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Play for the song.. keep time even if youre not the drummer....serve the music...listen to everyone... keep egos and chops in the bag.... Easy to say but how many musicians actually practice it?
After a long time I'm in a nice gigging situation.
Im currently playing with 2 bands which are gigging a fair amount. Both bands share a common bass player- actually, a converted guitar player whos been playing bass for a couple of years. Really nice guy, extremely talented, but with a surprisingly immature attitude towards his music, given his overall experience and ability. He does like to show off given the chance and is a little into 'who can smoke who out'. Watch out if theres a known bass player in the house.. he turns into Victor Wooten
Not surprisingly, he is very melody line oriented, plays mostly in the higher registers, plays a lot of riffs, and is constantly watching ( or listening to the guitar player or our alto player, depending on the band - NEVER NEVER is he watching or listening to the drummer, as in moi- ). Our guitar player is also very concious of this and tries to compensate with some groovy comping ideas...
The outcome is obvious. The groove is weak and thin, becuase he's following the melodic lines rather than creating a grooving counterpoint. Im overcompensating too and almost not enjoying my playing, because Im feeling the weight of holding down the groove which nevers really works in my book unless youre locking in with other instruments.
....... frustrating!.
Having said this, these are both good bands, and after a long time Im in a playing situation which is smooth, functional, with good people who get along...
However this remains the weak link. The guys in the band eventually got together and summoned the nerve to have an akward chat with him and tried to tell him that he needed to hold on to the tunes rather than do wheelies all over em'.. and just do the wheelies in the parts which are designed for him to do wheelies in... AND
...he didnt like it !
I think he felt a little hurt that we'd ganged up on him and stomped on his ego, He said " well this is the way I play, and its how it is". " If you dont like it, get another bass player."
Other bass players are not an option because we've been through most of them, and it doesnt work on one level or another..
I know, this a situation I cant change and I guess we gotta take the bad with the good, but I can at least get it off my chest, so here it is! : )
....
Play for the song.. keep time even if youre not the drummer....serve the music...listen to everyone... keep egos and chops in the bag.... Easy to say but how many musicians actually practice it?
After a long time I'm in a nice gigging situation.
Im currently playing with 2 bands which are gigging a fair amount. Both bands share a common bass player- actually, a converted guitar player whos been playing bass for a couple of years. Really nice guy, extremely talented, but with a surprisingly immature attitude towards his music, given his overall experience and ability. He does like to show off given the chance and is a little into 'who can smoke who out'. Watch out if theres a known bass player in the house.. he turns into Victor Wooten
Not surprisingly, he is very melody line oriented, plays mostly in the higher registers, plays a lot of riffs, and is constantly watching ( or listening to the guitar player or our alto player, depending on the band - NEVER NEVER is he watching or listening to the drummer, as in moi- ). Our guitar player is also very concious of this and tries to compensate with some groovy comping ideas...
The outcome is obvious. The groove is weak and thin, becuase he's following the melodic lines rather than creating a grooving counterpoint. Im overcompensating too and almost not enjoying my playing, because Im feeling the weight of holding down the groove which nevers really works in my book unless youre locking in with other instruments.
....... frustrating!.
Having said this, these are both good bands, and after a long time Im in a playing situation which is smooth, functional, with good people who get along...
However this remains the weak link. The guys in the band eventually got together and summoned the nerve to have an akward chat with him and tried to tell him that he needed to hold on to the tunes rather than do wheelies all over em'.. and just do the wheelies in the parts which are designed for him to do wheelies in... AND
...he didnt like it !
I think he felt a little hurt that we'd ganged up on him and stomped on his ego, He said " well this is the way I play, and its how it is". " If you dont like it, get another bass player."
Other bass players are not an option because we've been through most of them, and it doesnt work on one level or another..
I know, this a situation I cant change and I guess we gotta take the bad with the good, but I can at least get it off my chest, so here it is! : )
....
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