Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[DaveP]

Some of the best times I have had were jamming. There's no pressure, no set list, and everyone is usually sober

I talked about my most unusual jam earlier in this thread (I think). I was out of town on business and one of my work buddies took me to a bluegrass jam that occurs every Friday night in a small town in Virginia. It was a blast for a classic rock/modern blues player.

 

[Uma]

Yes, indeed, on the first page. That would be pure fun heaven for me, I've always enjoyed the jamming in the parks in my area every weekend, although I was too shy to participate. There is a special freedom in Bluegrass, much like the Bass players highly speak of. I learned to play clawhammer style on my Ovation... which worked beautifully ... unless under pressure (anybody, including the dog, watching). It was a blast letting my guitar sing melody and play rhythm while I just blended into the background. Well, enough of me. Please continue, I'm really lovin' this thread!

 

[bassnut]

Replying from another thread:

When Allen Woody died, Govt Mule auditioned a bunch of bass players. The Deepest End CD/DVD collection contains a concert video where Govt Mule invited multiple bass players to play and supposedly audition. It's one of those great concerts where you get to see bass players from the short list of great bass men.

They brought these guys on one after another in a concert that lasted 6 hours.

Amazon.com: Deepest End (with Bonus DVD): Gov't Mule: Music
Amazon.com: Deepest End (with Bonus DVD): Gov't Mule: Music
Tragedy would strike when Allen Woody was found dead. .... which was a tribute to the band's original bassist, Allen Woody who tragically ... Over a dozen of the world's greatest bass players contributed to this concert ... For fans of Gov't Mule, Warren Haynes & the Allman Brothers,

Actually, it is said that there were over 25 bass players involved in the Deep End and Deepest End Project.

I'd almost forgotten about this. I believe I have it on VHS though and no longer have a player. I'll have to get another copy. It's a lot of fun!
Yes. Jack Casady was among them.
He also appears in the Hendrix - Electric Lady Land documentary for his contribution in Voodoo Chile which I believe he performs with Gov't Mule in the Deepest End.

 

[n2danexxus]

I used to play in a band (green shirt on ground) but a couple decided to take different paths. I started learning the piano/keyboard this last year. Specifically to play video game music
It's was lots of fun!

 

[DaveP]

I used to play in a band (green shirt on ground) but a couple decided to take different paths. I started learning the piano/keyboard this last year. Specifically to play video game music
It's was lots of fun!

Looks like a lot of fun, N2! Is that a big Ampeg cab behind the other guitar player! Seems like the bass player should be standing in front of that one. Maybe it's a PA cab. I see one like it one the left.

 

[bassnut]

It's a PA cab. Seems like a dangerous place to stand in terms of feedback but absent floor monitors, if you can get away with it...why not?

What's with the stocky bass players in shorts these days. I see that frequently and they always have that pose like their strangling a goat or some other midsized animal. Dog maybe.

In my day we was all (grandpa grammar) tall and skinny and we stood like this, knees akimbo, you know....manly like:

No that's not me. I just grabbed it of the web Googling "bass player poses"



And what's with all that short hair? Grow it out a little. It won't kill ya.
Look at me. I'm 73 and I've never been sick a day in my life.

Uh...that's not me either.

 

[Safira]

Ah bassnut you reminded me of this one, The History of the Guitar Face if you haven't read "history of guitar face" it's a good read.

 

[DaveP]

It kills me to see guitar players with their axe down around their knees. Carpal tunnel syndrome is down the road when you have to bend your wrist that far to grab a chord or a note. It also restricts your ability to play solos. I guess that's why the one note riffs are so popular these days. Neil Young would be proud (Cinnamon Girl). I like my guitar low, but my right arm somewhat level with the ground. The middle of the guitar body is about even with my belt buckle.

I was watching a Foo Fighters concert on Paladia the other night. It just seems a waste to play the same note for a whole chord and then change the note with the next chord. I'd be bored to death and have to revert to a Hendrix style.

 

[bassthumper]

I disagree. Most guitar players when playing bass tend to be more focused on melody.
At first it used to bug me when a guitar player grabbed a bass and seemed to sound more creative than me playing all sorts of cool sounding melodic runs etc. Later I realized they did this because they really didn't grasp the function of the bass in an ensemble.

Of course playing melodic bass can be a very cool thing, don't get me wrong but listen to Paul McCartney's bass playing in the Beatle's early years having been a guitar player. He's considered one of the most melodic but tasteful players ever but he early on understood the proper roll of the instrument in the type of rock and roll they we're playing then.

I TOTALLY know what you meant about former guitarists picking up a bass! (usually played with a pick, as well argh!) The bass is part of the rhythm section and it seems they can't grasp that sometimes... that's why I'm the bassist and THEY're the guitarist

 

[bassthumper]

I really enjoy listening to a slap bassist like Wooten and some of the funk players. When you lock bass drum to a funk bassist, you have a jam that makes you move in defined patterns on the dance floor.

Most bassists have probably seen this one, but I thought I'd post it just in case.

Stanley Clark, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten - Beat It

SMV!! Nice clip thanks for sharing! I highly recommend that album if you're a bassist. Or any kind of musician for that matter- very neat idea they did WELL.

 

[bassthumper]

My favorite bassists - (in no paricular order.. except the first)

Justin Chancellor
Rex Brown
Geezer Butler
Steve Harris
Geddy Lee
Cliff Burton
Dave Ellefson

..and more I just cant think of them yet.

(bassists get the hottest girls too)

My poor man! You need to listen to more music!
Check these guys out:
Victor Wooten, Ray Riendeau, Marcus Miller
need more, lemme know

 

[bassthumper]

Dang!
Getting a jam together around Nashville should be as easy as falling out of bed and landing in the middle of one, I always thought.

Well sure it's easy to get a jam- I'm looking to join a BAND- one with some TALENT
It seems all the TALENT here is taken!

 

[n2danexxus]

Yeah you can see where I have my guitar in the pic. The other guitar player kept his low for reasons I'll never understand, especially playing a Les Paul which was heavier than a cargo ship.

bassnuts right, it's a PA cab but it's off to his left, it just looks like it's behind him in the pic.

We had a lot of fun at that show. It was a car show for imports and lowriders.

 

[DaveP]

I've always played a heavy guitar. I played my 79 Ash Strat for a couple of decades before I changed to the Les Paul. The Strat and the LP are fairly close in weight. I like sustain! For a couple of years in the 70s, I played a Gibson thinline SG. It was about an inch thick and had less sustain than some acoustics. The body just had no mass and that kills sustain.

Bassthumper, it's a shame that we couldn't have a virtual online jam. Wouldn't that be interesting ... ? Lag and latency would absolutely kill the tightness of the tempo.

 

[bassnut]

Well sure it's easy to get a jam- I'm looking to join a BAND- one with some TALENT
It seems all the TALENT here is taken!

Of all of the places on this planet, for guitar players, Nashville might just as well be Mecca....
Has been, is now and forever shall be...God willing and the river don't rise much past the last time it flooded.
A bass player in Nashville has no good reason to not be busy unless perhaps he doesn't know his own business to begin with.

Learn to support. Learn to support. Learn to support......

Support whoever is being featured in a song be it guitar player, singer, drummer, brass, keys...whatever.
Do whatever you can do to help them sound good. They also represent you as band members.
I suggest learning to support and work up from there.
...or maybe you're the next Bass God that the world has been waiting for.
You might just be right. Please don't let me stand in your way with my old-school philosophy.

 

[DaveP]

Something like 1 out of several thousand, may less, actually make it to even regional fame. There are so many great players that even the good ones fall through the cracks.

Duane Allman was asked in a radio interview once how it felt to be the most admired lead player in the United States. He replied something like "There are 10,000 guitar players who play in bars every night, most of whom could play rings around me. I just was in the right place at the right time." He was just that kind of humble individual.

I agree with Bassnut. Nashville is the place to be to be discovered. Shop yourself around the studios, the music stores, play in some bars, make some friends and you will be able to make a living. One night the right talent scout will hear you play and the rest could be history ... But not if you don't make the rounds and try to make something happen. Who knows ... You could be discovered in a free form jam one Saturday afternoon.

 

[bassnut]

I wasn't necessarily talking about being discovered. I was meaning more about being in demand with fellow musicians and maybe getting a paid gig once in a while. To me that's a huge measure of success when you crunch the numbers.

 

[Safira]

Hey guys can I ask a music question. Please try and be gentil I've only been playing for a year. I'm trying to transcribe by ear a song, and don't want to look up the tab, or be spoonfeed, but I'm having a problem hearing the exact strumming pattern in a song. I know it's 16th note strumming, but for some reason I can't get my brain to remember which e & a I hear it.

Is there any special tricks, I know with 1/8 note strumming I can usually just recognize the pattern by now, so maybe I just need more experience in 16th note to start hearing the pattern myself. But, I thought I'd ask if there are any other tips, besides listening to it over and over, foot tapping and trying to count it out.

thanks,

 

[bassnut]

What's the song?

 

[Safira]

It's a very easy song, Creep by Radiohead, (the acoustic version) Chords where easy (I think) all barre chords, G, B, C, and C minor. (right??) They don't sound like open chords to me, I really think it's barre chords. (I haven't looked at any video's so I could be wrong, I'm trying to learn to be a big girl) I'm not 100% sure on all the chords if he's adding something, or if he's just hitting a few strings on an up strum, but I think I might hear something else. (I know you don't really hit all the strings on an up strum, but I sometimes hear something different)

For some reason with the strumming I just can't quite count it out. I am just starting to work on 16th note strumming so maybe the common patterns just aren't in my head yet? But this seems like such an easy song for a newbie like me to work out.

thanks,