Bass Column

When to play and when to hold back

Yes, the groove/feel/pocket should come first but that doesn’t mean that sparse and open is always the best approach. Conversely, busier parts can definitely groove too! Sometimes more 8ths and 16ths can actually help lock a groove together. There can then also be the added beauty of releasing tension and changing the whole feel when the bass line does move to a less notey idea. When do I play more though? And when do I hold back? Hmmmm… unfortunately there’s no set answer for this and the ol’ vagaries of music ensue, leaving it up to you, your ear and your sense of groove to work it out. Let’s work through some examples though to hopefully help you hear, recognise and understand some of the scenarios and different ideas to play.

Sparsey sparse (Figure A)

Play Figure A as a 90bpm straight funk groove. The drummer would typically follow the bass line with the kick drum creating a ‘70s type funk feel. Leaving rests on 2 and 4 allows room to breathe and for other instruments to fill the space yet harmonically you can still hear the changes through E-G-A. This line could then work for the Verse on the first time, but then perhaps you could add some more notes into the repeat (Figure B).

A little more (Figure B)

Now we have the original line from Figure A, but with some additional ornamentation. The D-E on the +a of 4 is a common characteristic of many funk bass lines and creates a nice rhythmic lead into the G-G quavers at the start of Bar 2. To now move from the G to the A we have a chromatic line G-G#-A with a similar rhythm which again adds to the movement and flow. If the drummer played the same sparse groove for both of these examples the bass in Figure B would be helping with the 16th note feel by filling some more gaps. Let’s take it another step further in Figure C.

Busy busy (Figure C)

We now get much busier! Lots of semiquavers to really reinforce the feel/time (Beats 1 2 3 of Bar 1), but still with some rests to add movement and contrast with perhaps a funk guitar lick, hi hat part or synth poking through. A couple of points to note – these types of grooves need to be well executed to really lock in the time feel. Busy messy grooves defeat the whole purpose and often do more harm than good. So, articulation – think how you’re attacking the note. Be aware of note length/note values – do you want them legato or more staccato with some room between the notes? Most importantly, listen to what the rest of the band is doing. If there’s room to play busier go for it. If playing busy will reinforce what someone else is doing, go for it. If the groove is open and more sparse, and that space is needed, then don’t play busy! Rocco Prestia, Jaco, Les Claypool, Jason Newstead and more have great examples of varying these dynamics. Try listening, transcribing, jamming and working on your grooves and feel as a start and then put it into practice.

BY NICK BROWN