Conference napalm::guitar

    
    
    	I think it also has to do with the material that the band
    is playing. It's hard to be "melodic" if you're playing in
    a typical rock cover band. 
    
    	What kind of music was this band playing? 
    
    -T
    

    
    The best example of a "musical" bassist I can think of is Paul
    McCartney who has a style that is almost totally melodic.  His main
    concession to "normal" bass lines is his fondness for using root-fives
    in tuba-like lines.  "You Never Give Me Your Money" is a great example
    of him at his best.
    
    This is something that has been a real stumbling block for me.  I find
    that after years of playing riff, licks, ostinatos and generally
    repetitive stuff, that trying to work melodic lines into my parts is
    very difficult.
    
    One thing I've begun to do to develop a sense for melody is learning
    to play the *melodies* of songs on the bass, and getting use to the
    sound of that instead of the old 1-3-5-6 arpeggio played into the dirt.
    
    						Brian

    I kind of agree with some points raised in .1 ...if you're the bassist
    in bands like AC/DC, or Judas Priest (which usually finds the bassist
    providing a pedal-tone bass line for the harmony at hand), your job
    *isn't* to be melodic...it's moreso to create a tight groove with the
    drums.
    
    IMHO, neither the "melodic" or the "rhythmic" bassist is the greater of
    the two.  Each have their own roles in music, and neither can really
    be considered "better" than the other.

     I agree totally with Buck.....
    if you like that style of playing check out
    living color
    the busboys
    yes
    -Bill

    
    
    
                It really matters what the composition is, of course!!!
    
    
    			You must listen to GEDDY LEE if you want to
    		hear the bass guitar carry melody lines.  So often he
    		will play a line nearly identical to the vocal.  Great
    		stuff!!!

       For me, I find it a real challenge to get the right balance 
    between melodic and rythmic playing. It seems that most of the
    playing is in the jazz & jazz/fusion area, about 95:5 to the rock-
    only realm.
       I do agree that it depends on what band your playing in, but
    I was also noting the small amount there seems to be out there.
    
      Tom, Red Kross is alternitive rock - WFNX material.
    
    /John

    I played Bass for years & I've tried various styles & yes, I agree;
    You have to fit the Bass to the music requirments. I tend towards
    more variation in my Bass playing than what I hear on records,
    however, I feel that that's just my style. The Bass is a misunderstood
    instrument. Many people can get away with very limited scale knowledge 
    because there is very little to make a bass player sound bad unless
    they are hitting completely wrong notes or thier sense of timing is 
    very bad (Of course, I would just blame this on the drummer...). There 
    is little emphasis to have the Bass player do anything fancy, so you 
    tend to notice it when one adds more 'tastefully'.
    
    There are many simple (and heavily used) Bass patterns that can be fit 
    into quite a few styles of music. This is also what I consider 'tasteful'
    Bass playing.  Following the Melody is less common, because it doesn't 
    always work very well. I think that Paul MaCartney helped a lot of Bass 
    players recognise that there can be much more to Bass than simple 
    Root-Fifth patterns in Rock. Jazz Bass players always knew this.
 
    Motown used Jazz Bass Players on many of thier 60's hits. These stand out
    as early examples of uncommonly melodic Bass lines to me.
    
                                                        Jens

    re: some previous notes
    
    Well, allow me to disagree (hey, this is NOTES, somebody had to,
    right?)
    
    Sure it's easy to hammer out root-fifths on the beat, but you
    can do so much more.  IMO, playing rhythmic bass can be an excuse
    for lack of ideas.  No flame, I'm as guilty of this as anyone,
    but I aspire to be a more musical player, no matter what the context.
    Btw, I don't necessarily equate "musical" with just "melodic"; musical
    bass playing incorporates melody, counterpoint, scale tones, dissonant
    tones, and rhythmic variation.  Even root-fifths can be musical, if you
    place them right.
    
    As for the idea that rock (or any other form, for that matter) doesn't
    allow musical bass playing, I offer as counter-examples John Entwistle
    and Felix Pappalardi (there are more, but these two sprang to mind
    immediately).  We're talking straight-ahead, three chord, screaming rock
    here.  Yet each of these guys play (or in Felix's case "played") very
    musically, and imo they enhanced the final result.  Ever listen closely
    to the bass work on "Won't Get Fooled Again"?
    
    One of the best musical bassists around is Dave Holland.  Not a rocker,
    but he does play in a lot of genres (jazz, funk, fusion, country).  And
    he's always very musical.  If you can play musical bass on a country tune,
    you can do it anywhere.
    
    /rick

    
    
    
    				YEAH!!
    
    
    				John Entwistle kicks butt
    

    re .8
    
    yeah, listen to Rick. He's definately the most musical bass player I
    ever had the pleasure of jamming with!

       I couldn't resist this one! As a bassist (1st), guitarist (2nd) 
    I have some thoughts that I'd like to share with you.
    
    1.) Stay in the groove WITH the drummer.
    	(if the drummer doesn't have a groove...  it's up to the
    	bassist and then the drummer will follow).
    
    2.) Keep the energy of the song UP!
    
    3.) Don't try to overshadow the guitarist. Play "with" the guitar
    	and don't compete...  unless you're doing old CREAM tunes.  ;^)
    
    4.) Keep the bass lines simple during the vocal lines, but stretch
    	out alittle during the guitar/keyboard solo. Don't compete
    	because it isn't YOUR turn to solo yet. When you do a solo; don't 
    	be afraid to change timing slightly, experiment with it, reach for 
    	stuff that you might not think fits...  cause it just might!
    
    5.) When it's your turn to solo...   KICK BUTT, but do it right!
    	      Keep the solos to within the "context" of the tune. Something
    	      that fits. Something that "says" something. Mindless dribble
    	      solos sound like just that. Mindless dribble solos...  
    	      I hate that.
    
    6.) Don't play a boring bass, don't solo 90% of the time either cause
        that's just as boring. There is a fine line here and you need to
    	find it. Besides, if you blow all your licks in the first set...
    	where do you go from there? There's nothing left!
    
    Bass is a state of mind more than anything else. There are bass players
    and there are BASS PLAYERS. You need to have the correct mind set as
    well. You need to "think bass". Almost to the point where all 
    you hear in a song on the radio is bass. Follow the bass line from 
    every song you hear and listen to how it fits with the rest of the
    instrumentation. It doesn't matter what you listen to either...  jazz, 
    country, R&B, rock, metal, pop...  it doesn't matter as long as you get
    something out of it. Bass is NOT all licks! Neither is guitar...
    it's attitude and a complete state of mind.
    
    My 2�
    
    		Rock on,
    			Fred 
    

The most melodic bass player I *EVER* heard is MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, Genesis;
espicially on the older recordings he made some fantastic riffs, very melo-
dic and very virtuous(sp?). He has always been one of my favourites on bass.

Nowadays, his bass is hidden away, shame. Also on his last recording with
The Mechanics, his talent is vasted in the most blasfemic way...

Poul

    
|    4.) Keep the bass lines simple during the vocal lines, but stretch
|    	out alittle during the guitar/keyboard solo. Don't compete
|    	because it isn't YOUR turn to solo yet. When you do a solo; don't 
|    	be afraid to change timing slightly, experiment with it, reach for 
|    	stuff that you might not think fits...  cause it just might!
        
        BINGO !    I  find that when I'm singing, I'll keep the basic
        beat, but lay off  on the fancy stuff.  This gives me more of
        a chance to concentrate on the vocals (tone/feeling/etc) that
        I'm singing.  When the lead/bridge comes  in  between  verses
        (or  wherever),  that's  when I find myself doing  the  fancy
        stuff.
        
        Of  course, it's MUCH different when you play raggae  !    In
        raggae,  the *BASS* is the lead/heartbeat of the song.   Then
        you  have to remain constant with the fancy stuff or it  just
        isn't raggae.  (Played my first raggae tune in July at a  jam
        session/ragatta, and had a BLAST doing so.)
    
|    6.) Don't play a boring bass, don't solo 90% of the time either cause
|        that's just as boring. There is a fine line here and you need to
|    	find it. Besides, if you blow all your licks in the first set...
|    	where do you go from there? There's nothing left!
        
        I'll  agree  that too much of nothing is VERY boring, but TOO
        much frill  is  also boring.  To find a happy medium is good.
        Enough to keep  the  heartbeat/jam with the drummer, and that
        little  extra `OOMPH' that tells  the  audience  that  you're
        still there. 
        
        Many  people  forget  that  the  bass creates that `fill' and
        `fullness' in  a  band.   (Other than musicians that is.) I'm
        sure we've all  played  in band/jam where the bass player was
        gone for a minute and things just didn't sound `FULL' at all.
        There's an art to using  that  `FULL' sound to your advantage
        as long as it isn't over/under done !  :^)
        
        Another 2� worth. :^)
        
        Matt

    As a drummer, I focus a lot on bass players.  I have to say that Fred
    Abatelli is certainly the most melodic bass player I have ever played
    with.  His lines are always interesting but never get in the way of the
    groove.  (Fred, you can put my check in the mail.)
    
    	;^)
    
    I had a friend back in Geneva, NY named Andy Farnsworth who was an
    outstanding bass player. He completely changed the way I viewed the
    instrument.  His bass playing was so good that in some bands he took
    more leads than the guitarist.  The band seemed to revolve around his
    playing.  I understand that he is living somewhere in Massachusetts
    now.  Has anyone heard of him?  I've lost touch with him over the
    years.
    
    	Willy

 Has anyone ever checked out Mike Watt (of Minutemen and fIREHOSE fame)? 
     Really hot player.  Very melodic.  Makes my head spin when he plays
     fretless.

        Suprised no-ones mentioned Flea, but I suppose he's getting into
     the "jeez, I wish he'd slow down sometimes" realm.

    re .15
    
    Wow! The Minutemen-a blast from the past. One of the
    best shows I ever saw was the Minutemen on their "Campaign
    Trail '84." All three members of the band were going in
    different directions, but somehow they managed to pull
    it together and make music out of it. Simply amazing.
    Mike Watt was down to only 2 bass strings after that
    gig.
    
    -Tom

=)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =)  =) 

      You know who's wierd, is Les Claypool. He's into anything but 
    standard bass playing. This is a little deviation from the original
    note though. He's like the rhythm section and part percussive section.
      I think I'll adopt his attitude about "what ever it takes" to get 
    the song/idea done...
    
    /J