything. I definitely don’t claim to be that. I’m just talking about things that I’ve had to tighten up and get better at in my own performance skills. And they’re the things that stood out most recently as I was preparing for my current gig. It’s a Blues/Rock (power) trio.
As far as the bass playing duties (haha, I said “duties”) in this particular band, there’s some improvisation, but mostly I’m playing through arranged parts. There’s usually only three of us so the bass parts have to be nailed and right on time. Plus there are tons of cues for the sections and changes that come at random times so I really have to pay attention to what’s going on around me and be ready for someone to signal for the changes.
To make matters worse, for this band I have to set up and stand to the left of the drummer. That means in order to look at my fretboard, I have to turn my head and look away from the band, since I’m right handed. I had to get used to looking at my fretboard as little as possible and be ready for cues the whole time on this gig, so I made up this video to talk about it.
If anyone else has anything valuable you want to add from your own experience, go right ahead and comment like I say, I don’t have all the answers, but we can all learn from each others experience!
Here’s an easy to do exercise that’s great for warming up and getting ready to play. It doesn’t require too much thought, and will get the fingers moving and ease your brain into playing bass mode. I first learned this exercise years ago as a teenager when I took Flemenco guitar lessons (yes I took Flemenco lessons from an amazing player who was from Spain - he was the real deal). Then, recently I watched a youtube vid of Dave Larue talking about the very same exercise, so I figured it was worth making up a video for as well
“House Is A Rockin” by Stevie Ray Vaughn, Texas Style Boogie or Dominant arpeggio exercise for bass? These are the kind of questions that must be answered if I’m going to continue to ramble on pointlessly. haha But seriously though folks, this is a short, fun tune to blast through. They played it in C, but they tuned down a half step so if you’re tuned regular (A440) then you would play it in B along with the recording. Its a ‘ I IV V ‘ tune just listen for the changes.
The basic note pattern is a Dominant arpeggio (mixolydian, a Major triad + b7) and the Major 6th as shown in the video. You can just play that pattern for each chord, or you can always mess around with it. You can switch around the order of the notes or play some notes only once instead of twice each time. I just always thought it was a fun tune to play and a borderline “exercise”. Like an etude, i guess. A blues bass etude? Maybe not. Have Fun!!!!
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Here’s some more ways to practice fretboard memorization. It builds off of part 1 where I played single notes all over the fretboard, but here I’m playing the rest of the notes of a Major scale. The idea is to play the scale off each note everywhere on the fretboard. Start with the E’s, then all the A’s then go through the rest of the circle of 5ths(E A D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B) It’s a ‘note drill’ type exercise and not real musical, but it can really help you to start being able to quickly go to an Eb Major scale(for instance) anywhere on the fretboard without having to think about it! You can/should run through this drill using minor, Dominant(mixolydian), min7b5(locrian). Also could run through it playing the arpeggios of each chord type listed above. Have fun, don’t forget to use your metronome haha
This video features random info on playing blues bass. A lot of the topics could be entire videos themselves, but I wanted to try and cover as many aspects of blues bass as I could. The topics I’m talking about here are what I consider to be some of the most important parts of playing blues bass in a band.
Firstly, the bass is where the band gets all its forward momentum, especially in blues. The drums are helping to form the rhythm section, but it’s the bass part in particular
that provides the propulsion that the rest of the band can ride on.
When you play blues tunes, it’s best not to play too busy during the main groove and verse parts. You can loosen it up for the solos, but mostly there’s are certain walking bass lines over a shuffle beat that gives blues music it’s sound and drive. Note wise, a simple Major triad (1st, 3rd, 5th) works very well over Major or Dom7 based blues tunes. From there you can add in the 6th and/or b7th step of the Major scale.
Those are the notes, now what about the feel? The beat is called a blues shuffle and it workd best with a very steady, pumping walking bass. Don’t get me wrong - there’s all kinds of ways to play some blues. I play funkified blues all the time, but for straight ahead Mississippi Delta/St Louis/Texas/Memphis/Chicago Blues songs it’s all about that walking shuffle.
A super important thing is shifting from the basic Major scale finger setup (middle finger on the root note) to get at the lower notes and shifting back. It makes playing walking bass lines really easy. Just shift your pinky onto that root note where your middle finger was. You can put your index finger three frets down. That’s the root of the relative minor.
Bass walk-ups are huge in blues and some other genres (like country). Usually there’s a walkup into th four chord. Walkups are a way to guide the listener into the chord change. It’s very common and effective. In fact, people get so used to hearing the bass walkup in popular tunes that one time, I had the riot act read to me by an overzealous band leader when I left it out. It’s like they need to hear it.
A good way to play the walkup is (on the last measure of the I chord - before it changes to the IV) start with the root on the downbeat, then go up to the second note of the scale (a whole step, or two frets) on the next beat, and then the next two frets in a row on the other two beats. Then right up into the root of the IV chord on the downbeat.
Be sure to check out Part 2 of this video for a whole bunch more Blues Bass Tips
like I say, I don’t have all the answers, but we can all learn from each others experience!
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