BASS
Roberto Arquilla is a sound engineer and the bassist for The Dears . He also recently became a father . The Dears ’ latest release , Times Infinity Volume One , is now available . www . thedears . org .
By Roberto Arquilla
The Ghost Slide
EX . 1
Although I was excited about writing this article , I soon realized that since I have no formal training , this would be a little bit tricky . My musical skills have been acquired through practice and playing by ear , learning Motown songs and playing along to other music I like . My tenure in The Dears is where I ’ ve been able to hone these skills .
One of the techniques I like to pull out of my bag of tricks from time to time is what I can best describe as a “ ghost slide .” I like to use the ghost slide for energetic songs , for example The Dears ’ “ 5 Chords ” from 2011 ’ s Degeneration Street . I feel it adds a bit of tension and urgency , and it maintains a certain amount of energy in the song .
What is a ghost slide ? In short , it ’ s a quick slide UP the neck that breaks and lands on the lower octave of the intended root note . The rhythm of it should remind you of the Doppler effect of , say , a fast motorcycle passing you . Some of the details to bear in mind are that the notes naturally get a bit louder as you slide up
the neck , therefore a soft touch is better , but the root note where you land ( third string open A in this case ) should be dynamically on par with the rest of the bass line . It ’ s also not necessary to reach the high octave before dropping down to the low one . There ’ s something to be said about aural hallucinations – the listener ’ s brain will fill in the blanks . These are the things that I feel make the ghost slide “ ghost-y .”
In Ex . 1 above , I use the ghost slide and root note on the same string , but it doesn ’ t have to be confined to that . If the root note you ’ re leading to is D , for instance , you can slide up the third string A , past the 12 th fret and quickly land on the open second D string .
You don ’ t have to be limited to using open strings , either . You can slide up the D or G string with your pinky or ring finger and land next to it and land on the easily reachable lower octave on the E or A string ( respectively ) two frets down , two strings over . It ’ s an easy little flourish to have fun with . Just remember the light touch !
WWW . CANADIANMUSICIAN . COM CANADIAN MUSICIAN • 27