bassmantmaj Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Like everyone, I'm sure, I have to always be on the same page as our drummer. Luckily, he is an excellent drummer and we usually have the same ideas about varying rhythms and such. I like to use standard 4/4 quarters and eighths, but I get charged up when I really "feel" a song and can add some varying eighth riffs and throw in a few rests. I also like to slide down to my note after rests, but i think I tend to overdo that sometimes. "Remembers being small, laying under the table and dreaming...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 I too get carried away with slides and rests. I just love mixing things up, ya know. Especially if I'm playing with someone. I'll make them think I've stopped playing, so they stop, and then I pick things back up and it's all good. Although I like to play fast through my supa-fly bass solo, I'll go slow through a guitar solo, thunder through a drum solo, and follow along to a keyboard solo. Basically I like to funkify things a bit, but who cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmee Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 right now, i get to be all things when recording, so i try to create rich syncapation patterns, without being terribly concerned about the style. usually my cocnern with style is that it's not what i did last time. i'm a big fan of the funk triplet in rythm, so i tend to bounce varying upbeat patterns against that with guitars and suggest any other rythm-centric styles i can, eg afro/latin/reggae in the bass line. when i jam with others on bass, i tend to do a trey anastasio on bass-thing, and just play tons of 8ths and 16ths around the suggested note at any given point, without actually hitting it. i just can't help but love the power of suggestion. --_ ______________ _ "Self-awareness is the key to your upheaval from mediocrity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 There are as many different rhythm patterns as there are snowflakes. I practice out of drum books sometimes. Modern Rhythm Reading in 4/4 Time by Louis Bellson is a great book. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmantmaj Posted January 6, 2003 Author Share Posted January 6, 2003 I love triplets as well, but too many of them can really screw your bandmates up if they aren't sound in their timing. I love to throw in 8th and 16th riffs, but I always try to never play the same thing twice. Variety is the spice of life, right? The most challenging to invent exciting rhythm patterns is 3/4 time. With that constant waltz count going in the back of my head, it's hard to get into any kind of good original feel for the song. JMO. "Remembers being small, laying under the table and dreaming...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 I use the kind of rhythm patterns that fit whatever song I'm playing. To simply corner yourself into a select group of rhythmic patterns would be limiting yourself severely. JeremyC had a wonderful suggestion in practicing out of drum books. Those silly drummers are a clever lot, and they are a vast resource for odd rhythmic stylings and various different ways to mangle time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmantmaj Posted January 6, 2003 Author Share Posted January 6, 2003 I totally agree about using drum rhythms as a guide. Our drummer is great, and he grew up with the original records of Led Zeppelin, etc. to practice with. And Bump, you definately have to tailor the rhythm to each song individually. We like to use a lot of syncopations in our songs. This can get rather tricky at times, but also spices up the songs and makes them sound a lot better than the same old standard stuff. We even play some old hymns at church to a reggae or latin beat. It's amazing how much you can change the feel of the song by just altering the rhythm a little bit!! You guys should go play Amazing Grace with a reggae beat and see what that sounds like! "Remembers being small, laying under the table and dreaming...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWBass Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 There's nothing like a good 'Tumbao' every now and then! www.myspace.com/thefunkfather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 partido alto is a nice rhythm pattern, too. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cup Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 With no musical teaching (I would love some, but I'm extemely skint at the mo') I can't articulate the different rythyms I use. Sometimes I funk, sometimes I swagger, sometimes I get it all wrong. Most times I just try to add to the song! CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmantmaj Posted January 7, 2003 Author Share Posted January 7, 2003 I know what you mean Cup. I think we all get it wrong sometimes! But that's the fun of playing. I enjoy rhythms in songs, though. It's almost as much fun for me to explore varying rhythms in a song as to explore different tones. I guess that's what makes playing our beloved basses so much fun! "Remembers being small, laying under the table and dreaming...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Originally posted by CupMcMali: ...//...Sometimes I funk, sometimes I swagger, sometimes I get it all wrong. Most times I just try to add to the song! CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as getting it all wrong... just maybe not all the way right sometimes! I don't have any formal teaching either, nor do I expect to, so I just have to play what feels right and make it happen. Maybe if I was a classically trained, professional session player, I'd be concerned with getting my rhythms exactly so, or with being able to switch seamlessly between a Bossanowhatever to an Alto Whosamawhich, but otherwise, if it fits , I'm happy, if not, I'll figure something else out. Listneing to different styles and genres helps me do that. DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 danymal_x, it's not about fitting some rigid pattern. It's about matching up with your bandmates and making good music. Certainly there are times when you can play the "rhythm of the moment" and create something cool. But if a song tends to move in a rhythmic pattern (say tumbao or clave) and you cross that pattern, you can create a rhythmic dissonance that could mess up the song, or mess up your bandmates. Tom (oh no, he's set off the rhythmic dissonance generator again!! run for it!! ahhhh) www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 Originally posted by Tom Capasso: danymal_x, it's not about fitting some rigid pattern. It's about matching up with your bandmates and making good music. Certainly there are times when you can play the "rhythm of the moment" and create something cool. But if a song tends to move in a rhythmic pattern (say tumbao or clave) and you cross that pattern, you can create a rhythmic dissonance that could mess up the song, or mess up your bandmates. Tom (oh no, he's set off the rhythmic dissonance generator again!! run for it!! ahhhh)Thats all well and good, if you know what a tumbao or clave might be... might be tropical fruit as far as I know. I guess when I said: .....I just have to play what feels right and make it happen. ...//... but otherwise, if it fits , I'm happy, if not, I'll figure something else out. ... I should have said instead: .... I just have to play what feels right and fits what the rest of the band is doing... I didn't mean to imply that I would go off on a tangent and play some funky out of synch rhythm that I had in my head that morning in the middle of a song... not being formally trained means I don't know the difference theoretically between the many rhythmic styles out there... but to hear them and fit them into a song, that I can do. Just don't ask me to play a tumbao. I'd ask you if you peel it first or eat it whole. Oh, and I do know enough not to mess with that pesky rhythmic dissonance generator... that sucker can really bring down the house... and not in a good way! DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmee Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 ignore the words if you're in a hurry: while i grew up in a traditional music environment, around many musicians of all flavors, i've never had much time for theory or even trying to really understand rythm. the result was a great intuition for music, which it sounds like you have developed yourself as well. given that, and while i'm now trying to make music from a digital studio with a wide range of instruments - my ear is the thing which really needs the attention, not necessarily the descriptives. the higher standard my ear (and tech), the higher the standard of what i will produce. but that's when i'm on my own and don't need to really work with others. when i do work with others, i become the creative problem for them. not the music itself, likewise my time is spent trying desprately to figure out how to fit into what's happening conceptually, not jsut constantly smearing their efforts with my "intuition" - which is something i do enjoy doing =P my point is that while there is nothing wrong with acknowledging how you derive your best efforts in music, and how they might lack the protocols of music theory - i think you should remember there is a whole other world out there available to you, once you take that intuition and plug it into the knowledge that you really already understand, and now just need to begin mastering. but there's never a rush. just a direction. --_ ______________ _ "Self-awareness is the key to your upheaval from mediocrity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 Originally posted by schmee: ...but there's never a rush. just a direction.There's the rub, as it were... I have a full time job, a wife, 4 kids, 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 cars, 4 surfboards, and a house, not to mention the band and the partridge... all of which take up 99.998% of my free time... and while I would love to be able to take the time to delve deeper into musical theory, I really do have to make do with what I have right now... which, according to bandmates and our (small-ish) following, seems to be working out just fine. Don't get me wrong, I do understand the importance of the theory and technical aspects of music, and of bass playing in particular; there is just not much room for it where I'm at now. DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmee Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 why not make that... "not much room for it now, but i try every chance i get to learn one little thing about theory each time i pick up my axe?" just a thought =) --_ ______________ _ "Self-awareness is the key to your upheaval from mediocrity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 uuuuuummmmm... ya. I guess thats kinda my whole point... I don't get alot of opportunity these days, so I make the bestof the time have. DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamsclay Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 I'm working the other direction. I'm learning to put space in my playing. Rests. Music is about leaving space. Often the difference between a good bassist and a great one is not what notes he plays, but in what he more wisely chooses not to. I'm not there. Yet. adamsclay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fonz Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 i use whichever one fits. Eeeeeehhhhhhhhh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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