“ No kidding! It’ s not just‘ boom, boom boom!’”
He said that at his first attempt at playing bass, he began to really analyze what bass players did and began to get a grasp of the subtle nuances that make good bass parts happen.
Every extremely talented multi-instrumentalist I have ever met or heard of always has a primary instrument they specialized in before they began learning other instruments. For instance, Paul McCartney plays drums, piano, guitar, bass, and probably several other instruments that I don’ t know about, but his heart and soul are in the bass. He is truly an authority on innovative, melodic bass playing. You don’ t hear other piano players, guitarists, or drummers talk about him being their main influence, but bass players tell a completely different story. Personally, I have“ borrowed” a lot from Paul. I use the“ McCartney slide” on every session or gig that I play!
Melodic aspect aside, here’ s the best I can explain how to be“ in the pocket”:
Tune in closely to the hi-hat. The space between the drummer’ s hi hat notes is generally where the drummer’ s groove is. You want to get inside the feel that is in his heart, and you can always find it in the subdivided elements of a drummer’ s part. Typically, that is his hi-hat, ride cymbal, or tom groove( if applicable).
Pay close attention to the bass drum pattern that the drummer has chosen. If you decide not to play exactly what he plays, try not to add too many extra notes to his pattern( unless you are playing a straight 1 / 8 note pattern).
Listen to the click( metronome) if there is one and determine how it relates to all the different parts the drummer is playing.
Consider your note duration as it relates to not only the style of the song, but also the different sections of the song. For example, if you are going to play a rock song with a big intro, play longer, more connecting notes on the intro, then change the duration of the note to a 1 / 16 note shorter( a 1 / 16 note rest at the end of every note), which will create space between the notes.
When the chorus comes along, you might keep the same duration in the verse on the first chorus but dig in a little harder dynamically.“ Choke” it back down for the second verse, but then let the notes ring out to their full value on the second chorus. Or you might want to wait until the bridge to really“ let’ em ring.” Whatever note durations you choose, use the same ones all the way through each section in a consistent pattern.
Always maintain a consistent note volume in each section. In the dynamic sense, try to play as evenly as possible. Avoid letting notes jump out or drop drastically in volume in the middle of a pattern.
Experiment with“ laying back” on certain sections to create the“ fat-back” effect( check out Donald“ Duck” Dunn- the“ King” of that groove). You can easily achieve this by plucking the string with a little more“ meat” of the finger rather than the tip. If you need speed for a difficult line, you can easily roll your hand toward the strings, which will better facilitate plucking with the tips of your fingers.
Whatever you do, DON’ T RUSH! You can play on the center or the beat( if the bass drum is), but no farther ahead than that. There is a fine for that! LOL
Blessings on the works of your hands!
Gary Lunn Gary is a session player in Nashville, TN. For recording bass tracks, contracting, producing, or questions... email garylunn @ me. com.
Photo by Ismael Paramo on Unsplash
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