Versatility: A Guide for Bassists

by Damian Erskine Q: Like a lot of the guys out there on the scene, you make a living playing a wide variety of styles. have a hard enough time trying to play well in any one style of music. !ow do you get so comforta"le in so many different kinds of musical settings# A: I think that a part of it may be perception meaning, how youre categorizing different styles mentally !or me, its all music, plain and simple "rue, e#ery style of music has its #ocabulary "heres also a need to be e$posed to different styles to get an understanding of them And thats the biggest point I want to make: E$pose yourself to all types of music% &uch of how we play is dictated not only by how we practice but also what we listen to In order to play any style of music, you first ha#e to know how its supposed to sound and feel "his in#ol#es listening A lot of listening 'ou could study tumbaos out of a book for a lifetime, but you would ne#er get them to feel right unless you also listened to the music and internalized how it is really supposed to feel (wing is much the same "here are plenty of guys who can put the right notes in the right places and it )ust isnt happening &athematically, it may be correct, but music is about feeling I come across this a lot with my students and they often look at me with a confused face when I say that its more about the feel than knowing the right notes and ha#ing good time "his is because we spend much of our time focusing on controlling tempo, owning rhythm and sub*di#isions and learning what notes might sound good o#er any gi#en chord type "his is all nuts and bolts stuff, and you ha#e to know this stuff to be a #ersatile, working bassist +for the most part, -ut the plain and simple truth is that none of that matters at all if you cant make the music feel right Ill e#en go so far as to say that you could ignore all of the .right notes/ and sound better with good feel than the in#erse +play all of the right notes but with a bad feel, An e$ample: I was working on some tumbao lines with a student and the chart was mo#ing by pretty 0uickly "he written line had a lot of syncopation, so in order to keep his place with the music, the student was slamming his foot +whole leg, in really 0uick 0uarter notes 1hile he was playing the line correctly, he was frustrated because he could hear that it wasnt sitting right2 "he music didnt feel good I simply asked him to pick a 3*bar phrase that he could memorize +so he didnt ha#e to look at the page in order to keep his place,, and then I told him to loop that line 4e$t, I told him to stop stomping out the 0uarter notes and mo#e his body in half*time back and forth, almost like a dancer might sway to the music 5is notes began to shift e#er so slightly and they were no longer exactly on the proper sub*di#isions but rather sitting )ust where they were supposed to in the line with the percussion 5is bass line began to sound like music I used this trick myself when I had to play .In#itation/ with the 6aco 7astorius -ig -and "hat line is busy and the tempo is fast but it needs to feel rela$ed and sit almost like a good funk groo#e or 89- line would :ike so many of 6acos lines, the trick is to approach them from an 89perspecti#e with regard to feel At first, I had trouble technically playing the line properly at the tempo the band was taking it at &y solution; I mo#ed my body in 0uarter time%

I swayed to the music with an entire bar going by for each step of my foot and sway of my body "his caused me to rela$ into it and e#erything fell into place (imply by feeling the whole note pulse with my body instead of e#ery blazingly fast 0uarter note, I could immediately not only play the line but could make it sit )ust where it needed to 1e#e gone on a slight tangent, though 'our 0uestion was about playing in many or any style with authority and what that takes 5eres my suggested list: < Listen to and seek out all kinds of music I lo#e watching the =&As for e$ample because the bands are so good and those singers are ridiculously talented :ea#ing yourself open to e#ery kind of music and acti#ely seeking out what you en)oy and could learn from e#ery style of music can only enhance your o#erall musicality > $on%t think &'hat am supposed to play here#() Instead, listen to the music as a whole and think .what do I want to hear here;/ Its a subtle difference in approach but the ability to listen to the band as if you were in the audience and react to the music as a listener is a huge leap, often with regard to the o#erall musical result ? 'atch *ou+u"e videos and go to concerts of every kind. ,ay attention to how the musicians feel the music physically, "y watching. "he )azz guys dont dance much +:@:,, but you can glean a lot from the drummer, for e$ample E#en on an up*tempo bop tune, how are they breathing and mo#ing with the music; "his could gain you some insight into how they are feeling the bigger pulse Afro*=uban, (alsa, etc you can learn a lot by watching the musicians here "hey dance% 3 -usic is music. 'ou cant force it (imply pay attention and listen, hard Dont o#er think but, rather, let your body and your ears tell you how to feel the music "his part isnt academic2 its emotion, really (a#e the hyper*#igilant problem sol#ing for the shed when working on changes and internalizing those subdi#isions "hen, when its time to play music, stop thinking and feel it% As always, love hearing what you guys have to say on these topics. ,lease share your thoughts, advice and techni.ues in the comments.