The bass guitar is one of the main rock instruments (guitar, bass, drums). To be a good bass player you must have a good sense of time (rhythm) - keeping the rest of the band locked into the drummer's tempo, and an idea of what notes or lines to play to help establish or embellish the cords. Being a bass player myself, the principals that I try to follow are K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) and Serve the Song. Now here are videos of bass players in the funk music tradition. Both are excellent slap bass players; we will discuss this bass technique in a later post.
Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station talks about when to keep that bass playing simple and when to bring to to the front a little more.
In this next video Bootsy Collinswho has played with James Brown, Parliament and Funkadelic explains his "basic funk formula"
Now here is an excellent performance by Bootsy Collins. I love this video - it makes me happy every time I watch it. The song is "Stretchin' Out"by "Bootsy's Rubber Band". (I'm not sure what show or year this is from; the ensemble include Hiram Bullock on guitar, Omar Hakim on drums and David Sanborn on Saxophone.)
This post may not be terribly interesting to you if you don't play an instrument; bass technique is not something that the average listener really picks up on. But the bass player's style and approach can totally change the way a song "feels" and moves along. The bass makes or breaks a song without getting much credit often.
Who's your favorite bass player or song with a cool bass line?
