Guitar riff vs bass riff

[Ross Brown]

Some riffs are simply guitar riffs...

 

We are doing the song "Attitude" (Wynonna). The guitar player wants me to double to "riff". I say no... it makes it too muddy. I play on the riff but just on "accent' notes.

 

Have you had experience with guitar players not seeming to understand the nature of the bass and what is does well and what it does not?

 

 

 

[lug]

Some riffs are simply guitar riffs...

 

We are doing the song "Attitude" (Wynonna). The guitar player wants me to double to "riff". I say no... it makes it too muddy. I play on the riff but just on "accent' notes.

 

Have you had experience with guitar players not seeming to understand the nature of the bass and what is does well and what it does not?

 

 

I think the better question would be "Have you ever not had experience with guitar players not seeming to understand the nature of the bass and what is does well and what it does not?"

 

 

 

 

[Phil W]

I think the better question would be "Have you ever not had experience with guitar players not seeming to understand the nature of the bass and what is does well and what it does not?"

 

 

 

 

Word! Many just think it's a big guitar.

[_Sweet Willie_]

1. The guitar and bass doubling the riff works quite nicely on, say, "Black Dog." :-) (However, I admit not being familiar with the tune in question in this thread.)

 

2. For some reason this thread made me think of Anthony Jackson and his ruminations about the instrument we play. -Click me!-

 

Peace.

--SW

 

[The Bear Jew]

When I play bass, I wind up in the opposite situation--I come up with bad-ass lines to play under chord progressions, and one of the guitarists winds up wanting to play it, too. What was originally a neat little bass part then becomes something else entirely. I should probably take it as a compliment, but I still wind up feeling a little robbed.

 

The worst part is that the riffs are usually pleasing enough to the ear that they sound good when doubled on guitar, so it's not like I can complain about it sounding bad or not working.

 

Generally speaking, though, unison riffs seem to sound best when they're actually written with the "unison" aspect in mind from the get-go. See almost all of Black Sabbath's catalog for reference.

 

In your case, Ross, I'm gonna guess you already tried doubling the riff in a few different positions before totally nixing the idea, right? Because unless you give it a shot, you can't honestly say it doesn't work. And it couldn't hurt to know the riff inside and out, anyway.

 

Besides, who says your version of the riff wouldn't be so sweet that it could just replace the guitar part, leaving him playing chords behind your dopeness? Granted, it's a cover gig, and I know you're not trying to re-invent the wheel here, but still...

 

[jcadmus]

Try it once -- maybe it will suck, maybe it will sound great.

 

But then you'll know.

[Imogene]

Hey Ross, I youtubed that song (not familiar with it either), and I agree with you, the separation that the guitar and bass have sounds better together. Don't know why a guitar player would want the bass to double note for note. Now, if you meet at a common note here and there, that sounds good, but yeah, I agree with you, I'd just say that it sounds muddy and then play to compliment the riff.

 

And yes, I have played with guitar players who seem to not understand bass as you have said. They have always proven to be less experienced than me as I've gotten to know them.

[Paul K]

No brainer. Take it up an octave for the first part of the song, note for note with the guitar. Once the riff and groove is established and before it gets old and worn out, go back to doing the less-is-more thing down low where you belong. For transitions in the song, say when a second solo happens or something, take it back up the octave note for note thing to remind the friendly patrons where the song was born.

 

After the first eight bars, the guitar player will be all caught up in his own world, and so won't have a clue what you're doing anyway. Everybody wins.

[Richard W]

"Day Tripper" also features a nice guitar riff and bass riff playing in unison. So sometimes it works.

[Ross Brown]

I agree that sometimes it works.

 

I will fool with it a little to see if working the octaves, etc works well. Last night... not so much. He plays with lots of distorion on the riff and I could watch open strings just ring... Going up may help. There is one part (Repeated) in which it is cool to have riff on the bass, while guitar is playing lead over it. That will work pretty well. Still not sold on the doubling of the riff. I'll report back, hopefully next week.

 

Thanks. I am just a stubborn bastard...