As FretLessSince68 rightly said, a very important axpect of the fretless bass is soloing: I'd like to know your opinions about this theme and everything you feel important about it , like chord and rhythm changes, feelings, dynamics and harmonic changes.
Also, some of your favorite soloists.
Thank you all guys!
Bass Soloing
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA
For me soloing is a challenge. Usually in the context of a jazz quintet reading standards or more obscure charts.
The first challenge in maintaining intonation with my nose in the book while reading the changes.
The second challenge is maintaining strong timing since the combo no longer has a bassist supporting it. If you listen to Alain Carons' recordings you will notice that he almost always has a bass track under the bass solos. In the studio one has the luxury of using a click track, or having a drum track, and other tracks, that were recorded to the click, thus 100% confident of solid time under the bass solo. In a real life, live gigging situation, the soloing bassist must have confidence in your fellow players time. If they have poor time, God help you. Unfortunately, this is all too common.
One solution to the time dilemma is to go it alone and have the other players lay out. Then you can get free (or stay on time) and express yourself without having to worry about the other players random time events. If going the free route we need to indicate to the rest of the combo when the bass solo is done. The usual method is to play the last four or eight bars of the chart in time.
Another time problem solution is instructing the drummer to never follow the bass solo syncopation. Some drummers (such as the guy I am currently playing with) have a tendency to compensate when they hear the bassist play a strong note (chord tone) on a weak beat (beats other than one or three). For instance, if during a solo I play a dotted quarter note on beat four, and the next note is a quarter starting on the upbeat after one, this drummer will consistently think that this late quarter note is a downbeat and then it all falls apart. The solution to this problem is to play simply in a rhythmic sense. Of course this limits your expression, but at least you get to the end of the chart together.
The next challenge is reading treble clef. Being able to freely flow through changes without it sounding like bass playing in a higher range is important. Bassists typically think in terms of chord/arpeggio/scale/+leading tones when creating bass lines. This approach, while adequate, needs to be transcended to really free up your solos. Thus the bassist needs to be able to read treble clef and use the MELODY as a guideline for solo style and note selection.
The next challenge is understanding the modal characteristics of the chord progression. Often a composer will link several chords that are unified modally. Next identify when these changes diverge from the mode and establish a new mode. Sometimes it is easier to think of modal changes as key changes, it depends on your understanding of music theory, and how fluent a reader you are. If you can play modally through a series of changes, using the melody for note cues, it really seems to flow better.
The next challenge is keeping to the chart form. Since you don't have a bassist telling you (with leading tones) where to go, you have to keep track of the chart. Frequently, when the bassist takes a solo the other players think it's break time and lose focus of the chart so you can't rely on them to hold it together. The piano player I am working with won't play a chord on the downbeat, not even for money, and hates root position chords, so YOU need to be confident of where you are in the chart. Count the bars if you have to.
Perhaps the greatest challenge is finding the time to practice and prepare solos ahead of time. Top call players may be able to come to a session and blow a master level solo cold on the first reading but I'm not there yet. If I make the time to prepare a solo for a particular chart, I find it to be a very wise investment.
Of course creativity is the name of the game so always be willing to take musical risks and improvise. Your years of preparation will pull you out of any jams you may get into. If you don't have years of experience then more preparation is a good idea.
One subject I would like to hear more from other players is how to pace your solo and build to a climax.
Another subject that probably is of interest is the use of "licks and riffs" as the basis of a solo.
The first challenge in maintaining intonation with my nose in the book while reading the changes.
The second challenge is maintaining strong timing since the combo no longer has a bassist supporting it. If you listen to Alain Carons' recordings you will notice that he almost always has a bass track under the bass solos. In the studio one has the luxury of using a click track, or having a drum track, and other tracks, that were recorded to the click, thus 100% confident of solid time under the bass solo. In a real life, live gigging situation, the soloing bassist must have confidence in your fellow players time. If they have poor time, God help you. Unfortunately, this is all too common.
One solution to the time dilemma is to go it alone and have the other players lay out. Then you can get free (or stay on time) and express yourself without having to worry about the other players random time events. If going the free route we need to indicate to the rest of the combo when the bass solo is done. The usual method is to play the last four or eight bars of the chart in time.
Another time problem solution is instructing the drummer to never follow the bass solo syncopation. Some drummers (such as the guy I am currently playing with) have a tendency to compensate when they hear the bassist play a strong note (chord tone) on a weak beat (beats other than one or three). For instance, if during a solo I play a dotted quarter note on beat four, and the next note is a quarter starting on the upbeat after one, this drummer will consistently think that this late quarter note is a downbeat and then it all falls apart. The solution to this problem is to play simply in a rhythmic sense. Of course this limits your expression, but at least you get to the end of the chart together.
The next challenge is reading treble clef. Being able to freely flow through changes without it sounding like bass playing in a higher range is important. Bassists typically think in terms of chord/arpeggio/scale/+leading tones when creating bass lines. This approach, while adequate, needs to be transcended to really free up your solos. Thus the bassist needs to be able to read treble clef and use the MELODY as a guideline for solo style and note selection.
The next challenge is understanding the modal characteristics of the chord progression. Often a composer will link several chords that are unified modally. Next identify when these changes diverge from the mode and establish a new mode. Sometimes it is easier to think of modal changes as key changes, it depends on your understanding of music theory, and how fluent a reader you are. If you can play modally through a series of changes, using the melody for note cues, it really seems to flow better.
The next challenge is keeping to the chart form. Since you don't have a bassist telling you (with leading tones) where to go, you have to keep track of the chart. Frequently, when the bassist takes a solo the other players think it's break time and lose focus of the chart so you can't rely on them to hold it together. The piano player I am working with won't play a chord on the downbeat, not even for money, and hates root position chords, so YOU need to be confident of where you are in the chart. Count the bars if you have to.
Perhaps the greatest challenge is finding the time to practice and prepare solos ahead of time. Top call players may be able to come to a session and blow a master level solo cold on the first reading but I'm not there yet. If I make the time to prepare a solo for a particular chart, I find it to be a very wise investment.
Of course creativity is the name of the game so always be willing to take musical risks and improvise. Your years of preparation will pull you out of any jams you may get into. If you don't have years of experience then more preparation is a good idea.
One subject I would like to hear more from other players is how to pace your solo and build to a climax.
Another subject that probably is of interest is the use of "licks and riffs" as the basis of a solo.
One good note makes my day.
To me, soloing is expressing myself in a context that goes beyond layin' down a groove or supporting other players, and it involves many things: your mood, your fellow musician's mood, the kind of music you're playing, its harmonic structure ecc...when we're playing fretless maybe it's easier to have a melodic approach to changes and chords for the nature of the instrument itself: personally I love to mix melodic phrases with long notes, quick licks and a "bebop approach"with diminished scales and chords but It really depend of the situation and how I feel...sometimes I'll lay down a simple and groovy solo, and sometimes a fast one with lot of notes and harmony/rythm changes. Another important thing is: are the other bandmates going to let the bass player solo?!
I remember one gig years ago, I was tryin' to solo while the guitar player was playing a million of notes over it : he didn't understand I was soloing, so he was playing a solo over my solo! I was furious!
I remember one gig years ago, I was tryin' to solo while the guitar player was playing a million of notes over it : he didn't understand I was soloing, so he was playing a solo over my solo! I was furious!
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA
Having other players stomp on the bass solo has happened to me too. It must be a hazard of the instrument.
I think the cause is that many groups have a set solo order and the bass and/or drums do not solo on every song as do the other players. The usual soloists take their solos in the usual order and are not concerned with bass solos.
We need to get some prearranged agreement before the song is counted that there will be a bass solo after, say, the guitar solo. Another approach is to arrange a particular song to have a bass solo at a certain spot.
In my experience, I have found that these arrangements are soon forgotton and the group reverts to the usual solo order that does not include bass solos. The more players in a group, the worse this problem becomes.
One of the jazz groups I play with has four soloists, so there is very little room for bass solos. By the time the first four soloist are done, the tune is already seven minutes long.
I have found that keeping ones eyes open (this applies to the guitarist too) for solo cues helps greatly. This way when the leader throws me a solo offer I can take it.
If you want to solo frequently:
A. Get in a trio or quartet, forget the larger groups.
B. Have an agreement with the other players where the bass solos will occur, such as after the piano solo, or on certain tunes.
C. Be prepared to solo on any tune in your book.
I think the cause is that many groups have a set solo order and the bass and/or drums do not solo on every song as do the other players. The usual soloists take their solos in the usual order and are not concerned with bass solos.
We need to get some prearranged agreement before the song is counted that there will be a bass solo after, say, the guitar solo. Another approach is to arrange a particular song to have a bass solo at a certain spot.
In my experience, I have found that these arrangements are soon forgotton and the group reverts to the usual solo order that does not include bass solos. The more players in a group, the worse this problem becomes.
One of the jazz groups I play with has four soloists, so there is very little room for bass solos. By the time the first four soloist are done, the tune is already seven minutes long.
I have found that keeping ones eyes open (this applies to the guitarist too) for solo cues helps greatly. This way when the leader throws me a solo offer I can take it.
If you want to solo frequently:
A. Get in a trio or quartet, forget the larger groups.
B. Have an agreement with the other players where the bass solos will occur, such as after the piano solo, or on certain tunes.
C. Be prepared to solo on any tune in your book.
One good note makes my day.
As Fretless68 mentioned, I also find a solo a major challenge but a challenge I welcome, I find for me the best solo's are the ones which aren't really planned, more improvised where you have the basic structure and it's down to you as a player to take it somewhere else. Sometimes I hit the nail on the head, sometimes I don't, but that's all part of it for me.
Another solo I enjoy is performing something you may have written or a solo piece written by a legend, that's another type of challenge to me, It's great to put your own mark on a famous solo.
Another solo I enjoy is performing something you may have written or a solo piece written by a legend, that's another type of challenge to me, It's great to put your own mark on a famous solo.
Another great things in a solo is the use of dinamics and various techniques, especially if you're approaching the solo in a classic jazz setting...I like to use the plam muting and my thumb to start softly a solo, then I'll switch to long notes and then to fast pizzicato licks or chords...I never slap or tap on the fretless, I use these techniques only on the fretted bass(I'm not Manring unfortunately!).
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FretLessSince68
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location: On an Island, WA, USA